Like the frost on the cars and on the ground this morning, and on the inside of my apartment windows! – A new year has arrived. It's a time to take stock, look ahead and think about what could happen, and then run back to bed, hide under the covers of the duvet and refuse to come out. It's a time to plan and start aspiration journals that you will put down, forget, and never find again. It's a time to address the gaming backlog you keep talking about, fully knowing that you'll probably double it this year. It's time for a clean slate, time for promises, all done in the hope that you'll look back next year and discover that you did something you meant to do. So what do you want to do from a gameplay perspective?
Here, we review our gaming resolutions from last year to see how we did and then set some new ones. Are you brave enough to put yours in writing?
Jessica
I wanted to pay more attention to indie games last year, and while I certainly played more than I did in 2023, I apparently had a secret ambition to start more massive RPGs than ever before. It was hard to find time for those indie horrors and puzzles when games like Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth, Metaphor: Refantazio, and Dragon Age: The Veilguard were robbing me of 100 hours of gameplay.
This year I want to return to inventory management and take a break, immersing myself in calmer landscapes. Spending so much time exploring the cute fairytale world of Infinity Nikki has made me realize that whether it's a four-hour indie or another 100-hour monstrosity, the time I spend feeling relaxed in a game is much more valuable than trying to work. my way through a list, even if I still feel like playing those games eventually.
Is this my way of giving myself a pass to play Infinity Nikki this year? Maybe. But as long as it keeps its goofy, fluffy vibes that make me feel happy, I don't really care if I'm missing out on the latest Game of the Year contender.
Thomas
My new year's resolution is to be less completist. I think it's becoming a problem. When I play, I like to finish as much as I can before moving on to the next area. I'm playing Indiana Jones and the Great Circle right now, for example, and I really want to get out of the Vatican and back into the jungles and deserts that await me. But I can't. Something inside me makes me look for cat pictures, finish side quests, and eat all the biscotti I can get before I leave. And that's great, it's a sign that I'm enjoying a game and I want to be a completionist, but the longer I delay, the more frustrating it can get to not be somewhere else already.
Looking ahead to February and I'll probably spend 100 hours sneaking around feudal Japan in Assassin's Creed Shadows, a game that will likely be packed with distractions and collectibles, and whatever the Japanese feudal equivalent of biscotti is, it's a resolution worth making. Believe. Ignore your bloated quest log, stop looking for that last little thing. It's time to move on and get to more good things.
Maria
My resolution for last year was to complete the main story of at least three games that I haven't completed yet. Did I reach that goal? Technically no, I didn't, but I'll give myself credit for getting close to two completed stories.
This year I will be less strict and less ambitious with my resolution. I'd like to get back to the games that have brought me joy before, specifically time management or life simulators like The Sims 4. I spend most of my time on consoles with bigger games, mainly live services and games. role, so it'd be nice to get back to the kind of PC games I loved, games like The Sims and Rollercoaster Tycoon. There's something I find infinitely relaxing about managing the small details of those games (my parks are usually free with very expensive merchandise…).
Does this count as a resolution if it's so vague? I would like to think so.
Chris
This year I would like to play more games with other people. Specifically with my friends (my partner doesn't give a damn about games and, frankly, I love that; it's nice to have our own hobbies!). But as my old friend group has gotten older, busier, and more spread out, games have been the best way to keep in touch with them. I got out of the habit a bit in 2024, when all the usual cloying tendrils of modern life got in my way. This year, I'm going to set aside a small space of time, even if it's every two weeks, to talk with my friends and play something together. That something will probably be one of the games we've been playing together, over and over again, since we were pimply little teenagers, rather than something new or exciting. But that's the point.
Victory
Last year I decided to play The Sims more honestly, without cheats to grease my hypothetical wheels to the top. Did I make it? Well, not exactly. I tried. Hand on heart, I really did. But the lure of spamming that money code is too strong. I like being rich in The Sims, with all the hot tubs and rocket ships that entails. I don't like waiting for my characters to come home from work to watch shows on crappy television that's always at risk of breaking down. So while things started out pretty well, I soon gave in to temptation and implemented the mother code. I don't regret it.
As for this year, I'm still a little undecided. Since starting at Eurogamer, I've expanded my gaming horizons tenfold, and over the past few years I've played more indie and non-indie games than I ever had before. Last year, my personal Game of the Year was actually I Am Your Beast, and there's no way I would have taken a look at it a few years ago. But I absolutely loved it.
So I guess I'll do something similar again: deciding to keep trying games that I may not initially like. Perhaps, like last year, the results will pleasantly surprise me.
ladybug
Last year I made the resolution to finally play GTA 5. Did I play GTA 5 last year? Hell? There probably isn't a lot If I'm honest, it makes sense to try to do it now before GTA 6 releases, but the GTA series as a whole has always been a blind spot for me, as have Rockstar games in general. I just never have time to devote to them properly, you know? Maybe I'll decide to finally play Red Dead Redemption 2 this year – I find the setting and tone much more appealing as a concept than GTA, and I've always admired the horses in it. Honestly, no one handles horses like RDR2 does.
Bertie
I did it; I can't believe I actually stuck to a resolution. Last year I said I would start streaming and I did. I joined a Dungeons & Dragons group called Chaotic Questers and started streaming about once a week on Twitch. We even went to a castle in the Scottish Borders for a weekend to film there, which was fun, especially when our car broke down for good on the way back. It has been quite an adventure to know and understand the world of streaming from the inside, and it has multiplied my respect for the people who do it tenfold. Standing beside the M6, near a herd of cows, were threatening, actually, while waiting for the RAC to show up was also quite an experience.
Oh, and while I didn't manage to start my own personal video game stream, my partner did, so that's probably worth half a point? I also failed to run a tabletop role-playing game, although D&D formed a central part of my year of gaming. However, I'm still reading TTRPG books and working on my own campaign, so I was close. Another half point?
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This year I'm going to be more specific. I'm almost ashamed to admit it, but I've never played a From Software game properly. I've dabbled in them, Demon's Souls (the original!), Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Elden Ring, but I've never persevered for fear that a late-night game will aggravate me too much. But I realize (Path of Exile 2 helped me realize) that I really enjoy a combat challenge, so this year I'm looking to change things up. I promise to beat five bosses in Elden Ring, and you can make me keep it. And I'm phrasing it that way so as not to get nervous at the prospect of winning the entire game, although that's my ultimate goal, of course. I'm determined to do this, so determined that I'm going to start tonight before my resolve slips, something it has an annoying habit of doing.
That's all. Nice and simple. Beyond that, I'm going to challenge myself to play games in genres I don't normally play, but that's a much vaguer thing to pin down.
lotty
I've been playing RuneScape for over half my life, making it my most successful relationship outside of my family. Considering this, hopefully I have already maxed out my character's levels. Well, this is not the case. Look, I've been sitting on Level 88 of Herblore for the past seven years. In fact, I don't think I've earned more than 10,000 XP on the skill during this time.
The problem is that I hate training Herblore. Outside of the minigames, the process is very tedious. Get weed, clean the weed (yes, you have to clean it first), get the second ingredient, buy vials, fill them with water, put the ingredients in, probably empty the vials so you can do the process over and over again. It just takes forever.
However, that level 88 has been burning my eyes for the past year, so in the big year of 2025, I'll try to reach Herblore level 89 despite the pain. (And no. I will not use XP lamps. Don't bring that nonsense into my house.)