Firice official OST Butterfly Planet
Butterfly Planet: When Official OSTs Make You Question Reality
So Firice has this official OST called "Butterfly Planet" which sounds... poetic? I guess? I'm a collector though, so I don't really care about the poetry. I care about checking it off my list. Gotta 100% all the official levels and DLC. It's a compulsion. Not a healthy one, but here we are.
Playing it on my laptop which has the WORST keyboard ever. Like, mushy keys, inconsistent response, probably has crumbs stuck under some of them. Not ideal for rhythm game precision. But hey, challenges build character or whatever.
My current goal is to reach that skill tier where I can consistently clear 10-difficulty charts. This feels like it might be around that? Hard to tell. The official ratings are sometimes lies anyway.
*Switching to scientist voice* Okay, presenting findings on optimal practice methods for Butterfly Planet. First observation: rhythmic illusion present in section 2. The visual track suggests one tempo, but the music is actually at another. Classic ADOFAI deception technique. This causes cognitive dissonance leading to early/late hits.
Second: clever use of the planet's own trail as a visual guide. As the planet moves, its trail shows the upcoming turn angles. This is actually helpful once you learn to read it. Like breadcrumbs through geometric space.
Third: this track falls into the "organic" style category rather than "mechanical." Flowing curves, natural shapes, versus sharp angles and rigid patterns. The eternal debate among mappers and players continues: which is better? Personally, I think it depends on the music. Butterfly music gets butterfly shapes. Makes sense.
But here's what I want to know from a game design perspective: How do actual game designers view ADOFAI's mechanics? Like, the whole one-key thing, the geometric track, the visual/audio sync... is it seen as innovative? Gimmicky? Elegant? And at high level play, what's more important: visual cues or auditory cues? I feel like I rely more on sound but maybe that's just me?
Butterfly Planet is... nice. Pretty. Challenging but fair. As an official OST, it feels polished in a way some community levels don't. The theming is consistent, the difficulty curve makes sense, and it doesn't overstay its welcome.
Will it help me reach tier 10? Maybe. Will it complete my collection? Definitely. Will I still be playing it on this terrible laptop keyboard? Unfortunately yes.
Collection progress: +1. Wrist pain: also +1. Worth it? Probably.