2024 Gaming Resolutions

[Old_Hunter_77]

Let's do our New Years resolutions for 2024. This could be games we finally intend to finish, trophies/achievements we finally mean to conquer, games we are ready to let go, series or developers we want to focus on, documentaries we want to check out, new genres to check out, whatever.

It's a good time to think about this because:
- New Year, obvy
- 2024 is going to be a clusterf*** in our world and gaming is the best distraction/escape
- 2023 was a hell of a year for gaming. In fact I suspect the most common gaming resolution will be to get around to or finish games they just couldn't in 2023, especially for those that play on multiple platforms. I mean imagine trying to play Tears of the Kingdom, Baldur's Gate 3, Alan Wake 2, and Spiderman 2 all in one year- let alone the various remakes, indies, and updates. Crazy.

Ok so for me, my resolution is actually to narrow and lessen my gaming scope. It is simply a personal response to last year.
As I get older I have increasingly more specific tastes and less patience for frustration, not-fun, and time-wasting. This could apply to game elements I think are just bad, like long loading screens, and game elements that aren't bad just not something I enjoy, like turn-based combat.

I bought and played some games in 2023 that were outside of my comfort zone. I don't regret that because I got to try new stuff and learn about and appreciate amazing art and technology, but that's also fiscally irresponsible. It also made since in the insane and beautiful year of 2023.
I played a fighting game, of all things, Street Fighter 6, and lol I can't be playing fighting games come on- but it was cool, but I'm not going to do such things any more.
I tried Baldur's Gate 3 despite not being able to deal with Divinity Original Sin 2 or Dragon's Dogma, like wtf was I thinking- but I'm glad I got to see just a taste of all the love folks had for it.
I actually completed the campaign for Diablo 4 and while I mostly liked it it just confirmed that aArpgs get dull for me no matter the stats and powers.

So.. in 2023 I'm only going to play the games I'm really excited to play. I'm going to trust my instincts- I can see some trailer or review or whatever and know immediately if I'll be into it.

My related sub-resolution is to stop re-trying games I quit on. Hollow Knight, Dragon's Dogma, Outer Wilds, anything by Lorian... look man, I can just appreciate their technical brilliance, uniqueness, and how for some people this is like their greatest art. But I can't deal with them and that's ok.

Basically it's about trusting my instincts.


The only AAA game I have any hype for... and it's moderate.. is FF7 Rebirth because I liked Remake, but never played original so to me it's just another sequel. I will wait for PC version though so I can play on Steam Deck, I've just moved all my gaming to that device now. That will also give time for reviewers to tell me how much I should care about it. So if I don't play this game until 2025 or 2026... or at all... that's fine.

My massive disappointment in Assassin's Creed: Mirage has murdered my enthusiasm for Red. I still like my historical parkour but I'm gonna wait until many reviewers tell me if the parkour is even good before I decide to wait for a discount or not. It will be the first AC game I don't automatically play on release.

And that's it for AAA. My indy hype are:
- Plucky Squire. Unfortunately, no release date, but it looks so great
- Tales of Kenzara: Zau. The game directed by Abubakir Salim. Afro-sci-fi metroidvania? Hell yeah. But I gotta wait for some reviews in case it turns out that the gameplay and pacing don't match the promise- this is a big reason I fall off games.
- Ultros. Same as above- looks like 100% what I want in a game but gotta wait for some feedback.
- Starstruck Vagabond. This is Yahtzee Crawshaw doing a Stardew Valley in space and as a fan/supporter of all of these things, how can I go wrong.

Edit: just realized Prince of Persia won't be available on Steam Deck due to Ubisoft and Epic and all that crap. Oh well.
Second edit to add that this doesn't include stuff on deep discounts and/or using Steam's refund policy to try stuff out. Cheap/free anything doesn't need resolutions.

 

[Chimpzy]

Don't really have any resolutions aside from keeping the backlog from bloating again. I'll be taking things as they come.

 

[BrawlMan]

• More unique brawlers coming out this year. I'm kind of already getting my wish though.
• As always: better working conditions for people developing the games. No matter the sector, but the AAA sector especially.
• Voice actors getting paid more.
• I doubt this, but I'm hoping the AAA section actually tones it down on the budget and not overspend. I am mainly referring to Sony in this case, since those leaks happened, but there's plenty of other companies to like Microsoft and Activision.

