The Punished Podcast

It’s fall, and we want pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes, and candy corn. So, what are the video game equivalents of those foods? Why do some games feel familiar or nostalgic even if you’ve never played them before? What makes a game feel like putting on a favorite sweatshirt on a brisk autumn day? From Pokémon to Elden Ring, we discuss and debate.

MP3 Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts

Note: This episode includes swearing.

Amanda: What makes a game work as emotional comfort food?

Sam: I think it has something to do with familiarity. It doesn’t have to be something I’ve played multiple times, necessarily, but for me, there must be some familiarity to the gameplay loop. It’s not something totally passive, but it’s something where I can get into a flow state. It could be something I’ve played a million times, like Donkey Kong Country 2 or The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Or something like the Dragon Quest games, even if I haven’t played it before, because they all kind of have the same vibes and gameplay loop. Obviously each one has their differences, but none of those feel daunting or new — I know already what these spells are, what these character attributes are. So for me, it has to be this right balance of familiarity and newness.

Amanda: Yeah, listening to you talk, it reminds me of returning to a mainline Pokémon game for the first time in like a decade. And even though it was a new game, new graphics, new ‘mon, it was also deeply familiar right away and instantly felt like this warm blanket.

Ben: When I think of “comfort food games,” I think most of that category is, “What games can I second screen while I’m watching a movie with my wife or while she’s reading a book?” So it might be a nostalgic game. Like Chrono Trigger is a big one for me, or Elden Ring, which I’ve only beaten once, but I spent 400 hours doing it so it’s memory-palaced in my stupid brain, or Stardew Valley where the loops are well-defined and well-trod in my mind.

David: For me, it doesn’t have to necessarily be repetitive or a replay or familiar, but I do think it has to be something low-cognition. I joke about this with my partner often, that whenever we’re sitting on the couch together, I’m playing these unbelievably difficult games that require like pin-point precision. I don’t seek them out. But it’s funny how often I get to play these very hard games, often for review, and that’s not comfort food. Comfort food is like Marvel Snap on my phone, or Hearthstone; I love card games. Or turn-based RPGs, if nothing else because you can take it at your own pace. Anything where I can turn my brain off to an extent and just vibe.

Amanda: Totally. I think what we’re all kind of saying here is that it’s both the what, the gameplay loop, perhaps, and the how, the story or experience, relates to the when of when you choose to play that game as comfort food.

Ben: I’m curious — what do you guys think of the line between “comfort food games” and “empty calories?”

Listen to the podcast for the rest of the conversation!

At 53:07, we do a section of “comfort food recommendations” — e.g., if you like mashed potatoes, you should try mac and cheese. We give more detailed context for the recs in the podcast, but here are the highlights:

Amanda hyped up an upcoming virtual book launch event she’s hosting for Beyond the Baths of Stars by Schneider K. Rancy. Join her on Monday, November 2, 2026!

As always, thanks for reading and listening!

The post The Punished Podcast: Episode 32 – Games as Comfort Food appeared first on The Punished Backlog.

What makes a great video game main character? Is create-a-character or a famous hero better? Who are our faves and why? Conversely, when do protagonists not hit the mark? Let’s discuss (and get on our soapboxes), ending with a King-of-the-Hill style showdown to decide the best video game main character. Our discussion includes hype for cool space women like FemShep and Samus, and criticism of “sad dad” protagonists like Kratos and Joel Miller.

MP3 Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts

Note: This episode includes swearing and references to mature games and themes. This episode also contains end spoilers for The Last of Us and BioShock Infinite.

