Bubble popping over quality issues.
First of all, minor, but why is the HP-drain so low for the higher difficulties? These seem like maps that would fit well with higher HP-drain.
[Black or White]
The difficulty is unnecessary for this mapset as it adds nothing of value to it. 'Extra' already covers the song's full density and uses a lot of jumps to support the (almost) constant 1/2 beats in the song. 'Black or White' is exactly the same just with significantly more spaced out jumps (and some odd overmaps that I will mention below). It feels more like an attention seeker than anything else.
00:07:059 (1,2,1,2,1,2) - 00:09:626 (1,2,1,2,1,2) - 00:12:193 (1,2,1,2,1,2) - ...
I can see that these overmaps are intentionally done to emphasize these vocals. The logic behind them is flawed though - You are using 1/4-sliders instead of circles to emphasize vocals that are really loud and short, but sliders aren't shorter than circles. They feel off and add density to the map that isn't in the song.
A much better way of emphasizing these sounds would be with increased spacings (which doesn't really work since you are using jumps throughout the whole map) or with sharper angles (which doesn't work either since you are using sharp angles throughout the whole map). This alone shows how flawed this map is: Having sharp angled jumps everywhere is like trying to emphasized everything - With the result, that everything feels the same and therefore not emphasized at all.
Also, for this section 01:17:327 (1,2,3,4,5,6,1,2,1,2,1,2,1,2,1,2,3,4,5,6,1,2,1,2,1,2,1,2) - you suddenly ignore the gimmick that was consistently used throughout the whole map and replace everything with halfscreen-jumps? Sure, this is probably the most intense section of the song, but ignoring previous gimmicks for the sake of huge jump patterns is disappointing.
00:41:391 (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,1,2,3,4,5,1,2,1,2,3,4,5,1,2,3) -
This intense build-up repeats the exact same sound 8 times in a measure, which made me hope for some more 'structured' patterns here, for example symmetry / polygons / back-and-forth etc. While this is a stylistic choice, it would help making special parts of the song stand out more.
00:51:338 (1,2) -
Why is there such a big jump between these notes? (2) doesn't have a strong sound in the music at all, the complete emphasis is on 00:51:017 (1,2,1) -. It would have been much better to leave 00:51:498 (2) - out completely or as a sliderend. If you want to keep a circle, atleast lower the spacing significantly. Same applies for 00:56:471 (1,2) -
[Extra]
As I already mentioned, this has the same global issues as 'Black or White', as it's full of jumps and sharp-angled movements throughout which results in almost no emphasis. However, I can understand why you mapped it this way for this difficulty as the song has this constant, rather strong 1/2-beat going, so it might be acceptable. It's still not a very exciting difficulty and could be a lot better with more diversity.
00:15:402 (1) - This note might be louder than the others but the overmap still feels unfitting for the same reasons as in 'Black or White'.
00:51:338 (1,2) - Same issue as in 'Black or White'.
01:01:926 (1,2,3,4,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,1,1,2,3,4) - Really neat how the transition was handled here. I like this!
[Hard]
00:52:059 - Any reason for skipping this particular beat?
[Light Hard]
00:46:926 - 00:52:059 - Again, reasons for skipping these beats?
The 'emphasis' issue from 'Black or White' and 'Extra' is similar for 'Insane' too (and a common issue in ranked maps lately). The jump patterns that you are using are fun and exciting to play if they are used to emphasize something in the song, it can even be an entire section with constant strong 1/2-sounds or something. But if it's used for the whole map it feels disconnected from the song.
'Hard' and 'Light Hard' have a similar problem, 1/2-sliders are almost spammed throughout the whole map (especially in 'Light Hard') which makes it the most repetetive difficulty of the mapset. It won't be as fun to play as a map that uses a higher diversity of rhythms and patterns, with more emphasis on the intense sections.
Please reply carefully to everything you disagree with. I won't be accepting 'I think the jumps fit the song' as an explanation here. I know I am being a bit harsh by popping this bubble, especially since these issues apply to half of the ranked beatmaps these days, but I feel like starting somewhere to improve the quality of the ranked maps again. I'm sure we can come to an agreement and the map can be moved forward somehow.