 

[Piscian]

hmm

I'm always happy if I can get a few games completed a year. Its kinda pathetic, but my ADHD, OCD issues make it so I rarely sit and play a game for more than an hour. I'm just not one of those dudes who will ever beat a game in a weekend.

So I think my resolutions are more about improving my use of my library. In other words I

1. want to get back in multiplayer gaming, I do not play online at all since I quit Counter-strike. I'm just struggling to get off my butt and go find a play group
2. I have a really fancy VR rig my work gave me. I've got a Metaquest pro with the goggle adapter to make it consumer friendly. I started playing with it a bit, bnut I have a ton of games I havent even tried.
3. I want to get into VR chat. I watch videos online and it seems like its starting to really take off as the next social media platform. Somebody has already developed an MMO ingame and theres a ton of multiplayer games built into the worlds you can visit. Only think that sucks is that you gotta play for a couple months before you can make your first avatar and then I immediately quit because of all the trolls in the starting worlds are aaf so I didn't take the time to go through tutorials for how all the buttons work.

Aside from that I just have a few things on my 2do list. I'm gonan finish Cyberpunk Phantom Liberty. I forgot once you get close to the end game of the vanilla a bunch of new quests open up so now I'm going through all those plus the new relationship stuff.

Then I bought

Halo: The Master Chief Collection
Crysis Remastered
Crysis 2 Remastered
Crysis 3 Remastered
Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition
Divinity: Original Sin 2 Launch
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition
Half-Life: Alyx
Labyrinthine
Baldur's Gate 3
Resident Evil 4
Cult of the Lamb

So I'd like to at least finish a couple of those this year. Half-Life: Alyx I might play through this weekend.

 

[Old_Hunter_77]

hmm

I'm always happy if I can get a few games completed a year. Its kinda pathetic, but my ADHD, OCD issues make it so I rarely sit and play a game for more than an hour. I'm just not one of those dudes who will ever beat a game in a weekend.

So I think my resolutions are more about improving my use of my library. In other words I

1. want to get back in multiplayer gaming, I do not play online at all since I quit Counter-strike. I'm just struggling to get off my butt and go find a play group
2. I have a really fancy VR rig my work gave me. I've got a Metaquest pro with the goggle adapter to make it consumer friendly. I started playing with it a bit, bnut I have a ton of games I havent even tried.
3. I want to get into VR chat. I watch videos online and it seems like its starting to really take off as the next social media platform. Somebody has already developed an MMO ingame and theres a ton of multiplayer games built into the worlds you can visit. Only think that sucks is that you gotta play for a couple months before you can make your first avatar and then I immediately quit because of all the trolls in the starting worlds are aaf so I didn't take the time to go through tutorials for how all the buttons work.

Aside from that I just have a few things on my 2do list. I'm gonan finish Cyberpunk Phantom Liberty. I forgot once you get close to the end game of the vanilla a bunch of new quests open up so now I'm going through all those plus the new relationship stuff.

Then I bought

Halo: The Master Chief Collection
Crysis Remastered
Crysis 2 Remastered
Crysis 3 Remastered
Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition
Divinity: Original Sin 2 Launch
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition
Half-Life: Alyx
Labyrinthine
Baldur's Gate 3
Resident Evil 4
Cult of the Lamb

So I'd like to at least finish a couple of those this year. Half-Life: Alyx I might play through this weekend.

Interesting ones! The VR thing.. let us know how that goes.

On the finishing games front, you have some really long games on the list there. I mean the three Larians alone is ambitious for even the most hardcore rpg gamers.

 

[Zykon TheLich]

Somewhat like OP, stop buying stuff I'm only vaguely curious about on steam because it's cheap in a sale, I'm bored and there's nothing else that really interests me.

If it's been out for years and I've not been interested in playing it before, I am at best going to play it for a couple of hours and then give up, chances are it'll be 15 minutes or never installed. I know what really interests me and it's not much, I have to remember stick to those games.

Stop playing Total Warhammer 2. It's a massive time sink I've played to death but can still go through in a trance without really engaging.

Edit: although, looking at my purchases for last year, I bought;

Dead Island & Riptide, played about an hour

Boltgun and played until the warp puzzle level, which I expected as I hate old school puzzle levels.

