Yo; modding here!
*Bolded = Unrankable or very, very strongly suggested; red = Highly suggested or questionable (still weaker than the bolded ones); black = Minor suggestions/rants; blue = Notes/advices to avoid/fix repeated problems. Also note that hitsound suggestions on a diff may apply on similar parts of the song and the other diffs of the mapset.
>General
This mapset is overall pretty good, but there are a few major issues that have to be fixed. Still a good job though!
Good luck on the way
*Bolded = Unrankable or very, very strongly suggested; red = Highly suggested or questionable (still weaker than the bolded ones); black = Minor suggestions/rants; blue = Notes/advices to avoid/fix repeated problems. Also note that hitsound suggestions on a diff may apply on similar parts of the song and the other diffs of the mapset.
>General
- Consider reducing the BG's size. Over 1 MB is still a pretty big one. Try to drop it to around 300 KBs if possible.
- For a Normal diff at this intensity, HP3, AR3 and OD2 can be too easy. Increase the HP, AR, and OD to 4, 4 and 3 respectively? This corresponds pretty well with the diff itself. Don't worry; the Normal would still be easy enough to become the lowest diff here. Also, this will create a better difficulty spread looking at Mei's diff.
- 00:15:028 - Consider adding a whistle here to follow the instrument in the music line. It's noticeable and feels empty if left unhitsounded. Moreover, a whistle actually fits pretty well with the instrument, so it'll definitely make your map better in terms of hitsounding and fittingness with the music. (Applies to 00:17:665, 00:20:303, 00:22:940, and essentially every other spot where the music is similar.)
- 00:19:808 (1,2,3) - Try something like this if you want? I personally feel that curves like this fits the flow you've made from 00:17:171 (1,2,3,4) and to 00:22:446 (1,2). (Basically, it feels more comfortable to play and more natural). I also believe this goes along pretty well with how you mapped the diff itself.
- 00:41:566 (1) - Might as well make it curved like this to make a better curve to 00:42:226 (2). A straight slider feels kinda random, honestly.
- 00:46:182 (1) - Rotate by 17 degrees clockwise and then move to (161,226) for a better flow from 00:45:852 (4)? Feels more comfortable to play.
- 00:49:479 (2) - Move to (152,178)? Makes a better flow and looks nicer. Remember to fix the inconsistent spacing if you did this.
- 01:33:654 - Unused inherited timing point; remove please!
- 01:37:281 - Might want to add a whistle too to emphasize that another instrument sound in the background.
- 01:38:270 (2,3) - 1.08x spacing!
- 01:43:544 (2) - Rotate 15 degrees anti-clockwise then move to (91,98) for a smoother flow at 01:42:885 (1,2,3)?
- 02:09:258 (2) - Try to make it look more symmetrical if you want? The slider would look nicer!
- 02:46:182 (1,2) - 1.07x? Also, this part can be made to look neater, like this.
- 00:14:533 - 00:25:083 - I'm honestly really not sure with the overall flow of this section. Some parts feel quite forced, like 00:15:028 (2,3,4,5,6,7,8,1), 00:17:995 (3,4,5,6,7), and 00:20:797 (4,5,6,7,8,9,1,2,3,1) (...can I just say almost everything here already). I'm sure it's not just me, but try to ask for more opinions. I personally would like to see this section remapped with a better focus on flow and the comfortability in moving your cursor to hit the objects here while playing.
- 00:29:369 (6,7) - Don't you think the blanket here can be better?
- 00:30:193 (1,2) - Swap NC? Follows the music more correctly. Also consider moving (2) to the left like this for a better flow.
- 00:35:632 (9,1) - Again, swap NC to follow the music's rhythm?
- 00:40:083 (1,4) - ^, then remove the NC at 00:41:237 (1)? (I'm honestly not sure of what are you following for the combos... Mind to explain for a bit? Not gonna touch the NCs later in the diff, I guess.)
- 00:58:709 (3) - Try this for a better flow?
- 01:19:149 (1,2,3,4) - While they fit the song, these extended sliders are just... awkward to play. It feels like you're forced to stop hitting these sliders once they end. It doesn't feel natural. Consider changing them to two 1/1 sliders instead? (Applies to similar patterns.)
- 01:32:995 - I'm very sure the finish here is not needed since it does not correspond with any instrument here.
- 01:39:588 (3,4) - Why is the spacing inconsistent here? Might as well make them spaced by 1.3x too.
- 02:01:676 (6) - Try moving this to (156,16) so 02:01:182 (4,5,6) will look neater? Shouldn't make this part too hard, so don't worry. Also move 02:02:171 (7) to (44,24) if you really did this, to fix the spacing.
- 02:25:413 (4,5,6,1) - Again, might as well make the spacing consistent; it feels jarring to see the spacing uneven.
- 02:46:141 - What's with the timing point here?
