The 2016 Monster Hunter Community Game-Along

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It’s finally time for the 3rd annual Monster Hunter Community Game-Along! I originally dedicated a month to Monster Hunter and the various hunting games the series has inspired back in 2014 for its 10th anniversary, but now it’s become a mainstay of my Community Game-Alongs together with JRPG July. If you’re not a fan of Monster Hunter, never fear, as any hunting-like game is eligible for this month’s theme. So grab your title of choice, and let’s get hunting!

If you’re on social media, you can share your experiences with your chosen title or recommend games to other participants using #MonMonth. I’m always following along, so you just might get featured!

Aside from the obvious Monster Hunter games, there are a handful of other titles from Freedom Wars to Bloodborne that would count for this month’s theme. You can head over to my original MonMonth post for some suggestions, but here are a couple more recent picks that you might like to try!

Final Fantasy Explorers (3DS) – This is the Monster Hunter game for Final Fantasy fans! While it takes a lot of inspiration from Monster Hunter, it doesn’t have nearly as steep a learning curve, making it a great first foray into this style of game. Plus, you can dress your character up like iconic Final Fantasy characters! Since this was recently released, it should still be getting a lot of action online.

Toukiden Kiwami (PS4, Vita) – The sequel to Toukiden: The Age of Demons, Kiwami is a great pick if Japanese folklore-inspired monsters are more up your alley. It’s about as close as we’ll get to playing a current-gen Monster Hunter game on a home console for the time being, too. Luckily, it’s a very solid hunting game from the Dynasty Warriors crew.

As for me, I’m going to finally attempt to play MonHan Nikki: Poka Poka Airou Mura DX, a cute Monster Hunter spinoff game for the 3DS featuring the adorable cat critters known as felynes. Let’s see if I actually find time to dedicate to it!

January 2016 Community Game-Along: Dating Sims

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The first Community Game-Along theme of 2016 is the return of an old personal favorite, dating sims! For this month’s theme, any games where pursuing romance is an integral part of the experience are eligible. That means whether you want to play Dragon Age or Amnesia: Memories, it counts for the Game-Along!

If you’re new to Community Game-Alongs, simply play any game that fits the theme and share your experiences on your own blog, YouTube channel, social media, or wherever else you’d like to talk about it. Just be sure to tag it with #DatingSimonth so everyone else can see it! If you don’t know what to play, check out the suggestions I gave the first time I ran the dating sim Community Game-Along, or try one of these:

The Complete 2016 Community Game-Along Schedule

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Can you believe it’s been two years since I started doing Community Game-Alongs here at Chic Pixel? I certainly can’t! What began as a month dedicated to celebrating Nihon Falcom games has evolved into a fun event where every month of the year is designated a new video game-related theme, and I’m so excited to continue it into 2016.

If you’re new to the Community Game-Along, fundamentally it’s very simple: all you have to do is play at least one game that fits the theme of the month. Try a title you’ve never played before, revisit an old favorite, or share your experiences with others… As long as it fits the theme, how you choose to join in is up to you! For those that like to plan ahead, I’ve compiled a full list of the themes for 2016:

January – Dating Sims
February – Fishing games (suggested by @_Kimimi!)
March – Monster Hunter-likes
April – Yuzo Koshiro (composer)
May – Metroidvania
June – Media tie-in games (suggested by @BadoorSNK!)
July – JRPGs
August – PlatinumGames
September – Strategy games
October – Horror games
November – Erotic (R18+/adult content) games
December – Hudson Soft games

I hope to see lots of you participating over the course of the year!

December Community Game-Along: Yoko Shimomura

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All of a sudden, here we are at the last Community Game-Along of 2015! For this occasion, I wanted to do something a little special… So, for the first time ever, this month’s theme is a video game composer! I’d like to highlight Yoko Shimomura, a Japanese composer who is most famous for her work on the Kingdom Hearts series, but you’ve probably heard her melodies in one of the many games on her resume. If you’d like to learn more about her amazing career, check out the Shimomura episode of the M-Disk Playlist podcast I guested on a few months ago!

