#2dkaps smx

[2dkapsddr]

November 8th, 2025 (1/2) - maimai DX PRiSM PLUS, IIDX 33, Taiko Nijiiro, StepManiaX, DDR WORLD

WOW okay there are a LOT of images from today and thus a LOT of scores to cover . iii'm not really sure if i'm able to cover every single one of them in this post (most definitely not, which is why there's a (1/2) in the header), but i'll try my best not to make it a 3-parter...

so then!! let's breeze through as many of these as possible, starting with maimai!! FINALLY got my beautiful wife Shama as a partner and played a single set consisting of... an S+ on Animal [Master Lv.13] and GIGANTOMAKHIA [Expert Lv.13], an SS on larva [Expert Lv.12+], a sightread AP on Rainbow Rush Story [Expert Lv.10], and unlocking False Amber (from the Black Bazaar, or by A Kervan Trader from the Lands Afar, or Buried Beneath the Shifting Sands That Lead Everywhere but Nowhere)!!! (oh also 12k/Bronze rating reached yaya)

impromptu singular set of iidx for the fun of it, leading in with... an FC on oddloop [SPA-10] as 10 FC #2??? WHAT??? MAX-130 too like GOD . oh also a sightread HC on CaptivAte ~chikai~ [SPA-10], a new EC on City Never Sleeps (IIDX Edition) [SPA-11], and yet another fail on THE SHINING POLARIS(kors k mix) [SPA-11]...

went initially to go play DDR, but today was BUSY busy at the arcade so i just spotted an abandoned Taiko credit and did the world a favor in making don-chan shut up by playing . aaaand if you've heard Anything about US taiko and its implementation, you'll know just how miserable this set felt to play (((very))) . Sighhh... bamco what are you Doinggggg why have you been fumbling every single release in every single sector

spotted another abandoned arcade as a result of the busy arcade traffic, this time on SMX!! scores aren't anything special but they were fun :]

went back to the DDR line, and still very very busy (what else did you expect lol) . BUT THIS TIME, i noticed not one, but TWO abandoned taiko credits!! (or rather, a single abandoned taiko set with two players) . i saw someone else hop onto the cab (presumably also to make don-chan shut up) and hopped onto the other side myself, and that's when i noticed something Strange...

...this right side drum was oddly playable! still wasn't perfect by any means, but it felt MUCH better and more consistent than the mess that was the left side . i couldn't believe it, but i was doing well and feeling strong here for the first time since the cabs' debut... i actually got to know the other person a little more, and it turns out they're part of the same j-music group club thing i attend at my university!!! what a small world, eh? also found out they're an avid taiko player (and it seems like they assume i'm a taiko main too even though this is one of my lesser experienced games...) . shenanigans ensued, i finally played a set with my card, and we all had a good laugh before going to our own games i guess...

surprisingly during these exchanges, the DDR crowd dwindled down as more players either left the arcade or did their own thing, so the cab was actually free for the first time since i got there!!! i hopped on with someone else and targetted some of my older/nonexistent 14 scores as sort of LIFE4 rank progress, leading to 14 PFCs #41 and #42 on Hashire Melon Pan [ESP-14, 27p] and Sakura Mirage [ESP-14, 16p] respectively! will this count be overtaken by my 15 PFCs soon? probably .

speaking of 15s since i don't want to include DDR in the next post, here's the other DDR set(s) i played later alone going through song suggestions by friends!! so many close attempts at PFC'ing Pump Pump Pump [ESP-15], but none were meant to me... (also anti-shoutouts to aurica for making me play HyperTwist [CSP-18] . Evil, Evil, Evil choice .

more SMX since i ALSO don't wanna include it in the next post: Energizer!!! (suggested exactly by one person, but it's a #banger so i played it multiple times on multiple difficulties to get better at the slowdown and understand what i'm supposed to be doing

aaaand i already hit the image limit!! whoopsie doodles!!! ah well, figured this was gonna happen, so i'll continue this in another post with even MORE scores on games such as SDVX, Music Diver, and maimai (again)!!!