Kei: Let’s talk about the first archetype you bring up, Amanda, the silent protagonist. In practice, I feel that most of the silent protagonists have had that silence folded into their personality. Like Doomguy doesn’t talk, but it’s him being a badass. Gordon Freeman [from Half-Life] doesn’t even have audio clips. I’ve never personally bought into it as a good connective tissue between the player and the video game world. Like I’m not any more connected to Link because he’s quiet. To me, it’s actually the opposite…

Sam: What I like about those silent main characters — Link, Crono [from Chrono Trigger], Samus, whoever — is how they’re not chatty and what that does for the experience. The whole point of most of these Zelda games is that Link is considered a hero not for what he says, but for what he does — and what the player does as a result. He builds a whole persona, a whole legend, out of actions — of being courageous, of doing the right thing. One of the things I love about Samus is that she’s almost always alone in these foreign environments… Her thoughts are my thoughts. Is that statue going to spawn a scary alien thing that’s going to jump out and kill me?

Vaughn: I think this is what makes Jesse Faden from Control work well. She’s talking to Polaris (which, for lack of a better word, we’ll call her psychic friend). Navi in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time functions the same way. I like that with Jesse, we’re hearing her reactions in real-time and her thoughts, whereas with Link, we just see his actions — but his actions are so loud that they direct the story. By comparison, the main character of Wuchang: Fallen Feathers is silent, but they have no agency in the story. Silent characters work, in my opinion, if they are taking actions that players feel change the world that they’re affected by. And perhaps that speaks more to game design and character development.

Amanda: This makes me think of Zagreus in Hades. The game starts where Zagreus has already decided he wants to escape Hades, that he wants to get to the surface. He’s mad at his dad and he’s tired of all of this and he’s got all these cool powers. The game does not ask you, “Do you want to try to escape the Underworld?” but rather, “This character is going to try to escape the Underworld, and if you want to play this game, you’re going on that journey.” And I think that speaks to Sam what you’re saying about Geralt. When I initially tried The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt years ago, Geralt was somebody who had come pre-formed with all this baggage, which was a turn-off to me. But years later, it’s the exact thing that makes me admire it so much. I can appreciate the story that can only be told with Geralt as the protagonist because he is a character with history. His decisions are very unique to his lived experiences as a character.

Sam: There’s an expectation now that video game characters are written like TV characters and book characters, with a lot of depth. It’s a relatively recent invention.

Listen to the podcast for the rest of the conversation!

As always, thanks for reading and listening!

We discussed many great protagonists in our conversation, and the debate was passionate! So, we are going to do a separate ranked voting list with the opinions of all our writers in the coming weeks. Stay tuned for later in October!

The post The Punished Podcast: Episode 31 – Video Game Main Characters appeared first on The Punished Backlog.

It’s a big episode for a big topic! For the podcast’s big three-o, we discuss open-world video games. From the history of the open world to the best (and worst) ones out there, we explore the vastness of this exhilarating yet often draining genre. We also dive deep into fall’s most anticipated game, Grand Theft Auto VI, before wrapping with a genre-themed knockout discussion. Enjoy!

MP3 Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts

Note: This episode includes swearing and references to mature video games and themes.

Vaughn: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is a great example of a peak open-world game. Like in that first scene when you get to Velen, and you see all that swamp and that decay, and then you have to deal with all those soldiers who are just wandering around! The game opens up. Similarly, in Final Fantasy VI, you get your companions and then boom, the game is open. Explore, get lost, interact with the world as much as possible. That’s the game design mentality of that era, and it does change… Like, for the last several years, it’s the map which is very big, and it’s a lot of hand-holding.

Sam: Yes, that’s a funny thing — I’m realizing one of the reasons I think it took me a long time to get into these kinds of games is because I was so used to playing Nintendo games, in which there is a very specific thing to everything you do. Like, yes, you can mess around in the world in Mario or Donkey Kong game. But there is a very specific focus. In Super Mario 64, you go into a painting and you are trying to find a star. In a Zelda game, you complete a dungeon and then, yes, you can do side quests, but you’re supposed to go and complete another dungeon. And the lack of structure [in open-world games] was overwhelming to me for a long time. Grand Theft Auto games are so unrestricted, so open.

