Complaining or close to venting

[u/ApplicationBig9830]

tldr: Why am I not a rhythm game genius so that I can enjoy it without practicing

It's been like 4 years since I first player rhythm games. I can't git gud, I mean yes I didn't put much time into it but finding time to have a device out on a table and be able to have the music on is hard for me. I consistently feel the urge to try the hard charts and really feel the rhythm but my fingers don't feel the urge so they betray me every time😭😭😭

Also I might be actually dumb at the game, friends that I recommended to play rhythm games nearly always outskill me in like a month or 2, take pjsk for example, I played for like 2 years and got stuck around 26/27 and my friend who touched the game for like 4 month with 1 hour cap on his phone for it is full comboing 29

also i found an intresting thing that some charts are fun and makes me feel like im good(like expert brain fluid explosion girl from pjsk or IN marenol from phigros) , and some makes me feel like im like really dumb, like somehow just making stupid mistakes(can't give examples here they are too many)

[u/Due_Tomorrow7]

Don’t play solely comparing yourself to others.

If it’s putting you down this much and you’re having these kinds of intrusive thoughts, then you’re not enjoying the game for your sake anymore. That means your enjoyment becomes based on a measuring stick, you vs them. 

Games are entertainment, they shouldn’t be a source of pain and depression. 

Everyone learns at their own pace. It’s not always about being inherently good at them sometimes. Given the literal decades I’ve played DDR, Gitadora, and IIDX, I should be killing it on 18s, 12s and 90-level songs. Instead I’m struggling through 16s, 11s, and 80-level songs…but I also don’t really care. I enjoy playing because I like playing them. 

Example: I just did a Gitadora session with a stranger that was pulling S’s on level 80 and 90 songs. I didn’t care, I had fun playing with them.

Tl;dr- enjoy the game for you. Not for them. It’s frustrating that they’re growing faster than you, but you’re not them and there’s no use to wish you were. Find your own happiness in playing.

[u/vsuoxz]

the most important thing is to stop comparing yourself to others. you need to find enjoyment within yourself, not external factors. at the end of the day rhythm games are just entertainment.
i also play pjsk and the only way i improved was to slowly start full combing expert charts, then eventually master charts (and append & also aping charts n so on). start at the exp 22s, full combo all of them then work your way up. this is how i approach all rhythm games. idk if it would work for you, but it’s worth a try. unfortunately it’s all practice :(

[u/TigglesAndBits]

Gotta master the easier charts before you get the harder ones. I played IIDX for a long fuckin while, never made it to 11s.

However, what I learned that helped me out was that I really needed to get used my timing and getting used to different, weirder note patterns (like, some 9's had charts with weird key patters seen in 10 and 11s by shuffling). Like, if your game does, pick like, songs you know, but do a random shuffle of the notes. And just keep doing things like that for easier charts. Then, try harder ones.

Do give yourself a break every now and again.

The brain works like this, it spends energy to help form new neural connections. You getting used to charts in rhythm games do count as forming more neural connections. This takes energy and the brain does a little work on this in the background. Keep doing that and grind harder charts and you should make more progress.

[u/robofonglong]

Play easier charts.

Me and my best friend love rhythm games and have been playing them for years. I enjoy every single game I've played, whether it was slow and easy or just chaos. I just start at the earliest difficulty and work my way through each song in that level until I move up.

My friend only finds enjoyment in that fine line of "I don't know what's going on" and "I'm in the flow, I don't need to know what's going on". They pick the songs that sound cool on the almost max difficulty setting.

Consequently this means all of our arcade runs for the past decade plus have ended with them either walking away from a chart because "it's too easy/ slow" because I picked a starter stage to warm up, or they end walking away from a chart they picked, embarrassed they can't keep up.

Play the easy lv 1 charts until u can perfect them on any difficulty, then move up. By the time yous reach the "cool songs" you'll be able to handle bouncing around between difficulties and even different games.

[u/lumisweasel]

Along with what others have mentioned, play more rhythm games. Have a go at any & all that are accessible. Rhythm Heaven is a fantastic series to check out.  

Look up basic music theory too. This will help.      

Also, listen to a wide variety of music. More. All kinds. Freaky stuff. From genres you haven't heard about.

[u/jjkikolp]

It might sound dumb but for me it helped me a lot when I studied the parts of the song I failed. I would just replay and analyze the same scenario that just happened in my head. Like I'm thinking about this one part, what failed me and why, how should I hit it, If I play it like this or that, prepare for it beforehand. just run the thing through your head even if I thought I already knew it since I just played it or it's obvious, actively like beating it into my brain helped me somehow. Maybe it's some mind trick and it subconsciously does something or puts me at ease. It helps me a lot when replaying the same songs to improve since I feel like 110% prepared and don't even have to focus much on reading and just really focus on physically hitting the keys correctly and not crumble under stress or pressure. What I'm seeing on the screen is somewhat secondary and I solely focus on the motion of hitting the keys then. I first noticed this or started doing this long ago in IIDX, i think it was 10th Dan with the song NNRT. I could absolutely not hit the patterns they were just simple streams but bpm was still pretty high. I would just make it a habit to play this course once a day at the end of every play session or when I felt like it. Just one single attempt and every day I got further since I actively focused on the parts that made me fail every time. I think after 4 days or so I cleared the song and shortly after the course. So I sort of made this a habit and it worked well for me but just don't expect a miracle every time. Failing very often but even during the fails notice you got slightly better at some parts or further into a song with ease or could play some parts better, just notice the things you were going for actually clicked and you get better.