- 02:46:182 - 02:49:973 - Honestly, I'm really not sure with this part. It feels like a few of these notes were... placed randomly (sorry for being blunt lol). I believe you've given some thoughts on the patterns here, at least, but I think this part can still be improved, especially in terms of flow and design.
- 02:53:105 (6) - Make it curved like this to follow the curving flow that you've made from 02:51:457 (1,2,3,4,5)?
- 00:28:380 (3,4) - Make the shaping here consistent (either make both of them straight or curved at the same time)? I believe it looks neater and will play better that way.
- 00:48:819 (1,2) - I know what are you following here, but the vocal on the red tick in the middle of these two sliders can be confusing. Consider making the spacing larger, at least?
- 00:56:402 (1) - Reduce the repeat by one? It feels more natural to play 00:56:402 (1,1) if the gap is 1/4 beats, just like 00:56:072 (1,1). Basically, make the gap consistent so this pattern will be more comfortable to play?
- 01:33:490 (4,1) - Try unstacking them? 01:33:654 (1,2) should be more comfortable to play this way.
- 01:47:830 (1) - Same as 00:56:402 (1).
- 02:40:248 (5,6,7,8) - I usually let patterns like this pass, but this is just too weird because of the flow. Consider making the flow here more linear by reversing (Ctrl+G) (5) and (7) (something similar to 01:07:940 (1,2,3,4))? Or just do anything that can improve the flow.
- 02:41:154 (2,3) - Move to (300,76) so 02:40:907 (1,2,3) would be nicer to play? It also looks jarring to see (2,3) above the tail of (1) instead of in the right side of it, following (1)'s curve. (Consider doing it at 02:46:182 (1,2,3) too.)
- Drop the AR down to 9.2? I personally feel that this diff is way more intuitive and comfortable to play with that. AR9.4 makes playing this diff a little weird. I just feel... forced to move my cursor to hit the objects. Try it.
- 01:07:281 (1,2,3,4,1,2,3,4,1) - I am really unsure with the jumps here. It's almost impossible to sightread, and can still be very awkward to play even if you know when to hit them due to the movement you need. Consider changing the (3,4)s to a 1/4 slider to make a slider-circle jump instead. That'll be way more intuitive. (Applies to similar streams.)
- 01:13:544 (1) - Change this to two 1/4 sliders like 01:13:215 (1,2)? I can't see why is such a slow 3/4 slider necessary. It doesn't fit with the song and the intensity of the map itself.
- 01:19:149 (1,2,3,4,1,2,3,4,1) - They can confuse players a lot, and can still feel a little confused after they know how to play these sliders (time the hitting correctly to be precise), since the length of these 3/4 sliders are exactly the same as 1/2 sliders due to the SV multiplier change. (Applies to similar patterns.)
- 01:32:501 (2,4) - There's nothing to follow on the end of these sliders, and since the tick is invisible while playing, this can really make players feel confused (again). Might as well change them into 1/1 sliders instead. That'll also make them follow the vocal, which is better than following nothing at all.
- 01:35:138 (2) - What about splitting this into a 1/1 slider followed by a circle 1/2 beats after the slider? This is to follow the vocal at 01:35:468. I personally feel that it's very awkward to ignore the vocal there since it's pretty noticeable. That will make this part more comfortable to play, too.
- 01:36:292 (7,8) - I don't think there needs to be a SV multiplier change yet since the music's strength doesn't really change that much...
- 01:36:951 - Add a timing point with 50% volume here? I know you're following the faint 1/4 notes in the music, but 80% volume is too loud. 50% would be a better choice. If you did this, add another timing point with 80% volume at 01:37:610.
- 01:48:490 (3,4) - Uh, I'm sure a big jump like this is not necessary. The music here is still pretty weak, and this jump becomes a forced one because of that. This applies to 01:48:984 (6,7) too. 01:49:314 (8,1) should be the place where there is a big jump like these two jumps that you have right now because of the strong instrument sound.
- 02:04:231 - What's with the whistle here? This doesn't follow the song at all and... just doesn't blend well with the song.
- 02:15:852 - 02:23:105 - ...0.25x? What? Oh, and this part is really strange to play since you missed a lot of instruments and vocals to map. It feels like you're only randomly mapping the instruments you want to map, making this section feel really unorganized. Highly consider mapping more on this part so there will be some sort of rhythm consistency here. Also, use at least 0.5x multiplier. 0.25x is highly questionable even for such a slow part and I'm pretty sure it's unrankable to begin with.
- 02:34:231 (2,3) - Why are these circles here? They don't follow anything in the song at all and has a very massive distance from 02:33:984 (1). Remove them please.
- 03:02:337 (2,3) - Make a jump between these circles to keep the intensity you've made so far in the diff? It feels weird to see objects spaced this small all of a sudden.
This mapset is overall pretty good, but there are a few major issues that have to be fixed. Still a good job though!
Good luck on the way