[2dkapsddr]

September 17th, 2025 - StepManiaX, Phigros

yeeeeuup, there's that period of inactivity i was talking about :p

surprised i didn't even stop to do a challenge break, but i guess i was so invested in both the vacation spots/parks we visited (we were there all day every day LOL) and Umamusume (i won my final round in graded league group B somehow with no preparation!!! epic win!!!) that i didn't bother with rhythm games at all...

but!!! today was our final day here before we caught the flight back home at night, and there was just one more place we wanted to visit before dropping off the car and taking our haul back home... the Santa Monica Pier, of course! and in there, just where i expected it, was the glorious StepManiaX cab of beauty and souvenirs... and it had my name written all over several scores -- literally from past visits, and preemptively from this visit!!! they unfortunately aren't the best since i had suboptimal shoes and no idea where the panels were, but hey! snagged enough scores to make this session a killer (albeit short and stilted) one anyways :]

back in the car and headed for the airport, we were back in rush mode and i was unable to play anything as we rushed for our lives to pack and move everything through TSA and the like, but once we were on the flight? it was like paradise... if paradise was cramped and stuffy and had no WiFi, that is . but thankfully, i had the perfect game i wanted to play on this flight that i otherwise almost never played... Phigros!!! my long-lost cousin and bestie, oh how i missed you... (*faintly* and how rusty i've become in the process, oh my....) . it's to be expected given i have no way of looking up chart videos or learning how to perfect charts like these, but i'll make do with what i can and cherish this score anyways :] iL-Artifact [IN Lv.15] my beloved, such a good song...

[2dkapsddr]

August 28th, 2025 - UNBEATABLE, IIDX 32, StepManiaX, DDR WORLD

GOOOOOOOOOD MORNING SEATTLE!!!!!!!!! i am INSIDE YOU!!!! FOR A VERY SPECIAL OCCASION!!! A SPECIAL ONE INDEED!!!!! and that is.... the D-CELL GAMES X PIKARAR & FRIENDS POP-UP SHOP FEATURING THE HIT UPCOMING RHYTHM ACTION GAME "UNBEATABLE" AND A PLAYABLE DEMO!!!!!!!!!! i'd been waiting for the start of this demo event for quite a while now, and the day has finally arrived... to get out there and SHOW OFF!!!! LET'S DO IT!!!!!!

had to wait a bit after i arrived for a demo spot to open up, but once it did, i hopped straight into arcade mode and instantly reached the A-rank requirement for a special participation ribbon with the beloved song... Proper Rhythm!!! was wholly anticipating to get a B or something on the Unbeatable Lv.14 difficulty and have to turn it down a notch, but somehow i snuffed out an A rank on my first try and secured the ribbon!!! so for the rest of my time on the demo setup, i just played a few other random songs, managed to clear proper rhythm bootleg [Expert Lv.16? and Unbeatable Lv.20], and ALMOST cleared the chaotic pixel edit of the Mirror remix [Nuklear Lv.18] yet unfortunately failing at the very end... (very good chart and effect tho thank you taronuke)

once my time was up, i hopped off and explored the store a little while chatting with a friend and dev of the event -- so much time and thought went into the game and i love how it plays/feels as someone who's pretty much Only played rhythm games for the past several years, tho it reminded me that i have so many other types of games that i Really need to open up and play sometime . got a shirt and sticker sheet for the game, chatted a bit more before leaving, explored the Seattle area that i rarely ever got to explore even during my university time, and headed back!

not back home just yet though, it's far too early for that... no, i actually headed down to Round 1 and spent the rest of the night playing IIDX and other very mashy rhythm games to scratch that itch i've been having since i set out on that all-day adventure!!! started strong with a new 11 EC on ZENITH [SPA-11], then an HC on DENIM [SPA-10], and an EXHC on DENIM [SPH-9] squished between a few weird fails . but once i got past those failures and started thinking about what else to do, i got a visit from some DDR friends that watched me play and recommended some songs to try... leading to me getting an NC A-rank on Monkey Business [SPA-11], and an HC/massive upscore on SISYPHUS [SPH-10]!!! (alongside an expected-but-nevertheless-tragic A-rank fail on Speculation [SPA-11])

by then i thought i'd seen it all - was starting to fail charts and i couldn't even clear an 11A chart (lol), so what else was there left to do? well, those same DDR player friends suggested something Shocking, Daring, dare i say Risky... they suggested a first 12 clear. on DUE TOMORROW. the 400 BPM song by Mr. T from beatmania IIDX 13 DistorteD. i never thought or guessed i'd ever be able to clear a 12 of any kind anytime soon, thinking it'd take until next style to do so. and yet? i was tempted. had nothing better to do, and said friends were playing on premium free anyways, so i gave it a shot... and failed. then another, and failed.

