2021 gaming resolutions

New Years Resolutions are lame and New Years Resolutions about video games are even lamer, but I can't sleep right now and I've been thinking a fair amount about gaming and what I want out of it in the new year. These resolutions are mostly for me to check in on at the end of next year to see whether I stuck to them or deviated and figure out why (did I get undisciplined or did I have good reasons) but if people want to list their own and use this post to sort through their own thoughts about gaming in the futuristic year of 2021 they are, of course, welcome.

1) Play more, spend less.

This is the same resolution I make every year, and last year I did better than I have in the past. My game spending was way down, and I hope to get it down further. Gamepass has been pretty useful for that; giving me stuff I'm interested in for a low subscription price so that I can get through games like Carrion and Monster Train without buying them, and of course all of Microsoft's first party output, which admittedly wasn't a large savings in 2020. I want to continue this trend. I have so many games already that I really don't need to buy new ones unless there's a specific reason.

2) Play more current year games.

My best gaming experiences in 2020 were with 2020 games. I like being part of the zeitgeist a little bit and talking about the newer stuff, and newer games tend to have lots of quality of life improvements that I enjoy. Since 2021 will be the year the new consoles really start to flourish I'd like to play the new stuff that comes out for them, which will also involve getting a PS5 whenever that's a thing that's actually possible to do. This is, of course, somewhat in conflict with item #1 on my list, but with Game Pass on my Xbox and the fact that I have a few hundred dollars in Sony Rewards stuff I can use for PlayStation I should be able to keep up with the newer games without spending much actual cash, which will be even easier if I follow resolution #3

3) Be more selective in the 'big' games I play.

Some of my favorite games of the year were big AAA experiences like Final Fantasy VII Remake and even the much maligned Cyberpunk 2077. But I also played a bunch of middling open world stuff from Ubisoft and some other time sinks that just weren't worth the time I put into them. I get a lot more out of a short but fun smaller game than I do putting endless grindy hours into these huge open world experiences unless those experiences are truly great. This year I played stuff like Marvel's The Avengers and Assassin's Creed III and they just weren't worth the time and effort. I definitely want to play a bunch of AAA stuff in 2021 because I really love some of those games, but I need to choose my spots better and commit to games I really like. If a game like Carrion is a flawed but interesting experience that's only a couple sessions of playing invested. Watch Dogs Legion lasted about 10-12 hours after the point it was no longer fun. That's not good math.

4) Continue doing series marathons.

I've done some series marathons over the last couple years, including God of War, Ratchet & Clank, and Assassin's Creed. Each has been rewarding in its own way, and since I tend to collect all the games from a series when I am interested in the new one I have plenty of series left to play. I haven't even finished Ratchet & Clank or Assassin's Creed. It's easy to burn out playing series games back to back, but there's also a sense of accomplishment and the chance to follow a story and gameplay development closely. I like that.

5) Finish games left over from 2020

I have a few games I did not finish from 2020, including Inversion, which is not a good game but where I am at the final boss so I should just buckle down and beat his face in. I also have some DLC and other stuff to clean up. Since the first couple months of 2021 are looking pretty sparse this is a good time to get through that stuff, and maybe do a couple games in some series I'd like to clear out.

6) Play more games on my treadmill

One good trend of 2020 (one of the few) is that I got an Xbox Series X and hooked up my old Xbox to my treadmill. Most games require too much dexterity to play on it, but turn-based games like Monster Train or adventure/Visual Novel games like Coffee Talk can be played as long as I'm not running, which I mostly avoid to preserve my old man knees. Since I tend to spend over an hour a day on the thing that opens up plenty of time for additional gaming, and I want to experiment more and get through more. It will allow me both to play more games without having to find extra time for them (since using my treadmill is a higher priority) and to be less bored on the treadmill, since a good game can really engage me and make me lose track of time. Win/Win. Not every game works on it but I want to keep experimenting and find the ones that do, then play them that way.

7) Play less overall

I played way too many games in 2020. I finished nearly 20 games released that year alone and an even larger number from my backlog. I played through 8 full JRPGs. I hope that 2021 has a lot more varied activity in store for me and more opportunities to leave the heckin' house. I love video games but 2020 was too much of a good thing. And way too many bad things as well!

That's it for me. Remember to start writing 2021 on your checks if you still write checks. Feel free to write your own resolutions or say mean things about mine, I don't care. And thanks to all you forumites for arguing about The Last Of Us Part II, Cyberpunk 2077, and the weird and messed up Grandia side story I posted about.

You made 2020 a little less horrible and isolated, so, you know, much appreciated. Except for the forum bots. You guys suck!

