[Celirra]

~~My totally relevant and well put together reviews (pt 4)~~


Three levels I used:
-Amazing; I'd go back to this pack just to play it.
-Decent; if I'm stumbling through the pack I may play it occasionally.
-Unimpressed; likely would just skip right past it.

Please do note that unimpressed doesn't mean it's bad, it just means I don't like the file relative to other ones in the pack, and I also have very niche tastes. Also if you're in the mood for noting still, please also note that if a file was on the fringe of decent and amazing, I'd always round down, likewise with unimpressed and decent. Gotta conserve those high ratings bruh!

(may not be able to do the rest for a while pls lemme know if the more detailed reviews are worth it)

Pulse ~Elemia Arrange~
This file was an epic journey, it definitely had a lot of good moments. A bit of an issue I have is that some parts could have used more substance to go with the backgrounds. For example, the area from 30.375 to 48.375, or around 57.000 and 70.500 with the choir like music, and especially at 76.000ish for the buildup could have been terrific with some holds built in, not just for a bit more difficulty and diversity, but to really just add to the epic feel of the song; the holds worked well where they were used in this track and I'd have liked more like that!
Decent.

Rhythm and Balance
As an aside, I love this song, easily my favourite from SA2 (suck it, City Escape!). This file definitely did the song justice and I loved pretty much every part of it. I don't know if this is due to my own poor ability to sync or if I'm going crazy, but the holdstream starting at 38.5 seemed to start early with some of the holds (eg. the holds at 39.876 or at 42.245 being about 1/16th early, a couple others too), but I loved even that part too regardless. Loved the use of 32nds with the quick drum segments, and the quick holds for the prominent vocals.
Amazing.

Ringo's Theme
Another masterpiece, by far one of the most perfect jump/handstream-centric files I've played. The fact that the JS wasn't thrown in haphazardly and was used for good emphasis, and the fact that everything done was so well synced made me really happy. The use of jumptrills for the repeated beats was super cute too.
Amazing.

River Stage
This file's tough for me. On one hand it was really fun, and you nailed the timings with what was done. But I think a bit too much is lacking here, such as some kind of emphasis, from hands or holds or something else clever with the vocals (see: 8.500 ish), and in other segments too use of those elements is either a bit odd or lacking. It WAS a fun file with what worked, but again it's just lacking quite a bit.
Unimpressed.

Ruins of the Giant
This file with me is like giving a fine merlot to a chardonnay afficionado; it's possible to appreciate the work that went into the merlot but you still don't love it. The file's beautifully done and I really love a lot of what went into it, the holds and jumps and jacks etc, from a "that's amazing work" perspective, but not from a "this is a really fun file for ME" perspective. This is a 10/10 file for sure but it's not the one for me.
Decent.

Sally (Select)
I enjoy this kind of file for warming up, it's nice and short and contains a bunch of little bits of what really get your fingers and mind in the groove (ha get it). That being said, I'm just not a big fan fundamentally of the patterns used, though they were well made and fit the song well.
Decent.

Samekichi's Resolve
I think the file here was done REALLY well. The holds and syncopation were on point and emphasis where needed, very impressive. But the song itself doesn't make for a great file in general I guess. I'd say it's good for newer players though, but there are quite a few dull moments in the song, which could only be avoided by incessant overstepping and dumping (which would ruin a pretty stepfile so pls dont do that).
Unimpressed.

Shard (Combat)
I've played this file before playing any other file in this pack on each session, it's essentially a go-to at this point. I don't love the file by any means, but it really warms up my fingers (and pains them after a few times) and makes me really prepare nicely for the "fun" stepmaning that's to come. I think it might be a bit overstepped maybe, but it serves the original goal of a warmup file nicely so for once I don't even mind. It's a fun file.
Amazing.

Silver Lining
Preface: I play with no mines so I missed some elements of this chart. I found the way you did the quick drums nice, since it flowed well and synced perfectly. Maybe it's due to the mines though but I didn't find the file very fun. Like the chart makes sense and all, but something about it is off. Might be the tempo or the patterns, I'm really having a hard time with rating this one for some reason.
Decent.

Skate or Live
Really fun file. What I REALLY loved was all the tempo changes. It would've been easy to just use 32nds instead of 16ths, but the fact that you changed the bpm instead gave the file some life and really made the fast segments seem faster (that and I just don't like 32nds), though the use of 32nd in place of 16ths with the tempo slow really helped in the other way by pointing out the slow down effect. Fun to go for PA with this too, with the short and simple enough nature. Can't think of anything I'd even want changed, and the music fit well for a file in general.
Amazing.

Skydeck A Go! Go!
Another instance of the song not being great for a file; considering the repetition in the song you did a good job changing it up a little bit with patterns and making the rest good, but the repetition really drags the whole piece down unfortunately for me. There's only so much that can be done with a song like this; you did all that was possible, but I can't really see a way to make a better chart for a song like this at all.
Unimpressed.

Song That Might Play When You Fight Sans
Cool file, one thing I really liked is that you kept the theme of the file consistent between difficulties, which is cool (unless you're going for a different take on it I suppose); also you've put a lot of thought into this as a whole so thumbs up there. Regardless, I'm still biased against jacking files like this so take with a grain of salt the rating. As an aside, undertale music works better than I thought for stepping.
Decent.

Sortie
Loved it. The patterns in this are literally my favourite kind; between the minijacks into a jump, and the [4] [3] [2] 24ths into [14], so much fun. And it works so well with the file too, the rest made me so happy as well. Will be coming back to this one often.
Amazing.

Splash Down
So chill, and good fun too. What I really loved about this is it's not a stressful file that requires a lot of attention based on how mellow the patterns are, but it's still challenging enough to be fun and interesting, and to go back for more plays. Huge credit to the song choice as well, but it was executed flawlessly.
Amazing.

Staff Credits
Ok first fuck those jacks at 13.190 lol (nailed them easy but it's a matter of principle). I think this file had a few missed notes honestly, or some were slightly off. It's a minor thing but it bugged me, eg. at 16.075, some of the trills at 19.190 were kinda awkward with the beat, and a few other areas later on too but that may just be me going crazy. The thing is, despite the file not being PERFECT with the song, the file was a ton of fun anyways, which is the opposite problem than I'm used to with this pack given my tastes. And I mean it's really fun, even with the length.
Decent.

Steel Massimo
Fun, but there were a few key elements to the track that bug me a bit. Firstly, at the area starting at ~18.858, I think more could have been done by not focusing solely on the drum in the background and perhaps adding something to correspond with the main instrument in question (guitar/keyboard/synth/whatever). It was done a bit, say at 33.406 and 39.099, but I think a bit more use in other sections would've helped me at least to link the song to the file itself. Nice anyways, just a little issue I had.
Decent.

Streamworks (Saliva Island)
SHANTAEEEEEE!!! I love this music from Shantae, and this is why; it works so well to be stepped, and the music itself is cute/10 too. I really like how you kept the file fresh by using different styles at different points, but still having enough cohesion as a whole by re-using patterns when necessary.
Amazing.

Sunahara Plains
I don't think this is the best choice for a jump/handstream chart (I know hard isn't jumpstream but it's similar in nature still), a lot of things that could have been really fun were missed due to it and at parts the (jump)streams just didn't feel like they belonged. Take for instance, at around 64.794, between the wubs and other electronic elements there could have definitely been more than just simple jumpstream, like what you did in the segment earlier with the holds and 12ths and such (which I LOVED). The (jump)streams were justified for parts of the song for sure, but when the main hype part of the song dropped off it didn't fit as much anymore.
Unimpressed.