Recent reviews by The Recon Scout

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A Dance of Fire and Ice is a strict rhythm game which promotes the player to not make mistakes, learn patterns and rhythms in songs, and to experience challenging but rewarding gameplay. This means that if you are buying this game, keep in mind: THIS GAME IS NOT GOING TO BE A CASUAL EXPERIENCE, IT REQUIRES FOCUS AND DETERMINATION IN ORDER TO COMPLETE MOST SONGS. Having gotten past that point, I will discuss how this gameplay FEELS in my personal playing of the game, and explain important points that YOU should keep in mind when buying the game.

In the game, you are given 12 main worlds to play, along with 8 "extra" worlds. All of these worlds are unique in their own way, each promoting a different use of musical style, patterns, and difficulty. The first worlds begin with very basic rhythms and beats, which anybody can learn and play, but the later worlds progress into more complex rhythms which can confuse the typical human mind. The diversity in music and rhythms allows for gameplay which promotes you to use your mind to find patterns in the music, and to draw connections to them with the overall beat. This can lead to very challenging but incredibly rewarding gameplay.

The gameplay itself is very boss-like in nature, with each map being designed as if you are training to fight the boss. Each map features multiple sections where you play excerpts that feature a specific pattern or rhythm of that song, then once you've learned each one and passed their tests, you take on the final trial. This makes the game feel AMAZING when you accomplish learning these rhythms and patterns, and gives you a great feeling of success when you pass the full puzzle. (Just like a boss battle with it's minions leading up to it.) This can result in some levels being much harder than others, as the patterns can be more wild and difficult to understand, but eventually being able to overcome those difficulties and achieving a pass on that map with high accuracy is a very satisfying sensation.

The game does feature custom levels and the ability to create your own, which promotes replayability for people who have conquered the main and extra levels. There is limitations on what you can create, which unfortunately doesn't allow for there to be a massive load of maps such as there is in games like Osu!. But there is most certainly enough for you to enjoy yourself with for many of the well made custom levels, which can range heavily in difficulty. I am personally not a mapper, nor have tried extensively to create one, so I have no validation discussing anything related to the map editor and designer.

All of this combined creates an overall unique and special rhythm game experience, which can differ from person to person. When playing this game you must have the mindset that it will be a challenging battle on many of it's worlds, but when you complete those worlds with precision and accuracy you feel greatly rewarded and receive that fat dose of dopamine you were fighting for. Before you buy this game, keep in mind all of which has been discussed, and how you PERSONALLY would feel playing this game. I can surely tell you that I 100% got my money's worth out of this experience, and I am going to keep playing it for a good while.

It ok

Life is changed now

It's ok

Is that you John Wayne? Or is this me!