Sorry, but shouldn't the title say "2021 Gaming Resolutions?"

@zombiepie: I guess, if you want to theorize that we're not in a Groundhog Year type situation where we keep reliving the same cursed year over and over and over until we get Andie MacDowell to fall in love with us. I haven't gone to sleep yet so I can't be sure but I changed it for now and then if this is a Groundhog Year I'll leave it as is next loop.

I’ll finally say no-ta to Dota.

1080p baybee!!

I made a list of games I own that I'd like to finish, or at least give a good solid try.

Honestly, though, what I want to do is the same thing I've been trying to get myself to do over the past few years - play fewer games but have a more thorough understanding of what I do play. I have a bad habit of playing something for five hours, thinking "this is neat! I'd love to play more!" and then going on to try something else. It's like getting a small spoon of every flavor in the ice-cream shop - it's great to try out everything but eventually you probably want to get a whole ice cream cone of something.

I've gotten better at this over the years, though weirdly the solution hasn't been finishing more games but playing games I already know like the back of my hand (Dark Souls, Subnautica, classic games from my childhood) and playing a rotating group of games that you don't "finish" (Halo multiplayer, Minecraft, my current obsession is Satisfactory).

As far as when a game was released? I don't care. I understand the appeal of the zeitgeist and have gotten caught up in it a few times, but also, there's a lot to be said for a game that's been out a few years and has matured with patches, rebalances, and DLC, and there's as much to be said for a game that's 20 years old and has been revamped and re-released properly (Enhanced Editions of Infinity Engine games, that CnC remake that came out in 2020.

@justin258: There are lots of advantages to waiting to play games, not least among them price. But I have a long history of playing old games (and I will continue to do so) and there are some downsides too. The DLC all being released can be good but it can also be bad because I tend to burn out on games by the end and then drop them without even playing the DLC even though I also tend to buy it all. My chances of going back to play DLC are higher when it's a new game I bought and played and the DLC gets released for it rather than when it's an old game where it was all packaged together. That's not true for everything; I'm glad I waited on Mass Effect 3 because the DLC is integrated into the campaign and is completely essential, but it's true for a lot.

Also the quality of old games tends to be overall lower, and that doesn't matter if you're reaching back for incredible classics, which hold up well. But I played Need for Speed: The Run, Inversion, and Homefront this year. HOMEFRONT! Playing the equivalent of Homefront in 2021, whatever it will be, will be much better than playing that creaky old terrible game. The answer might be "just stop playing bad games" and that's fair, but sometimes I kind of want to for whatever reason. So if I'm going to play a bad game it might as well be a recent one!

HOMEFRONT!

1) Play less games. As great a comfort blanket as they have served over the past few years, games have really just been filling a gap that appeared due to a lot of life changes and events over the past couple of years - some within my control, and some outside of my control - that caused a lot of strife in my life. Time for me to do other stuff I've been wanting to do. Granted, the continued pandemic is going to affect that but I want to expand my horizons (and do so safely, of course). I'm not playing games all the time or anything but I feel I just lean on them a bit too heavily when I'm feeling listless instead of pushing myself to do something else a bit more productive.

2) Play more games with others. This past year saw me slowly develop into a solo gamer which I haven't ever really been. I've always been a social gamer. But this has its ties with the above and I'd like to start playing with people again. Once you fall out of some circles though it's hard to just... jump back in. And that was made even more difficult, for me, because of the pandemic. Which seems to be the inverse of what a lot of people experienced! So, yeah, it'd be good to get over that anxiety that has developed over the past year or two and start playing with other people again.

3) Focus on my back catalogue. I think this is one we all share... Same as some of the other reasons specified by others above. The only game I'm planning to buy this year is Halo Infinite. I may or may not buy an Xbox Series X to experience that but not until later this year (and this depends on money being favourable...) But given the lack of games I'm interested in for next year, I'm taking that as an opportunity to somewhat catch up. I know I never fully will but... it'll be good to give it a go.

