Topic: Gaming Resolutions for the New Year of 2026

@Werehog I wonder how you'll react to Claire's campaign compared to Leon's. I think Claire's is a lot more emotionally driven, so I think you might appreciate that as a fan of narrative. I suppose it won't be all too long before we find out!

I wonder if, with the upcoming Layton game releasing multi-platform, I'll be able to get you to try it mayhaps. That does rely on me playing it and enjoying it myself, which I have doubts on. Not because I necessarily doubt the quality of the upcoming game, because Level-5 has proven time and time again they know how to return to a franchise even years later. More so because I'm not a fan of puzzles at all, and even back with my father I let him do all that work. Now, without a safety blanket to use his brains for my sake, I'll be asked to do all the thinking! Blast! If I end up enjoying it though, I'll be sure to start pitching it to you. I somehow think that if you're a fan of Ace Attorney, there's a higher chance you might enjoy Layton than you maybe believe. They had a cross-over for a reason after all!

The 3DS lost the little plastic over the, um. I don't know what it's called in 3DS terms. Not the D-pad, but the little joystick equivalent. It has made it incredibly easy to hold multiple directions at the same time. By all accounts, it's not that hard to fix, but we're gonna have to find someone to do it for us as technically challenged fellows. Though I gander my roommate would rather disagree with that statement. Let's hope he's not reading along despite having shown (concerningly) increasing interest in my forum semantics...

That classic Star Wars racer is from all the way back in N64 times?! I must've thought the PS2 sequel was the classic and just ignored that it was a follow-up, even if the reception on that specific one is mixed. Clearly some kind of mix-up happened to me here. Either way, it sounds like an entry into the racer genre is long overdue here! Makes me happy then that the previews have been surprisingly positive so far. You deserve for it to scratch that itch after all these years!

Well, I will continue to advocate for a Star Ocean playthrough this year, though I will apologise in advance to your friend if my advocating ends up in a second, irrecoverable heartbreak for him. I'm sure he can only take so much of you not ''getting'' his favourites! It seems equally painful to me knowing that I don't think it's often you truly hate a game, but I guess that's the danger with going out of one's comfort zone.

@Tjuz Heh, I'm halfway through my Claire B run as I type (well, I'm not actually playing it and typing at the same time, that'd be quite the skill, but you know what I mean) and honestly, I'm kinda wishing that I'd started with her because you're right, her story covers a lot more integral ground. Ada lifts right out by comparison. While I know that this will be different in the remake, I'm also disappointed that Leon never met Mr. X in my A story, especially after watching Requiem earlier in the year. They belong together!

Same as we're saying with our Fantasy Critic picks, I'm always happy to have my arm twisted by a trusted endorsement, so I'll never say never about the Professor Layton series. I really hope the new game is a hit for you, and that the puzzles aren't too prohibitive. Whisper it quietly, but we do have online strategy guides, YouTube let's plays, and Google on our side nowadays! There's no shame in quickly getting yourself un-stuck and maintaining momentum, even when solving puzzles is part of the point. There'll be a story to get invested in, after all, and I'm sure some guides will be written in such a way as to gently point you in the direction of a solution, rather than just saying, "It's three. The answer is three."

Wait, if losing the joystick's plastic has "made it incredibly easy to hold multiple directions at the same time" then forgive the potentially dumb question, but why would you wanna fix it? Sounds like the kinda fault which might actually be an advantage, depending on the game!

[smiles and waves at Tjuz's roommate]

Don't worry, there's a lot of Star Wars (almost too much) and it's real easy to get mixed up. Especially looking back to an era where presumably, you weren't part of an online community like Push Square, where people would advocate specific games to make them stand out. It's the same with a lot of things, but my Star Ocean friend doesn't like Star Wars and we both agree it's because he simply missed the boat, and now he's too old to "get" it (despite my best efforts). Which is how I was then able to explain why I didn't "get" Final Fantasy VII and you bet I have that excuse locked and loaded for Star Ocean, too!

