God of Rock Review (Zoleander)
While I haven't played fighting games past a casual level, I am a huge rhythm game nerd and am having a blast playing this game.
I see a lot of reviews complaining about the lack of a vertical scrolling option, and I honestly do not think it should be added SOLELY on the basis of convenience. Hear me out.
I can play some of the hardest charts of Museca, Jubeat, Chunithm, Guitar Hero, Groove Coaster, Taiko, Crossbeats, Muse Dash, Osu!, and Osu!mania. I greatly enjoy but suck at Pop'n, SDVX, and PIU doubles.
Why did I bother listing those? If you look them up, almost all of them have a different take on how a player hits notes. Some of them are super intuitive and can be learned quickly (for me, Jubeat), but some of them can take extra practice to learn even if you have an extensive rhythm gaming background (Taiko and SDVX). Different people pick up different games faster, even some of the "hard" games can be easy for some folks to learn.
In the same way, some fighting games are pretty intuitive in their controls (smash), while other games require a lot of learning and practice before you even remotely begin to feel like you're experiencing the intended gameplay (skullgirls).
I think it is entirely okay for God of Rock to come out with a new take on rhythm games in the form of a difficult 4-key horizontal lane. It just means you probably can't hit the ground running and be a pro. You actually have to take time to learn the controls, figure out what keybinds work for you, and above all else practice if you want to be decent. Just like a lot of the harder rhythm AND fighting games.
I generally think the game is challenging. If you're not used to reading streams and patterns, ESPECIALLY in a horizontal format like Taiko, this game will be really, really hard.
If it's purely an ACCESSIBILITY issue, as in no matter how much a person practices they can't physically read the notes coming in sideways, then yes by all means please add a vertical option if possible. Make the game accessible. But if it's just for the sake of convenience? I'm okay with this game taking me extra time to feel comfortable. The game doesn't need to be convenient and easy to learn, but it will limit the number of people willing to play (just look at other reviews lol).
So I guess it's up to the devs to decide which matters more, a small audience of players willing to improve to be able to play, or a wider audience. I was looking for a challenging rhythm game, and that's exactly what I got, so I overall recommend it if you're looking for that.