#oneaday Day 774: Groovin'

Getting really into Groove Coaster Wai Wai Party!!!! now, ever since I discovered the trick to playing rhythm games on the television and getting the same "I'm playing an instrument!" feeling as I do when playing them on handhelds.

It's weirdly simple, really: simply put the controller down on a flat surface and play it more like a keyboard instrument rather than relying on your thumbs. If you're anything like me, your fingers are more responsive and reactive than your thumbs are, so it's easier to hit things in time.

You will also want to learn how to play according to the sound of the music rather than the on-screen markers, and also learn how to tune out the sound of your own fingers banging on the controller. The latter in particular is weirdly distracting, so you absolutely must maintain some Zen-like focus in listening to the music and not the noises that are happening in the room.

I'm surprised I hadn't discovered this little trick sooner, as I've tended to eschew a lot of rhythm games on the big screen precisely because none of them quite recreated the same feeling Project Diva F on the Vita gave me. But now… now, with Groove Coaster I am well and truly feeling it. I have also discovered that Hard mode on Groove Coaster is absolutely "my level" — I can S-rank a couple of songs, but I have room for improvement on a lot of them.

In most cases, it's simply a case of learning the songs a bit better, since most of them are relatively new to me — though there are a couple that have very fast note patterns that I need to figure out a reliable means of hitting. At least with Groove Coaster's flexible control scheme, you have the scope to do them with both hands rather than expecting one hand or finger to move at a ridiculous velocity.

I can perform pretty reliably on the Kemono Friends theme and Kizuna Ai's performance of AiAiAi, though, so that's an important milestone already. I sense the tracks from Darius are going to give me a bit of grief for a while though!