@Werehog Leon never meets Mr. X in run A of the original?! That's crazy! I've only done Leon B in the remake, and he was still constantly there haunting me through the halls of RPD along with multiple appearances later in the game. How come that he doesn't show up for you in the original? Is Mr. X exclusive to run B for some reason? I think both Leon and Claire had quite the fill of him by the end of it all in the remake! But yeah, as much as I do love Ada as a character, she's definitely the more irrelevant side character in 2. Sherry is a lot more central to the story of the main players, even if you might not love having a child to accompany you. I suppose that, at the very least, your runs of the game are ending on a strong note if you're resonating more with Clarie's campaign!

Haha, Layton does actually employ an internal hint system. I'm not sure what the limitations on it are again, but I think you can have a maximum of five hints per puzzle if the need arises. If even my father had to make use of them here and there, I can't imagine how much I'll be struggling! He's way more clever in puzzles than me after all. Maybe my hope can be that in the current day and age, it'll be more simplified. Seems like puzzle games today hardly go for the hard as nails route, so maybe that'll be to my benefit here. And otherwise, like you said, I'll have plenty of Googling to do if I start getting frustrated! Hopefully the narrative will end up carrying it for me, as I have fond memories of the Steampunk aesthetics of the original games as well as the central relationship between Layton and Luke.

In all fairness, I haven't actually played with the 3DS, but if my roommate's experience with this malfunction is anything to go by... it was more so hard to control than any real advantage. It's not that the character could just move like a character with noclip on after all, but rather that they game simply didn't know which direction you wanted to go at all times and seemingly decided at random! I can imagine how that'd get extremely frustrating. Especially if you're playing something that requires a semblance of precision. Though, last I heard, he was playing Animal Crossing: New Leaf, so that hardly seems like the type of game where that'd the biggest obstacle. Oh no, I walked slightly to the left on this grass field of nothingness towards my favourite elephant instead of to the right where my pheasant is living!

It appears I might be rather close to your friend in terms of having enjoyed Star Ocean while not enjoying Star Wars. I'll give you Andor and that's about it! I will simply have to hope that Star Ocean will end up being your version of Andor rather than The Mandalorian....

@Tjuz Nope. In the original, Mr. X is exclusive to the B run, as an extra way of spicing things up. He also gets his own exclusive pre-rendered introductory cutscene, in which he's dropped from a helicopter. I have now seen how the remake introduces him (more on that elsewhere) and it's a lot different, but I think it also relies on the player's pre-existing knowledge of him. He's much more of an integrated "event" in the original, to the point where I really wanna go back and check out Claire A, Leon B someday.

Oh, then spam hints! Unless doing so disables trophies or anything. You're right, while I think there might be market for intentionally tough puzzle games, they're few and far between when compared to more accessible fare. I can't see something as broad, beloved and celebrated as Professor Layton turning around and becoming the puzzle equivalent of Dark Souls. Looking forward to your thoughts!

Gotcha. I had a controller do that to me once, I think it was on the MegaDrive. Up was left, left was down, and I think maybe even the A-B-C buttons got confused, too. Poor thing! Although I'd argue that accurate controls are even more essential in an Animal Crossing game. What if that pheasant had an important fashion request? Or you blanked them on their birthday?! It's way too easy to get emotionally invested in those games, as I know all too well. I'm genuinely worried about that pheasant now!

@Werehog I had no clue! I'm not sure if I prefer the idea of him landing out of a helicopter or the more jump-scare effect the remake did. Either way, I think it's very cool that they still kept the helicopter intact as a nod to how he was introduced in the classic. No doubt that was intentional on their part! I think you've said you'd already seen the game played before trying to remake yourself, but if you hadn't, I'm sure that would've been a fun, big moment that subverted your expectations. How do you mean that he was more of an integrated event in the original? More so that he had set moments at which he would appear rather than the stalker-like behaviour he has in the remake? I always thought he was the original stalker enemy of the franchise, but I guess that could've been meant to a lesser degree than the way he's presented in the remake.

Ha! That just made me realise that with the Layton game being multi-platform, it'll be the first ever in the franchise to actually have trophies or the other platforms' equivalent. What is it even for Xbox? Gamerscore or some ridiculous thing? To this day, Nintendo still doesn't have any unified achievement system like Sony or Steam does. Crazy to think about that with how integrated trophy hunting has become for some, including for yourself in certain games! Nintendo will always be doing their own thing with zero apologies to anyone who disagrees. Honestly, that's kind of why I love them as a company despite not being too integrated into the Nintendo ecosystem myself. They always just seem so interesting, even if they give off a bit of a "not like the other girls" energy at times!

