Project Loved: Week of December 1st

It's Project Loved time again! Come help us put leaderboards on your favourite unranked maps.

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 its voting thread.

Toy's been a little busy cranking out some sick OWC wins (among many other things I'm sure), so Project Loved's been falling behind schedule. But fear not; we're back with the regular dosage of awesome map goodness. Sorry for the delay this time!

In case you don't read to 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. For osu!mania, please use this Google form and this Google sheet instead.

Navigation

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

osu!standard

osu!standard Loved candidates were chosen by DigitalHypno, BeasttrollMC and Bubbleman!

GALNERYUS - RAISE MY SWORD by beem2137 et al.
184 BPM, 2:56 | 1.10★ – 7.36★
description written by DigitalHypno

There are way too many amazing songs on osu! that only have high-star maps to go along with them. It can serve as great motivation for new players to improve, but sometimes it feels too out of reach to be able to enjoy those difficult maps of your favorite songs. Well, thankfully, beem2137 is helping the cause by hosting a full-spread mapset of this popular metal song.

The mapset features nine evenly spread difficulties that range from 1 to 7 stars, with the higher difficulties featuring lots of streams. The style of audio cutting makes this mapset unrankable, but with its high popularity within the community, we feel that Loved would be a perfect home for it. Check it out for yourself and give it a vote!

Amaranthe - Hunger by samplefish
200 BPM, 3:08 | 6.67★
description written by DigitalHypno

Welcome to the land of Graveyarded 2016 maps, many of which grew in popularity due to their addicting jump patterns and common appearances in multiplayer lobbies. This map by samplefish is definitely a highlight of that time period, and it's time for it to stand before the gates of the Loved category. The mapset contains one mid-6-star difficulty that features mostly jumps, along with frequent triples and short bursts. This style of jump map is a breath of fresh air from the ones we see in modern mapping, so be sure to check this one out!

Joji - SLOW DANCING IN THE DARK by Emilia
178 BPM, 3:25 | 4.71★, 5.50★
description written by DigitalHypno

There are lots of mapsets out there where you can chill out with an easy map, but this map by Emilia is the perfect balance between chill and challenge. The map features long sliders and directional flow that both fit perfectly with the mellowness of the song. If you need a break from the intensity of most difficult maps but still want to give your skills a challenge, this is the map you need to play.

Nanahoshi Kangengakudan - Sayonara Lechenaultia by val0108
195 BPM, 2:04 | 1.88★, 2.49★, 4.28★, 5.29★, 6.35★
description written by Bubbleman

A map by recently returned legend and Twitter's most loved English student val0108 that never made it to the ranked section, Sayonara Lechenaultia, features rhythms, patterns and difficulty settings common among all of val's 2013 offerings, and as such will take you on a trip back to simpler times, better times... The set has a full difficulty spread too, so there will definitely be something to enjoy for everyone. Come along and have a go!

M2U & NICODE - Myosotis (feat. Guriri & Lucy) by -kevincela- et al.
160 BPM, 2:11 | 1.50★ – 5.88★
description written by Bubbleman

A versatile song turned into a versatile mapset, -kevincela- hosts an array of guest difficulties by the likes of Jounzan, Taeyang and ktgster to create a set with many different mapping ideas based around a banger of an M2U song. Ranging from spaced linear flow to more awkward changes in stream patterning, and using every piece of the song's rhythm that they can get their hands on, this set is a joy to play through and experience all the different ideas presented by the mappers. Have a try for yourself!

osu!taiko

osu!taiko Loved candidates were chosen by -Kazu- and Ulqui!

katagiri - NXC Fanatics by applerss and 7_7
240 BPM, 3:59 | 7.80★
description written by -Kazu-

If you're one of those that have been in osu since the beginning of time, back when all these Nightcore versions of popular songs were flooding the ranked section, you will probably feel some sort of nostalgia while playing NXC Fanatics, a collab between applerss and 7_7 that is just as insane as you would expect of a map coming from these two. This beatmap, even though it has a bunch of 1/6 patterns, is leaning more towards the stamina side, with seemingly endless patterns that can be quite hard to maintain, especially if we consider the song's relatively high tempo of 240 BPM and the rather demanding 1/6 bursts, so be careful if you're going to try to tackle down this great Nightcore showcase.

PSYQUI - Education by [_Chichinya_]
180 BPM, 3:44 | 8.07★
description written by Ulqui

This week we bring you Education, mapped by [_Chichinya_]. It's a single-diff map that got attention due to the amount of work it has on hitsounds. In this map you'll see a lot of different sounds carefully placed and mapped, making the playing experience even more rich, including interesting and different patterns that make the map difficulty and unique. We expect to see impressive scores from all kinds of experienced players; enjoy this hitsound mapping!

osu!catch

osu!catch Loved candidates were chosen by Tenshichan, Sartan, Wesley and Yumeno Himiko!

