Since I actually like the maps on the base level, I really don't like how certain patterns play in general, mostly cause they break the flow, and this is what kills this mapset for me. I have played through Rin and Skystar diff currently.
I will label things in red what absolutely must be changed no matter what. In regular black will be things that should probably get changed but don't just dismiss them without even considering the reason why am I suggesting that. I respect the style but sometimes I feel that it just doesn't work and should change because it impairs the playability without any good reason.
I'm getting offset 76~78 for this.
[Rin]
- 00:11:914 (4) - Considering the movement required here, if you ctrl+g this it plays better.
- 00:14:914 (4,5,1,1,2,3,1) - Eh, this is unreadable because of the hitbursts. You can't notice that the last object is a slider. I know it's your style to use overlaps to your advantage but this just doesn't work if you ask me. The flow here is bad.
- 00:31:114 (4) - ctrl+g please, this jump breaks the flow.
- 00:33:514 (4) - Same here. If you really don't want to, try reversing the slider 3 in these two cases then, it flows better and preserves already high spacing.
- 01:12:864 (3,1) - This and all instances of this are actually quite a lot harder than it looks like, at least on mouse. http://osu.ppy.sh/ss/593647 this is more classic but it flows well.
- 02:31:189 (2) - Is this note really necessary?
- 02:53:389 (2) - Bigger spacing here please, it's hard to read considering the fast pacing.
- 03:02:989 (2) - This one is even more important, needs much bigger spacing.
- 03:08:931 (2,3) - Visibility here needs to be better. Even on a still screenshot you won't notice the slider at a glance, you will really have to focus.
In addition, there are a lot of moments where some jumps felt like they are forced, 02:54:364 (1,2,3,4,5,6,7) - this whole combo kinda flows badly, and some other patterns are generally quite hidden, but I guess that's not that bad.
[Skystar]
- The hitsounds are quite low, might want to increase the volume a bit.
- 00:32:389 (2) - This is very hard to notice, you should really try to make this more clear.
- 00:32:914 (2) - This is barely noticeable, you really have no reason to stay in this area so much, there is a lot of free space around that you can use. This just plays awful.
- 00:37:639 (3) - Incorrectly snapped.
- 00:50:464 (1,2,1,2) - The spacing in combos like this should be different. It's really hard to tell for someone who doesn't know the song. There is really no reason to keep it absolutely the same. Goes for all of such patterns.
- 01:00:514 (3) - This is almost 100% invisible on default skin during play.
- 01:12:664 (1,2,3,1,2,3) - Please, don't do things like this. This plays really poorly. If you already want to break the flow (which I have no idea why would you), at least make them visible. This is a part which should flow well because the music feels like it connects 2 parts, this is the complete opposite. Just check how you did 01:22:264 (1,2,3,1,2,3), this actually flows much better.
- 01:16:864 (1,2,3,4,5) - It's impossible notice the 2nd object is a slider. Same goes for 02:53:164 (1,2,3,4,5) and every other occurence.
- 01:51:064 (1,2,1) - This is really flow breaking and really awful to play. Why stack? This stack makes 0 sense.
- 02:48:964 (1,2,3,1) - This is actually unreadable. There are many ways to make this work. There was a hitburst here so you should try repositioning this somewhere else, and don't just return to an already played note if possible, that flows bad. Check 02:58:564 (1,2,3,1,2,3) - for example, this is just a really good example on how to do this well.
Overall I think the skystar diff here is focusing too much on artificial difficulty, meaning the objects are intentionally placed to trip the player, usually by silly overlaps or (unintentional?) hiding behind hitbursts. This doesn't need to happen all the time, the map is already really really hard, so using tricks to impair visibility is a bad thing. It's a cool effect sometimes, but in this case it just breaks the flow and readability without any really good reason if you ask me.
Anyways I hope this helps a bit. It's kinda silly to have this in pending btw haha.