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