Happy New Year, everyone! As you probably saw in my previous post, the monthly Community Game-Alongs are continuing into 2015, and we’re ringing in the new year with rhythm games! Even if you don’t have a rhythmic bone in your body, it’s hard not to enjoy the likes of Dance Dance Revolution, Samba de Amigo, Rhythm Heaven, Just Dance, or Groove Coaster. And no matter what kind of music you enjoy, there’s a rhythm game for nearly everyone!

Thanks to Marcus of Pixel Pacas for the lovely photo of some of the rhythm games in his collection!

To participate in the rhythm game Community Game-Along, all you have to do is a pick up a rhythm game, play it, and share your experiences! I love to see long-form reviews or impressions either in written, podcast, or video form, but as always, you can also use #RhythmMonth to share your rhythm game playthroughs with other participants on social media. Whether it’s a rhythm game you’re going back to for the first time in years, or a new one you’ve only just picked up, I want to hear your impressions!

There are so many different kinds of rhythm games out there that it’s hard to even know where to go with recommendations, but here are a few titles to get you started:

Vib Ribbon (PSone, PSN) – Who would have thought that in 2014 we would finally see cult PSone hit Vib Ribbon release in North America? After unintentionally teasing the game at E3 (apparently someone forgot it was only released in Europe!), Sony actually responded to fan demand and released the game on PSN for Vita and PS3 in October.

With its deceptively simple gameplay and unique music and art direction, Vib Ribbon is definitely a must-play if you’re one of the many North Americans who never had a chance to experience it before now. You can even use the CD reader function on the PS3 version to create unique levels out of your own tunes!

Rhythm Heaven series (GBA, DS, Wii) – I will never stop championing the Rhythm Heaven series, which consists of three amazing rhythm games that never quite got the attention they deserved. While Rhythm Tengoku for GBA was never released in English, rhythm games are one of the few game genres that are extremely easy to import, making it a great title to pick up if you’re looking to try out a game in Japanese.

Some folks ultimately prefer the simple one button gameplay of Rhythm Heaven Fever on the Wii, but the portability of the DS version makes it another great pick, even with the tap-flick mechanic. Which version you like best is ultimately up to personal preference, though, as each game has its strengths, making any one of them a great place to start.

DJ Max Technika Tune (Vita) – DJ Max Technika Tune is one Vita rhythm game that I think has been sorely overlooked, and the fact that physical copies are extremely difficult to find doesn’t help matters (though it’s also available on PSN). If you’re a DJ Max fan, picking this one up should be a no-brainer, but for those unfamiliar with the series, the touch controls on the Vita make it a hectic and fun twist on the rhythm formula. Unlike many rhythm games that originate in Japan and thus feature Japanese music, the DJ Max series showcases mostly Korean tracks, making it a great pick for K-pop fans.

[An honorable overlooked Vita rhythm game mention goes to Magical Beat, an awesome, bite-sized rhythm puzzle game by the folks who do Guilty Gear and BlazBlue!]

Love Live! School Idol Festival (iOS, Android) – I’ll admit, I’m not even exactly sure what Love Live! is. I know it’s an anime and multiple games about an idol group comprised of high school girls, but that’s about the extent of my knowledge. Regardless of my feelings on the franchise, it’s massively popular in Japan, and is gaining even more popularity abroad with the launch of the smartphone game. And apparently, it has a pretty decent rhythm component! So, since I know probably 80% of the people reading this already play it daily, this is your reminder that it totally qualifies for Rhythm Month. If you haven’t checked it out already, the game is completely free to play, so it wouldn’t hurt to give it a whirl.

This month I’ll be dividing my time between the aforementioned Love Live! (I need to know why everyone on Twitter is playing it!), Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F 2nd, and some Japanese PSP games such as Pop’n Music Portable 2 and Uta no Prince-sama Music 2. Hopefully I’ll be able to churn out at least one or two write-ups this month, since I was very negligent on that front towards the end of last year! What will you be playing?

Back in December 2013, I had no idea that a casual conversation with Kimimi on Twitter about how we wanted to play more Falcom games would quickly evolve into a month-long themed game event that centered around encouraging people to play more games in their backlog/”to play” list. Falcom Month was so well received that I decided to take the plunge and do a different gaming theme every month for all of 2014, and now, thanks to everyone’s support, I’m continuing it into 2015!

