System Shock 2 **(Looking Glass Studios/Irrational Games**, 1999) contains one of the most iconic images in gaming (the scifi horror Medusa-esque SHODAN) and one of the most iconic spiritual sequels in gaming (the Bioshock series), but I still feel like experience with System Shock 2 itself is relegated to those who were there playing on PC in 1999. What was it about this game that made it so foundational for the Bioshock series and so many other modern games? Well, it's a good thing I have this podcast to dig into it!

Guest Info: Doug Lief, host of Nostalgium Arcanum podcast

TIMESTAMPS
Intros/Personal Histories/Opening Thoughts 0:19
Story Setup/Story Thoughts 13:43
Presentation 30:10
Gameplay 41:00
SPOILER WALL 1:11:09

Music used in the episode is credited to Eric Brosius. Tracks used: Medical, Engineering, Hydroponics #1, Science, Hydroponics #2, Operations #2, End Cutscene, Credits

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It all started with an elevator pitch, courtesy of someone on the Axe of the Blood God podcast- "A sokoban puzzle game with a JRPG story". Sign me up! Void Stranger (System Erasure, 2023) does boast those things, but to my surprise, Void Stranger is so full of secrets as well. But if you want to get at those secrets, Void Stranger will challenge you in more ways than one. Join us as we dive into this one-of-a-kind experience.

Guest Info: Steve from Indie Quest and Polykill Podcast. Check out his podcasts and Twitch channel!

TIMESTAMPS

• Intros/Personal Histories/Opening Thoughts 0:14
• Puzzles/Challenges 12:21
• Story Setup 33:09
• Presentation 38:36
• Closing Thoughts/Recommendations/Housekeeping 50:45
• SPOILER WALL 59:06

Music used in the episode is credited to Eero Lahtinen. You can purchase the album on Bandcamp. Tracks used:
Concern, Void Symphony, Gray is just Gray, Right?, Affection Air, Buzzing Boogie, Lax Lullabye, HARD SPACE, Roll Credits!

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Remedy Entertainment have built a sort of extended universe by this point, but 2019's Control is both the piece that introduced a lot of people to their world and the key that unlocked the possibility for an extended universe in the first place. Control's Men in Black-meets-SCP Foundation setting is ripe for creative sci-fi storytelling and Remedy took full advantage of that. Despite some hiccups in the story and gameplay that may wear out its welcome, Control is an undeniably cool game.

Guest info: Nick & Will from Friday Night Gamecast.

TIMESTAMPS

• Intros/Personal Histories/Opening Thoughts 0:22
• Story Setup 16:21
• Presentation 52:02
• Gameplay 1:02:50
• SPOILER WALL 1:39:50

Music used in the episode:

• Take Control (Old Gods of Asgard)
• Counterfeit (Petri Alanko & Martin Stig Andersen)
• Sankarin Tango (Petri Alanko & Martin Stig Andersen)
• Voces Ignotas (Petri Alanko & Martin Stig Andersen)
• Poram Ad Inferno (Petri Alanko & Martin Stig Andersen)
• Nihil Es Simplex (Petri Alanko & Martin Stig Andersen)

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What was FromSoftware up to before Demon's Souls? Most people know about the King's Field series, and the Armored Core sickos have been around too, but they were even more prolific in the RPG and dungeon crawler space than just King's Field. Shadow Tower: Abyss (2003), the sequel to the Playstation game Shadow Tower, was never officially localized in English, but thanks to FromSoftware's explosion in popularity, the cottage industry of Souls creators, and most importantly a fan translated ROM, we can now go back and see some of the DNA that eventually made it into Demon's Souls and beyond.

Guest info: Adelaide Lohkamp- find her on YouTube.

TIMESTAMPS

• Intros/Personal Histories/Opening Thoughts 0:26
• Story Setup/Presentation/Gameplay 17:42
• SPOILER WALL 1:32:13

Music and sound used in the episode is credited to Yukinori Takada, Tsukasa Saitoh, Kota Hoshino, Yūki Ichiki, Yūji Kanda. Tracks used:

• Main Menu Theme
• Opening Cutscene
• End Credits

YouTube walkthrough and lore explainer by ElucidatedByFire.

