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26 Feb 2018
Project Loved: Week of February 25th
Project Loved: Week of February 25th
The Project Loved voting schedule is changing slightly starting this week! Come check out the new picks for all four modes now!
Hello everyone! Welcome to the last Project Loved showcase of February 2018! We are slightly changing up the voting format starting this week based on feedback from the community. This change will simplify the voting schedule and make it a lot easier to follow for those who care about more than just one gamemode!
Each mode will have a vote every 2 weeks, all at the same time as opposed to the staggered structure we previously used. Each vote will have the following amount of beatmaps:
- osu! - 10
- osu!taiko - 7
- osu!catch - 5
- osu!mania - 10
This new system will offer a lot more breathing room to both the community and the Loved captains, as well as make the voting itself more uniform! If you have any comments, questions, or concerns regarding the new system, be sure to leave them in the comments section of this post.
With that out of the way, let's get on to this week's picks! For this round, Strato made some awesome showcase videos for each mode. Check them out at the beginning of each section if you prefer a video format!
Navigation
osu!
written by Toy
The cutest song on the list goes to Nattu's Gokusotu Angel Ennmachan. This map features spaced streams and moe sliders to match the song's high-paced nature. Whatever mood you're in, this song is always a pleasure to play.
written by Toy
A very different style of music than normal is seen in Kaifin's DVP by PUP. The vocal intensity of the punk singer is well matched by the sharp angles and patterns within the map itself. Originally an unpassable 2B map on the [3WW] diff, Kaifin has added a [Debug] difficulty that can now submit scores. Make sure to check out the original diff, as the 2B patterns are how it's originally meant to be played.
written by Kaifin
This next map by Exile-, better known as a storyboard master, is a map of a very popular featured artist song, Putin's Boner by Helbinde. As you'd expect, this map has a great storyboard, so be sure to play with it on at least once!
written by Kaifin
-Tochi is both a well known mapper and skilled storyboarder, which is apparent from this map! Mountains is an incredibly soothing song with an equally soothing map and storyboard, the latter of which isn't too intrusive or intensive while playing, so be sure to give the map a shot with it on at least once!
written by Kaifin
If you're like me, you have played this map far far FAR too many times. Unbreakable (Nightcore Mix) by Smokeman is an incredibly popular jump map that plays super well set to an incredibly uplifting nightcore tune. Come let out your inner secret nightcore lover and have a great time playing this classic mulitplayer map!
written by Kaifin
Making his loved debut with Weekly Shounen Bye-Bye, Aqo was one of the most popular unranked mappers for high level older players, known for his "490 style" difficulties. Despite its low favourite count, this map is incredibly well known, and even features 4 mania difficulties by Amai Chocolate of all people! If you've never seen a 490 style map before, get ready to be pushed to your playing limit with this one, because these maps take no prisoners!
written by Toy
Drop the bass with Irixo's Nightcore Remix rendition of Bring the Madness. The map currently sits at 415 favorites, and with a whole 3 minutes of 230BPM jumps, it can be truly said that this map has brought on a new kind of madness.
written by Toy
One of the most popular unranked maps around, Raikozen's Warriors became incredibly popular amongst top players following a version made by Axarious for OWC 2015 finals, though sitting at 8.32*, it is exceptionally harder. Large full-screen jumps litter the screen in this high-energy pump-up mantra that hails over 475 favorites.