Credit goes to Kimimi for the lovely image to go with this post! Can you guess what theme each game corresponds to?

Last year I pretty much planned every month as I went along, which didn’t do me any organizational favors, so this year I’ve gone ahead and picked every theme ahead of time! If you’re curious as to what’s on the horizon or would like to plan your game playthroughs/purchases, the full list is below. But, if you’d like to keep upcoming themes a surprise, exit out of this page now and be sure to follow me on Twitter to get the announcement for the upcoming month’s theme at the beginning of the last full week of every month.

Oh, and to bring in 2015 with bells and whistles, January will be dedicated to rhythm games (#rhythmmonth)! This was the most requested theme in my survey, so I hope a lot of people participate! A full rundown post in the usual Community Game-Along style will be coming shortly.

January – Rhythm games
February – Visual novels From Software
March – From Software Monster Hunter-likes
April – Yuji Naka
May – Monster Hunter-likes Visual novels
June – Fighting games
July – JRPGs
August – Point and click adventure
September – Spike Chunsoft
October – Kusoge
November – Natsume
December – Yoko Shimomura

[Update 1/18: Shuffled around February, March, and May themes]

Chime in with your thoughts on the different themes in the comments! I hope you have at least a couple to look forward to this year. I know I do!

I can’t believe the first year of Community Game-Alongs is nearly over! I say “first year” because thanks to the amazingly positive reception my Game-Along survey has had so far, I’ll be continuing these themed gaming months through 2015! The survey is still available to fill out if you’d like to add some theme ideas to the pile, but I’m really happy to hear that everyone has enjoyed these enough to want another full year of them.

Anyway, to close out 2014, I thought it would be fun to celebrate a niche of games that is steadily gaining more traction outside of Japan, but still very much underrepresented. Doujin games are basically the Japanese equivalent of indie or fan games, but unlike the western indie scene, it is still an underground movement in many ways. On occasion, Japanese doujin titles such as Touhou Project or Cave Story gain enough popularity to break into mainstream outlets, but many only ever see release on PC in alternative distribution venues such as fan conventions.

Luckily, thanks to companies such as Playism, Nyu Media, Carpe Fulgur, and the recent Sekai Project, it’s easier than ever to play a wide range of doujin titles in English! While most doujin games are unfortunately PC-only, they’re generally not very demanding and can be run on nearly any computer, and some more popular titles get revamped for other systems, such as La-Mulana or Corpse Party.

I’m sure everyone knows the drill by now, but for those new to Chic Pixel Community Game-Alongs, all you need to do to participate is pick a game that fits the theme and play it during the month of December! Of course, be sure to share your experiences and impressions using #DoujinDecember on social media.

A lot of games that fit in this month’s theme were mentioned in previous months, including the aforementioned La-Mulana (only $2.99 on Steam as of this post!) and a slew of doujin horror games I listed in October’s Community Game-Along post. While those are all great picks for DoujinDecember, here are a few other titles to get you started:

Cave Story (PC/Mac, Wii, DS, 3DS) – Cave Story is, without a doubt, one of the most well-known doujin games in English. The Metroidvania-style adventure game was originally self-published for PC in 2004, making this year its 10th anniversary! If you’ve yet to play a doujin game, this one is highly recommended for its platform accessibility and high degree of polish. You can even still get the original game for free, though later revisions sport upgrades that would be worth checking out.

Unholy Heights (PC) – The great thing about DoujinDecember occurring right in the middle of Steam sales is it’s an awesome time to pick up some lesser-known doujin games on the cheap! Unholy Heights is one such game, and it’s only $0.99 right now. The RTS/apartment management sim is both addictive and adorable, with a drop-dead cute monster theme and fun but not too complex gameplay. If that isn’t enough to sell you on this game, it makes a great pick up and play title to fit in during the busy holiday season!

Yume Nikki (PC) – Speaking of the holiday season, you’re probably telling yourself that you can’t bear to spend any more money on anything, let alone more games. Luckily, another classic doujin game, Yume Nikki, is available free to download in English from Playism’s site. While perhaps not explicitly a horror game, Yume Nikki has players controlling a girl name Madotsuki as she travels through her dreams, and it has become quite notorious for its disturbing imagery. It’s a doujin classic worth experiencing, but you might want to play it with the lights on!

