How to Play Impossible Comfortably

[jackarse1422]

I just want to know the best way to play on Impossible difficulty because I play this on an xbox controller using D-Pad and X,Y,B simultaneously and I still can't do it. I just need some professional Rhythm game advice.

[DJDiceZ]

There's not really any trick to it besides practice and failing a lot. Using practice mode at reduced speed and setting it up at sections you struggles with can help a lot for patterns you're failing to wrap your head around at normal speed.

Start out with the latter songs in hard and the early impossible songs as they are easier than the later ones in general. Focus on just surviving a track rather than scoring for impossible until you can pass at least once, and try to S or perfect hard songs. Always play something at least slightly out of your comfort zone if you want to see improvements.

Playing remix mode (in hard and impossible) can help getting some instinct and muscle memory for the patterns rather than bruteforce memorizing the songs (which you should avoid relying on outside of going for S+ full combos and getting through the patterns you can't react to yet).

Whether you want to rely on just one hand unless two is absolutely necessary (eg: impossible lil slugger), or use them for everything is up to preference and how much stress your wrists can take, personally i find it works better for me to avoid using two hands unless no choice.

These are more basic tips than pro player pro tips as i'm not really a pro player, the best i have is an A on Heph's Mess impossible.

[jackarse1422]

Yeah, I can get A's on most of the Hard mode songs I just get to impossible and it's like trying to play twister and spin the board. It's possible but just very uncomfortable to play. I love this game too.
Maybe I just have to change gameplay styles or something.

[DJDiceZ]

Yeah the learning curve is tough, not sure that can be avoided. You can also rely on the rhythm itself to figure out which monster to hit and when, when it feels unreadable.

[CheeseyHR]

I've been playing rhythm games for 15+ years, and I have to say this games impossible mode is def a jump from hard, the main difficulty it just learning how to read the monster patterns. As DJDiceZ said it comes with practice, but just pick a control scheme and stick with it, changing will just make you have to learn new muscle memory patterns.

I've stuck with DF JK personally, with d being left, f and j being up, and k being right. It just feels right for me. but for some charts you will be FORCED to use the triple button to hit patterns (for example the intro to overthinker impossible), so you would need to be able to reach those buttons as well. (assuming you don't use them anyway)

Just try to play easier charts first, and don't be afraid to use practice mode and lower the speed to help with readability! I always try a song at 75% once or twice just to try and wrap my head around it, then throw my self at practice mode to try it at full speed.

I'd say as you play more, you'll start seeing the monsters differently than you do now and be able to read almost anything thrown at you. Just keep practicing, and good luck on your journey!

[jackarse1422]

I mean, I just trip up on the skeli shield guys. Like my fingers cramp up when hitting those

[CheeseyHR]

Yeah I can see that. That's just practice and "exercising" your thumbs/fingers to be better at them. If there are some impossible charts that are giving you trouble because of the high speed, might be better to practice on slower charts or hard charts (going for full combo or high scores) until your thumbs/fingers are more accustomed to doing jacks (the term for hitting the same lane multiple times in a row in quick succession)

[Plop]

I had a very limited experience in rhythm games (a bit of osu) coming to this game (also played instrument when I was young) but I still managed to beat the impossible maps minus a very few charts (to be fair in the last 2 months I only played this game).

The difficulty of the game is to be able to parse quickly incoming monsters. I had trouble finishing certain hard charts (notably the second half of the game) on my first 20 hours. But I think if you keep training, the brain starts to adapt to the game, it notices the recurrent patterns. Parsing the chart becomes easier as time goes, it's like you don't have to think as much as before when deciding where to click, it becomes automatic. For impossible charts this applies partially since they are very heavy on monsters (or are very quick), but the trick is the same : start with the easier impossible tracks and let the brain adapt progressively. Also the training mode is very useful. I'm playing with the keyboard, playing on a controller seems hard tbh.

