Re: StepCon 2025
Hi. heres my feedback on the stepcon files this year. Files rated on a scale of 1 to 5 based entirely on my opinion.
Struggle 1 (5/5) - This file is excellent. Pattern feel is great, especially the reserved usage of minijacks. does a great job of focusing on what the song wants to be emphasized. Pacing and difficulty curve are good. This is basically the file i was hoping to see come from this song.
Struggle 2 (1/5) - Sorry chief, this ain't it for me. I can't really tell whats going on here. It seems like difficulty for the sake of difficulty at the cost of representing the music. The intro was pretty solid, but i don't have much positive to say past that point. Consider a more refined approach in the future and carefully consider what it is you're trying to follow and represent with a particular section of music.
Struggle 3 (4/5) - This is good. It executes well on some of the things i liked about 1, however imo it falls a little short relative to 1 when it comes to focusing. in particular the decision not to slow things down and focus on that little guitar solo was a bit disappointing. however the minijack usage was mostly pretty strong, the patterning felt nice to play and the emphasis was properly placed most of the time. This is a strong file, good work.
Struggle 4 (3/5) - Solid file. The minijacking felt a bit heavy handed relative to the context of the music (though i think i could see your reasoning) and it, like 2, fell a little short on where the chart placed its focus imo. those complaints aside, its an enjoyable file to play and it captures the essence of the song. I think with a touch more polish it'd make a strong addition to FFR.
Struggle 5 (4/5) - God, what a file. Theres a lot to like here but a few decisions irked me quite a bit. like in 4 the minijacks felt a little heavy handed at points and i don't love some of the decisions made with what the chart focused on. that being said, i loved the use of onehand trilling and outside of my complaints with minijacking at a few points, this was very fun to play and in some ways unique from the other entries. Part of me wanted to give this a 3/5, another part wanted to give it a 5/5. So reluctant 4/5 it is.
Struggle 6 (3.5/5) - So despite my complaints about minijacks and gluts in the other files, i think this uses them relatively well. Its a structure that is established early and maintained pretty well throughout the file such that it doesnt feel jarring. I do however take issue with how much this approach takes the spotlight from the more melodic elements of the song. Where Struggle 1 opts to 'zig', this file 'zags'. In my opinion it results in a file that comes off as too overly focused on the percussion when theres so much more going on. From a playfeel and difficulty curve perspective I can get behind what this file tries to do, but from a stepartist perspective this file really misses the mark for me.
EDIT: it has since come to my attention that this file has color theory which addresses my concerns about lacking clear representation of the melodic elements of the song. While my other complaint still holds, I do think the approach to color theory here is quite a neat way to "have your cake and eat it too" with regards to the percussion fighting for the spotlight against the melodic stuff. Might be a tad excessive for some, but i dig it.
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ABC 1 (X/5) - I can't play this and I'm not going to get too heavily into reviewing it. In my opinion the approach to vocal dumping is too intense for what the music calls for and its immediately apparent from the intro. I'm sure theres an audience for it, but I don't much care for the intensity of the approach.
ABC 2 (5/5) - Very good file. A few things felt vaguely 'off', but realistically this file checks all the boxes i could've possibly wanted in a file for this song. This file really shines in terms of its restraint. Tough act to beat.
ABC 3 (3.5/5) - Fun to play and a solid approach. I was a bit disappointed by the choice to follow the steady 16ths in the choruses, creating a steady jumpstream. despite it being a bit of a difficulty spike, i actually like the execution on the ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ bit in this file- felt quite fun to hit. I feel like a bit of tweaking on the chorus could've put this at a 4/5 for me.
ABC 4 (3/5) - Reminds me of ABC 3 with a bit more intensity. Much like that entry, the verses are solid, but i found myself a little disappointed in the choruses. I did kind of prefer the handstreamy approach here versus the simpler jumpstream, but the relatively lack of intensity of the ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ kinda soured it for me. Still, a solid file and I enjoyed playing it.
ABC 5 (4/5) - Alright so like... I did quite enjoy the approach to vocal dumping here. For a harder approach to the song, i think it has the right idea. I have some gripes about playfeel (mainly around the handbiasing on some minijacky bits) and there were a few smaller instances where i wish the file would've slowed down a bit, but i liked this
EDIT: amended my rating to 4/5, 3.5 is a little harsh
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FUCK YOU MEAN "I AIN'T HER"?
BOY THATS NASTY WERK!
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Unit-Squash 1 (4/5) - Good file, I had fun. Everything seemed to make sense, the patterning felt good to play, and there was nothing glaring to complain about (though something felt vaguely off about the ending?) That being said, I didn't exactly adore it? It lacked any kind of 'hook' or wow factor to make it particularly memorable for me. Nothing in the file really got any kind of strong reaction out of me and for that reason I can't give it a 5/5 despite it being good overall.
Unit-Squash 2 (5/5) - Really enjoyed this. Well placed cut and 3jacks give the file a nice bit of spice to it. Tasteful use of onehanding as well. Aside from that, it does pretty much everything i'd want to see, good job.
Unit-Squash 3 (3.5/5) - Part of me liked this file the most, part of me was pretty unimpressed. This file has exactly the kind of hook to it that i was missing with 1 with some memorable sections that nicely capture the music while being interesting from a player perspective. My issue is that the execution on everything in between didn't resonate with me quite as well as the first 2 files. All in all its pretty good though, I liked it
Hi. heres my feedback on the stepcon files this year. Files rated on a scale of 1 to 5 based entirely on my opinion.
