For the most part, I enjoy this game, even if it doesn't live up to all of my hopes and expectations.

Most of my thoughts on the game are positive. The song selection is great, incorporating both popular artists in the genre and some less well known artists as well. There's not any song in the game that I don't like. The scoring system is pretty lenient, and the accuracy windows are wide, but not so wide to the point that the game feels pointless. Going to max EX Score on some of the easier charts is a fun challenge, and the All Critical lamp remains accessible even in the upper echelons of difficulty. I mostly play IIDX, so the timing does feel a bit lenient, but not in a way that feels bad (especially if you mostly aim for the A. Critical judgement). The visual styling of the game is very good, the boss songs introduced through the story mode have really cool intros, and the modcharts in the game are a lot of fun to play.

I'm a bit ambivalent towards the game's story. I feel like some of the narrative gimmicks have been played out a bit, and were executed a lot better in the games that first experimented with those gimmicks. Some of the dialogue feels a bit like a Discord conversation between two 20-somethings, which, while not the worst thing in the world, does get a bit tiring to read through given that every character more or less speaks the same way. If nothing else, I really appreciate the ambition and scope of the story. The puzzles range from very simple to a bit unreasonably obscure in their reasoning. The game has a fair amount of hidden content that would probably only be accessible if one was willing to aimlessly grind for hours if they don't want to look up the answers online, which leaves a bit of an unsatisfying feeling.

Some of the core mechanisms of the game and charting style don't feel quite so successful. The charts are very heavy on long notes, which is not my personal preference, but is ultimately completely acceptable. The bumper notes, however, leave a lot to be desired. When they are inserted into dense patterns, it breaks the pattern-recognition element of chart reading completely, and forces the player to resolve the "implied" charting very quickly, which often just feels frustrating. Another thing that adds to the frustration around bumper notes is the way the game will parse input, and can cause a note to be erased on an input that you thought was for a bumper note, and will get you a 'Bad' judgement. When this happens, it can be really frustrating, and even quickly lead to a failure. The bumper notes can be fun when charted in a way that makes you resolve them in a sort of Taiko-style where you have to play a 2-button rhythm with four keys. They can also feel nice when tacked on with one or two regular notes to form a "normal" pattern in short bursts. Putting them in dense sections just feels unfun to play with, though.

At the end of the day, the game is free, so I'd recommend you play it and see if you like what it has to offer. I'm not the biggest fan of the story, but I did enjoy a lot of moments in it, and I certainly see its appeal. I've found myself having fun with the game more often than not, and I've spent days on end playing it. I just don't think it's a game I would sink the amount of time into that I would with, say, IIDX or DJMAX.

For the most part, I enjoy this game, even if it doesn't live up to all of my hopes and expectations. Most of my thoughts on the game are positive. The song selection is great, incorporating both popular artists in the genre and some less well known artists as well. There's not any song in the game that I don't like. The scoring system is pretty lenient, and the accuracy windows are wide, but not so wide to the point that the game feels pointless. Going to max EX Score on some of the easier charts is a fun challenge, and the All Critical lamp remains accessible even in the upper echelons of difficulty. I mostly play IIDX, so the timing does feel a bit lenient, but not in a way that feels bad (especially if you mostly aim for the A. Critical judgement). The visual styling of the game is very good, the boss songs introduced through the story mode have really cool intros, and the modcharts in the game are a lot of fun to play. I'm a bit ambivalent towards the game's story. I feel like some of the narrative gimmicks have been played out a bit, and were executed a lot better in the games that first experimented with those gimmicks. Some of the dialogue feels a bit like a Discord conversation between two 20-somethings, which, while not the worst thing in the world, does get a bit tiring to read through given that every character more or less speaks the same way. If nothing else, I really appreciate the ambition and scope of the story. The puzzles range from very simple to a bit unreasonably obscure in their reasoning. The game has a fair amount of hidden content that would probably only be accessible if one was willing to aimlessly grind for hours if they don't want to look up the answers online, which leaves a bit of an unsatisfying feeling. Some of the core mechanisms of the game and charting style don't feel quite so successful. The charts are very heavy on long notes, which is not my personal preference, but is ultimately completely acceptable. The bumper notes, however, leave a lot to be desired. When they are inserted into dense patterns, it breaks the pattern-recognition element of chart reading completely, and forces the player to resolve the "implied" charting very quickly, which often just feels frustrating. Another thing that adds to the frustration around bumper notes is the way the game will parse input, and can cause a note to be erased on an input that you thought was for a bumper note, and will get you a 'Bad' judgement. When this happens, it can be really frustrating, and even quickly lead to a failure. The bumper notes can be fun when charted in a way that makes you resolve them in a sort of Taiko-style where you have to play a 2-button rhythm with four keys. They can also feel nice when tacked on with one or two regular notes to form a "normal" pattern in short bursts. Putting them in dense sections just feels unfun to play with, though. At the end of the day, the game is free, so I'd recommend you play it and see if you like what it has to offer. I'm not the biggest fan of the story, but I did enjoy a lot of moments in it, and I certainly see its appeal. I've found myself having fun with the game more often than not, and I've spent days on end playing it. I just don't think it's a game I would sink the amount of time into that I would with, say, IIDX or DJMAX.