[Plop]

Also sometimes mashing on a lot of buttons (with a certain sens of rhythm ofc) on very hard sections of a particular track worked for me : you will lose hp but not too much. It's a lame way to pass these sections but it works

[DJDiceZ]

Originally posted by CheeseyHR:

I've stuck with DF JK personally, with d being left, f and j being up, and k being right. It just feels right for me. but for some charts you will be FORCED to use the triple button to hit patterns (for example the intro to overthinker impossible), so you would need to be able to reach those buttons as well. (assuming you don't use them anyway)

Good point, i also use the triple hit key for overthinker, it makes certain patterns way easier, but most of the time i find it more consistent to avoid using that key. It's also correct that getting to tap faster (for skeleton shields for example) also just comes with practice. Just make sure not to overdo it and strain yourself too much. They get easier when you can react faster to the patterns aswell.

Originally posted by Plop:

Also sometimes mashing on a lot of buttons (with a certain sens of rhythm ofc) on very hard sections of a particular track worked for me : you will lose hp but not too much. It's a lame way to pass these sections but it works

Yep, not a great way to improve though.

Originally posted by Plop:

The difficulty of the game is to be able to parse quickly incoming monsters. I had trouble finishing certain hard charts (notably the second half of the game) on my first 20 hours. But I think if you keep training, the brain starts to adapt to the game, it notices the recurrent patterns. Parsing the chart becomes easier as time goes, it's like you don't have to think as much as before when deciding where to click, it becomes automatic.

Yeah, and in spite of what some may claim, that's not actually mindless memorization as much as it is quick pattern recognition.

[jackarse1422]

I actually figured it out on the controller. I went waaaaaaaay back in my rhythm game days and remembered the control scheme I used when playing Amplitude on my PS2.
Basically,
Top Left Bumper = Left
Top Right Bumper = Up
Right Trigger = Right

The alts are X,Y,B and to activate power is A. To activate all three is still down on the D Pad.

This way with the triggers and top bumpers I can easily mash those double and triple Skelis and hedgehogs. I know it's all muscle memory and following the beats. Trust me, I played Rock Band for 20 years, Dj Hero, Aplitude/Frequency, Jubeat (level9 difficulty). I know my Rhythm games. I just needed to find the fit in controls.

[Plop]

Originally posted by jackarse1422:

I actually figured it out on the controller. I went waaaaaaaay back in my rhythm game days and remembered the control scheme I used when playing Amplitude on my PS2.
Basically,
Top Left Bumper = Left
Top Right Bumper = Up
Right Trigger = Right

The alts are X,Y,B and to activate power is A. To activate all three is still down on the D Pad.

This way with the triggers and top bumpers I can easily mash those double and triple Skelis and hedgehogs. I know it's all muscle memory and following the beats. Trust me, I played Rock Band for 20 years, Dj Hero, Aplitude/Frequency, Jubeat (level9 difficulty). I know my Rhythm games. I just needed to find the fit in controls.

Good news then. Good luck!

[Stonehammers]

"Matriarch" is a pretty good impossible chart to start on. For a while, that was the only one I could do.

[DJDiceZ]

Originally posted by jackarse1422:

I actually figured it out on the controller. I went waaaaaaaay back in my rhythm game days and remembered the control scheme I used when playing Amplitude on my PS2.
Basically,
Top Left Bumper = Left
Top Right Bumper = Up
Right Trigger = Right

The alts are X,Y,B and to activate power is A. To activate all three is still down on the D Pad.

This way with the triggers and top bumpers I can easily mash those double and triple Skelis and hedgehogs. I know it's all muscle memory and following the beats. Trust me, I played Rock Band for 20 years, Dj Hero, Aplitude/Frequency, Jubeat (level9 difficulty). I know my Rhythm games. I just needed to find the fit in controls.

To be fair this game trips up a lot of even experienced rhythm players due to the unusual sight reading skills you need to build up. And even if only a little, being able to read and thus anticipate well does help with having more relaxed hands for playing, rather than having to scramble to hit that double tap skelly shield one's brain barely registered.

[JL]

It's just a big difficulty spike and I don't think there is much more you can do than start with the easy songs and slow them down and practise them out in sections. If the difficulty was a scale from 1 to 10, Hard mode is probably like a 4/10 and then Impossible goes straight up to 10/10.

I personally use a keyboard with two hands on WASD and IJKJL, but i think a controller would work fine too. Whatever is most comfortable to you