Crown of solasta DLC, which I never played as I found out the DLC campaigns don't follow on from the main, you start fresh.

So yeah, didn't buy much at all last year, and didn't get much play out of what little I did buy.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

Joining the 'don't buy games unless you were already excited for them' train, which for me is Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door on Switch, and if they happen to come out this year, Deltarune and Hollow Knight: Silksong. That should also give me time to finish a lot more of my backlog, maybe even some doorstoppers like Baldur's Gate 3 or Red Dead Redemption 2.

Other than that, I'm definitely going to try and finish all the quests in Old School Runescape this year.

 

[Catfood220]

Probably the same as every year. Not to add to my baclog and actually clear some of it. Thankfully it seems that isn't much coming out that interests me. Final Fantasy 7-2 and the Paper Mario 2 remake if that comes out this year. Though if Baldurs Gate 3 and Sea of Stars get physical releases then all bets are off. Oh, also Persona 3 Reloaded is out too.

So that resolution is probably going to fail.

Hmmmmm, ok, my resolution is to get the Marvels Midnight Suns platinum trophy. That shouldn't be too hard.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

Really gotta stop binging games till 4AM. Obviously not great for me healthwise, but I think also burns me out quite quickly on the game itself.

 

[hanselthecaretaker2]

Probably going to do another “no new games” year since I have a burgeoning backlog waiting in the wings. I purchased a couple games on the Steam Winter Sale; one of which I just started last night. The most I can foresee getting would be the ER expansion of it actually releases this year.

 

[XsjadoBlaydette]

need to shake off the habit of always having a podcast on no matter what the game. Mainly cause if it becomes clear the narrative and/or atmosphere is worth listening to, it gets shelved for later more focused return (the podcasts will not be compromised, they will win priority every time even over having to save a loved one's life). So a whole load of quality stories remain as of yet unfinished. Abandoned. Unloved. Unfed. Making me feel all guilty and shit. They don't even need sustenance, why do their ghostly cries of hunger still persist every night??

Did experiment with a seemingly foolproof system for Spiderman 2 to merely pause when dialogue begins playing. A wisened connoisseur of the arts may already be able to guess where the buckling of this particular plan started to occur. To be clear, Is not a criticism or personal bugbear: but it never shuts the fuck up. So that plan was doomed before it started, lol. No shade intended, still great game of course. Just an unstoppable spidergame meeting an immovable podcast compulsion.

 

[Summerstorm]

Hm, a bit late to the thread and also not really a resolution, BUT:

I need to re-learn having fun with games again. I just can't find and enjoy a game (With an exception here and there). For years now it's getting worse. I am often just watching a damn playthrough by someone else on Youtube while playing an easy content-less game on the side. This goes to watching movies and reading books as well (Two other hobbies i had, but just can't invest time in anymore)

I really need to get my shit together, pick a damn game and play it. It's weird if i don't have the energy left to baseline procrastinate with a damn game anymore.

Also: Need to get my designing and programming back up. Just a tiny un-ambitious one man project... come on.... Not that hard.

 

[hanselthecaretaker2]

Hm, a bit late to the thread and also not really a resolution, BUT:

I need to re-learn having fun with games again. I just can't find and enjoy a game (With an exception here and there). For years now it's getting worse. I am often just watching a damn playthrough by someone else on Youtube while playing an easy content-less game on the side. This goes to watching movies and reading books as well (Two other hobbies i had, but just can't invest time in anymore)

I really need to get my shit together, pick a damn game and play it. It's weird if i don't have the energy left to baseline procrastinate with a damn game anymore.

Also: Need to get my designing and programming back up. Just a tiny un-ambitious one man project... come on.... Not that hard.

What kind of games were you playing before, and what was your project based on?

 

[Old_Hunter_77]

need to shake off the habit of always having a podcast on no matter what the game. Mainly cause if it becomes clear the narrative and/or atmosphere is worth listening to, it gets shelved for later more focused return (the podcasts will not be compromised, they will win priority every time even over having to save a loved one's life). So a whole load of quality stories remain as of yet unfinished. Abandoned. Unloved. Unfed. Making me feel all guilty and shit. They don't even need sustenance, why do their ghostly cries of hunger still persist every night??