You aren't ready...
written by Toy
If anyone remembers watching livestreams from old top player thelewa, you may recognize this map as the song he used to end every stream. jesse1412's near perfect emulation of old-style Starrodkirby86 and mtmcl mapping is seen within throughout Bandiria Travellers. Low AR, linear patterns, even the artist choice perfectly resembles an era of mapping very dear to those who enjoy old-style mapping. Leave the storyboard on, and shed a tear along with Susumu Hirasawa himself for this masterpiece of a map.
written by Kaifin
Next on the list is a map you may not have tried which has recieved quite a few submissions to the loved spreadsheet since its inception! Narcissus at Oasis (Freezer Mix) by EijiKuinbii is a gigantic 3 mode set featuring several guest difficulties in different mapping styles! With diffs ranging from low to high intensity, there's something here for everyone to enjoy.
osu!taiko
written by Nwolf
A bit of a normal break from all the insanity, there isn't much to actually say about Los! Los! Los! other than it being an outstanding anime map in the sea of them. Long, energetic bursts of energy characterize this map as a force, with very dense sections of 1/4 triplets. Los! captures our hearts in full.
written by Nwolf
An underappreciated map from frukoyurdakul, Vicarious seeks to represent the music through hitsounds, not unlike the recently Loved map, Save Me. Lots of time was put into making the map feel like you're really the drummer for Tool. Very lengthy, so you can be sure that this is an impressively made map.
written by Nwolf
Nofool, Camellia and SV changes is not a rare combination, and it's one that always produces awesome maps and Tornado is not an exception. This 4 minute map, filled with streams and accelerating and decelerating slider velocity plays awesome, looks awesome and is tied together by an awesome song. You should definitely give this map a try!
written by Nwolf
This speedy map set, which some players should be familiar with from last year's TWC, features many guest difficulties by a variety of mappers for all skill levels, ranging from a Kantan to several streamy 240-256 BPM top diffs between 6 and 7.8*. Are you fast enough?
written by Nwolf
If you're familiar with o2jam, osu!mania or other VSRG's you can probably recognize this song for having difficulties being overly ridiculous on their LN usage. nyanmi-1828 has brought this madness to osu!taiko with his original difficulty, Lv.150, which features long 1/4 streams that are occassionally expanded with 1/16 kd doublets which require precise timing and unconvential gameplay. The new Lv.300 and Lv.450 difficulties expanded on this by having a different snap, or even more difficult patterns.
written by Backfire
Who needs HardRock if you can just use high scrolling speed in the map itself? This map by uone is fast, and tricky, having various (high) slider velocities with difficult speed ups and slow downs at 246 BPM with different kinds of snaps, having 1/3, 1/4 and 1/6 in the SV sections. A well-done map that you should definitely try.
written by Backfire
A more conventional map compared to most maps this round, having only 150 BPM and not too many crazy SV changes. The most outstanding part of this map by steven1 is the high amount of 1/6 bursts, with some Tiger Rampage-style 1/6+1/4 combinations in the kiai sections.
osu!catch
written by Deif
Probably one of the most awaited beatmaps from Minato Yukina. With an average BPM of 270 that will go to 520 in one of the speedups, players would need to be constant to perform well in this beatmap. Careful the short-snapped hyperdashes patterns!
written by Tenshichan
A map by [224]Reol which mainly consists of snappy slider movements paired with the use of hyperdashes. Due to the high spacings used in this map the speed of the hyperdashes is very high and thus makes it hard to catch all the droplets. While it might not be very hard to FC, it is indeed very hard to achieve an SS rank, even more so with mods. Overall a map which can be played by most of the experienced players without much trouble while still being enjoyable to play.
written by JBHyperion
Another intriguing map previously featured in the 2017 osu!catch World Cup, here Kyuare presents a less-commonly seen approach to stream mapping remeniscent of ICE - L and other classics from the past. This, combined with an array of different rhythms encompassing 1/4, 1/6 and 1/8 and the use of Approach Rate 8, results in an excellent test of reading skill not available anywhere else.
written by Tenshichan
One of Minato Yukina's lesser known maps, which I would describe as a hidden gem. It uses quite a lot of unique and gimmicky patterns which still remain in the realm of comfortable playability. Some of the patterns require good timing and good precision to hit, especially when played with mods. The difficulty here comes from the unique patterns, which might require some practice before they can be hit consistently. Overall it serves as a nice challenge for more experienced players.
