Dead End

Cosmograph capped off the PHOENIX cycle with this song, bundled into update 2.11.0, the last patch that version of the game received. It is an original track and a Premium mode exclusive, billed as the successor to ULTIMATUM. Narratively, though, it works as a prequel: drawing on the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse as its motif, it covers the opening stretch of the clash between the blue reaper and the remaining horsemen. The BGA is the work of Gran.

DulKi handled the full set of charts, the first time in a year they had stepped up to design an entire song. The fingerprint is unmistakable: most of the patterns follow or pay homage to those of ULTIMATUM. Single mode covers levels 18, 21, 23 and 25, while Double offers 22, 26 and 28. The S25 is the tenth Single 25 in the series, or the eleventh if you count Brown Sky, which was bumped up to 25 in PHOENIX.

The D28 was the second Double 28 added to arcade mode, and it was released separately, a little after the other charts went public. It is the first official chart at D28 or above that EXC had no hand in designing: PARADOXX and 1948 were solo EXC work, and 1949 was an EXC and FEFEMZ collaboration. Unlike the punishing 1949 D28, this one avoids forced patterns and paces itself well, so the chart itself drew plenty of praise and is regarded as an appealing entry point into the level. On release night, around 11:40 p.m., FEFEMZ* logged the first break-on on a sightread with an absurd 960k score, calling it far easier than the PARADOXX D28; he later pushed past 970k for an S rank. Seoljiho, RSS, SINCO and f33tz followed.