Been pretty busy, but played all entries 3 times. Here are some quick notes I wrote. Will gladly go into more details if anyone (non participant) asks, or if a participant wants to after voting period
Solid stuff overall~
1.
The layering in this one is its strength and weakness imo. It is the best entry in terms of how it highlights the stops in the song with the broken js and patterns. However, the jumps also kinda get lost in all the different sounds they go to. This one has the strongest first 800 notes. If this had the PR style of #3 in the hands section (so like more same-hand jumps) it would probably be an easy top pick for me.
2.
I wish this one found a way to include the wobs in their first third's layering. The other entries showed that it's doable in a clean and fun way. The minijacks not being there makes quite a few patterns feel generic, which I think is the main issue I have with this entry. Everything is solid and flows well, but it just doesn't catch enough of the song's features.
3.
Is too abrasive at notes 400 through 850, even more so than the similarly charted section near the end which has far more energy going on. The hands stuff at around 2k combo is pretty solid, the best of all five imo. That section is packed with intensity and this section delivers without going overboard.
4.
I'd love to consider this one more than I currently do, but given how much "overlayering" notes I got in round 1, this just goes the opposite way (underlayered) in an even more extreme fashion. Cut is way too jarring also.
5.
The difficulty curve of this is too unbalanced; there are long sections with probably at least 15 difficulty points difference. Not layering the drums in midsection is probably the biggest cause of it. The second half's jumpstream is also the most generic of the entries. Sorry, not my favorite.