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Night in the Woods (Infinite Fall, 2017) challenges us in a lot of ways. The gameplay mechanics are a means to get you from one side of town to another and nothing more. The protagonist can be unlikable. The story is much more local than your standard "save the world" fare. And it's all the better for the direction it takes. Instead of a sweeping epic, we get a very emotional, personal, close-to-home look at a small slice of American life. And as a result, we get a very rich and interesting story, which is the main focus of this podcast.

Guest info: Rick Firestone of Pixel Project Radio podcast.

Correction- In the episode I state that Charles Huettner and Sven Ruthner have music credits- they have animation credits, and I mixed up my notes. Oops!

TIMESTAMPS

• Intros/Personal Histories/Opening Thoughts 0:17
• Story Setup 10:39
• Presentation/Music 32:34
• Closing Thoughts/Recommendations/Housekeeping 45:35
• SPOILER WALL 54:31

You can purchase the soundtrack here. Tracks used:

• Title (Alec Holowka)
• Back to the Holler (Alec Holowka)
• Die Anywhere Else (Alec Holowka, Scott Benson)
• Possum Springs (Alec Holowka)
• Home Again (Alec Holowka)
• Angus Story (Alec Holowka)
• Mae's House (Alec Holowka)
• End Credits (Alec Holowka)

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Final Fantasy VII Remake started this epic remake project off with a bang, and it left us with a few questions, namely "what will they do with Aerith?" and "how will they handle the more open world nature of the game post-Midgar?". Both of those answers came in somewhat messy and/or convoluted forms, which I won't spoil here in the podcast description, but it's a good thing we have nearly 3 hours of podcast here to discuss it all!

Guest info: Aaron Angle of [A Top 3 Podcast](atop3podcast.fireside.fm) & Ryan Arrington.

TIMESTAMPS
Intros/Personal Histories/Opening Thoughts 0:24
Story Setup 13:39
Story, continued 32:51
Presentation 49:24
Combat/Open World 1:03:07
Minigames 1:25:03
Closing Thoughts/Recommendations 1:32:02
SPOILER WALL/Patreon Thank-Yous 1:38:31

Music used in the episode:
Main Theme of FFVII - Battle Edit (Nobuo Uematsu)
Nibelheim Train Graveyard Theme (Nobuo Uematsu)
Eager SOLDIER (Nobuo Uematsu, Shotaro Shima)
The Gold Saucer - Night Out with Tifa (Nobuo Uematsu)
Midgardsormr (Nobuo Uematsu, Yoshitaka Suzuki)
Queen's Blood (Mitsuto Suzuki, Junnosuke Usui)
Fiddle de Chocobo (Nobuo Uematsu)
Cosmo Canyon - Sanctum of Planetology (Nobuo Uematsu)
Aerith's Theme - The White Materia (Nobuo Uematsu)
J-E-N-O-V-A - Tenacity (Nobuo Uematsu)
Aerith's Theme - Return to the Planet (Nobuo Uematsu)

You can purchase the soundtrack via Square Enix.

Check out Dave talking about Final Fantasy and modern RPGs on Fine Time and Crossplay Conversations podcasts this week!

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To celebrate 3 years of Tales from the Backlog, I figured it was time to talk about the namesake of the show- The Backlog. Do we get FOMO as dozens of great games release every year? Do we feel pressure to complete the games we buy? What's the best approach to keep our habits healthy? All this and much more in this discussion episode!

Guest info:

• Matt aka Stormageddon of "Fun" and Games and Reignite podcasts.
• Marcus Stewart of The Indie Informer. Find Marcus on Twitter and Twitch.

Music used in the episode:

• Pandora's Place (Yakuza 0)- SEGA Sound Team
• Frozen Soul (Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere)- Tetsukazu Nakanishi
• Yoga (Wii Fit)- Toru Minegishi, Manaka Tominaga

Check out Dave's guest appearance on Retro Hangover discussing System Shock 2!