David: I think we’re circling the drain on the definition of “an open-world game” and honing in on what we mean by that. I think we’re describing that it’s the feeling you get — like I’m lost, but in a good way. It’s the lack of structure. Another old-school game that’s relevant here is Shadow of the Colossus…

Everyone nowadays pretty much interacts with open-world games these days. How would you say your interest in the genre has evolved over time? How do you feel nowadays? What is your relationship with modern open world games?

Amanda: That’s a good question. I’m thinking of 2017 with Horizon Zero Dawn, and 2018 with Breath of the Wild, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey. For that last one, I thought that was particularly incredible — I can go see these amazing ancient cities, take my boat and sail the oceans, and ride my horse through the mountains. It felt so freeing and amazing. I loved that I could choose whatever I wanted to do that day, that I could do different kinds of gameplay depending on the mood I was in… But by Valhalla and Cyberpunk 2077, it was exhausting and felt really empty… I’m pretty burnt out on new open-world games, and I’d rather just go back and play The Witcher 3 again.

Sam: I always feel that way.

Listen to the podcast for the rest of the conversation!

As always, thanks for listening and reading!

The post The Punished Podcast: Episode 30 – Open-World Games appeared first on The Punished Backlog.

Our 2026 Fantasy Gaming league continues with shocks and surprises as we hit the mid-year stretch! This lean-but-mean episode includes a league check-in, score updates, and the first of two waiver wire drafts. Listen for sass, “friendly” competition, and a side rant about a popular game that makes Kei irrationally angry.

MP3 Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts

For a full recap of our league rules, check out our 2026 Fantasy Gaming Draft from the top of the year. If you don’t have the time, here are the most pertinent details for today’s episode:

Waiver Wire: We do two (2) waiver wire sessions each year: one (1) in June or July following Summer Game Fest, and one (1) in August or September, right before the fall gaming rush. During each waiver wire, players can choose to drop one (1) game of their choosing and redraft a replacement game to fill their lineup. Similar to the draft at the top of the year, we draft in inverse order of standings. If a team has zero (0) scored games at the time of the waiver wire, they’re considered “N/A” in the standings and given the lowest draft priority.

Waiver Wire “Deferral”: During the first waiver wire, a player can opt not to drop a game, in which case they “defer” their initial waiver pick to the second waiver wire. At that time, they’re able to drop/redraft up to two (2) games instead of just one (1).

As always, thanks for listening and reading!

The post The Punished Podcast: Episode 29 – 2026 Fantasy Waiver Wire #1 appeared first on The Punished Backlog.

The video game hype cycle has become an intrinsic part of the culture: E3, “not-E3,” trade shows, presentations, trailers, you name it! We’ll get into our experiences with the hype cycle, the good and the bad, and what lies ahead for video game hype in an ever-changing media environment.

Note: This episode contains light swearing.

MP3 Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts

Listen to the episode for the full conversation!

The post The Punished Podcast: Episode 28 – The Hype Cycle appeared first on The Punished Backlog.

For as long as video games have existed, so too has video games media. In today’s discussion, we cover the past, present, and future of games media from the print magazine to online blogs to video streaming. The conversation runs the gamut from reflecting on Gamergate to highlighting the rise of worker-owned media like Aftermath and Mothership.

Note: This episode contains swearing and occasional discussion of mature topics.

MP3 Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts

Sam: “For as long as video games have existed, so too has video games media. While the medium itself traces back to the 1970s, the very first dedicated video game magazine didn’t arrive until the early 1980s with mags like Computer and Video Games in the U.K. followed by Electronic Games (not monthly) soon after. Once games truly started flourishing following the launch of consoles like the NES and Sega Master System, the world of games coverage exploded, with tons of magazines dedicated to coverage of the medium, as well as platform specific ones like Nintendo Power.

Broad adoption of the internet in the late ’90s/early ’00s meant players and fans weren’t just getting their news and reviews from paper anymore. Sites like IGN, GameSpot, and GameTrailers (RIP) began to dominate conversations, ultimately becoming the biggest part of games media for some time. Later on, the advent of YouTube and social media completely altered how news was disseminated (as well as how people engaged with critics and reporters), sadly leading to Gamergate in 2014 and exposing some of the ugliest parts of gaming culture to the broader internet world.