Sampling Masters MEGA - Kattobi KEIKYU Rider by INO
220 BPM, 2:43 | 6.43★, 6.43★
description written by Tenshichan

INO is a mapper that has been around for a very long time. Because of his long history, the maps he creates are heavily influenced by early mapping styles. Kattobi KEIKYU Rider is no exception. Not only is it AR8, which is already quite unusual these days, but the patterns he uses also feel like the ones you play in an old map—in a good way! The style of the map, however, makes it not an easy map—it is full of difficult jump and stream patterns that will surely challenge you. Even getting a decent S rank is an accomplishment worthy of praise. Make sure to get on the train and give this map a try!

ClariS - CLICK (Soleily Remix) (Sped Up Ver.) by Zyzyx
190 BPM, 4:31 | 6.84★
description written by Yumeno Himiko

Zyzyx is a mapper that is still fairly new to the scene, yet he has already created a lot of content and evolved quickly. His maps are usually the fast-paced type which require a lot of quick movement and catcher control. CLICK is a map which is exactly like that. It is targeted at skilled players that are used to new mapping styles and can keep their stamina over a long period of time. For aspiring players, this map serves as good practice, as you will find a lot of the patterns used in harder Ranked maps as well. All-in-all, this is an enjoyable map to play, and you should definitely give it a try!

osu!mania

osu!mania Loved candidates were chosen by Shoegazer, lenpai, Pope Gadget and Toaph Daddy!

Rotten Blood - that schoolgirl by Abraxos
297 BPM, 1:29 | [4K] 4.53★, [4K] 4.85★, [4K] 5.23★, [4K] 5.58★, [4K] 5.93★

Abraxos is a charter who is more well-known for his extremely technical charts focused on difficult LN releases, heavy grace note/minijack usage and polyrhythms. His charts for ExaVid and Rhuzerv exemplify his style. His rendition of that schoolgirl might come as a pleasant surprise to some charters and players because of its mostly straightforward nature.

Despite that schoolgirl being 90 seconds long, there's a lot to unpack. It starts with a few 1/6 bursts, then you enter unpredictable sections filled with short runs of 270 BPM broken trilly jumpstream, longer runs of 270 BPM dense jumpstream, jumpjacking, 1/8 bursts, and lots of LN accenting of different kinds to boot. In addition to being very dynamic, the mapset also has uprates (ranging from 1.1x to 1.4x) for even more hectic experiences. From a player's perspective, there will be something that will catch your eye in this chart.

For charters, this chart is technically sound. Chord allocation is used very strongly here, the LN accenting is about on par with what you'd get from other Abraxos charts (very good and clear), and the chart is holistically structured in a very coherent and fair manner. If you're new to charting, this is a good chart to look at to see what makes things click.

Contrary to the difficulty name, the mapset is actually not the worst. Far from it, it's one of Abraxos' more popular charts, and for good reason. Despite being one of his more straightforward charts, he shows strong fundamentals while sustaining his own flair, and the chart itself is, while a bit frantic, exciting and enjoyable.

The Faceless - Autotheist Movements I, II & III by XeoStyle
80 BPM, 17:42 | [4K] 5.32★

Veteran charter and unbridled progressive metal fanboy XeoStyle is well-known for a few things: his more straightforward charts like Lone Digger, his more technical low-difficulty charts like Pablo's Place, and his extremely ambitious progressive metal project, The Parallax II: Future Sequence.

Before XeoStyle embarked on his project to chart all of Parallax II however, he had already charted multiple marathons for this. One of his more well-known marathons is Autotheist Movements I, II & III; a 17-and-a-half-minute behemoth with many twists and turns ahead. The chart itself is way too long to describe in just words, but the chart is harder than Parallax II due to Autotheist's much faster, denser and more frequent jumpstreams, faster chordjacks, and less break overall. Autotheist Movements is arguably more action-packed than Parallax II, but Parallax II feels less of an anxiety attack than Autotheist Movements in general.

Despite the chart being made over three years ago, it has shown over time to be very unique in multiple ways. The song choice and the chart's length stand out in particular; progressive metal is still rarely charted today, and 10+ minute songs arguably less so. The chart itself is also fairly strong given when it was made. If you find Parallax II to be too easy or too long (I don't blame you if it's the latter), Autotheist Movements will bring you an experience that nicely encapsulates the beauty of progressive metal marathons while adding a unique frenzied element to it.

osu!mania 7K Dan Course - Regular Dan Phase III by Jinjin et al.
125 BPM, 9:59 | [7K] 7.32★, [7K] 7.47★, [7K] 8.14★, [7K] 8.66★, [7K] 9.30★

This is it. The absolute carbohydrate packed monster. This is what sets the difference from the skilled players from the true ETs. This is Regular Dan Phase III.

With nothing changed to the established structure, four skillsets are put to the test in the order of Jacks, Tech, Speed, then Chordstream. While Zenith looks as nutty as it is, each of the Dans at this phase are very difficult in their own right and hold no punches when it comes to testing a player's skill.

Surely it can't get any harder than this. Oh wait. Oh no.

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

In addition to all of the Loved captains that choose the maps and write the descriptions, make sure to thank Noffy, huu and Ephemeral for their miscellaneous help in managing Project Loved.

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. For osu!mania, please use this Google form and this Google sheet instead.

—clayton