Did experiment with a seemingly foolproof system for Spiderman 2 to merely pause when dialogue begins playing. A wisened connoisseur of the arts may already be able to guess where the buckling of this particular plan started to occur. To be clear, Is not a criticism or personal bugbear: but it never shuts the fuck up. So that plan was doomed before it started, lol. No shade intended, still great game of course. Just an unstoppable spidergame meeting an immovable podcast compulsion.

I think one reason I have enjoyed some of the big open world games including the dreaded Ubisoft ones is that I can either focus on the story and important missions or put on a podcast and grind bandit camps or collectibles or trophies.
I lately have been trying to find something for the latter but I have no more patience or interest in that anyway.

 

[Xprimentyl]

I will beat Elden Ring. Finally made it to the Mountaintop of the Giants, so already have progressed further than I thought I would given the utter despair the game made me constantly feel earlier on. At one point, I'd come to the resolution that I might eventually quit, but coming this close leads me to believe I can do it. Now, I just need to find the time to play it. One hour a few times a week isn't a lot for a game that demands a lot of time, but also explains how I've +120 hours in after playing this game exclusively for over a year.

 

[hanselthecaretaker2]

I will beat Elden Ring. Finally made it to the Mountaintop of the Giants, so already have progressed further than I thought I would given the utter despair the game made me constantly feel earlier on. At one point, I'd come to the resolution that I might eventually quit, but coming this close leads me to believe I can do it. Now, I just need to find the time to play it. One hour a few times a week isn't a lot for a game that demands a lot of time, but also explains how I've +120 hours in after playing this game exclusively for over a year.

If it makes you feel any better, you don’t need to fight Malenia to beat the game! The downside is, Elden Beast is a giant bloopy prick. There is a safe way of fighting it though.

 

[BrawlMan]

Hm, a bit late to the thread and also not really a resolution, BUT:

I need to re-learn having fun with games again. I just can't find and enjoy a game (With an exception here and there). For years now it's getting worse. I am often just watching a damn playthrough by someone else on Youtube while playing an easy content-less game on the side. This goes to watching movies and reading books as well (Two other hobbies i had, but just can't invest time in anymore)

I really need to get my shit together, pick a damn game and play it. It's weird if i don't have the energy left to baseline procrastinate with a damn game anymore.

Also: Need to get my designing and programming back up. Just a tiny un-ambitious one man project... come on.... Not that hard.

If you need help with any video game recommendations. Feel free to come to me anytime.

 

[Xprimentyl]

If it makes you feel any better, you don’t need to fight Malenia to beat the game! The downside is, Elden Beast is a giant bloopy prick. There is a safe way of fighting it though.

Oh, Malenia is already off the table. Has been for months. If I understand correctly, you can beat the Elden Beast to "beat" the game, but can continue playing in the same game cycle afterwards, so I might give her (and other optional bosses I've opted out of for the sake of my sanity) after I "beat" the game.

 

[hanselthecaretaker2]

Oh, Malenia is already off the table. Has been for months. If I understand correctly, you can beat the Elden Beast to "beat" the game, but can continue playing in the same game cycle afterwards, so I might give her (and other optional bosses I've opted out of for the sake of my sanity) after I "beat" the game.

Yeah like past games, you have to activate the actual ending by interacting with the titular object. This is also the time to make USB backup to save scum any endings you’ve met the conditions for.

Plus once you beat the beast you can make a weapon from its remembrance that makes farming runes a breeze to bulk up on levels and gear the fight the others. Have you been to the subterranean blood pool area yet?

 

[Zykon TheLich]

Hm, a bit late to the thread and also not really a resolution, BUT:

I need to re-learn having fun with games again. I just can't find and enjoy a game (With an exception here and there). For years now it's getting worse. I am often just watching a damn playthrough by someone else on Youtube while playing an easy content-less game on the side. This goes to watching movies and reading books as well (Two other hobbies i had, but just can't invest time in anymore)

I really need to get my shit together, pick a damn game and play it. It's weird if i don't have the energy left to baseline procrastinate with a damn game anymore.

Also: Need to get my designing and programming back up. Just a tiny un-ambitious one man project... come on.... Not that hard.

Have you tried doing something else? It's perfectly natural to get bored of things and go on to something else over time. I haven't watched TV or film for years barring the odd exception and my gaming has fallen off significantly. There's not much I enjoy, I can't force it and "learn" to enjoy them, so I do other things.