I’m terrible at New Year’s Resolutions.

The concept of picking something that I need to do or accomplish isn’t what I take issue with, nor is the idea of having a set time frame, but rather that it has to happen at the first of the year and carry on throughout the next 365 days or whatever.

When I’m going to make a resolution, I have to be really ready to see it through, otherwise it’s a moot point. Picking an arbitrary time to start one - like January 1st - on the sheer merit that it’s a particular day just doesn’t work for my brain. But it does for some people, and that’s awesome!

Let’s take games as an example. I have an absolutely enormous backlog of video games just waiting to be played. I continue to say to myself that I resolve to make time for that, or soon I’ll just put some time aside and get through the one section of this game I forgot I was playing six months ago, and so on. This constant state of resolution-setting happens year round, and sometimes it works - but sometimes it doesn’t.

While there are some games whose progress I follow as they develop and eagerly await the opportunity to play them on release, my backlog is so robust that I have become somewhat selective about what I buy at launch. That said, there are a few things I'm looking forward to that are set to release this year - including Pokemon Legends: Arceus, which releases next week.

Despite the new launches, I have already begun dipping into my backlog. Last night, I began my first ever playthrough of Dark Souls III - and of any Dark Souls game ever, actually. It's pretty difficult, and ultimately may not be my cup of tea overall, but I am at least enjoying the challenge for now. 

I only wish I looked this epic when I took on a Lothric Knight the other day.

Recently, Civilization VI was on sale and a friend picked it up for me so that we could play together. I have been enjoying a lot of multiplayer shenanigans, and while this game wasn't on my list of resolutions, I've been enjoying my time with it and look forward to learning how to be a better player (because right now I absolutely suck).

I so far have only aspired to this level of greatness.

Neither of these games are new, but they feel new to me! The nice thing about having collected more games than I have time for is that I can almost always find something to play that's suiting my mood at the time... or, I can fall back onto a game that I've already sunk hundred of hours in, but let's try to move forward with this one, shall we?

Overall, I think one thing I'd like to resolve to do in the near future is delve into some game genres that might not usually be my first choice. I am a giant wuss, but I am kind of wanting to play at least one spooky first or third person shooter in the near future, maybe one of the Resident Evil games finally. My friends have invited me to play 7 Days to Die and I'm surprised to say that I've been considering it.

I've read other peoples' resolutions about taking the time to do more multiplayer games with their friends, but I actually have the opposite problem. When a choice is available to me, I will pick the multiplayer option almost every time because I genuinely love experiencing games with my friends. This means that I need to actively work against my impulses and set aside time specifically to play single-player games for myself.

Maybe 2022 will finally be the year I tackle some of those Telltale games that have been sitting in my Steam account since 2016. The Game of Thrones game may not hit quite the same since the series concluded, but better later than never, right?

That's quite enough about me - what about you? What are your new year's game resolutions?