Struggle 1 (5/5) - This file is excellent. Pattern feel is great, especially the reserved usage of minijacks. does a great job of focusing on what the song wants to be emphasized. Pacing and difficulty curve are good. This is basically the file i was hoping to see come from this song.
Struggle 2 (1/5) - Sorry chief, this ain't it for me. I can't really tell whats going on here. It seems like difficulty for the sake of difficulty at the cost of representing the music. The intro was pretty solid, but i don't have much positive to say past that point. Consider a more refined approach in the future and carefully consider what it is you're trying to follow and represent with a particular section of music.
Struggle 3 (4/5) - This is good. It executes well on some of the things i liked about 1, however imo it falls a little short relative to 1 when it comes to focusing. in particular the decision not to slow things down and focus on that little guitar solo was a bit disappointing. however the minijack usage was mostly pretty strong, the patterning felt nice to play and the emphasis was properly placed most of the time. This is a strong file, good work.
Struggle 4 (3/5) - Solid file. The minijacking felt a bit heavy handed relative to the context of the music (though i think i could see your reasoning) and it, like 2, fell a little short on where the chart placed its focus imo. those complaints aside, its an enjoyable file to play and it captures the essence of the song. I think with a touch more polish it'd make a strong addition to FFR.
Struggle 5 (4/5) - God, what a file. Theres a lot to like here but a few decisions irked me quite a bit. like in 4 the minijacks felt a little heavy handed at points and i don't love some of the decisions made with what the chart focused on. that being said, i loved the use of onehand trilling and outside of my complaints with minijacking at a few points, this was very fun to play and in some ways unique from the other entries. Part of me wanted to give this a 3/5, another part wanted to give it a 5/5. So reluctant 4/5 it is.
Struggle 6 (3.5/5) - So despite my complaints about minijacks and gluts in the other files, i think this uses them relatively well. Its a structure that is established early and maintained pretty well throughout the file such that it doesnt feel jarring. I do however take issue with how much this approach takes the spotlight from the more melodic elements of the song. Where Struggle 1 opts to 'zig', this file 'zags'. In my opinion it results in a file that comes off as too overly focused on the percussion when theres so much more going on. From a playfeel and difficulty curve perspective I can get behind what this file tries to do, but from a stepartist perspective this file really misses the mark for me.
EDIT: it has since come to my attention that this file has color theory which addresses my concerns about lacking clear representation of the melodic elements of the song. While my other complaint still holds, I do think the approach to color theory here is quite a neat way to "have your cake and eat it too" with regards to the percussion fighting for the spotlight against the melodic stuff. Might be a tad excessive for some, but i dig it.
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ABC 1 (X/5) - I can't play this and I'm not going to get too heavily into reviewing it. In my opinion the approach to vocal dumping is too intense for what the music calls for and its immediately apparent from the intro. I'm sure theres an audience for it, but I don't much care for the intensity of the approach.
ABC 2 (5/5) - Very good file. A few things felt vaguely 'off', but realistically this file checks all the boxes i could've possibly wanted in a file for this song. This file really shines in terms of its restraint. Tough act to beat.
ABC 3 (3.5/5) - Fun to play and a solid approach. I was a bit disappointed by the choice to follow the steady 16ths in the choruses, creating a steady jumpstream. despite it being a bit of a difficulty spike, i actually like the execution on the ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ bit in this file- felt quite fun to hit. I feel like a bit of tweaking on the chorus could've put this at a 4/5 for me.
ABC 4 (3/5) - Reminds me of ABC 3 with a bit more intensity. Much like that entry, the verses are solid, but i found myself a little disappointed in the choruses. I did kind of prefer the handstreamy approach here versus the simpler jumpstream, but the relatively lack of intensity of the ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ kinda soured it for me. Still, a solid file and I enjoyed playing it.
ABC 5 (4/5) - Alright so like... I did quite enjoy the approach to vocal dumping here. For a harder approach to the song, i think it has the right idea. I have some gripes about playfeel (mainly around the handbiasing on some minijacky bits) and there were a few smaller instances where i wish the file would've slowed down a bit, but i liked this
EDIT: amended my rating to 4/5, 3.5 is a little harsh
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FUCK YOU MEAN "I AIN'T HER"?
BOY THATS NASTY WERK!
----------------
Unit-Squash 1 (4/5) - Good file, I had fun. Everything seemed to make sense, the patterning felt good to play, and there was nothing glaring to complain about (though something felt vaguely off about the ending?) That being said, I didn't exactly adore it? It lacked any kind of 'hook' or wow factor to make it particularly memorable for me. Nothing in the file really got any kind of strong reaction out of me and for that reason I can't give it a 5/5 despite it being good overall.
Unit-Squash 2 (5/5) - Really enjoyed this. Well placed cut and 3jacks give the file a nice bit of spice to it. Tasteful use of onehanding as well. Aside from that, it does pretty much everything i'd want to see, good job.
Unit-Squash 3 (3.5/5) - Part of me liked this file the most, part of me was pretty unimpressed. This file has exactly the kind of hook to it that i was missing with 1 with some memorable sections that nicely capture the music while being interesting from a player perspective. My issue is that the execution on everything in between didn't resonate with me quite as well as the first 2 files. All in all its pretty good though, I liked it
- Tosh 2014
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