4K[Beginner]
00:14:571 (14571|2,14785|3) - I get that this is for the lower harmony of the song, but I think the player would be focusing more on the melody at 00:14:142 - and 00:14:357 - instead, so having the 1/2 at 00:14:571 (14571|2,14785|3) - may feel very misleading for the player. If anything, they would probably read it as a continuation of the 1/1 stair. Either way, it's kind of hard to predict this coming. What I would do is control J the notes (move the hitsound with it too)
so that they go in a different direction to what the player is used to, acting as a visual distinction between 1/1 and 1/2. It does break the pitch relevancy of this part, but I think it's ok for readability.
00:45:856 (45856|1,46284|1) - I wouldnt stack these notes as their base is the same, but the actual top note is a different pitch from the top note of 00:45:856 (45856|1) - which I think is more noticeable to newer players than the bass notes which require a bit of attention to hear first.
00:47:999 - Kind of seems like this part is copy pasted directly from 00:41:142 - which makes the gameplay a little boring because of how repetitive it is.
01:08:570 - I'd add a jump here for consistency with 00:54:856 - which is the same sound but mapped with different emphasis here.
01:40:284 (100284|2,100499|3) - 01:26:570 (86570|2,86784|3) - Same thing I said about 00:14:571 (14571|2,14785|3) -
01:53:142 - to 01:58:713 - rip column 2. I get that it's all for pitch relevancy, but I dont think you should be sacrificing hand balance and playability for it.
This is a difficulty aimed at people who have never played a VSRG before I assume, so it makes no sense to let them go a full 5 seconds without using
one entire column. It's a strong right hand bias that will strain the player :/
01:59:142 - to 02:05:570 - same thing as the above but for column 3. Hand balance is super important for players of this level as it allows them to build up finger independence and the concept of hand balance.
02:15:427 - to 02:20:142 - watch out for col 1 here now
02:42:856 (162856|3) - Shouldnt this note start lower than 02:43:284 (163284|2,163713|3) - because the pitch is lower? And I know that you've been strictly following pitch relevancy, so it seems odd to exclude this one instance from it.
[Easy]
00:25:500 - to 00:30:428 - I didnt mention this the last time it occurred once before this, but you have got to watch out for your hand balance here. Column 2 goes unused for five seconds at a time, and Im not just going to chalk it up to pitch relevancy as that's something that I believe should not get in the way of playability and overall chart friendliness to a newer player.
00:54:856 - to 00:58:499 - Now col 1 is pretty empty for a while. I'd try to keep your vacant columns lasting only 2 seconds and less preferably so that there's still some semblance of hand balance.
01:16:713 - to 01:19:284 - Similar thing to the above. Gonna stop mentioning these now, but I'd really consider rebalancing some of them.
02:35:945 (155945|1,156106|2) - Definitely wouldn't use this for an easy because it's too fast for the player to read and comprehend, then move to execute the pattern properly. Might just stick with making 02:35:570 (155570|2) - an LN or something to represent the sound.
Overall the patterns used are fine but the hand balance is a real problem that needs to be resolved somehow, whether by rearranging some of the notes to make the empty columns a bit more full, or breaking some of the pitch relevancy for playability. Overall, the chart has a very strong right hand bias as all the places I listed were on the left hand and never the right.
[Normal]
00:06:803 (6803|2,6857|3) - I remember talking to Maxus before in a different map,
Zanarkand Nite about using graces in low level difficulties such as the normal here and we decided that because there were instances of maps being DQed before it, not to use such fast graces. In this case, I would simply move the note here to the storyboard as it essentially plays like a triple due to the closeness to each other. The timing ends up being so small that the player can simply place it as a hand without the grace.
00:33:267 (33267|2,33428|3,33642|2) - This is a bit difficult to follow due to the uneven spacing between notes while also being visually similar. I would change note direction so that there's not an awkward spacing gap in col 3, like so
https://osu.ppy.sh/ss/880762701:17:142 - to 01:18:856 - Throughout this entire measure, col 1 isnt used T_T and I already explained the importance of hand balance in the beginner diff :c
01:45:267 (105267|2,105427|3,105642|2) - Same thing as at 00:33:267 (33267|2,33428|3,33642|2) -
02:05:356 - 02:05:784 - I think because the B5 is so pronounced here that it would be nice to add stacks for it, like this
https://osu.ppy.sh/ss/880764202:18:856 (138856|1,138856|2,139284|2,139284|1,139713|1,139713|2,140142|1,140142|2) - I'm modding this out of order so I already explained myself in the following diffs but basically tldr; is that this pattern puts all movement on the outer columns and all weight on the inner, making an overall unbalanced gameplay experience imo due to only ever having one concept but not the other.
