Hi. Here from Christmas Queue. Hope this finds you well!
[Easy]
01:04:524 (1,2,3) – (2) is a bit close to the other two, can you move them apart a bit to get 1.10x spacing
01:20:524 (1,2,3) – Not having special hitsounds here took me out of the map. It'd be really nice to have something here to not feel empty. I would like it if you added a whistle to go with the vocals throughout the kiai since that is what you are going with in the map. It's possible to create a custom normal-hitwhistle and use it as an addition for convenience since I doubt new players are going to turn off custom hitsounds.
01:49:857 (1,2) – This would look nicer if (2) was symmetric or in a circle with the tail end of (1) like
this[Karia's Normal]
01:33:857 (1,2) – I like making these symmetric by rotating each slider by 5 degrees
like so[Hard]
00:45:690 (1,2) – and 01:08:357 (1,3) – One is symmetric while the other isn't. Why the difference in aesthetics?
01:01:857 (1,3,4,5,1) – Due to auto-stacking, (4) looks pretty cramped next to the first (1) slider. Also, the distance to the triple is a bit higher than normal. Try manually moving this so that (4) is where the second (1) is.
01:33:857 (1,2,3) – auto-stacking causes the spacing to be a bit closer than I'd like.
01:34:524 (3,4,1) - ^
01:43:690 (3,4,5,6) - ^ and others
[Karia's Insane]
00:23:690 (3,1,1,1,1) – Nice jo b with these sliders
00:28:024 (4,6) – This was hard to read, and I don't think that helped the map. I felt that 00:58:357 (3,2) – was way more satisfactory to play because the non-perfect stack removed any complexity in the intentions of the map and just let me play it, so I totally understood the pattern more.
01:43:690 (3,5) – consider other places like this one
00:36:857 (3,4,1,2) – (1,2) has the same motion as the (3,4). Why? These feel different because they are different instruments. I don't like comparing them with the same flow, and I want to express the difference in sound by moving differently.
[Karia120's Bells]
00:18:857 (6) – This big spacing into this note confused me. I really identified big spacing with the instrument at 00:17:690 (1) – (I don't know the name of it, so I'll call it a synth). As a result, the emphasis on this (6) note broke that expectation. Consider making this spacing a bit smaller to allow for some contrast between the two sounds.
00:30:857 (5,1) – The DS here is pretty small for a downbeat. I didn't enjoy underplaying this strong trumpet at the (1) note. Part of the issue is that 00:30:690 (4,5) – is so much stronger relative to the (5,1) spacing.
00:33:524 (5,1) – happens here too, maybe check a few others if you agree
01:12:524 (1,2,1,2,1,2,1,2) – This is subjective, but I feel strongly enough to say it. The vocals are changing here. While the DS changes, the motion of the pattern doesn't. I really wish it did because motion is its own independent feeling. I wanted to express the vocals differently in some way, so try doing a different flow somewhere to provide contrast. For example, try doing ctrl + G on 01:13:857 (1) – and 01:14:524 (1) -
01:19:524 (2) – The spacing combined with the stacks got me kind of fatigued here and needing a break, and I kind of expected one since these strong brass notes stopped. I don't disagree with the rhythm, but I think making the DS between 01:19:524 (2,3) – be smaller would help transition into a new instrument more intuitively.
01:27:524 (2,4) – The perfect stack was hard to read
01:52:357 (6,1) – This flow was awkward. I expected (1) to be counter clockwise and pointing the other way, so consider ctrl + H. If you want to keep that direction, consider putting (1) at ~412, 112 to make the flow less forceful.
Nice mapset, have a star. Good luck!