Nowadays, games media appears to be in an especially volatile place. Major sites are shutting down left and right and layoffs have become way too normal. Meanwhile, the world of influencers, streamers, and YouTubers appears to be playing an enormous role in games media nowadays, albeit in an unofficial manner.

Still, there’s some hope out there with worker run publications like Aftermath and Mothership (shout-out to our very own Amanda Tien who has been published there a few times) which run on subscriptions and focus more on particular aspects of gaming culture rather than just news and reviews.

Tying this up: Games media has changed immensely over the years, but it still matters to us here, and we think it’s worth talking about it all, both the good and the bad.”

Donovan: “I suggested this topic for the podcast purely from nostalgia, honestly. I was reminiscing on the days where I would, when my parents took me to the grocery store, I’d go straight to the magazine section. I’d look for Game Informer and thumb through it or look for those thin cheat code books or those thick game guides. At Blockbuster, I’d do the same thing. When I got older, I went on the computer more, and I figured out how to use bookmarks, and I’d have a ritual of checking certain sites in order: Kotaku, IGN, GameStop, and then GameTrailers, and in the background I’d have G4 or Attack of the Show playing. I was always looking for the news every single day… I have so many fond memories. Things have changed so much.”

Kei: “Growing up, reading certain sites, there were a select number of writers and journalists who really framed my understanding of games media. I valued their specific takes and perspectives. [For a long time,] I read Kotaku specifically for writers like Gita Jackson [now a co-founder of Aftermath], Patricia Hernandez, and Cecilia D’Anastasio… Even though every written piece goes through many levels and has various corporate influence, there is a space for sort of gaming journalist auteurs to emerge.” 

Donovan: “I wish that the gaming industry at-large [tolerated and encouraged] more serious gaming journalists. Like Jason Schreier has been doing great investigative work [first at Kotaku, then at Bloomberg] for a long time, including on labor conditions. I want to see more like that.”

Sam: “I agree, writers like Schreier and Rebekah Valentine [who was at IGN for years] are so important for the present moment of games journalism… People talk a lot about nostalgia in games, and we have too, these simpler times of games media. But a lot of what happened with Gamergate, I’d argue, has roots in the publications and magazines — advertisements, letter to the editor sections, and more — were very male-focused and especially very white-male focused… I don’t want people to talk about Gamergate like it was this isolated thing. It was always there, it was just unlocked.” 

David: “One of the silver linings of Gamergate [was] — and continues to be — more diverse [games] media and more representation in games media. A lot of the flagship outlets that I follow feature voices that just wouldn’t have had the same opportunities 10, 20 years ago for how toxic the gaming community has been and sometimes still is. […] One of the reasons I love doing The Punished Backlog is that we have this opportunity to amplify voices from people with different backgrounds, living in different locations, different racial backgrounds, with different gender identities. We’re able to bring more people to the table in a way that wouldn’t have been possible 20 years ago.” 

Listen to the episode for the rest of the conversation!

The post The Punished Podcast: Episode 27 – Video Games Media appeared first on The Punished Backlog.

During our winter hibernation, many of us cozied up with an old friend: our video game backlogs. We’ve been making our way through games we’ve been meaning to play for ages. Our discussion of current and future backlogs includes tips, soul searching, and confessions. What video game did we all bounce off? Which modern classic causes Sam to have a full meltdown on air? What titles are we considering for this year’s site-wide Summer Backlog Challenge? Listen to find the answers to these absolutely pressing questions.

MP3 Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts

Sam:  “This is something we’ve all experienced — you tried a game and it didn’t sit right with you. And you tell yourself, ‘Oh man, but everyone says this game is so great.’ But you don’t have to think that! That’s another way backlogs pile up. There are games that I would try, that I think look good, that everyone says is good, so maybe I should just give it a try, right? But sometimes that’s also an insincere way to approach it. Do I actually want to play this, or is just everyone telling me that I should? You get caught up in the zeitgeist, when maybe, you just don’t actually want to play that game.”