Hatoful Boyfriend (PC/Mac) – How could I not mention the most infamous doujin game of 2014? Hatoful Boyfriend has been available in English since February 2012, but the game only just launched on Steam in September of this year. Now that it’s available to an even wider audience, everyone seems to be talking about “that pigeon dating sim.” If you want something goofy with a surprisingly dark undertone and you’ve never tried a romantic visual novel before, this would be a great place to start! Like most of the games mentioned, it’s currently on sale, too. Keep in mind that it will be coming out for PlayStation 4 and PS Vita next year, so it may be worth holding off on if you’d prefer to experience it on those platforms.

Goodness me, look at the time! We’re nearly a week into November already, which makes this month’s Community Game-Along theme announcement horribly overdue (though if you follow me on Twitter, you’ve probably heard all about it by now). For those of you who haven’t, never fear – there’s still plenty of time to get in on this month’s theme, Nippon Ichi Software games!

For the purposes of appealing to as many people as possible, I’ll be including combining both Nippon Ichi Software and NIS America this month, so games that are developed as well as published by the two companies are eligible for the theme. If you’re unfamiliar with Nippon Ichi Software, I’d highly recommend checking out the Hardcore Gaming 101 series that focuses on the Japanese developer’s strategy RPGs.

All you need to do to participate in the NIS Community Game-Along is pick a game (or games) that fit the theme to play and share your experiences! On social media, please use #NISNovember to tag your posts so everyone join in the fun.

I’ve had a few folks mention to me that NIS games aren’t really their thing, which is why I’d like to use November to highlight the wide and varied library both NIS and NIS America have! While Disgaea is undoubtedly their flagship title, there are many more games under the NIS umbrella to discover. Why not try out one of these fine games?

Danganronpa (PS Vita) – Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havocand Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair are by far the main reason why I decided to include NIS America-published titles in this month’s theme. Developed by Spike Chunsoft of Zero Escape series fame, Danganronpa features some of the best writing and catchiest music I’ve heard in a game in a very long time. If you plan to jump into the series, you absolutely must start with the first game, as the sequel expands on the plot of the first in a number of very important ways. Check out my review of the first game to find out if it’ll be your cup of tea.

Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure (PSone, DS) – Unlike NIS’s comparatively dense strategy RPGs such as Disgaea, Rhapsody stands out as being more about the presentation than the difficulty of the gameplay. Touted as a “musical RPG,” Rhapsody features an array of cute and quirky characters that will often break out into song during dialogue sequences. It’s worth noting that the DS version features a gameplay overhaul, making it into more of a traditional turn-based battle system than a strategy RPG. If you want an RPG loaded with female characters that won’t suck away all your free time (it can be completed in about 10 hours), then Rhapsody may be worth seeking out.

ClaDun series (PSP, PSN, Steam) – I hardly ever hear love for the ClaDun series, but it’s actually one of my favorite series developed by NIS! The quirky art style and top-down dungeon crawling gameplay make this series lots of fun for those looking to try something less tactical than NIS’s usual fare. Your characters and party are fully customizeable, down to the sprites themselves, and the music is surprisingly memorable for a niche game release. ClaDun X2, being the sequel, is the more polished of the two, and can be purchased on Steam as well as PSN for PSP or Vita. If you’re looking for something that can be played on the big screen and has a little more story, Legasista (PS3) is very similar.

GrimGimoire (PS2, PSN) – Another NISA-published title, GrimGrimoire is perhaps the least well-known of acclaimed developer Vanillaware’s titles. If the game’s gorgeous art style isn’t enough to interest you, the real-time strategy gameplay might! At only $10 on PSN, this is the cheapest game recommendation on my list, but don’t assume you’re trading quality for cost. You can read my full review here.

Before you start digging into your NIS games, please consider completing my 2015 Community Game-Along survey! The survey will be available until mid-December and will help me gauge if there is interest in continuing these theme gaming months into next year. It’ll only take a couple of minutes to complete, so please let me know your thoughts!