What important fashion request could a pheasant possibly ever have?! A nice coat for the winter? Hopefully not specifically a fur coat. That might not go over well with the furry animals in the village. It sounds like your MegaDrive controller experience was essentially inverted controls with extra steps. I'm just glad you didn't get used to it eventually and then wonder later on why games aren't controlling properly. I say that like I speak from experience, because I do. Imagine little ol' me playing Minecraft for the first time, just pressing random settings because I didn't understand English well and starting the game. Turned out I put on inverted controls! Had me stumped when I eventually moved onto other games and up wasn't down, but actually just up. What's going on?! Anyway, I have now mentally moved onto my hate for peacocks with all the animal mentions, but I will spare you the tangent on why peacocks are the worst. I just needed it to be known!

@Tjuz There's a lot of clever remixing going on, symbolism and references I simply wouldn't have been able to appreciate when I watched the remake before. But no, in the original, Mr. X is way more scripted. He will still chase you after said moments, but if you make it through a door, he won't follow, and you'll have to wait until you reach the next trigger to see him again. Funnily enough, it's the Nemesis in the original Resi 3 who works a lot more like Remake X. He's a legit stalker, who will chase you through multiple doors and if you backtrack, you'll invariably find him hunting in the vicinity of where you saw him last. I don't think you'll ever randomly find Mr. X wandering around the Police Station in the original Resi 2.

Also, just to remember which topic we're currently chatting in, my completion of the Resi 2 remake means that I have now successfully attained one of my 2026 gaming resolutions! That's four Resi games down (and I suspect there'll be more to go before the year is done, too)! My thanks to the Deus Ex series for its noble sacrifice in pursuit of this particular resolution.

For better or worse, Nintendo being Nintendo and doing Nintendo things will always be a core part of their identity and, if nothing else, it gives me mad respect for 'em. Your "not like the other girls" analogy is very apt, and I totally agree! I do appreciate how some multi-platform developers integrate in-game achievement lists, as a sub-menu or bonus screen somewhere, so that Switch players can follow along with their PlayStation and Xbox counterparts. The Ace Attorney remasters I'm working through are a great example of this, and it's a neat extra mile. As for whatever Xbox players get, I thought it was Mountain Dew coupons?

How should I know, I'm not a pheasant...?! Which is why you have to walk over and ask him! Having seen some of the existential rants villagers can go on in the latest Animal Crossing game, I fear bringing up the idea of fur coats might lead to island anarchy. Best we bury this subject before I get curious and ask you about peacocks. We keep storing up these stories for rainy days!

Ah, so you're not a fan of inverted controls, then? I know it's an issue some folks get very particular about, and they'll riot if a game doesn't include an invert option. At least Minecraft should keep 'em happy but yes, the smoother a formative experience, the better... so, how the heck did we ever make it, eh...?!

Well, I can proudly proclaim that my gaming resolutions for this year have all been completed as of... June. Lol. So I'm announcing this some time after I finished.

@Nep-Nep-Freak wow congrats
Still working on mine

@Werehog I guess the stalker behaviour of Nemesis is genuinely what the developers of 2 originally tried to go for then, but maybe couldn't due to technical/experience limitations. I have to imagine the reimagining of the remake then led them to go back to the original vision now that the opportunity was there! Whether that's for better or worse, as I mentioned in the other thread.

Deus Ex will simply have to wait for 2027 for its turn! Unless you're magically uninterested in the whole franchise by then. I haven't played any of those games myself, but I do think the Resident Evil games are probably a lot more bingeable. Especially since most of them are probably a lot more bite-sized compared to Deus Ex. I guess the fact that there's quite a few more of them, especially when going between classics and remakes, makes up for that difference. I wonder how far you'll end up getting into the franchise by the end of the year! Will you be finished with everything from the main-line games and be ready to jump into the Code Veronica remake? We'll have to see how your interest holds up throughout the year! If you're anything like me, I think that's going to be the case.