Matt: “One of the things that has been amazing is just joining the Punished Backlog team. Writing about games is great… It’s helped me get through the backlog. It’s not just about playing the game, but about producing a product afterwards that I’m excited of and proud of. On top of that, having a group of people to discuss games with has been awesome. Growing up, gaming was super social for me, you know playing with friends, split-screen, all of that. But as I’ve become more of an adult and my backlog has gotten bigger, it’s because I’m playing by myself [especially because so many games are single-player]. Gaming has become almost more isolating. So joining the Punished Backlog has given me a chance to make gaming a more social experience again. Like, I would probably wouldn’t have picked up The Seance of Blake Manor if Amanda hadn’t been such an evangelist for it. So it’s been really exciting to have that camaraderie around gaming again.”

Zack: “But that’s the problem! Everyone’s telling me about all these great games and I can’t stop buying them!” [Everyone laughs.] “But yeah that’s one of the things that’s so great about this community. Even if you pick up a game that’s ten years old, you can say something and be like, ‘Hey, has anyone ever tried this?’ and usually someone has and that’s really fun to be able to talk to other people about a game.” 

Listen to the episode for the rest of the conversation!

The post The Punished Podcast: Episode 26 – Backlog Challenge 2026 appeared first on The Punished Backlog.

In today’s episode of The Punished Podcast, our site’s editorial team meet to discuss review scores! Review scores are a significant and complicated part of the gaming industry, and they have taken on a life of their own. Our debate covers everything from the existential to the nitty-gritty. We also play a silly game Amanda made up called What’s Your Review Score Score?! Check out a text sample of the transcript further below or go ahead and listen. It’s a good one! (Though, yes, we’re biased.)

MP3 Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts

Amanda: “In today’s episode, we discuss review scores as a concept but our comments do not necessarily reflect the views of us as an editorial board of a site because, spoiler alert, as editors, the three of us have pretty different feelings about scores and the role they hold! I’ve been really excited to discuss this with you guys because I think review scores are something we really can’t avoid as gamers, as writers, as editors. Scores are very interesting because they really shape what we are likely to play. So let’s get cards on the table: how do you feel about review scores and the role they have in the industry?”

David: “I approach review scores from a marketing mindset. Like many people who have written for the site, I come from a marketing background. A former boss of mine had said that has always stuck in my mind, ‘You’re not looking to get a Pulitzer. Get the piece done. Perfect is the enemy of great.’ So, when I think of communicating, I think of how and who we serve as an audience. So for us, at The Punished Backlog, it’s people who read the site to get news or our opinions on hidden gems and so on, one of the ways that, in my view, makes the site a little more user-friendly and inclusive is the inclusion of scores. I’m not saying that scores are the be-all end-all of the review experience, and obviously a lot of the conversation around review scores is that people just come into a review and look at the score and then bounce. But I think offering a score allows for users who may not have a lot of time on their hands, who might just want to skim the article or simply want us [as games journalists] to do a bit of the heavy lifting for them so they can read the whole piece and find out what the takeaway is.

“I think review scores offer a lot of consistency. Sometimes it might feel like a constraint, but I think it’s actually liberating. It gives folks on the site — our site or any site — the tools to understand the game. As writers, we can talk about games a lot of different ways and all of our styles are different when we cover a review, but anyone who reads a review on our site, will be able to find a score at the end that will offer some continuity from one to the next [as it aligns to a site-wide scale].”

Amanda: “I like that you talk about review scores from an editorial and site perspective. I think for me, as a gamer, if there’s a game I am really excited to play, I will likely play it no matter what its score is. For example, that’s how I felt about Assassin’s Creed: Shadows — it scored fine but I was like, Yeah, whatever, I’m gonna play that anyway, I don’t care. But then there was South of Midnight, which I was very excited about, but it didn’t score great and so I thought, Eh, you know, I’m pretty busy, so I’ll get to it when I get to it. So, I think it’s interesting that as consumers, we are shaped by those scores. Being on the writing side, we also have a kind of power in that situation. Sam, what about your thoughts? I know you have a lot of opinions about review scores.”

