Topic: Gaming Resolutions for the New Year of 2026

I'm flattered by the mention of my opinion, but please, don't take my adoration of any given game (or movie, or book, or TV show) as a guarantee that it'll click for you eventually. Not just because your initial reaction to Dragon Age: The Veilguard was so overwhelmingly negative, but especially because that part of your quote I highlighted up there...?

You were talking about Forspoken. And I really, really enjoyed Forspoken.

Life's too short. If you ain't having fun, move on!

@Werehog I really wanted to enjoy Forspoken. I think by the time it came out i'd changed too much from when I first saw the trailer, or it wasn't what I expected. What kind of annoys me is that a lot of people dislike those two games in particular for the wrong reasons without trying them, which I want to go against and make my own decisions. But I have my own very specific reasons to not like them, anyway, apparently 😅 i'm way more picky with fantasy games of how I want dialogue to be delivered as I noticed in the gameplay trailer that DA:V grated on me. My main issue with Forspoken though, apart from it being presented like an illogical hipster meme at the beginning (grab the damn cat after the bag that you were stood next to! Literally, game. Let me grab the bag! "Got to get homer first") was that she was in court for grand larceny, but on the table was a diploma and a picture of her studying to let you know 'she's smart'. That is a sign that the game did not respect my intelligence which kind of blocks my ability to suspend disbelief. It also felt bland and I never had the desire to find out if it got less bland.

I do genuinely wish I could enjoy those games now. I would have probably liked them at some stage, or if they just were a bit more... Europeanly developed? Full on Amerian and Japanese in an American style just misses the mark for me, now, I guess.

I think it boils down to.. I like Marvel to be like Marvel, but I don't like DC to be like Marvel, or fantasy to be like Marvel. Or everything else to be like Marvel 😅

Guardians of The Galaxy is one of the best underrated games, I'll cling to that to know i'm not just being a downer for the sake of it. Sometimes things just don't click even if you like similar things.

And yeah, i'd never force myself to play something i'm not enjoying. I just wanted to give it one more chance, as in DA:V the thing that put me off most was being hit with a huuuuge skill tree and that was when I realised I didn't feel like putting that much thought into a game that doesn't really feel like a real rpg. It's a shame as I made a cool, slightly evil, slightly stoned looking elf who featured in cutscenes 😁

I may give it one more go and just put some points into my melee build without any real investment in planning a style just to see what happens next gameplay wise and to see my character in action.

Did you ever play Dragon's Dogma 2, btw? That is the kind of scratch i'd want DA:V to itch. Just mindless fun and fighting and exploration and weird obscure questing.

@Ravix Ah, that makes sense! Because having a specific preference regarding fantasy dialogue is kinda the same reason I have for liking Dragon Age and Forspoken. I cannot stand the traditional "verily, forsooth, the elves doth mass upon yonder ridge" writing style and have a general disdain for the fantasy genre anyway. It's specifically because the Dragon Age games are written more normal like, innit, that I gave them a chance on a friend's recommendation. Although they do have a bit of the ol' verbose nonsense on occasion, which I struggle to endure, it's their normalisation (or what you might consider a lack of identity) that made them accessible to me in the first place. Might be why The Veilguard managed to be the first BioWare game in which I universally loved, understood, or related to every NPC squadmate.

Forspoken was a different case. I just thought its gameplay looked pretty and didn't really do much research into its reception beforehand, so I was able to accept it on its own terms.

But I do understand where you're coming from. Especially with the whole "this story's writing isn't respecting my intelligence" angle. With games moreso than any other medium, I try and let things like that slide, because I appreciate that everybody plays games differently and so there's more of an argument to be made in favour of making things blatant and unmissable. Not everybody puts on a noise-cancelling headset, dims the lights, and plays with laser focus like I do. Nevertheless you're right, there are still moments where certain games have gotten me sighing, "Yeah, okay, I get it!" It's a tricky balance to strike.

Anyway, thanks for explaining! I'm still sorry if my praise for The Veilguard made you suffer through (or worse, spend money on) something you didn't enjoy. That's one of my biggest fears about sharing my opinion online. I'd hate to steer somebody wrong.

Oh, and this might go without saying, but no, given my aforementioned dislike of the fantasy genre, I have not played Dragon's Dogma 2 and I'm sorry to say, it's unlikely I ever will.

@Werehog I was being way more grumpy than I should, to be fair 😅 and I wouldn't worry about it, your opinions on it made me want to give it a go and that is a good thing, I think I realise as I game more and expand my taste more that even though that leads me to finding games I absolutely love and would have maybe missed otherwise, that there is probably going to be more that I bounce off as I refine my own tastes within all the genres I try.

I do think there is a version of me that would still like it as a casual game, and timing might be an issue as gaming is being drawn into my new year indecisiveness as I don't really know what type of game I want to commit any time to, so i've just fell off gaming a bit, anyway.