written by Tenshichan
A map which features a lot of fast, consecutive and largely spaced hyperdashes. It tests your consistency as well as your stamina on the large amount of left-right sections. It is very easy to slip up on various of the sections and missing one crucial hyperdash might result in an instant fail. This map will surely be challenging even for top players and it will be interesting to see how many FCs there will be.
osu!mania
written by Pope Gadget
Following in the footsteps of jakads's Aleph-0, which was loved more than a year ago, comes another experimental creation. Except this time, the effects are much faster, much more volatile and as a result, a heck of a lot more extreme. Additional difficulties on the lower end provided by MAAAAAAAAAAAAAS are not as intense but still have that sweet memorisation gimmick, done well, and means that those that aren't willing to cram every frame of information that's given within the hardest difficulty will not be left out when jamming with the song. They're OD0 as well, so those that aren't too adept at these types of gimmicks have a platform to learn on. Either way, we're sure that you'll love (trying) to perfect this!
written by Shoegazer
Fullerene- is, in my opinion, the very best 4K charter in 2015. He didn't just produce great charts, but he managed to produce them at a pace that was nearly uncomparable: PEACE BREAKER, dreamless wanderer, Japanese Transformation are three big names that immediately come to mind, and even that's only a small fraction of his homeruns that year.
Memoria Reborn stands out among his charts released in 2015 because it was of a fairly low difficulty (relative to his other charts) and is very straightforward in structure. However, despite its superficially simple structure, the patterning present in the chart is nuanced, and the chart's concepts were executed masterfully. This has everything you would want from a jumpstream chart: strong use of repetition, deliberate and tasteful use of certain patterns, an ideal level of density, among many other factors. It surely helps that the chart has a very silky smooth feel to it too, since it complements the dreaminess and intimacy of this track very nicely.
I'm sure that Memoria Reborn will be welcomed into the Loved section with open arms by the community given its extant reception and the very positive reception towards similar charts such as Grief & Malice. Because of that clear community demand, it only makes sense for this to be a potential nominee for the Loved section this round.
written by Kamikaze
A collaborative effort of Ez2dj_7144, nowsmart, [ Mee ], [ Karen ], ExPew, one of the hottest sets of the late 2014/early 2015 hits the voting charts!
This set features three keymode spreads with 4K, 5K and 7K spreads which all reach extreme levels of difficulty, especially on 7K with its Absolute difficulty.
It's one of the most favourited mania maps of that period as well, clocking at 82 favourites, which shows that the community wants this chart loved, so here we go!
written by Shoegazer
Feelin' Sky is a chart that I believe encapsulates a recent shift in 4K charting meta today. Many charters, especially charters who are also great osu!mania players, have started to shift away from the use of patterns that were straight-forward and silky and focused more on patterns that are unconventional and rigid. This shift in charting meta has been received with mixed fanfare, but most fanfare seems to be notably positive about the change in charting trends. Given the general positive reception of this trend, it would be good to represent this trend in the Loved section in some way. Feelin' Sky is, in my opinion, one of the best charts to nominate to represent that change.
Feelin' Sky uses LNs (of almost all kinds), fast minijacks and rigidly patterned bursts; all of which are staples of modern hyper-technical charts today. However, what differentiates Feelin' Sky from many other technical charts like it, to me, is how natural these concepts are introduced into the chart. There might be some (arguably) excessive LN usage in some parts of the chart, but it felt as if the patterns that were in the chart were tailor-made for Feelin' Sky. The natural introduction of these concepts is something that I feel is lacking in these hyper-technical charts, and Feelin' Sky is close to a paragon of how charts of its kind should be created. The chart being a fairly novel experience for most players is also a massive plus.