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Here are the games I played at GDEX 2024 gaming convention in Columbus, Ohio! Games mentioned in the episode:
Skate Fish
Tales of Thisrea
Zakumba: Astraia
Dark Sky
Derelict
Mole Maiden
Quiet On Set
RA RA BOOM

Intro/Outro music composed by Bert Cole- check them out at bitbybitsound.com

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Listen to A Top 3 Podcast on Apple, Spotify and [other podcast platforms](atop3podcast.fireside.fm)!

Have you ever thought to yourself, "how scary could this pixel art horror game be? It's just pixels!". If so, you and I are the same. And granted, Decarnation (Atelier QDB, 2023) isn't an in-your-face type of horror. It's more of a psychological, empathetic horror and dread for what your character is going through. And it's very, very effective! This is a really unique horror game with fantastic pixel art, sound design and music- highly recommended!

Guest info: Jala Prendes of Jala-chan's Place and The Level podcasts & Dave Cox of Monster Dear Monster podcast.

TIMESTAMPS
Intros/Personal Histories/Opening Thoughts 0:23
Story Setup/Theme Introductions 13:35
Presentation 31:32
Gameplay 42:05
SPOILER WALL/Patron Thank-Yous 1:08:06

Music used in the episode is credited to fleur et bleue, Akira Yamaoka, ALT 236 & AL 9000. You can support the artists by buying the soundtrack, part 1 and part 2.Tracks used: fleur et bleue - Tout Depend de Toi, Decarnation, Grolia, Orfevre De La Nuit, The Cell, Cracks in the Mask, Lizzy et Marco

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Stop me if you've heard this story before. A game that I once thought would be too scary for me to play, so I spoiled the entire story for myself only to realize that it sounded too good to not experience for myself. Add Devotion (Red Candle Games, 2019) to that list. Despite the controversy surrounding the game and subsequent delisting from all major storefronts, this one is worth seeking you. You can purchase and download it directly from the Red Candle Games website.

Guest Info: Jill Grodt, editor-in-chief of The Indie Informer and podcaster on The Indie Council podcast. Find more from Jill on YouTube and Twitch.

TIMESTAMPS
Intros/Personal Histories/Opening Thoughts 0:26
Story Setup/Gameplay 14:32
Horror/Presentation 37:02
SPOILER WALL 53:15

Content warnings for Devotion

Music used in the episode is credited to Vincent Yang. You can support them by purchasing the album directly from the Red Candle Games website. Tracks used: Devotion, Lady of the Pier (Gong Li Fang), Come on! Have a Bite, A Way of No Return, Lady of the Pier (Du Mei Shin)

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As a fan of Silent Hill 2 (episode 10 of Tales from the Backlog, by the way), I figured at some point I would need to go back and play the original. Silent Hill (Team Silent, Konami, 1999) was really interesting to go back and play, for a couple of reasons, most notably that I thought I knew what the game and town's whole deal was, but that was apparently not the case in the first game. The other surprise was that I found this pretty breezy from a mechanical perspective, which was welcome after really struggling through Resident Evil 1. It was an interesting trip back through history, and led to a great conversation!

Guest Info: Stephanie Klimov, podcaster and editor for Boss Rush Network

TIMESTAMPS
Intros/Personal Histories with Silent Hill/Opening Thoughts 0:21
Story Setup 12:58
Presentation 26:48
Gameplay 43:48
Closing Thoughts/Plugs/Housekeeping 59:42
SPOILER WALL 1:08:12

Music used in the episode is credited to Akira Yamaoka. Tracks used: Silent Hill, Led Into Madness, Meeting Cybil, No Dream, Tears of Blood, Dr. Kaufmann, Killing Time

Content Warnings for Silent Hill

Catch Dave on the Gaming Memories Podcast!

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Listen to A Top 3 Podcast on Apple, Spotify and [other podcast platforms](atop3podcast.fireside.fm)!