[Hard]
00:30:642 (30642|0,30696|1,30750|2,30803|3,30857|0) - Might vary this or something to make it different from 00:16:928 (16928|0,16982|1,17035|2,17089|3,17142|0) - since they all just roll the same way.
00:27:321 (27321|1,27375|2,27428|3,27428|0) - Similar suggestion to the above since 00:06:750 (6750|1,6803|2,6857|3,6857|0) - 00:13:607 (13607|1,13660|2,13714|3,13714|0) - are all the same :c
01:20:570 - I feel that the pattern here is a bit too repetitive or bland, and could do with some variation. Maybe something like this?
https://osu.ppy.sh/ss/880758801:57:856 (117856|0,117856|3,117963|2,118070|1,118177|0) - Might be nice to trill these since their pitch alternates and then continues descending again. Maybe a [14][3][2][3] pattern would work, like so
https://osu.ppy.sh/ss/880759602:18:856 - You could have at least made the jumps descend a bit and make it different from the Insane without outright just removing a note and calling it a day Q_Q
https://osu.ppy.sh/ss/880760102:35:570 (155570|1) - I'd move this to a column that's different from 02:35:838 (155838|1) - because the awkward spacing between the notes is impossibly difficult to read without a column separation between them to help with the visual snap cue. Col 1 seems best in this case.
[Insane]
00:30:642 (30642|1,30750|2) - Shouldn't these be jacked for pitch relevancy like you did at 00:16:928 (16928|2,17035|2) - ? Even if not, I'd suggest inverting the pattern so that it goes 1-2-4-3 instead as I think this is easier to hit because it flows the way your fingers would naturally roll as opposed to going against it.
00:33:267 (33267|2) - I'm probably going to get shot for asking this but is there a way you could edit the mp3 to have this start at 00:33:285 - on the 1/3 instead? Currently, the 3/8 rhythm is really hard to understand intuitively and it simply feels awkward going from that to a clean 1/2 at 00:33:428 (33428|3,33642|2) - .
00:40:928 (40928|2,41142|2,41356|2,41570|2,41784|2) - I think this is a bit of an unnecessary stack tbh. Like, the BPM is only 140 but it creates a right hand bias which is noticeable while playing. It'd be better to try and balance out the notes instead imo.
00:45:856 (45856|1,45856|2) - I believe this jump should be different from the one used at 00:45:642 (45642|1,45642|2) - since that's the kind of pattern and structure found through this build up going into the kiai.
00:49:713 (49713|2,49927|2,50142|2,50356|2,50570|2) - again, another long stack.
00:50:999 (50999|0,50999|1) - same suggestion as at 00:45:856 (45856|2,45856|1) -
00:52:499 (52499|1,52713|1,52927|1,53142|1) - *stack intensifies*
00:58:713 (58713|2,58927|2,59142|2,59356|2,59570|2) - I think the capped 1/4 triplet here would be easier to hit if there wasn't so much weight on the right hand. I'd try something like this
https://osu.ppy.sh/ss/880603001:05:999 (65999|2,65999|3,66213|3,66213|2) - I would wait to stack these until 01:06:856 - where the kick actually becomes repeated. So maybe you could spread the notes out instead like this
https://osu.ppy.sh/ss/880741901:08:142 - I don't really know why this is a quad when it's just a snare + piano. It seems like you've only used quads for crashes such as the ones at kiai starts and ends, so I think in this case, the note should be a hand. Also, follow consistency with 02:06:427 -
01:57:642 (117642|2,117856|2,118070|2,118284|2,118499|2) - Lots of stacks here in the dense jump burst. I'd try this instead
https://osu.ppy.sh/ss/880754502:04:499 - Similar thing here but there are no stacks. Rather, it's the direction flow I'm concerned about as it turns on the right hand and never on the left,
making it a bit more strained on col 3 and 4. I'd do this instead
https://osu.ppy.sh/ss/880754902:18:856 (138856|2,138856|1,139070|1,139070|2,139284|1,139284|2,139499|1,139499|2,139713|2,139713|1,139927|2,139927|1,140142|2,140142|1) - Not really a fan of this. At all because of the fact that it changes direction every half beat, and puts all the weight in col 2 and 3 but the movement is always in 1 and 4. I'd try this instead then
https://osu.ppy.sh/ss/880756002:29:142 (149142|3,149999|2,150427|3) - I think it'd be nice to mirror this with 02:27:427 (147427|0,147856|1,148713|1) - , so the first timestamp sent would look like this
https://osu.ppy.sh/ss/8807568 . I also think it's easier to hit this way due to the earlier release being on the inner columns as opposed to outer.
02:42:856 - Just a comment that I think it's a bit odd to discontinue the full LNs here and use a wider mix of short notes and long notes now.