In essence, while I feel that Chrubble's Feelin' Sky can be rough around the edges at points, it certainly shows a lot of heart. That display of heart is something that resonates with the charting zeitgeist today, and it is something that, I believe, makes this a solid nominee for the Loved section.
written by Pope Gadget and Kamikaze
A simply fun gimmick chart suitable for anyone who's up for a challenge - with a 4K difficulty by MAAAAAAAAAAAAAS to accompany the DDR X2 fans, and a 7K difficulty by pporse for those who may have first seen it charted on IIDX.
The notes themselves are simple enough to get used to on sightread, it's a fairly simple and fun chart pattern-wise, but the speed of the teleports at 0:41 and 1:23 might take some practice to master!
Even though this chart has overall difficulty value of 0 it is certainly not an easy chart to master, so step right up and tap to the beat!
written by Kamikaze
Our sixth chart on the list is a legendary chart among the 7K community. From the legendary o2jam-bred charter Entozer arises one of the hardest challenges in osu!mania to this day. Representing the good old o2jam style of charting, full of tasty noodles and hard difficulty spikes with some SV changes mixed in as well, a true ET chart.
Both the song and the chart are remakes, the song by t+pazolite recieved more smooth mastering and the original o2jam chart got a new, way better chart quality wise. This map, running at 185 BPM features a wide variety of hardcore patterns, such as chordstreams, 5 note jacks, double 1/4 LN streams, 1/8 LN streams, aforementioned patterns mixed with longer LNs which anchor your finger down and combinations of all of these, making the over 10 star rating difficulty highly justified.
This chart has a lot of history and legacy, being one of the "end-game" goals of the best of the best osu!mania players and thus I believe that this chart's place is in the Loved category!
written by Shoegazer
The next chart on our list is one of the most recognisable charts in competitive circles in osu!mania: Zyph's The Lost Dedicated. As a very clear allusion to the "life" difficulty in BMS, this chart contains overwhelmingly dense chordjacks. However, the chart seems to convey the track quite well despite its level of density. Its density is substantial, yet meticulously controlled. It also captures certain sections of the track very nicely with completely different but very complementary patterning, which is always impressive when you're dealing with densities this high.
The chart's overwhelming popularity, current reception and level of nuance are all reasons that we believe that this chart should be in the Loved section.
written by Kamikaze
Up next we have The Glory Days, one of the most popular unranked charts in 2016, a full spread mapset by a well known Korean charter CloudHolic, known mostly for his mixed style and fun oriented patterning.
The Glory Days is a map that's very accessible, with difficulties for all kinds of players, from a fairly standard normal which you can train 7K on if you're new to it to very dense and tricky Glory difficulty that challenges you in multitude of ways.
The highest difficulty is a mix of very dense chordstreaming with small bursts in the choruses, that are also hardened by the usage of sporadic long LNs and calmer parts which are more LN oriented with some tricky to nail transitions making it an interesting map all around and a good choice for the loved category.
written by Kamikaze
This set is something special. Brought by our own Elite Mapper LordRaika, it is a mapset that really nicely conveys what kind of a charter LordRaika is.
Not only is this mapset keysounded, the song itself is LordRaika's mix of it, and it also has a wonderful storyboard by the elite storyboarder Exile-.
It doesn't end there! Because the mapset also offers an immense set of 30 difficulties throughout all 6 rankable keymodes, from 4K to 9K, offering a wide range of patterns and densities to train your favourite keymode or perhaps, learn a new one!
written by Pope Gadget
Professional nerd Nivrad00 with another masterpiece which twists the boss rush theme made prominent in the rhythm game scene via Renard's MungYoDance series, as to accompany his own compositions. Thirteen different bosses which each test your abilities to an ultimate, with attack after pummelling attack of dense patterning, rapid-fire streams and flexible fingerwork.
It is also Nivrad00's 100th completed chart in his rhythm game charting career, which is certainly a milestone to celebrate.
So good luck with it, and as always, have fun!
From everyone on the Project Loved team, we hope you enjoy this week's selection, and look forward to the next! The winning maps will hit the beatmap listing sometime during the weekend and will be announced via the osugame twitter.
—clayton
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