[DossarLX ODI]

It's generally good not to polarize difficulties, especially in longer files. Consistent difficulty isn't always needed but there should be a balance -- this is why I didn't mind files like Planet Karma and Red Wings Over Baron because even though they do have some rageworthy parts they're still good files with good songs.

When a file has the hardest parts near the end of the file (usually polarized to the rest of the file), I refer to it as Pandora syndrome. Depending on the song, if the ending is clearly more intense, then it would make sense for a difficult section near the end of the file but for marathon files such as Strawberry Sweetz this is executed very poorly.

I've always liked songs of DDR to ITG length. Breakbeat Acid for instance was originally almost 3 minutes long, but the cut to half its length makes it much better and removes the less interesting parts. Generally these files are better to play as well because it's very hard to keep a marathon interesting if it is very repetitious and filled with sudden bursts -- and no, adding a polarized difficulty spike at the end does not make it memorable (unless by memorable it means to never play again)

Genre of music: I dislike chiptune and 8bit songs a LOT, along with vocaloid and high-pitched anime vocals. Offbeat songs that have jumps on 16ths or weird intervals etc. I usually wind up turning off sound. What usually appeals more is the file itself in most cases, because for instance I dislike Milky Blue as a song but the file for it was nice.

In terms of what makes a file fun, I go to the stepper's intent. Sunshine Rainy [Light] is one of my favorite files on FFR period, and that one's an easy file that isn't forced and I can actually play along with the music. THE LITTLE MERMAID had a headbanging gimmick that was unique for an FFR file. Rave7 had plenty of bursts to manage after the streams in the beginning (and taking a look at those color parts during the official was pretty cool, I got to learn more about how to play through certain parts haha). If I see something like Winter Wind Etude, I picture the stepper going "hi I'm going to waste 3 minutes of your life every time you want to get a score on this file". This is also why I dislike long files with polarized difficulty sections and color note abuse.