My Gaming Goals for 2021
My goals for everything gaming for the rest of the year
This is the first real post for Game Loot in 2021, so I’m thinking of it as a catch-up post. I wanted to talk about the history of the site a bit over 2020, and how my goals for this year will inform my writing going forward. So before I go into the goal part, let’s take a look back over the last year.
Game Loot in 2020
I launched this Medium publication in February of last year. It has nearly been one year since that day, which is pretty wild considering. The first post I put up was a hyper-focused examination of Paratopic. I like that article because it sells the kind of analysis I want to bring to the site. I like to write more fun fluff pieces as well, but I’m going to do my best to have a balance. Some other articles I like from those early months are my Gaming Backlog article and my overall thoughts of Far Cry: New Dawn and that franchise as a whole. That Far Cry article was my first sponsored piece; pretty wild considering.
(I hate clickbait, and I will work as hard as I can not to let even the barest scent of clickbait anywhere near my site. That’s a Game Loot pledge.)
But those aren’t the articles that I want to focus on. I want the future of Game Loot to be about taking longer looks at why I and other writers play games. Intent I think is an important background when it comes to gaming journalism. I don’t do this to make money. I do this because I like to write and play games. I like to examine creative intent and choices and use my own experiences to plumb the depths of these concepts. I wrote two pretty personal pieces on Pokemon Red and Blue and my gaming from 2020 that strike that balance that I’m aiming for. I hope to exceed this writing wise and truly hit my stride over the next eleven months.
Onto the Goals…
- Get five platinum trophies on PS5 (my goal every year)
I started this goal the first year that I got my PS4, and it’s been an easy and fulfilling goalpost to hit. Last year, I hit that number and started up a series called Platinum Quest to talk more about trophies and the process behind completion. At the time of this post I’ve already gotten three 2021 Platinum trophies (Astro’s Playroom, Spider-Man: Miles Morales, and Call of Cthulhu) so I may exceed this goal before my due date.
Or, because Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla is in my cross hairs, I may just barely make it. That game is very long, but I’ve done ever other post-reboot Assassin’s Creed so now I’m locked in.
2. Work on my backlog
The classic backlog problem. This year I’ve taken a further step to help me to be a more responsible adult. The fact is that I have too many video games, and I’m bad at playing them. I get distracted and the games languish on my physical/digital shelf.
I’m going to try hard not to buy any more old games. New releases will crop up, but I’m striving to keep that number reasonable. I made a list of all my backlog titles, (62 total) which I organized alphabetically by title and broke down further by console. My goal is 20%; that essentially 12 games, which I think is incredibly doable. At the end of the year, I’ll report how many games that I’ll add to that list as I buy whatever newness comes out. The goal is to get down to at least 50 games on the backlog.
3. Complete more Pokedexs
My love of the Pokemon franchise is well documented at Game Loot. Completing the Pokedex in Pokemon Shield was my first time doing so in the 20 years I’ve been playing this franchise. Those are rookie numbers, and I won’t stand for it. I’ve snatched up a pile of Pokemon games, and I’ll be catching them all once again (and again and again). I’m currently working my way through Pokemon Soulsilver on my 3DS. (This will get an article exploring my feelings. Spoiler alert: it’s a good game.)
4. Take my time
Perhaps this last goal goes against the others. I’m not an expert. But I don’t want this to be a stressful thing. I do this because I love games, and I don’t want to treat this like some job or chore. I want to explore these worlds as the developers and writers intended, even if that means slowing down a bit and taking some well deserved deep breaths.
I also wanted to allow myself some space to replay some games just for the fun of it. A handful of last generation titles got enhancements on PS5, so I’ll likely go back and see the changes. I’ve already done so with 2018’s God of War. (This will get an article exploring my feelings. Spoiler alert: it’s a good game.)
What did I learn from my one year on Medium? I learned that growth takes time. I mean that in multiple ways; I’m a better writer than I was one year ago. I’ve also learned how I work, and how much leeway that I need to give myself as I go along. I learned that getting readers is hard, and I will certainly never get rich doing this. These will not be the last lessons I learn. Not even close.
(Spoiler alert: I am still very poor.)
