New Year’s resolutions typically involve adjustments to one’s way of life, like a vow to exercise regularly, or a resolution to travel more in the coming year, but for those who are passionate about the video gaming hobby, a New Year’s resolution can significantly improve the gaming experience, whether on PC or console. Video games are certainly a luxury and a form of entertainment, but they can provide a cathartic break from the stresses of life like any other pastime. Getting into a rut, or developing unfortunate gaming habits, can cause the hobby to bring less joy than it could otherwise. A few resolutions can bring back the feeling of unfettered fun to video games.
Whether a gaming fan adopts a single New Year’s resolution, or several, changing the way a hobbyist selects and engages with games can restore some of the sense of wonderment and discovery from childhood. A resolution can help avoid pitfalls wherein video games become a chore, or worse, a second job, instead of a thing to be enjoyed. Other resolutions can let a video game aficionado discover new genres and playstyles, or revisit beloved franchises that they have not touched in years. While cost is certainly a consideration in trying economic times, one’s own free time is a priceless commodity, so most resolutions should focus on the value of time.
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5 Quit The Video Games That Are Second (Or Third) Jobs
Free-To-Play & Live-Service Games
Free-to-play games appear to be an attractive proposal from a monetary standpoint, as most offer access to all content without charge, assuming players are willing to dedicate their time. In actuality, many FTP games become jobs instead of leisure activities. The cyclical pattern of logging in to claim cumulative rewards for attendance streaks, and the pattern of “doing dailies” mirrors the drudgery of actual employment, where showing up to work consistently is expected, and most jobs entail a checklist of daily tasks in addition to larger goals. Whether it is a PC MMORPG or any of the myriad mobile freemium games, logging in to do dailies is not remotely edifying.
Just as DVRs and streaming services have allowed consumers to move away from the concept of “appointment television,” where their personal lives are dictated by programming schedules, video games should allow for entertainment on the consumer’s terms, not the reverse. When a game offers incentives to log in each day in order to dangle cash shop offers and special promotions in front of the player, it frames a dynamic where the player needs to clock in every day, just like a job. Saying goodbye to FTP daily check-ins is liberating, and lets the player game on their own terms, preferably with titles that better respect their time.
4 Revisit Those Beloved Franchises In The Backlog
Older Games Can Still Be Fun
Many video game fans find a game series that they particularly enjoy, or franchises that carry a great deal of nostalgia. Even among these series with an emotional connection to the player, there are often titles they missed out on. A gaming fan who cut their teeth on the original Super Mario Bros. might have enjoyed the Switch’s masterful Super Mario Bros. Wonder, but they may have never experienced the New Super Mario Bros. games for the DS or 3DS. Sprawling JRPG series like Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy offer self-contained narratives, but many fans missed some of the formative titles, or skip around in their playing of a series.
Players often let such titles sit in their backlog, focusing on the latest buzzworthy titles, or maximizing their use of subscription services like Game Pass or PlayStation Plus. Experiencing a game in a franchise the player loves, but that they missed out on in earlier generations, can be more rewarding than the latest AAA blockbuster. Some older titles may lack the quality-of-life features expected of modern games, but giving them a chance might let a fan experience an unearthed treasure. Fans of the modern Bethesda produced first-person Fallout, for instance, can try the original isometric games from Interplay. The connection to a personal favorite franchise can make an older game more meaningful.
3 Don’t Try To Force Fun With Video Games
Long Games May Not Be Worth The Commitment
While it is true that some games take longer to hit their stride, there is a balance between a slow burn and a game that does not respect a player’s time. A few games play very differently in their opening moments, as they set up the premise and introduce game mechanics, from how they do for the majority of their playtime. Even first-person-shooters can be long games, to say nothing of titles like Red Dead Redemption 2 or many RPGs. Given the length of many titles, players should give themselves a chance to walk away from a game that is not rewarding for them.
The exact time required to make a personal assessment may vary from game to game. If a player is five hours into a more than 30-hour game like Borderlands 2 and finds its gameplay loop tedious and its story unrewarding, it is more than reasonable to part ways with the game and find something that they actually enjoy instead of sinking another two-dozen hours into it. Gaming should be fun, and forcing oneself to press on with a game they are not enjoying is a habit many fans should resolve to discontinue in the coming year. If a game is not clicking at the ten-hour mark, it never will.
2 Try A Brand-New Video Game Genre
Fresh & Exciting Experiences
Many veteran gaming hobbyists have discovered the genres that resonate with them and written off others as outside their wheelhouse. Self-awareness of one’s preferences is a good thing. If a gaming fan knows that fighting games, RPGs, and action games are enjoyable, and they dislike sports games, racing games, and RTS, they can better focus on the titles they will likely actually have fun with. However, genres and sub-genres are constantly emerging. Recent years have seen the rise of the immersive sim, survival games, and a bevy of crafting-focused titles. Trying out a new, or poorly explored, gaming genre can be a novel experience.
Players who have never played a visual novel may still enjoy the darkly subversive Doki Doki Literature Club, or a farcical dating sim like Hatoful Boyfriend. The “bad physics by design” subgenre of games like Octodad, Totally Accurate Battle Simulator, or Surgeon Simulator, can certainly break the monotony of successive AAA open-world games. Those who enjoyed the rhythm elements of Hi-Fi Rush might like a dedicated rhythm game like PaRappa the Rapper or Crypt of the NecroDancer. Going outside of one’s gaming comfort zone is a great way to shake things up, and it could lead to adopting a new favorite genre.
1 Don’t Fall Prey To FOMO With Video Games
Games Often Require Patches At Launch
While a very small number of games are permanently delisted, the vast catalog of DOS-era classics on GOG.com confirms that most games are available well beyond their initial release date. Many games, especially live service titles, leverage the “fear of missing out,” as Fortnite runs limited time events themed after various IPs, and FTP games like Final Fantasy 7 Ever Crisis run seasonal events. Even single-player offline titles often generate FOMO, as many players want to experience exciting new games as soon as they are released. This can obviously be harmful to one’s pocketbook, but it is also not the best way to experience games in general.
Titles like Cyberpunk 2077 are patched for years after their initial release, and Cyberpunk was considered a buggy mess on most platforms in its launch state. Playing Cyberpunk 2077 today, alongside its excellent Phantom Liberty DLC, provides a great experience, compared to those who dove in at launch. For single player titles, waiting a while usually leads to price drops, but also to a better gaming experience, thanks to the application of patches and bug fixes, especially in errant cases of a bad PC port or a delayed console release. Waiting a year might offer a version of the game that includes all DLC for less than its initial launch price. This resolution is one that saves money while avoiding many games’ buggy launches.
Sources: Backloggd, MUO, HowLongToBeat
