February completely snuck up on me this year, and so did one of my favorite Community Game-Along themes! “Dating sims” is always a bit of a funny term to use, because it really refers to romance games with simulation elements, such as Angelique. But since it’s also often used interchangeably to mean any romantic/dating type game, I figure it’s a good umbrella term to encompass all the types of games I wanted to include in this theme.
Late last year, I decided to bring back the monthly Community Game-Along roundup posts after a suggestion from a reader. But with my trip to Japan at the end of November and the hectic holiday season, I completely dropped the ball on posting roundups for November and December‘s themes! I’d still like to highlight some of the great contributions and game selections from folks who participated, so I’ve decided to combine both months for today’s post. I’ll do my best to make sure I’m not this late again!
Welcome to the very first Community Game-Along of 2018, fighting games! This theme was chosen due to some very exciting fighting games coming out in the month of January: Dissidia NT, Dragon Ball FighterZ, and Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition. Whether you’re a master of memorizing combos or prefer to stick to the story in easy mode, there’s bound to be a fighting game that will appeal to your style!
2018 is knocking on the front door, and I must say, I’m ready to see what a new year will bring! This will be my 5th year hosting the Community Game-Along here at Chic Pixel, and I’m excited to put the spotlight on even more under-appreciated genres and creators in gaming. Plus, now that I’m doing monthly roundup posts, every month you’ll be able to see what everyone played and get some great recommendations for new games to check out!
For the second post in my 2017 Japan Trip series, I’m sharing my video game haul! I mostly wanted to get this one out of the way so I could open up all my games and start playing them… Such is the way of the blogger! If you’re eager to see more posts about where I went in Japan, don’t worry, more will be coming soon.
In total, I picked up 18 games while I was in Tokyo, and the vast majority are otome games. Like my previous Tokyo DisneySea post, I’ve made a video in addition to my usual photos and text for folks who like to watch haul videos. Check it out below!
The second Monster Hunter World beta is currently underway for PlayStation 4, so I jumped on the chance to spend some time with it. As a relatively new but very avid Monster Hunter fan (I started with the Japanese version of Monster Hunter 4 in 2013), I’ve been apprehensive about the footage I’ve seen of Monster Hunter World so far.
The monster, armor, and environments look really drab! The game shows you how much damage you’re dealing! These may seem like minor nitpicks, but when it’s the little details that got me into the series in the first place, I was worried so many changes might indicate that Monster Hunter World might not be for me. Luckily, the game still feels like the Monster Hunter I know and love!
Happy December! The final Community Game-Along theme of 2017 is centered on a composer, rather than a video game genre or developer. Game music composers are generally pretty under-appreciated, despite the fact that they contribute heavily to the atmosphere of games. Well, one such composer is Michiru Yamane, who is known for her work on many of the Castlevania games, among other titles!