Look, who else is noticing about note detection inconsistencies? Am I the only one that is experiencing this? Of course, there’s always the excuse that I need more practice, but I’ve been on the road to PFC’ing every song on expert and am currently at the level 26s (I’m in the middle of them and have PFCed everything below it bar some locked songs), with some FC and PFC above 27s. I have proof if you need it. But, I feel there is a significant problem in the game which I don’t think many players are noticing at all, read the first sentence. Think about it, have ever played such a great run on a song and felt no errors when playing, but all the sudden, nope, its not a perfect game? One answer to that problem is that you are a player that consistently 20-30 or above greats (including goods, bads, and misses in total), that just means you are still learning the game and you have plenty more to improve on. On the other hand, if you are a player who consistently gets 10 or below greats (including goods, bads, or misses in total), there are two thoughts you should think about: did you feel that you got that rhythm correctly (if so, try screen recording yourself and and see where you falter at in the song so you can improve)? and, if you did get it correctly, how are the rhythm of my fingers lining up with the rhythm of the notes (here, I recommend listening to your fingers noises hitting the screen and the observing the registration of a note in the song. Is there inconsistencies? or not?). I feel like this post would cater mostly to the skilled and experienced portion of the player base, both in other rhythm games or just this game as a whole. I’ll be discussing the possibility of inconsistencies in the note detection here.

Firstly, I want to establish that I am not bashing the game. I love the game as much as the next player. I’ll also establish that I do play other rhythm games (most notably, Cytus, Deemo, Osu!Mania, and DDR), which benefits me in grasping the game faster than many, but also means that I have a general knowledge in how rhythm games should “feel”. I’m not trying to bash on other players either, I only wish to establish my credibility as a passionate rhythm game player and wish for this game to improve as a whole, and look forward to a community where multiplayer becomes hyped to see who was most accurate after the song, you know? :3

So, what makes a rhythm game so exciting. The appeal of a good, or great, rhythm game comes from two things. One major factor is the presentation of the game, which we can all agree that Bang Dreams! pass with flying colors; it has a charming roster of characters, the design is simple and easy to understand, there is the appeal of rankings, the game’s beautiful to look at, etc. But, not that game has hooked you, its main selling point should be what the genre proclaims, a rhythm game. How accurate does the game feel to the touch? Are the rhythms challenging and fun to pull off? Is there songs that forces you to develop your skill to improve them? Those are the questions I believe should help structure a rhythm game as a whole, and Bang Dream! does achieve this... to an extent. Mostly, the fault lies in the first question, the accuracy/hit detection of the game. And that is where I believe this game is being hindered from the fun it could provide to improve a player. We all want to be good, so why should the game prevent us from reaching that goal?

Two songs, in my opinion, in particular have this note accuracy problem : Red fraction and Happy Synthesizer. Both songs are a great listen, but both expert charts are noticeably RNG feeling once you have perfected the song to the tee and are grinding for a PFC (which I still am a week later). I agree that the rhythm and beats fit the song, but the time windows are both inconsistent when directly listening to them and staying on beat (I use a Massdrop Sennheiser 6XX along with my iPad gen 6 when playing the game if you want to know). Red fractions has the section before the climax of the song that relies on your ability to play syncopated rhythms (the quick long note, short note pattern which could be confusing at first, but I recommend really paying attention the lyrics of that portion to get the rhythm) accurately. The problem derives from how the the notes tend to register late (based on my observation of my finger tapping on the screen to the registration of the notes) making the section more difficult than necessary and overall coming to luck in hopes to pass it right. After the climax, your greeted with quick sixteenth note beats on the off-beat, followed by long notes (tip, get a feel for the lyrics and its rhythms) which challenges your quickness and timing. The problem there is emphasized because of the delayed hits, which makes the song feel off to what you are playing compared to what you are listening to, which I feel is rather frequent in multiple songs in this game (I think the problem is more noticeable in denser songs, most importantly the 26s and up). On the other hand, Happy Synthesizer is majorly composed of quick sixteenth note swing-rhythms (think Mario) to give the song a cheerful tone it is known for. The notes on the song are not hard, and the rhythm becomes easier to grasp over time, and it makes quite a fun song to play to just dance to. However, the catch comes from the hit detection of the notes, making this song difficult for absolutely no reason at all. Trying to accurately play the swing, while being consistent, is nightmarish because of the delay the inputs are registered (even though it is slight, there is a difference, I believe). The song is even harder since it is one of the longer songs in the game, feeling like your on a marathon in hopes for the goal that is an FC or PFC! These two songs are prime examples of inconsistencies in the note detection since it is emphasized by their unique rhythm and patterns that require accuracy and consistency to play without falter. These rhythm are difficult, but fun to play when you have learned them, but becomes frustrating when hit the detection does not work properly (for example, I missed a PFC on Red fraction by hitting 1 great 7 different times throughout my grinding period, that does not include all the attempts where I hit 3 great notes by the end of the song or just exit out of the song to try again). Again, there are points where it is my fault and I don’t get the PFC because I react to slow or get the rhythm wrong, so don’t be that person that blames all their mistakes or missed FCs on lag or note inconsistencies. I just want to address that by my observations and listenings that the notes feel off to the music as a whole (I tried this without sfx and get consistent results).

Overall, it is seriously annoying and frustrating for people who are trying to improve their accuracy, get to harder difficulties, and overall get better at the game when the game doesn’t feel accurate to begin with (and doesn’t even reward you that well if you accomplish a feat like FCing a song. 50 stars, seriously??) compared to other rhythm games like Cytus or Deemo. (Games like those I get that it doesn’t reward you at all with something special, but you are rewarded by the how accurate the game feels and the trance you would go into once the rhythm makes sense to your fingers, and the feeling that you progress as a player! that your skill is acknowledged by a perfect score and you get to brag to your friends for achieving an amazing goal of FCing a song.) I think that same self-gratification should be present even more with a game like Bang Dreams! with a community this huge and so extraordinarily passionate for the characters, artists, and voice actors. That the player should feel rewarded for getting over an obstacle like FCing, or even PFCing, songs and not be hindered by the inaccuracy of the notes as a whole. And for all honesty, if you don’t feel that at all and your PFCing 26 and above songs no problem, then have utmost my respect and I wish to strive for that kind accuracy. But for all the rest of you in which this wonderful game is probably your first rhythm games, I hate to see your efforts be hindered by what I feel is an inaccurate hit detection system that must be improved on for the betterment of the game and its players that love it (THAT INCLUDES ME TOO)!!!!

P.S. This being my first post on reddit, it is rather passionate, but I do wish to bring discussion to this topic. I wonder if this is an isolated issue or that it is widespread and would like to read your guys’ experience with the game. How good are you? What’s you most proudest achievement? Etc. etc. Thx guys for reading this rant/essay, I’ve been noticing this issue in my gameplay for weeks (since I only started playing in April) and I hear no one discussing the problem, so I feel like I’ve gone mad. Certainly, this shouldn’t be noticeable for everyone, I think only the really good players should be noticing this inconsistency, and I say that is a good thing because everyone else can focus on improving their skill in the game and loving it more! I’ll be happy to help with tips and tricks with the game (I know flicks are a large problem for many people :3). Overall, I hope this issue gets addressed and is actually more frequent amongst us. Buh bye!