the patterns were so simple and smooth, i thought Maybe i could do this! but i couldn't for a good while... that was, until i tried it myself on a premium free credit. after a poor initial r-ran, i switched back to ran to see if i could get a lucky draw... and sure enough somehow, i DID IT!!! somehow, someway, despite only having a single 11B clear under my belt, i secured the easy clear (which honestly totes could've been a normal clear) on my first ever 12... DUE TOMORROW [SPA-12] A- EC!!!!! and it turns out that sent me on a ROLL of good scores, because i followed it up with two new 11B clears -- The Dirty of Loudness [SPA-11] on Ran and VOX UP [SPH-11] on R-Ran, like WHAT???? is Ran really the secret that i've been denying for so long??? i think it is... Man . guess i'm gonna have to use it a lot more often from here on out...

that's not all though!! saw an abandoned credit on SMX and hopped on, but then i played an extra one and got some INSANE upscores on charts like DMT [FULL+ 22], Worn Out Tapes [FULL+ 22], and Sunshine [FULL 23]!!!

then to finish off the session, met up with the dev friend from earlier and -- while we each mostly did our own thing for the remainder of our stay at the arcade -- i locked in and got to work setting some incredible new scores, like a sightread PFC on JET WORLD (CSP-14, 25p) as 14 PFC #36, some really close sightread near-PFC scores on Destiny lovers [CSP-16] and True Blue [CSP-17], and then the friend showed back up in line for DDR for some tourney qualifiers, leading to me getting a slight-yet-neat upscore on First Action (ESP-12, 25p -> 20p) and then an INCREDIBLE first-try-otd PFC on Wolf's Rain (ESP-14, 17p) as 14 PFC #37??? i don't recall if it's my 14 ceiling or not, but still VERY impressive nonetheless...

oh right, and also This Nightmare . Do not play this for your own sake. Please. it's Helllll

[2dkapsddr]

August 24th, 2025 - IIDX 32, StepManiaX (1/2)

iiit's grindday, grindday, gotta get down on grindayyy

ok bad joke and reference, but it really is a massive grind day!!! triple tribe is ending soon and i Still have to fill up my IIDX bar, so today is just gonna be grinding the hell out of the game (ft. recommendations from some friends on twitter) until i get enough for that sweet sweet EYE OF THE HEAVEN unlock :] gotta say though, i was off to a Great start right out the gate!!! a few cool HC upscores, a sightread AAA on Explore [SPA-10], then a few flops on a few tricky 10s and 11s... but hey!!! i just barely hard-cleared lower world [SPA-10] and ended up doing the same for one or eight [SPH-10] after an initial fail!!!

moving onto SMX where i'm just toying around with my settings and figuring out what works for me because GOD is it hard to get anything accurate in this game . i love it and cherish it and all that but why are we still on such primitive 0.25x/25 bpm increments and still without arrow receptors... (i think it's because of patent issues but that Sucks myan) . highlight of the sesh was def playing the unbeatable songs back to back though, i LOVE the charts and videos that come with them!!! extremely brilliantly-done collab

jumping back into iidx for da triple tribe grind, i'm moving onto the bigger and harder difficulty leagues!!! still sorta chilling with 10s in this first set, but then i ended with the extra stage being... a sudden AA on RISLIM -Remix- SPA-11??? very very impressive, why yes indeed... and so after that SPA-10 haul, i moved onto the 11s where i got even MORE insane clears (albeit with a few chokes on much harder stuff like Amazing Mirage [SPA-11] and Ubertreffen [SPA-11]), so a list of all the new 11s from this session (besides the aforementioned RISLIM -Remix- [SPA-11]) would include *breathe in* Programmed World, No Tears, Shamshir no mai, Rejection Girl, Techno banchou kiki juuroku renda, Butterfly Twist, and a comeback on Amazing Mirage to knock out a total of EIGHT new SPA-11 ECs in a single session!!! waow!!!

there's another fail of an 11B-tier chart i couldn't clear, but i hit the image limit and there's not much else notable here, so gonna have to make a follow-up post real quick to show it off... it's just a teensy few more scores left though!! nothing too big!!!

