Old player recently returned - DDR A has me leaving with mixed feelings...

So you're saying that if I want to unlock a song on doubles, I have to play it on doubles as well as singles?
Or am I completely misinterpreting that?

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Yes, you interpreted correctly. You'd have to unlock Single charts and Double charts separately.
Also, if a song has a difficulty, you must unlock first and then unlock .

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Wow, that's a lot of playing...

Here's hoping I have the stamina for this and I'm able to run up to Orlando for the weekend

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Good luck then! Tell me how it goes~

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I think Konami has found the best way to both get players to play more and make more money in the process: those extra stages and premium modes. You CAN play the game without those extra stuff, and it's not like you're screwed over by not playing premium mode. At the same time, premium mode does give you some cool songs (totally relatively speaking, since some people don't like EDM or techno).

On a different note, now that DDR and all other Bemani games are online, with updates being pushed electronically, do arcades rent machines instead of outright buying them now?

@wrsw:

One thing I saw on your post about changes to the DDR AC series that might need to be corrected:

Combo medals were actually introduced in DDR SuperNOVA, you would get a small yellow 'nova ring' around your score whenever you FC a song.

Also 'combo flashes' were introduced in DDR SN2 for the character you selected on screen. Not sure when it was removed or if it has been removed since the release of A.

@hamsand, domino, anyone in regards to Extra Stage in DDR A:

There are actually 'Event' folders that open up the very first time you access Extra Stage. Here is how they break down (pun intended):

- Extra Exclusive: Can ONLY BE PLAYED DURING EXTRA STAGE. They can NOT be unlocked for Normal Play.
- Extra Savior: These songs have been generally 'new' to the DDR series and can be unlocked after passing the chart.
- BisCO Event: songs to be unlocked from the BisCO Event.
- EXIT TUNES EDP Event: Songs from the Exit Tunes Dance Party Live Event, which I think is just POSSESSION EDP Live Mix
- Bemani Ruins Event: Songs from the BEMANI Ruins Event
- BEMANI Stadium Event: Songs from the BEMANI Stadium event.

All songs that are NOT Extra Exclusive are to be unlocked by the player, once unlocked they will be available for Normal Play, and once a folder is fully unlocked it disappears the next time you get to Extra Stage, leaving either ExExclusive or ExSa as your only options. And yes, some songs do require you to unlock the ESP chart first before unlocking the CSP chart for it.

Now as far the Baby-Lon's Adventure Event goes, that I have no idea about yet...

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Baby-Lon's Adventure starts up immediately the moment you use your eAmusement pass. There are 6 "worlds" that you complete by having Baby-Lon stepping up to the unlock. You gain steps by playing songs. You get steps based on your score, your combo, and an extra step for playing a chart you haven't played before.

It's nothing really fancy.

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or EDP chart 1st before unlocking CDP chart in DOUBLE PLAY.

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A question about Extra Savior.

I was under the impression that if you can pass a song at any level, you unlock that song at that level you passed on, and all the easier step charts. So for example, if I passed S!ck at Standard, I'll get the charts for Standard, Beginner, etc.

However, maybe I wasn't looking hard enough, but these unlocked songs seemingly only show up when I play in Premium mode; they don't show up in standard mode. Am I mistaken?

You aren't mistaken; those are only accessible under PREMIUM MODE. And yes, you unlock the difficulty you played on and all lower difficulties.

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Even easier than getting level 3 is to just play with someone who already has level 3

Even when you want to play them after they've been unlocked?

Uhhh...

- 4th Style
- 5th Style
- Pop'n 7/8
- GF/DM 3/4, 4/5
- Para Para 1/1.5/2
- Beatmania The Final


Need I say more?

I just wonder, where do the iconic songs go?
max series, paranoia series, naoki, 2mb, konami original songs, taka, those are fun to play and ear-catching.
Their OST are also masterpiece. The nonstop megamix is amazing to hear their creative arrangement.

I'm glad konami cooperate something new like vocaloid, which like the old time JPOP B4U.
Somehow, something seems gone.

You can easily name some iconic thing on each series
But what make me feel about DDR A is just a huge combination

DDR A is just a game title call DDR, but it is not that "DDR" anymore

As in MAX(.period) saying Why do you need KONAMI Original songs?

I feel you on this thread man. I took a ten year break from DDR but I personally don't mind some of the changes. Being able to keep a combo going on good may not be ideal to the old player...but I also remember how annoying it was to drop a combo over a good as well. I do think some of the harder songs have spiked on difficulty though. I remember when people thought it was hard to get a AA/AAA on Paranoia Survivor 290.

In short, we all get older. While DDR isn't as popular as it was in America back in the 90's it's still huge in Japan so the games will always be around. Either way, you can always just play the older arcades or purchase the older PS/PS2 mixes.

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The time period OP mentioned is much like my own. I started playing in 2001 but started to lose interest once Extreme came out. I still played Extreme but then I "fell off the wagon". Missed out on the Supernova and X Series. However, I have to say since coming back last year, I think it's better than ever now. Yeah I do miss the Dancemania licenses, but that's fine because all the other great songs and benefits you get from DDR A make it worth it. I particularly like the soundtracks from 2013 and up.

