Progress on Rhythm Games (November 2024)

October was filled with events and event prep, and before I knew it, November had arrived. I was swamped, but fortunately, my basic skills seem to have grown steadily. Let’s summarize the current situation here. The previous article (from two months ago) is here.

IIDX/BMS

EPOLIS ended, and the version changed. BP is gone, the charts you can select in step-up mode were reset, you can’t pick ☆11 on your first song, and you also can’t take the Kaiden exam for a while—just the usual harassment—but let’s keep pounding those keys.

Turntable

There’s been overwhelming progress with scratching. When I actually tried, I was able to do it, and I’m enjoying the fun of rhythm games. Here’s how things have progressed with the ☆10 charts mentioned in my previous article. Previously, there had been no growth at all in my turntable skills, so this is a dramatic change for me.

• 灼熱 (H): BP70 -> BP32
• HEARTACHE : Un-EXH -> EXH (BP in single digits)
• 灼熱Pt.2 (H): Unclear -> Hard Clear (BP34)

Also, I managed to get an Easy clear on Watch Out Pt.2 and The Chase. However, I have a lot of BPs, and realistically I should be aiming for a Hard clear on these charts, so more practice is needed.

In BMS, I’m working on filling out the 3rd Turntable Difficulty Table (Hard). I don’t have many charts on hand, but I’m close to filling ◎-1 with an FC, I almost got an EASY on ◎5 (but didn’t), and there’s all sorts of fun. For some reason, I even got an Easy on ◎8. I’m getting better at evenly spinning the turntable, but this likely won’t help on AC.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fw3_VssNnY

Overall, my sensitivity to the number of consecutive scratches has improved, and I can handle double, triple, or five consecutive scratches with the correct motion. I’ll keep “spinning away” so I can tackle higher-level scratch charts.

Sudden BPM Changes

I’ve been doubling the green number in BMS. Initially, I couldn’t even get an EASY clear on charts around ☆8 difficulty, but now I can basically EASY clear sl0, and I can even Hard clear some of them. People really can get used to this with practice.

I also managed a Hard clear on AltMirrorBell, one of the strongest ★1 charts. I’ll keep working so I can beat twinklesky as well.

On AC, I got a Hard clear on POSSESSION, and I can maintain a decent gauge in the low-speed section of PARANOiA ～HADES～, which is a night-and-day difference from before. However, as I’ll mention later, I’m still lacking some crucial skills, so more training is needed.

Score

I can now barely get AAA on EDEN, and I can score well on easier ☆10 charts like シル・ヴ・プレジデント. I haven’t tracked it precisely, but I definitely feel my scoring baseline has improved. While I’m not consistently hitting AAA, there are more charts where I can stabilize in the AA high range. It feels like I’m getting the hang of pressing to the rhythm, which may also have had a positive effect on scratching and sudden BPM changes.

どうして居なくなってしまったの

Stream/Note-Dense Patterns

I haven’t seen any noticeable progress here. The good news is that I don’t feel like I’ve gotten worse compared to before. Maybe I should do more note-dense practice.

Other

I occasionally work on the 2nd-Phase Repetitive Tapping Difficulty Table and the 3rd-Phase LN Difficulty Table.
In the Blue Archive rhythm minigame, charts equivalent to a double-digit LN difficulty table come raining down. As expected of a Korean rhythm game.

Challenges

Kaiden Charts

Here’s how my recent BPs compare to last time on Kaiden-level charts (sorry, I forgot to take pictures). All are played on Random, so take these numbers with a grain of salt, but I use them as a rough reference.

• 灼熱: BP233 -> around 210
• 卑弥呼: BP187 -> around 160

灼熱 is out of this world. It doesn’t feel like it’s even in the same continuum as the other turntable charts I’ve played so far. I don’t think I’ll improve if I keep playing it as-is, but since I haven’t even cleared all ☆11 scratch charts, I’ll keep practicing similarly for now.

卑弥呼 hasn’t changed much in terms of BP, but I didn’t make mistakes in the mid-song low-speed section. On the other hand, I couldn’t handle the last low-speed section at all, probably with over 30 misses there. This indicates I still lack enough low-speed ability. If I didn’t mess up the ending, I might have kept BP in the 130 range, possibly getting an Easy clear, which suggests I’m close to having the skill level for Kaiden qualification. Of course, if someone says “The last part of 卑弥呼 is way harder than the rest,” there’s not much I can do. I’ll just have to be able to hit the insane density during the song and gear change properly.

Lamp Updates

I feel somewhat stuck with lamp updates. In CPI terms, 1600-1700 is rough, and many charts give me 70-100 BPs. I don’t feel like my fingers are lagging behind, so maybe I’m not accurately reading and hitting notes. Meanwhile, for 1700-range charts, it feels like I’m short by about two levels of base skill. Data suggests that getting a Hard clear on 1700-range charts is a sign you’re Kaiden-ready, which matches my own sense. There are also many charts where I can’t even reliably get an Easy clear, so I need to further improve my tolerance for high-density patterns.

https://riceplace.hatenablog.jp/entry/2020/12/18/185257

So, I’ll continue training my turntable and sudden BPM change skills, while also challenging high-difficulty charts to gradually increase the density I can handle for Hard clears.

DDR

Let’s also summarize where I stand with DDR. I haven’t been getting much exercise lately, and with winter coming, it’s only going to get tougher. But I want to keep playing regularly for my health.

Play Style

Right now, I’m not too focused on Flares. Instead, I’m working on raising my scores and aiming for FCs on mid-level charts, as well as going for clears on higher-level charts.

WORLD made it easier to advance to EX, and since the LIFE4 restriction was removed in EX, it’s simpler to tackle higher difficulties. Plus, with the most powerful option called CONSTANT, I can clear more high-difficulty charts, making for more tangible results. There are still plenty of unplayed charts, so I expect I’ll have more progress to write about.

Score

The highlight is definitely my recent MFC. Polaris Nouta is a newer song, meaning probably no offset between the chart and audio, and the bass drum is easy to hear. As a song, I think it’s easy to time. That said, ESP and CSP are overranked. In the BSP chart, all notes fell on measure lines, so I didn’t even have to step on eighths.

宇宙がマベで満たされるように

The current challenge is that I have very few PFCs on Lv.12 and 13, and I only have a handful of AAAs on Lv.14. Even if I can easily FC, I end up with a lot of greats whenever the chart gets slightly more complex or the density goes up. I’m not sure why, but I suspect it might be because my line of sight is too close to the judgment line (i.e., I’m only relying on visual timing). I’m thinking of increasing the speed mod so I step more in time with the music.

High-Difficulty Charts

I’ve cleared 43 out of 87 charts at Lv.18. There are still many charts that aren’t unlocked, so realistically, there are around 30 I haven’t cleared yet. There are quite a few I haven’t played since WORLD started, so picking which ones to play is a challenge. After one try, I’m usually out of stamina, so it’s tough to choose. DIGITALIZER really did me in.

Nothing makes sense

Losing stamina quickly is likely a reading issue, so I should build up from Lv.16 recognition.

Conclusion

Winter makes warm-ups take longer, so it’s going to be a tough season, but I’ll keep going. Let’s continue to do our best.