UPDATE: second part is now up with the remainder of the scores (one iidx fail and a few crazy DDR scores), check it out!!

[2dkapsddr]

August 12th, 2025 - IIDX 32, DDR WORLD, StepManiaX, PIU 2024 PHOENIX, SDVX EG

whoopsie doodles, another break as i was hanging out with friends and staying away from rhythm games all day yesterday!! and you know what i did Today to make up for it? hang out with MORE friends!!!! ...though this time it was thankfully at the mall, so you're getting scores for once!! hooray!!! isn't that nice??? and to kick it off, we have a sightread warmup first-try AA- EC on Rabbit Hole [SPA-11] in IIDX!!!! (and also a very shoddy first attempt on SISYPHUS [SPH-10] but we don't talk about that (teehee))

VERY tiny amount of DDR scores today (though there were several other really good/funny scores i wish i took photos of...), but hey! managed to finally close out a PFC on Positive*Dance Time! (ESP-12, 31p), as well as a MASSIVE PFC upscore on Environ [De-SYNC] feat. lythe (ESP-15, 63p -> 33p) while forcing my friends to suffer along with me!!! (they were Not as happy with the exhaustion, unfortunately :[)

funny doubles shenanigans in the Other dance games: tried out the UNBEATABLE collab arrow skin in StepManiaX for the first time (EXTREMELY good skin btw i love how it looks) only to upscore SUNSHINE [FULL 23] to a solid 88k points!! then i grinded a bit on YOU AND I D20 for Fullmode (again) to get placed into Platinum Double at last!! hooray!!! (still need to get 2 more good single scores (and possibly a better score on CRUSH S20) to place into Platinum Single though... ough)

the rest of the hangout went SOLIDLY!!!! had a ton of fun with said friends, watched one of them blow $100 on a munchlax plushie that they never got, "ate ramen" with them (all i got was an apple juice again LOL), and bid farewell as they all headed out in their cars or other forms of transportation (pshhh . imagine "having a license" or whatevs) . buuuuut i had some free time and didn't wanna leave yet, so what better way to spend the rest of my visit than to grind out some SDVX and set some sick new records across 17s, knob charts, and funky 18 sightreads/upscores?? whatever was most likely to give me VF, basically. that also lead me to playing some locked triple tribe unlocks with a good friend who was at the arcade, and that also resulted in an incredible 991 on Xeno Gravity [EXH-17] and a sweet 981 HC on HitoMANIA [MXM-17]!! (when you see that bottom middle score you'll Shit)

BONUS: AUGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

[2dkapsddr]

July 18th, 2025 - vivid/stasis, IIDX 32, StepManiaX (1/2)

heyheyhey!!! sorry for being so late to the party, i've been trying to figure out how to resync my images to icloud photos on my PC but haven't found a solution at all, yet all my images from past this day are uploading properly... no idea why

anyways, this morning i finished up the v/s final chapter and was freed from the hell that is the Unity Nexus... while also kinda rolling my eyes at the ending (can't judge the quality but the text went by Way Too Fast dude i can't read all of that in 4 measures of a 200bpm song) . not many notable scores as i was just trying to get the songs unlocked and get out of there, but i guess i secured some new MAX scores on ASTELLION [FIN 11+] and Solomon's Seal [FIN 9] if that's anything :]

anyways, ARCADE DAY AT LAST!!! WAHOOO!!!!!! hasn't really been a while per say, but last time was completely botched by the weather and i couldn't really get any focused scores in . that changed TODAY with the INSANE session i had!!! retrieving song recommendations from twitter, i played my usual casual warmup set (resulting in an HC on Hydrogen Blueback [SPA-10]!!) before kicking it into high gear and getting stuff like...

