Ongeki is, in my eyes, the platonic ideal of an arcade rhythm game. It combines a unique gameplay gimmick (bullet hell + rhythm) that uses a unique controller that isn't easily brought to the home market with a solid set of charts that create a difficulty curve that helps people learn a new gameplay paradigm quickly and easily. The lever was immediately easy to understand and use, and the symmetrical button layout meant that even as a lefty I had no issues learning the game in a way that I was comfortable with which is incredibly important in games with asymmetric button layouts.

As you progress in difficulties, the game starts to reveal the true depth of gameplay. You move from having to manage three buttons to managing them alongside the wall buttons and finally to managing all six buttons independently as you play. The learning curve up to master and even beyond is easy to understand and never leaves you wanting more, as there's always a harder chart in the next chapter that will continue to challenge you.

The only major hangup this game brings is the gacha-based progression. In my eyes, this game doesn't really need the levelling system or the secondary pass/fail conditions, but when the only major downside is a secondary system to the core gameplay loop, that's an incredible design.