I bet Xbox users wish they got Mountain Dew coupons! Anything at all would be an improvement over the current state of the console it feels like. I guess they do have the advantage of Microsoft Points or whatever, which I think can be accumulated by achievements and then turned into discounts/purchases of other Microsoft products. Assuming that whole system is even still ongoing, since I haven't heard about people getting free stuff through that for quite a while. You're... not a pheasant? I've clearly been mistaken. I'll update my knowledge base accordingly. My apologies for ever assuming you'd be so well-versed in pheasant culture! I know realise my mistake that you're actually... I was going to say hedgehog, but I don't think that's what Tails is supposed to be as shown in your profile picture. A fox? It must be a fox. Does that make Tails the only non-hedgehog of the main cast? I have to assume Shadow and Knuckles are hedgehogs. Why is Tails a fox? Is it 'cause she's a girl and girls are foxes? But... isn't Amy a hedgehog? Uh... nope. Going too far down the Sonic hole again. Damn it! I told myself I'm not doing this again! Is Tails even a girl?!

@Tjuz In an effort to keep other ongoing discussions tidy, I'm gonna spin off some of our Sonic chat into its own dedicated topic. Apologies in advance if doing so breaks your flow!

My plan will be to return to Deus Ex as a resolution for next year, yes. I was thinking about this the other day. While I might have more success in sticking with Resi and making a resolution like, "carry on and finish the series" or whatever, the spirit of the resolution was to start a series I had yet to play. I'm well on my way to being a paid-up Resi fanboi now, so methinks it won't mean as much.

Thanks to you pointing out that most Resi games might be shorter than Deus Ex, I'm now feeling guilty and thinking I should sub in more Resi games! Although you're probably right, I'm likely to carry on playing as many as I can regardless, so moving the goalposts feels unnecessary. After chatting with the Lieutenant about Code: Veronica recently, I think I'd like to experience the original before the remake, same as I've been doing with the rest of the series, so I'm not sure I'll be ready in time. There are other things I wanna play (and other resolutions to complete)! It'll also give me an opportunity to watch the Code: Veronica remake first. Like you said in the other topic, doing that will make it less scary!

Weren't we supposed to be getting some new rewards scheme on PlayStation, too? Or has it been deemed too generous for our brave new all-digital future?

Hey, I'd be honoured to be a pheasant, pheasants are awesome! [insert "bird brain" joke here]

@Werehog The last thing I wanted to do was add guilt to you already switching out a resolution! Like you said though, at the current pace you're going, I'm sure you'll end up doing your resolution proud nonetheless. Maybe there'll be no need to finish the series by next year, unless you want to cheaply fulfill that resolution with only Resident Evil: Code Veronica Remake. I'd never accuse you of being cheap, however! Let's hope you end up getting around to Deus Ex next year and still do your 2025 self proud. It always seemed like the type of games you'd be very much into to me, so I have a feeling you won't be able to go wrong. Ditto, probably, but that means I'd have to play the original first! And, well... I am definitely a bit more allergic to old-school gaming than you are, I am unhappy to admit.

No clue on the rewards scheme for PlayStation! Unless we want to call the loss of physical discs a reward for digital-only players? In that case, you missed it!

@Tjuz I'm sorry to report that I'll be taking a break from the Resi series, at least in the immediate. I need to focus on one of my other resolutions next month, so I doubt I'll be up-to-speed before the year is out, but who knows? Maybe I'll sneak one more in before the year is out.

The original Deus Ex is supposed to be getting remastered at some point. It got delayed after its updated visuals were criticised by fans, so perhaps it'll come back swinging with a super-pretty lick of paint, and I'm sure its controls will feel a lot better, too. Not to put any pressure on you to join me in trying out the series, of course, but more just so you know in case you were tempted. I probably won't double dip unless the reviews are solid, as I already have the recent PS2 Classic re-release.

Shh!! Don't you know it's dangerous to joke about our brave new all-digital future?! Have you never been on the internet in the midst of a controversy before?! You're crazy!!