4) Play more game series' from the start. Much like @bigsocrates, I've become more interested in the value of playing a series from start to finish. I played Yakuza for the first time this year in the form of Yakuza 0. As someone who has been a huge Shenmue fan, and went back to those 2 games and the new one over the past couple of years - which was hugely enjoyable - I easily adapted to Yakuza's flow. It's incredibly how much it plays like an evolution of the Shenmue concept. I'll still always love Shenmue and its style, but I can see why so many put all their weight behind Yakuza as the real 'spiritual sequel'. With all of them now having been announced for Game Pass, I've got no excuse to not play all the way to Yakuza 6! I highly, highly doubt that'll be completed in 2021 though... Yakuza 0 took me, uh, the whole year? Still, the experience of playing Shenmue 3 last year/early this year, after going back to those older games for the first time in years, was a real joy; and I'm looking forward to this new journey with Kiryu! Except I mistakenly wrote Ryo at first because I remembered there's a Shenmue anime hopefully coming out this year... *giddy thoughts*

5) Continue to play Ring Fit. I'm now around about level 150-200 after having started Ring Fit Adventure in March. I've apparently ran about a marathon and a half, which kinda stunned me, but it's these little nuggets that the game hits you with that keeps you going. I have some weight loss goals to hit this year after 2020 sent my weight up beyond a comfortable point (I'm sure I wasn't the only one...) So while I actually went from close to my ideal weight to way above whilst using Ring Fit Adventure, I wonder how much worse it would have been had I not been using it! Despite all that, RFA has definitely kept me fit and, as such, it doesn't feel like that tough a mountain to climb. If I can get my diet right again (which really is the key part here), get back to drinking lots of water again and get back to a good sleeping pattern (which already appears to be happening as of this week), I know I can do it!

6) Support more indie devs on itch.io. It's amazing how many games are on itch.io that we just never hear about. The recent bundle from last year (which was such a generous offer from the devs that really deserves so much praise for raising $8 million for racial justice - incredible!) really reminded me of the ingenuinty of so many devs working on a shoestring budget, and the ability to tell powerful stories without a huge amount of resources. And how so many of these devs take a modest, humble and genuinely helpful approach to their work and in interacting with their communities. So, if I do buy any games outside of Halo, I want to support more indie devs on itch.io.

I want to actually finish a game this year, instead of playing for 10 hours and getting bored.

1. I want to beat more games than buy
2. continue to chip away at the bottomless pit of "classics" that I have yet to play (Last year I beat Papers, Please, FF9, FF4, Shenmue 2, Dishonored 2, Dragon's Dogma, Dead Rising 1, NieR)

Push the backlog down further. That's it.

Give more money to the corporate slime machine that is game-ing and contribute to the validation of crunch culture while never finishing or playing enough of the G-D games I buy woot

@justin258 said:

This is actually really interesting to me.

I recently discovered that I'm likely ADHD (waiting on the diagnosis for confirmation). This only came about after spotting that my partner was likely autistic and encouraging her to go get diagnosed (and she was). This caused us to talk a lot more about neurodivergency and we both kinda realised that... I'm really not neurotypical either! I can go from hyperactive, to getting nothing done, to forgetting things, to getting totally distracted while speaking mid-sentence, totally phasing out, and so on...

One of these traits just so happens to manifest itself as playing loads of games for about 3-5 hours, moving on (with the intention to come back) and never doing so. Sometimes I will. Sometimes it'll be like... a year later. Or, in a couple of cases last year, 5-10 years after my last save, haha! :p

To be honest, I like playing loads of different games that way as that works for my brain but, the reason I say all of this, is because it's interesting that you're dealing with something very similar. Now I'm obviously not saying you're definitely ADHD, or anyone else who does this, but if you do happen to spot other trends in your life like this - where you're struggling to complete things or see things through (which goes beyond games for me too) - then it's worth considering having a look at what people with ADHD say about their experiences. It's not all about being hyperactive (even though it used to be).

Anyway, just thought I'd mention it as the way you describe it is almost exactly how I would have written it!

Funnily enough, on a related gaming-related ADHD note, I was actually previously tested for ADHD when I was 4. The test they used? A puzzle game. If you could do it, you weren't ADHD; if you couldn't, you probably were.

I'm really not making this up.

So little old pre-school me - TOTALLY ALL OVER THE PLACE AND HYPERACTIVE AS F*CK - goes to this specialist diagnostic doctor for ADHD kids, sees the puzzle game, stops jumping about, gets instantly engaged and finishes it. 'Well, Mr and Mrs X, your child cannot possibly be ADHD as a child who is hyperactive could not possibly finish this puzzle game without being distracted.'

'Are you sure, doctor? They are awfully rowdy all of the time.'

'Oh absolutely, Mrs X. There is no way they would be able to finish the game if they were truly ADHD.'

The first video game I owned? Columns.

One of my favourite video gaming achievements? Being in the top 100 leaderboard for Hexic HD.

Last game I beat? Tetris Effect: Connected on expert mode, rather effortlessly, after 3 or so hours of not looking away from the TV.

I literally just got distracted by looking at a light for 10 seconds while writing that last sentence.

It's not flickering or anything.