If you’d like to participate in the December Game-Along, just play a game featuring music composed by Yoko Shimomura (it can even be just one track, we’re flexible here at Chic Pixel). It wouldn’t be a Game-Along without social media integration, so use #ShimomuraMonth to share your experiences with others! Some folks have already been posting their favorite tracks and game recommendations, so be sure to join in – photos of games featuring Shimomura’s music, let’s plays of your chosen title… there are countless ways to participate! If you can’t decide what to play, here are a few titles worth checking out that aren’t Kingdom Hearts:

Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam (Nintendo 3DS) – Let’s start with something topical! Yoko Shimomura has done the music in all of the Mario & Luigi games, with Paper Jam being the latest entry in the series. Well, it just so happens to be releasing in December in Japan in Europe! Sorry, North America, but you’ll have to wait until January for this one. If you’re itchin’ to play a Mario & Luigi game in the meantime, you can get some of them on the Wii U’s virtual console, or try the previous entry on the 3DS, Dream Team Bros.

Radiant Historia (Nintendo DS) – For a recent but more traditional JRPG, try Radiant Historia. Though it went largely under the radar when it was originally released, it’s extremely well regarded and will definitely scratch any RPG itches you might have. I still haven’t had a chance to boot up my copy, so I can’t say much more than that, but I don’t think it’d disappoint!

Parasite Eve (PSone) – Though still an RPG (Shimomura’s forte), Parasite Eve was unique for taking aspects of horror titles such as Resident Evil and transforming traditional role-playing game mechanics. The creepy cool soundtrack is also one of my personal favorites! If you’ve played the first game in the series and would like to check out the others, keep in mind that Shimomura did not compose II, but did return for the less stellar 3rd Birthday on PSP.

Legend of Mana (PSone) – Though Legend of Mana has not been received as favorably as previous titles in the series, many point to it as one of Yoko Shimomura’s strongest soundtracks. This also happens to be the game I’ll be trying out this month, since I’ve never played it! Wouldn’t it be fun to join in a playthrough with your pal Anne?

Of course there are many more possibilities, and there’s definitely nothing wrong with celebrating with a little Kingdom Hearts goodness! What will you be playing this month?

November Community Game-Along: Natsume

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As always, a new month has completely snuck up on me! I was so busy enjoying everyone’s kusoge playthroughs for October that I completely forgot to announce November’s Game-Along theme. Luckily, I think this month will be pretty laid back for us busy folk, because November is all about Natsume games.

Not that “laid back” is a bad thing, but Natsume is by far most famous for Harvest Moon (now published by XSEED as Story of Seasons), and you can’t get much more laid back than that. So grab a Natsume game and start sharing your experiences on social media with #NatsumeMonth! In the interest of making this as accessible as possible, both titles developed and published by Natsume are eligible for this month’s Game-Along. Here are just a few notable items they have in their roster:

October Community Game-Along: Kusoge

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Ah October, a time of pumpkin spice lattes and spooky decor! This used to be my favorite time of year when I lived in a country that actually celebrated these things, but now I have to satisfy myself with shrimp on the barbie or some other appropriately Aussie thing whenever the holiday season rolls around.

But I digress! October would be the perfect time to do another horror-themed Community Game-Along like I did last year, but I thought it would be fun to shake things up with a different kind of horror this time. That horror is… kusoge! Literally “shit game” in Japanese, kusoge can range from unplayable garbage to diamond-in-the-rough titles that have some unpolished aspects but shine in other areas.

April 2015 is Yuji Naka Month!

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If there’s one classic game series that I know next to nothing about, it’d be Sonic. But while my actual experience with the games may be lacking, I am more than aware of the impact they’ve had on the game industry and the icon the blue blur has become over the years… Even if some of his more recent adventures have been less than well received.

Thus, in an attempt to spice up the themes for the 2015 Community Game-Alongs, I’ve decided to dedicate April to the former head of the Sonic Team and lead programmer for Sonic the Hedgehog, Yuji Naka! His latest title, Rodea the Sky Solider, has finally come out in Japan for 3DS, Wii U, and, oddly enough, the Wii, after reportedly being completed all the way back in 2011. And if that isn’t cause for celebration, I don’t know what is! Unfortunately, my powers are not omnipotent, so I did not foresee NIS America announcing the North American and European release for this September. Unfortunately, those of you without a Japanese system will just have to play a different Yuji Naka title this month. But don’t worry, there’s more than enough to choose from!

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