Project Loved: Week of July 29th

Project Loved's latest round of beatmaps is up for vote! This is your chance to get your favorite maps loved!

Welcome back to Project Loved! Every two weeks, we pick out a few beatmaps from each game mode that will get their shot at making it into the Loved category. From the maps we selected, you can now vote whether or not you want them to be Loved! Click on each map's header image in this post to be taken to their voting threads.

Okay, so last round we tried to get away with not mentioning the missing video at all. We're not going to pull that trick twice in a row, so here's the (unfortunately) regular part of our post where we say "sorry" for not having a video. A lot of work goes into producing them, and there are very few people able to do it—that being said, our current contact is only on a temporary leave, so we might have videos again soon. No promises!

Before we hop on into the maps, the Project Loved team wants to say thanks to Kaifin for all the work he's put into this project. Just yesterday, he formally stepped down from his position as an osu! captain and Project Loved manager. Without him, Project Loved wouldn't be where it is now!

In case you don't read the end of this post, be sure to submit suggestions for beatmaps to be added to Loved using the Google form! All of the nominated beatmaps are chosen from submissions on this form, which you can view in the corresponding Google sheet.

Now let's see those beatmaps!

Navigation

• osu!
• osu!taiko
• osu!catch
• osu!mania

osu!

osu! Loved candidates were chosen by Toy and DigitalHypno!

WALKURE - Ikenai Borderline (Speed Up Ver.) by ChronoNig, Megatron is bad and Flezlin
written by DigitalHypno

Formerly and more popularly known as "And Aoiyuuki - I Love Flezlin", this sped up version of Ikenai Borderline gives a fun challenge to even the best players on the block. With one 6* version by ChronoNig and two contrasting 8* versions made by Flezlin and Megatron is bad, you're sure to find a way to enjoy this mapset. Don't skimp out on playing both 8* versions if you're looking for the biggest challenge; they're very far from similar. Even if the song title isn't the same as we all remember, don't forget the most important thing: this map, my friends, was made with love.

Silent Siren - Soukai Rock by eLy
written by DigitalHypno

Do you ever play those pp maps, get to the hard jump section at the end, and think, "Man, I wish the whole map was like this"? If so, this map is for you. This map of Soukai Rock, mapped by eLy, is almost four minutes of nothing but that sweet cross-screen jump goodness. The original version is CS4, but a CS2 version is included for the faint-hearted. Whether you think your aim is stellar or you're just looking for an aim challenge, be sure to give this map a spin.

Tamaonsen - COZMIC DRIVE feat.Youko by caren_sk
written by Toy

As mentioned in the past, CRN was 2013's quintessential unranked mapper. In a similar vein of modern day lahphnya only mapping for the graveyard, CRN pumped out a seemingly endless stream of quality, fun maps for their era. COZMIC DRIVE is one of the most popular of those unranked maps, coming in at nearly 100 favorites in wonderful AR9 and AR10 fashion from early 2013.

goreshit - toromi hearts 2 by kiri09
written by Toy

This map is possibly best known for its viability as a stamina training, finger killing map. Highly popular among those trying to improve their streams, kiri09's toromi hearts 2 features a constant supply of 219 BPM streams and bursts. As simple as the map is in being mostly a stream training map, it has received over 70 favorites and a reputation among those who wish to show off their finger speed.

Uetsu Shi - Firmament Castle "Velier" by Cherry Blossom and Sayaka-
written by Toy

Similarly to toromi hearts 2, Cherry Blossom's Firmament Castle "Velier" (Formerly uetsu shi - Tenku No Shiro Vuerieru) is famous for its status as a stream stamina test. A beautifully mapped 7* diff of an equally beautiful song, the map itself proves slightly more vicious, clocking in at 222 BPM and featuring various streams reaching up to over 60 notes in length. Originally mapped in 2013 along with a more difficult remap in 2015, Firmament Castle "Velier" is a stream map for the ages.

osu!taiko

osu!taiko Loved candidates were chosen by Backfire, Gezoda and iceOC! This week, all osu!taiko beatmap descriptions were written by Gezoda.

t+pazolite feat. Nanahira - Chou Kousoku Heroine Super Lumina Dai 1 wa (owari) 'Saigo no Tatakai' by suni

Nanahira and t+pazolite collaborating? In my song? It's more likely than you'd think. Super Lumina (God, this title is way too long) is a very fast-paced cute song clocking in at 300 BPM for the most part, and suni really used it to their advantage: most of the song follows this spirit religiously by putting short and longer streams, requiring loads of stamina and technique to get through this. But if you thought it would stop there... you couldn't be any more wrong. The ending goes up to 340 BPM, and the pattern complexity stays intact. It's truly a challenge to surpass Necrophagiatoast.