It's just a light.

Spot the problem. ;)

Pay less attention to The Discourse.

Important note however that I don't mean there should be less, important discussions should continue in and around games.. just that I get mired in it too much to my detriment.

I spent most of 2020 playing games released from previous years via live service games etc. I suspect that this will continue into 2021. Though I'm torn if this is a good thing or not, like yeah having games continue to be updated and supported is fantastic, but the fact that nothing announced is piquing my interest (though there are still games that I know are coming, but not announced that I'm interested in) is probably not a good sign.

Probably won't achieve it this year but: find a less miserable forum on which to post about games. >_<

If anything I could stand to play more games than I did the year previous, but I should probably scale back on JRPGs since I played through way more than I usually do in 2020.

I THINK I'm ready to finally buy a Switch but boy am I put off by the unyielding software cost associated with Nintendo hardware. And that will undoubtedly lead me to breaking my previous statement as there are a number of JRPGs on there I've been wanting to get into.

Also I have finally found a competitive game that I have a genuine desire to improve in and it's.. Mahjong?

Like apparently many others I sort of just felt into a Mahjong hole a few months ago and I've found that it tickles my brain in a way that very few games ever have. So I wanna spend considerable effort in improving my game and seeing how far I can go with it. I'm probably about to read a book about tile efficiency, and almost certainly will end up with an actual Mahjong set that will go unused. Send help.

@mezmero: I don't really think that these forums are that miserable or toxic, especially as gaming forums go and especially recently. Of course people complain and criticize (and some of that is good; relentless positivity is just fanboyism) but a lot of people celebrate what they like about games and Giant Bomb and all the rest of it.

As long as you stay away from flounce threads and 'controversy' threads (gaming or political) I think this is a relatively happy and friendly virtual space!

Actually finish the games that I buy.

Edit 12/31/21: Failed.

My New Years resolution is 2560x1440

I need to start finishing games. I leave so many games unfinished, I'll just buy New Thing and abandon whatever I was playing.

Well typically my gaming resolution is: TO QUIT GAMING. But that never works out. I might do something like 2D side-scrolling games only. That will open me up for that AC:Trilogy, Ori, Scott Pilgrim, and Sonic Mania. I think I will also permit Star Wars games because there are a ton of them in my backlog and I’m fingers crossed on a Jedi Fallen Order 2 (though I’ve only played about 3 hours of the first one). In 2020 I played everything and was just happy to try new games knowing that something would stick and time would pass.

In 2021 I’d really only like to engage with games that have complimentary books, comics, and movies. I’ve gotten into DVD commentary over quarantine and I really like subtlety in games. Things that I would miss. A reason to go back to a property or look up ancillary stuff. Things that will send me on a wikipedia scavenger hunt for real world events. So more Black Ops Cold War and less Gears of War. I spend too much time on insignificant lore stuff that 99% of the population can't relate to. At least if i look up ronald reagan stuff it serves a purpose outside of me and my message board life.

With a 2D-2021 plan I might be interested in getting a Switch but I'm going to need a serious JoyCon overhaul w/lifetime warranty or the home version of Switch that can also play media. At minimum blu-rays. I'm on crack if i expect 4K blu-rays.

this year represented a big year for gaming in my life- not just due to COVID, but also because it was my first full year with a PS4. it was a lot of catch-up. all told, my list of first-time completed games is:

Doom (2016); Nioh; Wolfenstein: The New Order; Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus; Horizon Zero Dawn; Shadow of the Colossus (remaster); Marvel's Spider-Man; God of War; Animal Crossing: New Horizons; The Last of Us (remaster); The Last of Us Part II; Red Dead Redemption II; Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice; NieR:Automata; Deus Ex: Mankind Divided; Remnant: From the Ashes; Bloodborne; Resident Evil (HD remaster); Metal Gear Solid V: The Definitive Experience; Borderlands 3 (kinda sorta; mostly done); PaRappa the Rapper 2; Hades; and i'm just about there with Baldur's Gate.

whew- that's a lot! of that pile, i think the ones i enjoyed most were doom, horizon, hellblade, bloodborne with TLOU2 being the top of the heap for me, and hellblade or HZD being runner-ups.

looking ahead to 2021- i think this year is naturally going to ramp down with HOPEFULLY a return to something resembling pre-COVID life, as well as not having a massive years-long, pent-up list of PS4 exclusives to get through.

i'm new to CRPGs (baldur's gate is my very first), so that'll be my project for the year.

here here! i cosign this fully- members of this community often express how much the GB staff improve their daily lives- well, i derive a ton of positivity from these forums- so a massive thanks and best of luck to everyone on these boards in 2021!