Sam: “I think the classic style of review, the kind of reviews that we have on our site, in a vacuum, they’re totally fine. Review scores are really helpful for a lot of people. For example, if you tell me a game is 10 out of 10, I don’t think it’s actually a perfect video game, but I hear you that it’s a game that you really like in a unique way and that might inform whether or not I play it…. I think what I dislike or that I wish would change is how much of a chokehold review scores and the culture around them have on gaming culture. That is unique to gaming culture. That is not true for any other medium. For example, could either one of you tell me a single scored review for the book Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller? Or could you tell me a score for any book you have ever read?”

(Amanda and David laugh, ultimately saying no.)

“I’ve stopped trying to convince people in my life, who aren’t gamers, that video games are great art because… well, look, we’ve all seen it in the comments section of things that we write. Any time we write something mildly off consensus, we just get hammered for it. Usually by bad faith actors, by bots, who knows. It’s fun to have the conversation about what a game will score in Metacritic, but that becomes just the whole conversation in the culture. Amanda, you were talking earlier about Assassin’s Creed: Shadows, and that got what, an 81 on Metacritic? That’s not a bad score.”

Amanda: “Yeah, exactly, it wasn’t a bad score. But the 80s have become a new low. We culturally have gotten to this point where a game has to score so well for people not to be dunking on something and saying something is trash. Like no, this game wasn’t trash. Was it perfect? No, but it wasn’t garbage.”

Sam: “Yes, and the margins between what we consider to be a good score and a bad score has become so small. Going back to what I was saying about games as art — a lot of the audience doesn’t actually want real games criticism [the way people write film or literary criticism]. They don’t actually want you to get into it and talk about your emotional experience with the game, or these in-depth research op-eds about the role of gender dynamics or the relationship between Call of Duty games and gun manufacturers. They just want to know: Are the graphics good? Is the gameplay good? Is the story good (whatever that means)? And so when we as a culture look at review scores so intently and try to condense the entire game into a score, that the review score is the final word, that’s what I think about. I wish there was more criticism. I wish that review scores weren’t the most important thing in games discussion.”

David: “I think both things can be true. I agree with you wholeheartedly. And I think this is actually a conversation more of the average consumer. The marketer in me thinks that part of our mission as a site is to meet and reach the average reader where they’re at. Games are kind of unique in that the average reader of a video game article is kind of an asshole. The average gamer is not a great person.”

Amanda: “Or at least the one we see verbally online! The Highguard situation is a great example. Sure, did it have the best marketing plan in the world? No. Was it the best online shooter game in the world? No. But the culture of vitriol around it was out of control.”

David: “Exactly, I totally agree, so that’s a great callout, Amanda. Because with gaming, there are so many gamers. When I write anything for the site, I try to avoid writing the word ‘gamer.’ Because for me, the word ‘gamer’ has a negative connotation to the very vocal, annoying people on the internet—“

Sam: “I say it because it’s negative.” (Everyone laughs.)

David: “Whereas I try to use the word ‘player’ because your grandma could play Candy Crush, she might play cozy games, she might play Call of Duty. Think of Skyrim grandma! And it’s a shame, because I wish we lived in the world that you’re describing, Sam, where we could engage in a higher level discourse of ‘Is this game good or not.’ Because really, you can often tell if a game is good or not. Unlike a movie, a game can ship broken. That is something that is unique to gaming. Like Amanda, you had a game that didn’t boot up on your Steam Deck — if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work! Whereas you could watch a discombobulated film from beginning to end or read a bunch of slop in a book from beginning to end, and try to derive some value from that. Gaming is a tough industry.”