It's been a very long time since I've come back here - what with school and work (and DDR ) keeping me busy.

I noticed that I made this thread some 8 months ago, and I have been playing pretty consistently since then, albeit at different levels of intensity. I think I'm back to where I was right when I stopped playing - beating most songs at level 9 based on the DDR Extreme difficulty chart or up to 13 on the modern difficulty chart (with random smatterings of 14 and one level-15 song).

My overall take is that while I still have nostalgia for older versions of DDR, I find DDR A to be the most versatile entry in the DDR series, and that there really is a little bit for everyone from beginners to experts. I say this because during the winter months, while I did play, I did not play intensely. I did not want to break into a sweat, so I never strayed past level 6. Subsequently, I discovered the deal behind PFCs, and while I did not get a lot of them, aiming for PFCs helped me further fine-tune my timing in more difficult songs. There are many, many, MANY songs at different levels, though whether you like them or not is a matter of personal taste.

Someone mentioned a while back in this thread that having Goods continue the combo somewhat helps with accessibility. While I initially did not like it, I ended up appreciating it because I'm sure that helped me beat Knight of Nights in Expert mode. Somehow I doubt I'll be able to full-combo it in the near future - but that's fine since DDR is more of a hobby than anything else.

I liked the kinds of customization you could do via e-amusement, such as choosing your dancer or arrow design, though I wouldn't say that it's the main attraction of the system. If playing the game is the meat and potatoes, then choosing a dancer and different arrow shapes would be the vegetable sides. Granted, I could unlock more options by opting for Paseli subscription, but I don't think it's worth the effort and transaction fees.

I've mentioned stuff that I like and/or appreciate, so now it's time to talk about one thing I really don't like that comes to mind: the paywall for certain songs. Even though I went through the trouble to unlock them and all that, I still find it annoying that I need to pay double credit to play Far East Nightbird or Sterling Silver, and I've taken to playing ONLY those unlocked songs when I bother with double credit play. I honestly don't see the point in forcing players to pay extra to play exclusive songs. I can understand the Extra Exclusive songs that you don't unlock until a certain time period has passed (I noticed Astrogazer was selectable as the final song in regular mode one day), but for songs that you managed to pass the first time around? Come on.

In conclusion, I could make an analogy with relationships. The DDR mixes I played up to Extreme make up the first love you had - sometimes rough around the edges, but you had a great time together and you really liked/loved him or her. DDR A is your current SO - he/she's an absolute joy to be around, is smart and all those positive qualities you seek in a real SO, but just like you don't forget your first love, you don't really forget the fun and songs from the early mixes.

I feel like the early DDR series was heavily tied to two things: Naoki and Dancemania. Pretty much every song pre-Extreme that wasn't a IIDX crossover was a license, composed by Naoki, or a remix by 2MB of a Naoki song. So, I'd say the game's initial footing was based around Naoki and his composition style, which is a lot of rave, J-pop, and R&B type stuff (nothing really out of place for the late 90's into the early 2000s).

That four year hiatus between Extreme and SuperNova naturally allowed some room for change. There had been quite a few console titles since the release of Extreme (the first few Ultramix games, Extreme 2 in the west, Festival and Strike and Party Collection in Japan), and the new arcade game seemed to take a page from their book with a bunch of console crossovers. Artists like Noisycroak and Sho-T, who had previously only made songs for console games, started appearing in arcades for the first time. I feel like jun becoming sound director had something to do with this shift. SuperNova 2 continued the expansion, with Bemani artists like Tatsh and wac composing DDR music for the first time. By that point, I would argue that DDR had transformed in a way--with all this new music being made as well as crossovers from pop'n and GFDM, the direction of the series had shifted away from what the "classic" series was known for.

I wanted to briefly mention here that the shutdown of In The Groove may have contributed to the general difficulty trend growing steeper with the SuperNovas that eventually broke the rating scale; ITG was made by Westerners who felt like DDR wasn't giving them enough of a challenge, and perhaps Konami listened to them. That's probably where the idea for Shock Arrows came from, anyway.

X was directed by Stillwind Borenstein, who was heavily involved with the Ultramix games, and I'm pretty sure he's responsible to the "urban" flair that X was known for. After he unfortunately passed away, relative newcomer TAG took up the reigns as sound director, and the games from X2 to 2014 were shaped by his influence. I would describe his music style as "shiny techtrance," and the inclusion of artists like Ryu☆ and kors k could be a result of this due to their similarities in composition and tone. DDR A was the first game with U1 as head sound director, and he seems to be very big on modern EDM, as that's where the series is currently headed. (I'm not a huge fan of this design choice, as a lot of the songs sound way too similar and I appreciated the variety of games like X3, but I'd rather not complain too much here.)

tl;dr DDR has evolved as the sound staff has changed hands, and as artists with different styles have been in charge of selecting the music for each game, so too has the game itself changed its style

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this is an excellent write up about the DDR Series

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Thank you! I...really didn't mean for it to be so long but I'm glad someone appreciated it

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