Heh, nice thread idea. Here goes:

1. Go to forums that are informative and civil.
2. Next-gen is bleh-gen without exclusives.
3. Don't turn a game on because stressed, go for a walk then game.
4. Spend more time reading/studying, gaming is fun but time-consuming.

Try more indies as well as big franchises I haven't played. Now that I got Game Pass, no reason no to. There were two games I played in 2020 with the word "Hollow". One I didn't enjoy, Drake Hollow, and the other I absolutely adored, Hollow Knight.

So it's now the end of the year. How did I do?

1) I greatly curtailed my video game spending. Not as much as I should have or could have (especially if you include the $800 PS5 bundle...yipes) but substantially. Giving myself a win on this one.

2) I played more 2021 games in 2021 than 2020 games in 2020. Not quite as much as I would have liked, but more.

3) I played Werewolf: The Apocalpyse -- Earthblood and Balan Wonderland so...uhh...gonna go ahead and take the L on this one.

4) I played the majority of Ratchet & Clank games, I played a lot more Assassin's Creed, and I did some more mini marathons (like all of Psychonauts.) They were fun. I also did other themed marathons that were fun. This was a W.

5) I finished some of these but not all of them. I did NOT finish Inversion. In fact I did not touch my Xbox 360 despite planning to several times. Taking the L.

6) This was a mixed bag. I played a greater number of games on the treadmill but not as much time as I would have liked. A lot of that was due to health issues, though, so I'm going to give myself an incomplete here.

7) I definitely did not play less. This year sucked for me outside of games and I played more video games than ever. Here's hoping for 2022.

Overall I would say that I had some success here and where I was able to follow through on the resolutions it improved my gaming life. Overall the act of making these resolutions and trying to stick to them was positive even if I didn't fulfill every one to my liking.

I'm just going to start off with I like this thread with the comparing goals as they were written a year ago and checking back in.

Personally, I did not have any specific gaming goals for the year, but I did keep a list of the games I completed from the Fall of 2020 to roughly Fall 2021. Even though I always have a backlog kind of in the back of my mind, I've always found it more motivating to just list games you complete as far as motivating myself to keep plugging away. I ended up completing 43 games during that period and only 5ish of those were 2021 releases, so 30+ games off my "backlog" in a year, greatly helped by the pandemic situation.

But, I still have a backlog.... or at least feel like I do.

So I guess my gaming resolution for 2022 is to play less, but just be more selective. Some of those games I completed in the past year were absolute bangers to me ( RDR2, Subnautica, Ori TWotW, Outer Wilds, Disco Elysium, and Hollow Knight Dream No More Ending), but a lot were just filler.

As dark as things seem currently with Omicron, I hope the worst of Covid is behind us, and I really don't want to play 40+ games this upcoming year if I am being honest. I am vaxxed, boosted, and live by myself so I just want for things to open up more so I can get back out there. I know risk calculus is different if you are older or have a family but I am not in that boat.

Also, I love the treadmill gaming setup. I have a Peleton set up in front of a TV. I want to use it more this year and binge some stuff on Disney+ or HBO Max I may have missed out on.

Good job by you!

Edit: FWIW here is what I completed from November 2020 to 2021 in a year:

1. Assassin's Creed 4 Black Flag
2. Resident Evil 2 Remake - Leon
3. Call of the Sea
4. Dishonored 2 - Emily
5. Ghost of Tsushima
6. Assassin's Creed Syndicate
7. Astro's Playroom
8. 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim
9. Ori And The Will Of The Wisps
10. The Last of Us Part II
11. Assassin's Creed Odyssey
12. Tetris Effect - Journey Mode
13. Outer Wilds
14. Return of the Obra Dinn
15. Gears 5
16. Control
17. Shadow Complex Remastered
18. Dishonored: Death of the Outsider
19. Hitman 2
20. Red Dead Redemption 2
21. Disco Elysium
22. Yakuza 0
23. Resident Evil Village
24. God of War
25. Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart
26. Subnautica
27. Guacamelee!
28. Fallout: New Vegas
29. Blasphemous
30. Demon's Souls Remake
31. Spider-Man Miles Morales
32. Aragami
33. Hades (x10)
34. 12 Minutes
35. Death's Door
36. Shadow of the Tomb Raider
37. Steamworld Dig 2
38. Yoku's Island Express
39. A Plague Tale: Innocence
40. Hollow Knight (Dream No More ending)
41. Metro 2033 Redux
42. Castlevania: Circle of the Moon (Advance Collection)
43. Dragon Age 2