It’s obvious the devs wanted to recreate the magic of Cytus 1 here. I have a massive soft spot for that game and seeing the similarities I just had to pick this one up.
Unfortunately, the mechanics just don’t work here.
It tries to go for tone sphere style gameplay which is, honestly, rather questionable. I mostly keep tone sphere around because of the visuals. But as unreadable as tone sphere can be, this game is that multiplied tenfold. The telegraphing is utterly nonexistent and it feels like you are guessing the rhythms 90% of the time. The only way to perfect a chart is to completely memorize it; nothing is readable. I see so many games try and fail at this free form, unrestricted style of charting, but the unfortunate truth is that it just doesn’t work. You need to give the charts rules to play by so the player can use the chart’s arrangement to play it properly. I see some attempts at suggesting rhythms in the charting work, but with the inconsistency of the systems in place, the player simply cannot know what to trust.
It’s honestly sad to say this as the game obviously has a lot of love put into it. It is oozing with the energy of a modernized Cytus 1, from the animated song covers to the layout to the general vibe. Honestly, it is utterly beautiful and has some pretty good songs in its admittedly limited selection. The gameplay just unfortunately doesn’t not hold up.