Ghroth

Ghroth is one of the Outer Gods of H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. nato has built a recurring series around these deities, with tracks such as Nyarlathotep and Yog-Sothoth. Nyarlathotep had once been treated as the finale of the line, but the omen its BGA carried turned out to be true: responding to player requests to keep the series going, Ghroth joined as the fourth song. It carries forward the dark, horror-tinged mood that defines the whole series.

The BGA was made by YSJ, who has handled the visuals for every Outer God track except Nyarlathotep, whose BGA was done by Lyrebird Ferdinant. In keeping with the horror concept, it appears to take Slenderman as a motif, reinforcing the eerie atmosphere that runs through the saga.

In arcade it ships with Single charts at S13, S16, S19, S21 and S23, and Double charts at D17, D20, D23 and D25. The S23 feels like a blend of Nyarlathotep and Yog-Sothoth 23; its closing burst is laid out so it is unexpectedly easy to smudge through, making it play softer than its number suggests (which is not to say it is actually easy). The D23 builds its final stretch from high-BPM 6-half patterns that pile on pressure if you try to hit them cleanly, though the smudge route is manageable; the D25 caps off with a notably awkward passage of blue-panel hold notes combined with horizontal twists. Update 2.07 later added a Short Cut, with Single S14/S18/S22 and Double D20/D24.

The track was ported to Chrono Circle on December 14, 2023, in the final update before that game's service shutdown. There it was assigned a MASTER 15+ level and, following xi's MEGALØDON, became the game's second boss song.