Lumpy - Yoru orioriorioriori by Firce777

Here we have yet another beatmap by Firce777 that was used in Taiko World Cup: Last Man Standing 2! This streamy technical map set to the (chip)tune if a Touhou song requires stamina and good reading if you want a chance to FC, as it is very heavy in handswitches. This is a classic and must-play for players improving their alternating ability, as much as for players who just love tech!

Helblinde - Heaven's Fall (Speed Up Ver.) by hoku-4625 et al.

Heaven's Fall: it was scheduled for July 27 after the lunar eclipse, but as it turned out, that wasn't the case. However, it's also a beatmap by hoku-4625 that features multiple Japanese mappers and, à la Stepmania fashion, multiple rates as well! This way, you get to experience multiple mapping styles as well as multiple speeds. If you're a warrior, the highest speed is 280 BPM, which is on-par with other fairly popular songs; the lowest speed is the original song, at 200 BPM.

Camellia - Feelin Sky (Camellia's "200step" Self-remix) by Backfire and Fallmorph

We may not have our usual Camellia feat Nanahira collab in the pollings this week, but we have Feelin Sky, a great song that is... a Camellia remix of a Camellia song. This beatmap is a collaboration between Backfire and Fallmorph (who was formerly known as teaMblack19, for those who are not very familiar with the name) and uses SVs and barline gimmicks that we all know and love. The beatmap itself isn't anything to miss either; who wouldn't play a technical map?

Berzerk+Haste - Kurukurukiikii by Gezoda

Oh look, a Miku map that isn't all cutesy for once! With streams to kill you, it was also used in Taiko World Cup: Last Man Standing 4 and features stuff I can't even FC because I'm bad at this game. It's got 1/6 tech patterns and handswitchy streams everywhere, and this beatmap is a complete joke in the good way because all of its settings are repeated digits. You have no room for mistakes; HP6.6 for 3333 notes is guaranteed to kill you even with 98% if you miss one too many notes. I didn't even choose this map, but nobody else wanted to write its description—so put those pitchforks away.

osu!catch

osu!catch Loved candidates were chosen by Zak, Tenshichan, Sartan and Ascendance!

DJ Sharpnel - Pacific Girls by ExGon and DakkyChan
written by Sartan

The long requested Pacific Girls collab from ExGon and DakkyChan finally makes its way into the loved voting! What can only be described as a pretty crazy map, Pacific Girls is left-rights incarnate, with the first half mostly consisting of rapid left-rights only, and the second half keeping up with that theme but also adding in some ridiculous hyperwalks. I mean, I hope you didn't expect anything less straining from this map looking at its star rating, right? Thanks to the low HP drain, this map is possible to pass for most high-end players, but achieving a good combo or accuracy on this behemoth might require some praying to the osu! gods; it is definitely not a map for weak souls. Good luck!

Team Grimoire - C18H27NO3 by Milquar
written by Ascendance

One of the osu! community's favourite songs, C18H27NO3, gets a chance to receive some luvin' from the osu!catch community now as well. The by-now quit mapper Milquar put together an excellent yet simple-styled version of this song that has seen quite some play from multiplayer lobbies, solo play and even solo challenges in past time. What can only be described as a relentless hyper fiesta, C18H27NO3 is not too accessible of a map for the lower-skilled end of the community, but for those that can properly play it, this ordeal is an absolute banger. The super exciting song combined with this map's style will definitely leave you wanting to try this out more than once—so check it out!

osu!mania

osu!mania Loved candidates were chosen by Kamikaze, Pope Gadget, aitor98, TheToaphster and _underjoy!

Tatsh - IMAGE -MATERIAL- <Version 0> by Fullerene-
written by TheToaphster

To start us off, we are going to be seeing a familiar face in the realm of the loved section, being Fullerene- yet again with his chart for Image Material. Following in the steps of his Odin set nominated in the previous voting period, Image Material is a very well-known, high-end chart commonly used as a benchmark in skill, but unlike Odin, it doesn't focus on speed but rather on fast jumpstreams, handstreams, and stamina. This chart has had an immense amount of exposure, if only for the fame of the standard counterpart of the same song, but also was used in the osu!mania 4K World Cup 2016 in the finals pool and was included in the Dan courses, which serve to help measure a player's general skill, at least to some degree.

