I Have Just One Gaming Resolution for 2026 (and It’s a Big One)

If I’ve learned one thing in my nearly nine years with this website, it’s that predictions rarely line up with reality. In my 2025 New Year’s resolutions, I promised to stop buying random Steam games, aspired to play more cooperative games with friends, vowed to build a gaming PC, and claimed Hollow Knight: Silksong would slip another year.

None of that ended up coming true. Gaming PCs have soared in price due to tariffs, Steam has continued to whittle away at my disposable income, and I don’t think I played a single online multiplayer game not called Mario Kart World or Marvel Rivals. (Whoops, I meant to include Rivals in my Best of 2025 list. Probably would’ve cracked the top eight.) Even that Silksong call-my-shot “backfired,” albeit intentionally and for the good of the realm. You’re welcome.

My point: Resolutions are largely hogwash. I love the idea behind them, as I think big goals and a positive mindset are a crucial part of “flipping the page” on the past year and pressing forward (and goodness, do we need to press forward). But resolutions in and of themselves are not really all that useful; it’s more the idea of them that helps to motivate and catalyze change.

So, for 2026, I’m doing away with the fancy list that’ll never come to fruition. Instead, I’m taking a single gaming resolution and making it my mantra.

“Just play what you actually want to play, man.”

The Elephant in the Backlog

Let’s unpack that for a second. When I say those words — play what you actually want — I refer to an analysis paralysis that’s dominated how I’ve approached my backlog for well over 15 years.

Despite owning tons of mainstream titles, many of which offer industry-defining ideas, stories, or mechanics, I’ve chosen to treat these AAA games as “untouchable” — a taboo to even consider booting them up for my personal enjoyment. Just off the top of my head, I’ve never completed any of the following:

Baldur’s Gate 3
Any Elder Scrolls game
Any Fallout game
Grand Theft Auto V
Any Half-Life game
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Persona 5 Royal
Red Dead Redemption 2
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Any Xenoblade Chronicles game

Why? I’m not entirely sure. Part of me finds these games, most of which are sprawling RPGs or open-world titles, unbelievably daunting. Another part of me wants to prioritize smaller, indie developers — the Davids to the Goliaths of this industry. Another part still wants to savor these games over time, so I never run out of my precious backlog. (To be clear, it’s hundreds of games long.)

But there’s an even simpler reason that I’ve come to accept as of late.

I don’t think I want to ever play these games. Deep down, I’m worried I’ve missed out on the zeitgeist, that they won’t live up to the hype, or — perhaps scariest of all — that they were never made for me to begin with.

Is It Worth Reviving the Past?

I’ll never forget unboxing Grand Theft Auto V back in late 2013. Back then, I spent my gaming time in a cramped college dorm room, craning my neck to gaze up at a tiny TV angled awkwardly on a bookshelf. Despite the less-than-ideal quarters, I was excited to get lost in the world of Los Santos upon release… at least until I actually played it.

I invested about 15 hours into the game, only to drop it after a mission had Trevor drive to a shipping yard, operate a cargo crane, and pick up and drop boxes like I was Frank Sobotka’s crew in an episode of The Wire. As I struggled with the controls, I muttered curses under my breath. I’d already sat through hours of lectures that day; what the hell was Rockstar thinking with this shit? I finished the mission, then powered off.

More than a decade later, I’ve yet to finish Rockstar’s award-winning, billion-dollar title. I’ve triple-dipped, to be clear — I started on PlayStation 3, moved to Xbox One, then settled on PlayStation 5 — but I’ve never built up the momentum (or enthusiasm) to give the game a second chance.

Last week, I joked with fellow Punished Backlog editor Sam Martinelli that, with Grand Theft Auto VI firmly on the horizon, this year might finally be the year. His response: “Just don’t bother lmao. You missed it.”

In many ways, he’s right. This was a game that initially released in 2013, was kept alive over three console generations, and overstayed its welcome so long that “We got X before GTA VI” has become a household meme. If I wasn’t feeling that crane mission 13 years ago, as a college freshman, it’s not like I’d suddenly come to appreciate it as a full-time working adult.

But there’s a part of me that wonders: What if? What if I could recapture that zeitgeist, even for a fleeting moment? Would it be worth booting back up an 80-plus-hour campaign to try? Or would the disappointment only hit harder if things still didn’t click?

Leading With the Heart

I don’t know the answers to those questions, but I do know that I’ve been tortured by these thoughts since I was 18. It’s part of the reason why I founded The Punished Backlog to begin with: to reckon with all the games that got away, provide some (longwinded) musings, and hopefully find some catharsis or atonement in the process. Along the way, I’ve gotten to meet Sam and our third co-editor, Amanda Tien; attend industry conferences and speak with developers about upcoming passionate projects; and review games at the cutting edge of this industry. The backlog faded into the background — and I’m more than okay with that.

So! What does all that mean moving forward? I don’t plan to toss my old games in the garbage or list them on Craigslist anytime soon (tempting as it may be). Instead, for 2026 at least, I intend to care less about what I play or don’t play, and focus simply on what calls to me.

In many cases, that means prioritizing the AAA games I never got to finish. The Witcher 3 has a new expansion rumored for this year (bizarre as that sounds). That’s as great an excuse as any to go back and finish Geralt’s tale once and for all. It’s been nearly a decade since Persona 5 hit store shelves, and I have about 30 hours left to go on Persona 5 Royal. Heck, why not? And yes, if you’re wondering, I do intend to give Grand Theft Auto V one more shake. If it doesn’t work out, though, I’ll take Sam’s advice and bail.

Life is complicated enough to lose sleep over a gaming backlog. So long as I’m having fun and making worthwhile memories, I’m content. And this website has certainly given me both.