@Werehog You deserve a little break on the series after mainlining through them for a bit! Emphasis on little. We Resi fans are a demanding bunch! Either way, I'll be eagerly awaiting your return to the series for whenever it ends up scheduled. What gaming resolution are you going to focus on next for the time being?

Oh, I'd heard about that remaster, but I didn't realise it got delayed/canned. This sounds like the type of thing that would occur only for the project to never be heard of again. There's no pressure on joining you whatsoever. If anything, I appreciate the little push in that direction I might get from seeing you start the series! It has been a series I've wanted to give a whirl for a long time all the same, so if you can motivate me just by activating my jealousy, that's a net positive in my books. Don't mind the Hollywood accounting in there.

Ah, I see the pitchforks coming my way. I should've known better than to joke about the digital overlords! Please, do tell that one camp instructor from a decade ago I loved him. He deserves to know. Though.. are they coming your way too? You bought.... gasp... a digital collection of re-releases for Deus Ex? Oh, no. Run.

@Tjuz Imma make Final Fantasy XV Royal Edition my big September game. It's been sitting on my PS5's hard drive for long enough now, and it's taking up over 100Gb, so even if it wasn't a resolution, my OCD wants it gone. Then I'll hopefully be free for Star Wars: Galactic Racer in October.

How are your resolutions progressing? Got any updated plans of attack?

Yeah, methinks it might have gone the way of the dodo, but there's always hope, not least because I have tried to play the PS2 port of the original Deus Ex twice before, only to fall off it after making various amounts of progress. Hey, whatever works, right? I'll be sure to tag you with lots of gorgeous and enticing screencaps of its, er... its... grey, bleak, dystopian filth... hmm. I see a flaw in this plan.

Oh, God. I did an' all. I don't own a single physical copy of a Deus Ex game. Well, that's that, then!

@Werehog Well, if there's ever one thing OCD will be useful for, it's giving you that extra push to play a game for disc space purposes! Not that I can say I struggle with OCD, but I've felt a similar motivation for those reasons previously. I was about to say you're crazy for thinking you'd be ready in time for Galactic Racer, but a little search on HowLongToBeat shows me FFXV isn't as long as I imagined. That must be the behemoth that is Baldur's Gate 3 now forever tainting my expectations of RPG lengths. You got this! But more importantly, I hope this time around it'll be worth it and not break your friend's heart in the process.

As for a short summary of my resolution progress, I'm up to 15/30 games finished for the year, which is definitely behind... Making some progress as we speak with the currently 2/8 2026 games, having started Star Wars: Zero Company. I'll have to really focus on that one through to the end of the year to get anywhere close! I've started Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and am about 20 hours in, which was my big RPG commitment for the year before Baldur's Gate 3 came swinging in. Aaand... I've reached the three PS3-era games or older with my recent completion of Catherine: Full Body. Good enough progress for the last two months, I'd say! For now, I imagine I'll largely be switching between Star Wars: Zero Company and Xenoblade Chronicles 2, which together make up progress for three of the goals. Woohoo!

It sounds like you might just be able to throw that NVIDIA DLSS 5 filter over the Deus Ex screenshots everyone is talking about. Yassify Adam Jensen a bit. The c-word-ier he looks, the more I might be convinced to hop along your journey!

@Tjuz Oh yeah, I won't be trying to 100% FFXV or anything! It'll very much be a "main story" playthrough with an allowance for occasional distraction, if and when the mood takes me. If it were a Baldur's Gate 3 situation, then... actually, I don't think I'd ever wanna play anything that long! No matter the game, no matter the franchise, I fear that would be too daunting a commitment. Mad respect to you and anybody else who played that game through to completion!

The friend you refer to never got very far with FFXV, so he won't mind either way. My other friend, though? She adored it, and is very keen for me to do the same, so the pressure's still on!

Your own progress is pretty darn solid, I'd say! Still plenty of the year left to go, and you have those PS3 games safely under your belt already, which is great. Having tracked a few of these resolution threads over the years, it's often the retro ones which are the first to fall by the wayside, so kudos for bucking the trend. Best of luck balancing Star Wars and Xenoblade in the coming months!

As for that last bit, the phrase "lipstick on a pig" springs to mind. Can't imagine why!