Chapter 1163: A Dazzling Array of Playstyles
At the start, everyone was still getting familiar with the basic controls of the game, memorizing patterns, practicing specific tracks, and grinding up their combo counts.
Even the more impressive masters mostly played the standard modes in a serious manner, at most adding a few flashy moves like swaying their hips or twisting their waists—still playing it relatively safe.
But as everyone’s proficiency grew, all sorts of interesting and unconventional playstyles began to emerge in endless variety...
First up were the modifications to the controllers.
These controllers were specifically designed for Beat Saber, with added weight, adjusted vibration modules, and useless buttons cleverly hidden through special design.
Moreover, the holes at the back of the controllers allowed for special wrist straps to be threaded through and tied around the wrist to prevent them from flying off. These two holes could also be used with other accessories to “transform” the two controllers.
For example, tying the two controllers together with an included rope turned them into nunchucks; using a special connecting rod to link them together created a Darth Maul-style saber—two handles joined in the middle, held at the center, with blades extending from both ends.
As for the point of these cool transformations... it’s all about looking awesome!
Of course, this mode was reserved for a handful of top-tier players. Most people hadn’t even mastered single-saber mode, so how could they possibly handle nunchuck mode? They’d probably end up hitting themselves before even slicing a single block.
But some masters actually pulled it off and even recorded their gameplay.
The result could be summed up in one word: awesome!
Some masters who had specifically trained in nunchucks tried using them to play. Watching the red and blue blades whirl through the air with the swinging of the nunchucks, accompanied by the cool rhythm, the visual effect was absolutely explosive.
The Darth Maul mode was equally stylish. Once the two controllers were connected, the two sabers took on a staff-like form, and the cutting method naturally changed completely.
These masters sliced blocks just like wielding a long staff, with the red and blue blades at both ends of the staff. The two blades moved together, creating a more cohesive look. When spinning around the player’s body, the effect was far cooler than the traditional dual-saber mode.
Of course, when it came to scores, they definitely wouldn’t top the leaderboards, but so what? Looking cool was all that mattered!
Many players didn’t play this game to climb the rankings; they just wanted to look cool, get a bit of exercise, loosen up their joints, and work up a sweat. This mode perfectly met their needs.
Beyond the controllers, players started tinkering with the game’s character and saber skins...
The game included an extra feature that allowed players to replace their in-game body with a model of a game character, automatically generating gameplay recordings.
Plus, there were tons of saber models available, like Frostmourne, the Moonlight Greatsword, and other weapons, all swappable into the game.
There were even incredibly cool scythes, though they came with a higher price tag...
These character models were freely downloadable, featuring many classic characters from Thunder Game Platform, such as those from World of Warcraft, Overwatch, and so on. Genji’s model was especially popular.
Of course, some players preferred using cute girl models. As long as you were willing to spend money, any model or saber could be provided...
The last area where creativity could flourish was the song library.
Beat Saber’s song library was incredibly rich. Chen Mo had specifically purchased a large number of song copyrights and used an AI system to automatically generate in-game levels.
Players could freely choose their favorite artists and tracks to practice, essentially just listening to music...
Some enthusiastic players even created various playlists, which others could upvote.
Playlists with high upvote counts would be featured on the homepage, allowing players to jump right in and play through them.
However, playlists typically contained dozens of songs. Most players could barely handle two tracks before collapsing from exhaustion, so completing a single playlist might take a month or two...
Players were also astonished to discover that the songs in the game were intricately linked to dance moves...
For some popular online tracks, like Gokuraku Jodo, which already had established dances, the block layouts in the game followed similar patterns. When players sliced through them, they even vaguely felt like they were dancing themselves.
Of course, complex dances couldn’t be fully replicated, but for simpler “divine tracks,” the level of accuracy was off the charts.
For example, tracks like [Track Name] or [Track Name]—after playing them, players all said the accuracy was simply incredible...
If all that still wasn’t enough, the game had one ultimate killer feature: the editor...
In the editor, players could upload their own tracks and have the AI automatically generate levels based on them.
Of course, players could also make manual adjustments to the level content. For those truly insane players who had even conquered the Exhaustion mode, they could come here and increase the number of blocks in the game by one or two orders of magnitude.
...
As the player base grew, Beat Saber’s popularity soared.
In the game’s discussion forums, players were all sharing fun experiences. Some even started dedicated threads to track their weight changes...
“Today, my matrix glasses and controllers arrived. Starting today, I’ll play one track on Hard difficulty every day and record my weight changes!”
“The guy above is impressive! I feel like I should do the same and track my weight too. This game really seems great for losing weight!”
“I only played two tracks, and I was already drenched in sweat. The Exhaustion mode is even more brutal—after finishing a round, my hands were shaking.”
“Seriously, I used to think exercise was boring, mainly because I hadn’t found this game! I never realized that combining an addictive rhythm game with VR could have such amazing results?”
“I’ve seen so many masters pulling off crazy moves lately. I want to learn the cool nunchuck playstyle too. Once I record it, I can post the video online to show off!”
“Haha, aren’t you being too optimistic? Us ordinary folks should just stick to single-saber mode. Why mess with nunchucks...”
“Even ordinary folks can have dreams! I don’t know anything now, but I can practice slowly. I’ll train at home, no shame in it. After a month or two, I’ll definitely get it!”
“Good luck! I’m also starting today to log my weight changes. From now on, one song a day, aiming to lose five pounds in a month!”
The enthusiasm of these players was fully ignited. Many were astonished to find that Beat Saber’s discussion forum had turned into a weight-loss check-in group!
There were people everywhere logging their weight changes, and the craziest part was that these people were actually losing weight...
Players unanimously declared: Who says playing VR is bad for your health? This game is incredibly good for exercise!