Sam: “Exactly, and that’s what I mean with the margins, too. So many baseline points in a review are given out just for functioning properly. One of the reasons that Nintendo’s big franchises or Sony’s first party, for the most part, release always, even if they’re controversial, is that there’s a baseline level of quality. For example, if you boot up God of War Ragnarok, I think that game is terrific, and maybe not everyone loves it, but it gets good reviews. Because, at the very least, it doesn’t break. The frame rate stays pretty consistent. The graphics are sharp. There’s voice acting for everything. Or same for The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom. That’s a game considered by a lot of people to be one of the weaker entries in the franchises, and it kind of is. But even one of the weakest Zelda games still gets an 84 on Metacritic, which is higher than the average game. I’ve spoken to indie developers who have told me they would do anything for one of their games to get an 84 on Metacritic. It’s just so hard for them to make anything that feels that polished, that perfectly constructed, that gives people such an endless amount of play and replay value. Because it’s just hard to do! Most of these games are held together by duct tape. Because of course the bigger, richer companies will have the advantage.”

Amanda: “Exactly! It’s so hard to do! Also, the development time is years. For our [February 2026] Steam Next Fest coverage, I’ve been reading some of these interviews with developers. One person said, ‘I’m excited to share this thing I’ve been working on for eight years.’ That’s a long time to put in your energy, your time, your money (the licenses, [the tech, the education] all of it), to make something that may also just not get good reviews, much less enough reviews! One of the things we talk about (for our Fantasy Gaming league) is that some indie games don’t get enough scored reviews to even get counted in the aggregators. The review scores also then become this weird power. [As a developer] you want the score, but what if it’s a bad score, that’s depressing? It becomes a chicken and an egg thing. How many scored reviews did you get? Did that get you enough fodder or investment to make the next game which then brings financial support that has minimum Metacritic score expectations? It’s all very fraught. The economics of it… I guess with film, there’s the box office. With books, it’s harder and harder to tell what the metrics of success looks like. But with games, it’s interesting that so much of a game’s performance has been sort of exported to Metacritic as a third-party review aggregator.”

Amanda: “I find writing reviews, using the review scale, as a very interesting creative challenge. As a gaming writer, as someone who’s writing reviews, I find myself very grateful for the opportunity that somebody has trusted me with their work, has trusted our site, to give us an advanced copy of their work with the opportunity to play it and write about it. For some of these games, The Punished Backlog is one of five reviews on the internet about this game. We’re some of the first reviews that come out right after a game is released. I find it an honor and an opportunity to be like, Hey, here’s how I’m giving back to the space. There are people who have been working for years on these games. And being able to play and enjoy these games and to review them and score them, and by doing that, I might help other people find these games who might enjoy them. It might give the developers a sense of, Hey, someone played my game, someone took it seriously. Because we submit to OpenCritic, that helps legitimize it in a way — not that they need our permission for it to be legit or anything, but we are adding scores to the ethos, which makes it more likely for other people to find this game. I take writing reviews and giving scores very seriously, especially if a reader might trust my opinion on something. How can I communicate this game to other people? How can I, without being unduly influenced by these developers, do right by the creators? They are trusting us with our role as media to write something about it. What do you guys think about writing reviews?”

David: “I enjoy giving scored reviews, and I had created that scale years ago. But latching onto something you just said — the opportunity to not only celebrate people who deserve it who may go unnoticed otherwise, but the opportunity to influence a game post-launch is really interesting. Story time really briefly: One of the first reviews I did for the site, almost nine years ago, was a pixelated game called Songbringer. At the time, we really had no infrastructure for the site. We were a no-name. But I had emailed this creator’s personal email and told them I wanted to review it and they had been really nice, like, ‘Sure, I’m happy you’re excited.’ And I remember writing in my review that I had some feedback about how one particular movement felt a little clunky. The developer said, ‘Oh, that’s interesting, that’s the first time anyone’s ever brought it up. So what would be your preference?’ And I told him and he goes, ‘Wow, that’s a great idea.’ Then, lo and behold, he makes a patch and it’s updated and he’s made that change! And it felt so much better.”

