What, you didn’t thinklast year’s DualShockers New Year Gaming Resolutionswould come back to haunt us? We’ll have you know we treat that stuffveryseriously around here, so have gathered last year’s New Year Resolutionists to reveal before the world whether they kept good on their word from yesteryear.
Has Jack reeled in his League of Legends habit that’s crippled his ability to play more games? Has Kyle finally seen a game (not called Call of Duty) to completion? Has Rob got over his decades-long aversion to JRPGs?
Brace yourselves, it’s gonna be a rough ride…
DualShockers Definitives: 10 Hardest Games Of 2023
2023 was a year full of unforgettable titles, some of which were more challenging than others. Here are the hardest games of the year.
Resolutions: Play more mainstream games | Play a major JRPG for the first time in 25 years
Hoo-uhhh, let’s see here. Well let’s start with the good, shall we? I said I’d play fewer obscure indie games and hit the mainstream a bit more, and I can quite confidently say I’ve done that.
I’ve been helped immeasurably by the fact that it’s been one of the best years ever for triple-A games, and one of those games,Baldur’s Gate 3, was one of my most anticipated gamesever. Then there were the likes ofDead Space,Alan Wake 2,Resident Evil 4,andStarfieldkeeping me well away from the indie stuff. I’ve played all the above and more, though I’m low-key grateful that I didn’t say anything about actuallycompletinggames in my resolution. That would’ve been a mistake.
As for finally giving a major modern JRPG a go: nah, it just didn’t happen.
As for finally giving a major modern JRPG a go (withPersona 5being a frontrunner), nah, it just didn’t happen. In fairness though, that’s because I so staunchly pursued my ‘play more AAA games’ resolution that there just was no time to delve into a genre that I’ve struggled with since time immemorial.
So 1 out of 2 for me, but maybe I deserve some kind of bonus points for doing that one resolutionreallywell?Please?!?
Kyle Knight - News Editor
Resolution: Complete the games I start
I know, I know. All year long, you’ve all been wondering…did Kyle actually stick to his New Year resolution? Is he just mindlessly playing a few hours of every game in his library instead of actually completing them? Well, I’m pleased to say that I haven’t started a single game this year that I didn’t complete. (Apart from Starfield, but I’m sure you’re able to forgive me for that one)
I started my year with Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. Which, in retrospect, was an odd choice to kick my resolution off with. 130 hours later, I had finally completed the base game and all of its expansions. Then throughout the course of the year, I’ve completedHogwarts Legacy,Cyberpunk 2077,Marvel’s Spider-Man 2,Assassin’s Creed Mirage, Dave The Diver,Amnesia: The Bunker,Alan Wake: Remastered, and most recently,Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3(although, completing a four-hour campaign isn’t anything to brag about).
I’m currently in the process of finishing off Alan Wake 2, which is absolutely incredible. Then I’ll be moving on to Cyberpunk 2077’s Phantom Liberty DLC before Avatar: Frontiers Of Pandora releases next month. I’m like a new man, I don’t even recognise myself when I look in the mirror anymore.
DualShockers Definitives: 10 Best Shooters Of 2023
DualShockers votes on the best shooters of the year (1st- and 3rd-person).
Resolution: Finally Play Cyberpunk 2077
Back at the end of 2022, my gaming resolution for 2023 was to finally get around to playingCyberpunk 2077. It was, by all reports, in pretty good shape from its rocky launch, and it had an exciting DLC dropping later in the year. Despite the insanely packed year of video games that 2023 turned out to be, I’m happy to say that I did, in fact, achieve my goal, though not to the extent I’d have liked. I was able to squeeze in about ~15 hours of playtime into Cyberpunk 2077 in March of this year. While I never fully vibed with the gameplay, the storytelling, worldbuilding, and design of Night City pulled me in completely. I was hooked.
Unfortunately for Cyberpunk, I was pulled away to reviewJedi: Survivor, and thenTears of the Kingdomsoon after,and that cadence of hot new releases just never really stopped — still hasn’t! At this point, with the release of the Phantom Liberty DLC and Cyberpunk 2077 2.0 completely reworking many of the base game’s core systems, I know I’ll need to return to play this awesome game during the next quiet gap in newer releases, and I know I’ll need to start over completely to familiarize myself with all the new systems.
I generally hate having to abandon games and start them over, but I enjoyed the setting and lore of Cyberpunk 2077 enough to be looking forward to reliving those early hours again.
Cyberpunk 2077
Matthew Schomer - News & Features Editor
Resolution: Finally Subscribe To An Online Gaming Service
After I shredded Santa’s carefully wrapped Series S, I browsed the catalog and dove into Tropico 6.
There were some early setbacks, of course, as a person over 40 trying to teach themselves new technology doesn’t always go swimmingly. After I shredded Santa’s carefully wrapped Series S, I browsed the catalog and dove into Tropico 6, a sequel to a building/political simulator I’d loved in the past, not really checking when it would be leaving the service (which happened to be about a week later). Since then, I’ve dabbled in a few hidden gems that caught my eye, but I’ve mostly just used it to play Starfield and see what the difference between Persona 5 and Persona 5 Royale is without paying full price for the latter.
It’s basically what I did way back when with Gamefly—pay a monthly fee to play one game over the course of several months, not really saving myself any money—but at least I don’t have to put on pants and go outside to get my game.
Resolution: Play more triple-A games and less League of Legends | Play all the cRPGs.
Readers, I am happy to report that I thoroughly completed my first resolution and made some progress on the second. It was quite the year for big games, and I played a lot (not all) of them. Admittedly, my progress was slow at first, but I’ve managed to at least play Octopath Traveler 2, Resident Evil 4 Remake, Redfall, Diablo 4, Baldur’s Gate 3, Starfield, Alan Wake 2 and more. I’ve even managed to finish a few of them.
As for breaking my League of Legends habit, it was a middling performance. If we go by the numbers, I played 323 ranked games during the 2022 Season and 284 so far during the ongoing 2023 season. That being said, I have been having shorter play sessions, so it does feel like I’m wasting less time overall.
On the cRPG front, I’ve played a couple. If you consider Baldur’s Gate 3 to be part of the genre, then I’ve easily played over a hundred hours,giving it a perfect 10/10 reviewin the process. I also finally sank my teeth intoPillars of Eternity 2: Deadfirewhich was absolutely brilliant, as predicted. 2023 isn’t over yet, with Warhammer 40k: Rogue Trader also firmly on my radar.
DualShockers Definitives: 2023 Game Of The Year Collection
Here are the DualShockers Definitives picks for the best games of 2023. And the winners are…