...Lv. 10 EXHC #3 on PERFECT HUMAN [SPA-10]!! then another EXHC on winkle 2 winkle [SPH-9]!! AND THEN AN HC ON BLACK. by X-Cross Fade [SPH-10]!!!!! plus some sightread NC AAs on Oddloop [SPL-11] and LUV CAN SAVE U [SPL-10] before running it back and getting 11 AAA #1 ON ODDLOOP!!!!! AND AN HC TOO!!!! FUCKYEAAAAAAA (also got a sweet sightread NC AA on Element of SPADA [SPL-11] too so might as well throw that in :])

tried DP for the first time and immediately regretted it (though i guess i got Shou [DPN-3] as my first DP A-clear :]), a few more misc scores from twitter song reccs (including a sightread AAA on Karasu [SPH-10] and some all-new clears on 2 tribe 4 K [SPA-11] and KAMAITACHI [SPA-11] -- EC and NC respectively!!!) before i move onto the next phase of this post...

...the next phase being DANCE GAMES of course!!! but there's one dance game in particular that i really wanted to play with its latest song update... and that was StepManiaX with its addition of the great, the amazing, the culture-resetting new addition... of PROPER RHYTHM!!! the big awesome insanely good song from the upcoming rhythm story game UNBEATABLE!!! i'm so damn hype for this game you have no idea, and the BGA for this song in SMX does an INCREDIBLE job at capturing the vibe through its gameplay footage and unique effects!!! (especially at the end with beat just bouncing in the olden conference room www)

(unfortunately, this is all i can showcase in the post before it reaches the individual post image limit, so you're gonna have to bear with me as i move the rest of the scores to a follow-up post... but i've got some really good ones!!! trust!!! here's a video of the panel effects assigned to the song in the meantime :]

[2dkapsddr]

December 30th, 2024 (2/2) - StepManiaX, SDVX EG, Arcaea

the finally stretch... y'know, i honestly wasn't expecting last post to be so long that i'd have to split it in two, but c'est la vie after all... no matter, let's get the rest of this post over with so i can work on my 2024 rhythm game recap and 2025 rhythm game goals!!!

jumping right back into the SMX scores and suggestions... we have yet another upscore on The Saint Goes Marching (Helix Remix 2020 Edit) [WILD 21] this time a near-PFC (save for a single miss) and a raise to 96.9k!!! following this is a super exhausted upscore on Running In The 90s 2023 [FULL+ 24], bringing it out of the 80k's and into the 90k's with a 90.5k!!! and for the last SMX song suggestion... a sightread 88,080 (funy) on Personal Reality [WILD 25]!!! EXTREMELY fun chart holy hell, just the right amount of tech to be unique and fun for the game and it's executed beautifully by my standards . would love to see more charts like this in SMX...

aaand for the last of the arcade scores for today, we have SDVX!!! it's just the last few song suggestions i still had to get through in the game, but i managed to get an all-new 18 clear (and potential excessive clear candidate) out of it: Fl0ating: [MXM-18]!!!

and now: for the last of the scores in general... we're wrapping it up with a teensy bit more arcaea!!! cleaning up some of my lower-scored BYD charts, we have Last | Moment (BYD-9, MAX-19) and Fairytale (BYD-9, MAX-38) as BYD PMs #13 and #14 respectively!!! there's also that upscore on Quon [BYD-10] to more accurately reflect my overall performance on the chart, but most important of all the scores... is my upscore on World Ender, from a 9908 -> 9923, resulting in a +0.01 PTT increase to my new peak of 12.69 PTT!!! (nice)

oh right, there's also a massive PM upscore on Modelista [FTR-9] after having such a scuffed PM on it for so long... from MAX-47 -> MAX-22!!! insane plays!!! and to top it all off for the day... I GOT WINTER KOU PARTNER AT LAST!!! all the frantic world mode grinding finally paid off for this moment... gahhh she's so pretty !!!