I felt like I wanted to play something light-ish before moving on to Death Stranding 2 🤷‍♂️ and a massive skill tree doesn't give me 'light' vibes, even if the decision making aspect of the rpg is pretty basic and and thus would be lighter than most rpgs and I was hoping that would mean I would focus on just having fun with it.

@Ravix Yep, that totally happens (the refining your tastes thing, not the being grumpy thing... I'd never be so rude as to presume that about you, although it happens to us all, so I wouldn't worry anyway)! It does make me chuckle sometimes, because "keeping an open mind" is always presented as a positive, no matter how risky an approach it can be. Bottom line is, you can only speak with authority about the stuff you've actually tried, so I suppose that's something you always stand to gain, no matter what.

If you're prepared to play on a lower difficulty then sure, The Veilguard can be super-light outside of its emotional decision moments (and depending on how invested you get, they might not even matter to you, either). But I sense you're not a "deactivate brain and button-mash through a story" kinda gamer, at least not as a personal preference, so that approach might be a real bad idea!

Death Stranding 2 seems like something you'd really wanna sink your teeth (and time) into, so I sympathise with you looking for a particular type of experience before committing. All things considered, even if you loved your first few hours with it, The Veilguard probably isn't that.

You need a racing game. Or a platformer. Astro Bot or Sonic Frontiers or something like that, maybe?

@Werehog haha, yeah. i've been playing a bit of FC26 with some mates again after not playing it for ages, so there is that 😅

But it doesn't fit my plan to play as many actual good games as possible and so I will fall behind proper gamers once more 😅 I probably end up only finishing like 3 or 4 proper games a year 😬

Should be another good year for releases, though 😄

Time to weigh in after the first quarter!

Still only about a quarter of the way through Yakuza 0, so really need to pick up the slack here!

I've played through RE7 and its DLC pretty thoroughly at this point (almost 50 hours deep due to throwing myself at the hardest DLC until beating it, and both story campaigns are complete). I've already started RE Village now, and will be playing that to completion in the next week or two.

This is a lot of RE at once, so I'll probably wait till later in the year to play RE3.

7/12 at this point, so well on my way to knocking this goal out quickly!

Already accomplished! I'm 80 hours and many endings deep into this. Crucially, I also already beat the closest thing this game has to a True Ending. But yes, I will be going for 100% completion, which will probably take me hundreds of hours. Nevertheless, this goal is already done.

Nope. Haven't touched it.

Nope. Haven't touched it.

Making a bit of a list for myself. So far, in terms of 2026 purchases, I need to play through Resident Evil 4 Remake - Gold Edition (lol I'm gonna be so sick of this series by 2027), Silent Hill 2 Remake, Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection, and Final Fantasy VII Remake: Episode INTERmission.

Overall, a pretty good start!

Taking after @Ralizah with an update on my 'complete 30 games in 2026' goal.

A little behind having completed 4 games, with a 5th and 6th on the go and Marathon as my new comfort food in between.

Completed:
Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden - one trophy left for the platinum, loved my playthrough to completion
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim - platinum achieved and what a game this turned out to be!
Cocoon - platinum achieved, a lovely atmospheric gem of a game
Neva - loved the art style and the atmosphere, but not enough to chase the plat. Glad I played it.

In Progress:
Cairn - from what I've played so far, expecting to see this on lots of GOTY lists. Fantastic.
Assassins Creed: Shadows - one to pick back up and complete from 2025, it's a huge game and I worry I'll drop off completely if Crimson Desert reviews well... we will see!

I’ll drop an update also. I had my resolutions in mind when I chose the games I’m playing, since they hit several different goals, as you’ll see—

1) Play 6 Pro-enhanced games

2/6 — although I’ve not finished either, Horizon Forbidden West and Silent Hill 2. Both games look and perform admirably on the Pro. I did have to tinker with the settings on HFW because the HDR color intensity was burning my retinas 😅. But the Balanced Pro mode is nice.

2) Play at least 1 game from each of the following categories: JRPG, WRPG, Crime Drama, Horror/Thriller, Souls/Souls-like, Shooter

2/6 —
☑️WRPG (HFW)
☑️Horror/Thriller (SH2)

3) Play 5 sequels (or games from a series that has sequels) and 5 games that don’t have sequels

Sequels - 2/5 (HFW, SH2)
Stand alone - 1/5 (Invincible)

4) Mainline one open-world game (i.e., take the golden path)

0/1 — I thought I might try this approach with HFW, but so far I couldn’t help myself to wander off and explore and engage with some unnecessary side quests. I’m doing a little better though at being selective and trying not to do everything in each area.

5) Play 3 games from series I’ve never played or from series I’ve not touched in over 5 years

2/3 — it’s a stretch to count HFW here as my purpose behind this goal was to broaden into unknown or forgotten territory, but it has been almost 7 years since I played HZD, so it’s a series I’ve left untouched until now. So it counts
————

Non-gaming:
-Read (or listen to) 6 books.
About to finish my 3rd Witcher book, so I’m doing well so far.