Amanda: “Wow, that’s so cool!”

David: “Yeah! And I still remember that, and that was years ago. I think we have more power as authors, as critics, as just general game enjoyers than we probably realize. And obviously some fans who are vocal on the internet have realized they have that power. But I feel like that, when writing a review, I want to give care and respect. But I also have a responsibility to be honest.”

Amanda: “Journalistic integrity, yeah?”

David: “Yeah, and also integrity to the creator themselves, too. To respect their work enough to give them feedback. In some cases, like with that example, some creators will lean in and be like, ‘Wow, thank you.’ But in other cases, we had a writer who was a bit more critical and the game director and I got in a Twitter beef about it.”

Amanda: “Oh no! What?”

David: “Haha, yeah, I never shared that story. He was a little wuss about it. Either take the feedback, or don’t. If you can’t take the heat, don’t step into the kitchen.”

Sam: “Amanda, you asked this question, what do we owe these people? And we owe them nothing except being fair and honest. […] When I’m doing a review, someone is simply asking my opinion on something. No other context is important or necessary. I don’t do that many reviews, and if you wonder why, listen back 10 minutes ago. […] The filmmaker Sidney Lumet said to a critic something like ‘All creativity is a risk… I understand that as a critic, you’re saying something, but I’m the one who is actually taking the risk.’ When these developers give us a code, they’re taking a risk that we may not like it. I come from a journalistic background. I do see myself as trying to be this impartial observer as much as I can. My view is that I can’t be trying not to hurt someone’s feelings, A) because I might do it anyway, and B) that’s not what my role is.”

Listen to the episode for the rest of the conversation!

The post The Punished Podcast: Episode 25 – Video Game Review Scores appeared first on The Punished Backlog.

In today’s episode of The Punished Podcast, we get into the magic of video game music. Listen as we discuss our favorite video game tunes, what makes them and their composers so iconic, when to choose silence, and much more. Plus, we reveal our very own podcast theme song!

MP3 Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts

In order mentioned:

We discussed the following talented people in today’s episode! They’re listed below in alphabetical order:

Amos Roddy, Austin Wintory, Borislav Slavov, Christopher Larkin, Chuck Ragan, ConcernedApe, Daniel Olsén and Jonathan Eng, Darren Korb, David Wise, Disasterpeace, Gareth Coker, Grant Kirkhope, Hideki Naganuma, Jack Wall, Jeremy Soule, Jesper Kyd, Keiichi Okabe, Kevin Penkin, Koji Kondo, Lena Raine Lorien Testard, Manaka Kataoka, Marcin Przybyłowicz and Mikołaj Stroiński, Masakazu Sugimori, Masashi Hamauzu, Masayoshi Soken, Mick Gordon, Neil Davidge, Nobuo Uematsu, Noriyuki Iwadare, Sarah Schachner, Shoji Meguro, Steven Serafino, Takahiro Ishimioto, The Flight, Wilbert Roget II, Winifred Phillips, Yasumasa Kitagawa, Yasunori Mitsuda, Yoko Shimomura

Read even more in our Friday Fortissimo series. Thanks for reading and/or listening!

The post The Punished Podcast: Episode 24 – Video Game Music appeared first on The Punished Backlog.

It’s a new year and a new season of Fantasy Gaming, where we “draft” video games and their review scores in our version of fantasy sports.

Which one of our 2025 contestants — Allison, Amanda, David, Gary, Sam, or Zack — takes home the crown? Plus, we invite Kei Isobe to lead a new team in our 2026 draft. Find out all the details in this action-packed, expletive-laden episode.

In case you’re not audio-inclined, we also have visual companions and details below the audio information. Keep scrolling for League Rules, the 2025 Standings, and the 2026 Teams. Enjoy!

MP3 Download | Spotify | Apple Podcasts

Congrats to David for the second year in a row!

Thanks for reading and/or listening!

The post The Punished Podcast: Episode 23 – 2026 Fantasy Gaming Draft! appeared first on The Punished Backlog.