The sheer amount of exposure and love that this chart has received over the years on top of its inclusion in major tournaments makes this a great fit for the loved section.

Amane - Dodger’s Gadget by inteliser
written by _underjoy

Our next pick is another masterpiece from expert player and charter, inteliser! Dodger's Gadget by Amane is probably one of the most well-made LN-oriented charts.

This map features inteliser's trademark long note patterning, which focuses on repeated, anchored long notes as well as three-column patterns, which are quite a challenge to read and nail perfectly. However, these blend well with the chart, which has outstanding balance and flow. After the initial tricky section, the middle part allows players to rest a bit before throwing them into the final flurry of more inverse-based chordstream. Long note maniacs will surely love this pick!

Rawtekk - Amber’s Love Was Like A Marbe (Billain Remix) by Abraxos
written by TheToaphster

Up next is a chart made by first-time loved nominee, Abraxos, coming in with Amber's Love Was Like A Marble. Don't let that star rating of 4.67 trick you into thinking you'll have an easy time. Being the technical beast of a chart it is, it will continually assault you with constant minijacks thrown between bursts with breaks being few and far between, with only one large one halfway through the chart leading you into the ending which only continues what the first half introduced. Not only is this chart blisteringly hard, it is also extremely well-made, with the intensity and difficulty of the chart wonderfully matching the tone of the song as a whole, making the experience all the more rewarding. The combination of enjoyability and high quality makes this a shoe-in for the loved section.

Susumu Hirasawa - Chaser by Wh1teh
written by _underjoy

Susumu Hirasawa - Chaser by Wh1teh is very accurately described by its difficulty name: "Wristjacker" focuses heavily on dense and never-ending jackhammers. While the patterning is rather simple and repetitive, the second half of the chart is much more difficult than the first one due to the stamina factor kicking in. Players should also watch out for the middle section, which is even denser than the rest of the map. The chart became a staple among players wanting to test their jacking ability, and because of this we decided to nominate it for the Loved category!

ZAQ - Alteration by 17VA
written by aitor98

17VA shows up again with a classic O2Jam map, which goes by the name of Alteration by ZAQ. This map starts with a slowjam, followed by some simple chords every here and there, and suddenly it changes to relatively fast-paced LN bursts and chordstreams that will progressively get denser the further you advance in the song. Short LN chordstreams, shields, inverted chordstreams, and more kinds of patterns are waiting for you with the most evil intentions. This map also has a very high HP drain for this kind of LN map, which is set at 8. I did mention that it features shields in the past and, well..., you should really be careful with this, because there is a section where if you rush too much, you will not even notice how fast your HP disappears, leading to a fail.

This map is extremely challenging and somewhat popular at the same time, and it definitely deserves a chance to get into the loved section.

senya - Youyoumu no Gotoku by pporse
written by aitor98

Up next, pporse shows up with one of his maps, Youyoumu no Gotoku by senya. This one may not be as hard as some other maps in this batch, but it is interesting enough to check out. Featuring simple chords and chordstreams, bursts and a unique one-hand trill section, you will likely not forget if you play it. This map does not have a single LN, therefore this map is perfect for those rice lovers out there. Having OD7 and HP7, this map is well balanced, and there should not be that many problems when trying to pass this map.

Definitely a map worth enough for Loved.

Kana Hanazawa - Renai Circulation by CircusGalop
written by Kamikaze

And for our last pick, we have a chart unique in an unexpected way. As some of you might know, CircusGalop is the most proficient 10K charter and player in the game, and here we're showcasing another one of his works, a popular anime song, Renai Circulation.

This is a ten-difficulty, 10K mapset, ranging from beginner-friendly EZ to very challenging SHD, which is tough even for the most skilled. The unique thing about this map is that it's fully keysounded and sped up a bit, which is especially rare for anime songs. It's a well keysounded chart that got a decent bit of popularity, which is why we're picking this chart for the Loved category!

From everyone on the Project Loved team, we hope you enjoy this week's selection, and look forward to the next! The winning beatmaps will hit the Loved beatmap listing sometime next week and will be announced via @osugame on Twitter.

If you have any suggestions for beatmaps to be added to the Loved category, please submit them using the Google form! You can view the current submissions on the corresponding Google sheet.

—clayton