-Participate in an exercise program and compete in at least one community event during the year.
Doing mediocre on the exercise, I just haven’t been as consistent as I’d like. I want to be ready for a community race event by end of summer though.

I’m way off mine so far… mainly due to taking over a month off gaming altogether. My nan unfortunately passed away and was really ill for the weeks building up to that, so that together with just feeling well and truly fed up with the Gears of War: Reloaded multiplayer grind just caused me to tap out for a bit.

Also, a fair few of my resolutions are scheduled to come later this year tbh.

With that said, I’m probably gonna do my final playthrough of Resident Evil Revelations this week (starting on Wednesday) and Devil May Cry 2 right after that. Final Fantasy 2 will probably be this time next month too.

I am probably gonna move Dead Space 2 to next year as I’ve decided to take on the gargantuan task of starting and plat’n World War Z: Aftermath. Should fit most of the others in though.

So Gears of War: Reloaded is the only game mentioned that I’ve cleared yet. It was okay… quite enjoyed it in co-op but did find it a bit boring solo and the mp grind was horrendous as I’ve alluded to earlier.

@graymamba
Sorry to hear about your dear nan, my deepest condolences.

@graymamba

I’m really sorry to hear about your nan, you have to my utmost condolences. 🙁

I’m hoping you’ll enjoy uncharted 3, it’s my favorite. ✌️

I actually platted Kiwami 3 as my first “plat” this year, here check it out.

Quite happy with it, especially given that it means I won’t be touching the game for a long while.

Won’t elaborate too much though, cuz considering you seem to have your playthrough set in stone there’s no point in influencing you, so we’ll put a lid on it ‘till that playthrough comes. Excited for it!

Funny you mention Final Fantasy 2, I’m actually going through the final fantasy 7 plat as we speak. I’ve said my goal is ten plats and i really wanna do it. Girl gotta grind. 🙏

@CaptD @Yousef- cheers peeps, she was in a lot of pain at the end there so it was a relief more than anything.

& @Yousef-‘s got the plat-bug huh… you go girl 😁

@graymamba Yeah, bro— so sorry to hear about your loss. I noticed you’d slowed down on the participation, and now I understand why. I’ve been in similar situations where life just takes its toll and it just feels like time to take a break from gaming and hobbies while things settle. Here’s to nan 🍻 Hang in there buddy

@Hapless I'm looking forward to playing SH2, finally! I was a pretty huge fan of the series in its heyday (although SH1 will likely always be my favorite, so I'm personally super stoked for that particular remake). I'll definitely post my thoughts. 👍

@graymamba I'm so sorry to hear that. When my mom died a few years ago, I took, like, a seven month break from gaming to re-orient and do some self-work. The hobby's always there when you're ready to return to it.

🙏 I basically second what 3olution and Ralizah said, we’ve had tons of bombing attacks this past two weeks and it shook to my core, made me disconnect from the net a bit and rework myself. We all go through hardships and come out better people from it. I’m personally quite excited for my gaming ventures since I picked up an RG slide lately and yeah, I know the handheld craze seems like a gimmick, but I’m quite happy with this one thus far cuz it uses an android OS which I quite like.

On top of my “ten plats resolution”, I’ll also beat ten games in it. Should be reasonable.

@Th3solution @Ralizah cheers guys, we have the funeral later this month and still have to sort out stuff with the probate and such but I’m starting to find my mojo again tbh.

So far, I am at 5/30 for this goal with another two on the way.

Finished: Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess / The Last of Us: Part II Remastered / Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope / Star Ocean: First Departure R / Resident Evil: Requiem

Working on: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 / Lost Records: Bloom & Rage

I'd say I'm well on my way if not exactly on par with what I'd expect for a little over the first two months of the year!

Of the ones I finished, the first three mentioned all fit this goal with Clair Obscur going to be the fourth. 3 (almost 4)/10! Not too shabby!

This one I'm clearly not far into yet with only Resident Evil: Requiem fitting the mold. The opening months of the year are traditionally slow, so I have no doubt I'll get going on this goal quicker throughout the year. The next 2026 games lined up that are likely going to be on the list by the year-end would be Esoteric Ebb and Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Remake. I'll almost certainly be playing Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss as well when it releases.

Well, I haven't started it yet, but have made some progress. That being my second-hand purchase of the game last month. Now I am able to start it whenever I want! Or rather, whenever it's my turn to hog the shared Switch in our apartment again. As for long games, I haven't made any attempts on similarly long games yet, but I have been playing a lot of medium-long games with 40+ hours spent in the likes of Mario + Rabbids or Clair Obscur. More so than last year.

''More'' games relative to last year would only be three, so with Star Ocean: First Departure R, I'm 33.33333% of the way there! The more threes I add, the higher the percentage looks. I definitely have some other games lined up to fit this mold, so this will be a success sooner rather than later.

Not counting Kunitsu-Gami (which I was actively playing over the year-switch), I've basically already hit this goal with The Last of Us, Mario + Rabbids and the soon-to-be included Clair Obscur. Ding ding ding! We have a winner!