[2dkapsddr]

December 23rd, 2024 - StepManiaX, IIDX 32, DDR WORLD, Arcaea

now THIS is a real classic arcade lineup!!! gone are the days of GCM taking over multiple posts for a single day... we're back to much smaller and more comfortable rhythm gaming sessions, though originally this post wasn't supposed to happen??? i didn't exactly have any plans to visit Round 1 today, so even this session comes at a shock to me . however, i needed to return a controller to a friend who'd left it at my house amidst the massive arcade session from this past weekend, and Round 1 (seeing as it was in the mall where he worked) was just the most convenient place for us to meet up and return it . so not having set any scores earlier today and with the clock ticking, i left that evening with the massive controller in hand to make my delivery and to stop by for a bit of gaming while i was at it.

in what can only be described as a sideplot to this saga, i received some messages from another rhythm gaming friend showing a new song being added to StepManiaX that i might've been interested in . what song was this, exactly? oh, i don't know, something like RUNNING IN THE 90'S!!!! its first appearance in a rhythm game, and it was one available at the very same arcade i was planning to visit!!! so even though returning the controller was already mandatory, this only fueled my excitement to finally arrive and have some time to myself... and without further hesitation, i hopped on to that cab and scrolled over to where i managed to find the beautiful, magnificent, Running in the 90's in the FLESH (well, it was technically a 2023 remix/remaster of the song, but it sounded just like i expected it to sound, so i can't even be disappointed about the remix...) . having no interest in being sidetracked and having all my attention focused on the song, i spent this entire credit just playing all the hardest difficulties of this song on each control type, from the FULL+ 24 to the WILD 23 to the DUAL+ 22, claiming the store record of each of them as no one else had hopped on to experience this beautiful phenomenon!!! such fun charts too, like the Wild and Dual are decent but the Full+ chart is INCREDIBLE . it REALLY makes you feel like you're Running in the 90's .

but alas!!! SMX wasn't the only one getting new banger licenses recently... for while SMX was my biggest gaming motivator for this session, I was also super interested in playing Donut Hole 2024 on IIDX!!! added just last week, i needed to warm up a bit before i could hop into the SPA-10, and i managed to sneak away with HCs on New Decade IIDX Edition [SPH-9] and BIBBIDEBA [SPA-10] before i gave the song a try... and instantly got an HC on it too!!! in all fairness, i saw previews of the chart and it didn't look all that bad at all, so i was fairly confident in doing the chart... but i guess i wasn't confident enough or something??? that's a surprisingly high score for a first-try 10 for me, after all... so after a brief NC on Bling-Bang-Bang-Born [SPA-10], i ran it back with an EX-Hard gauge and got my first ever EXHC on a 10 out of Donut Hole 2024 [SPA-10]??? who knows... maybe i could even FC it??? eghhhh i doubt it, but it's fun to think about w . wasn't even that impressive relative to the session because after that score, i got my FIRST (easy) CLEAR on Bahram Attack -Nekomata Master Remix- [SPA-10] !!!!!!!! "but you got AAA- despite being your first play, why didn't you normal clear i-" BECAUSE THE ENDING IS HARD AS SHIT!!! ...though given the gauge, maybe an HC would be easier to get than an NC in all honesty...

now for the DDR scores!!! they're brief, there's not much to write about, but they're REAL good scores if i don't say so myself... like this incredible 29p PFC on Plan 8 [ESP-14], first try of the day, as 14 PFC #20, as well as FINALLY getting Yet Another first try of the day PFC on Ichizu [ESP-15] as 15 PFC #16!!! i would've loved to get more PFCs this session, but i was continually sabotaged by the poor state of the pads constantly giving me goods and ruining my plays for reasons out of my control (which is why i switched sides for the Ichizu PFC in the first place)... alas, maybe next time it'll be a bit better . i'm at least happy with having witnessed the beautiful update that is MVs finally being fullscreen again!!!!!

and for the last score of the day? a sick ass play in world mode, where after several attempts since my 1 miss on the chart... i finally closed out that PM on Ikazuchi (FTR-10, MAX-39) as FTR PM #224!!!!