JRPGJuly is back once again! By far the most loved Community Game-Along theme, JRPGJuly has been a mainstay since the first year I started hosting them. This year’s event is especially exciting since Final Fantasy XII The Zodiac Age is coming out on the 11th! Whether you’ve got a JRPG sitting in your backlog you’ve been dying to finish, or a new title you’ve been meaning to check out, simply grab a JRPG and play it throughout the month of July to join in the fun!
Hello, June! It’s a busy month for video games, especially with all the E3 news coming up, so I though it would be fun to select a less time-intensive theme for this month’s Community Game-Along. But then again, how much time you decide to spend with a puzzle game is entirely up to you!
Puzzle games are perfect for fitting in a few minutes here and there during your commute or while waiting for leftovers to heat up (am I the only one that does this?!), so be sure to grab a game and share your impressions throughout the month using #PuzzleGameMonth! If you’re not sure what to play, never fear, because I’ve rounded up a few recommendations!
To celebrate the English release of Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia on 3DS on May 19th, I decided to dedicate May’s Community Game-Along theme to developer Intelligent Systems! In addition to the Fire Emblem games, Intelligent Systems is also famous for Advance Wars, WarioWare, and the Paper Mario games, so there are tons of great titles to choose from!
April 2017 is a big month for Grasshopper Manufacture. The Japanese game developer is finally seeing its first title, a visual novel called The Silver Case, released in English on PlayStation 4 on April 18th. Originally released for PlayStation in 1999, The Silver Case has never been localized until now! The remake has been available in English for PC and Mac since last year, but to honor the widespread release of this classic title, I wanted to dedicate April’s Community Game-Along to Grasshopper Manufacture!
It’s March, and that can only mean one thing… It’s #MonMonth! Every year, there are two Community Game-Alongs that are so popular I keep bringing them back, MonMonth and JRPGJuly. While JRPGJuly is pretty self-explanatory, MonMonth requires a slightly longer introduction.
The theme of MonMonth is to play Monster Hunter-like titles, since the series and games it has inspired are practically their own subgenre at this point. The key defining aspects of Monster Hunter-like games are action RPG gameplay with tons of gear and boss battles where learning the enemy’s patterns are essential to victory.
If you’re keen on importing and want to stick to Monster Hunter games, Monster Hunter XX comes out in Japan on the 18th. Otherwise, Monster Hunter Generations for the Nintendo 3DS is the latest and greatest title in the series available in English. If you’re looking for a Monster Hunter-like game for PS4, God Eater 2: Rage Burst is a great option. There are a surprising number of titles that fit this month’s theme, so have a look at my previous MonMonth posts if you need some more ideas! There’s even a Final Fantasy game that qualifies!
To participate, just choose a game that fits the theme and play it sometime in March. Share your experience with your game selection through blog posts, let’s plays, or just tweeting your impressions with #MonMonth! Happy hunting!
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When it comes to fashion in games, people tend to gravitate toward a select few titles that center around the fashion industry in some way, such as the lovely Style Savvy series for Nintendo DS and 3DS. Not that these games aren’t amazing, but have you ever thought about how important equipment is in your favorite RPG? Why shouldn’t your character’s appearance change whenever you equip a rad new suit of armor? That’s why for February’s Community Game-Along, we’ll be focusing both on fashion games and fashion in games to showcase how great video game fashion can be!
Another year, another 12 themes for the Community Game-Along! This is my forth year hosting this event, which was started to help encourage people to play more varied games (or check something off that backlog!). All you need to do to participate is play a game that fits the theme and share your experiences on your social media, blog, or elsewhere! Each month there will be an announcement post with game suggestions and the official hashtag to use. If you like to plan ahead, here’s the full list and official hashtags for the year!
January – Dating sims #DatingSiMonth
February – Fashion games (suggested by @vanishingage) #FashionGameFeb
March – Monster Hunter-likes #MonMonth
April – Grasshopper Manufacture #GrassManMonth
May – Intelligent Systems #IntelligentSystemsMonth
June – Puzzle games #PuzzleGameMonth
July – JRPGs #JRPGJuly
August – Mech games #MechMonth
September – Strategy games #SRPGSeptember
October – Horror games #HorrorGameOctober
November – Visual novels #VNNovember
December – Michiru Yamane #MichiruYamaneMonth
I hope you see some themes you’d like to participate in this year!