Info about Melatonin:

Official game description:
  
Melatonin is a rhythm game about dreams and reality merging together. It uses animations and sound cues to keep you on beat without any intimidating overlays or interfaces. Harmonize through a variety of dreamy levels containing surprising challenges, hand-drawn art, and vibrant music.  
Melatonin explores the relationship between the dreams we have when we’re asleep and the experiences we go through when we’re awake, through unique rhythm game levels. Hand-drawn in a colorful and detailed visual style, with music produced to flow hand-in-hand with the gameplay and visuals, you will piece together elements about the main character’s life as you dive deeper and deeper into their dreams at night.
Features
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*   Discover over 20 dreamy levels spread across 5 chapters, with every level introducing a new song.  
*   Unlock a Hard Mode that will truly test your rhythm.  
*   Experience Melatonin from a new perspective by unlocking fun level Mashups.  
*   Make the rhythm game level of your dreams with an easy to use Level Editor.  
*   Use Practice Mode to guide you through each level.  
*   Try out plenty of assist features if you’re feeling lost.

Release date: 15 Dec, 2022

Categories: Rhythm Game, Mini-game Collection, Level Editor, Single-player Story, High Score Chasing, Accessibility Features


- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price: No data
- Playtime Metrics: No data
- Time-to-fun: No data
- Player Archetypes: No data


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Exceptional Art, Music, and Atmosphere (weight 0.99): Players consistently praise the game's stunning visuals, beautiful hand-drawn art style, and captivating music. The combination creates a unique, dreamy, and relaxing atmosphere that is a major highlight of the experience.
- High Quality and Value (weight 0.75): The game is consistently described as well-made, polished, and a high-quality product. Many reviewers feel it offers excellent value for its price, often exceeding expectations for an indie title.
- Engaging and Accessible Rhythm Gameplay (weight 0.6): The game is lauded as an excellent rhythm game, often compared to 'Rhythm Heaven' but with a unique, chill twist. It's noted for being beginner-friendly with intuitive controls and accessibility options, while still offering satisfying challenges for experienced players.
- Relaxing and Therapeutic Experience (weight 0.37): Many players find the game incredibly calming and stress-relieving, making it ideal for unwinding after a long day or before sleep. Its cozy, dreamlike vibe and gentle pace contribute to a therapeutic and comforting experience.
- Creative and Varied Level Design (weight 0.27): The game features a wide variety of creative and imaginative levels, each with its own unique feel and mechanics. Players enjoy the challenge of perfecting levels and appreciate the replayability offered by custom levels and diverse mini-games.

Common complaints:
- Short, Overpriced, and Boring (weight 0.36): Players consistently report that the game is too short, often completable in 2-3 hours, and lacks sufficient content to justify its price point of $10-$15. This leads to a feeling of poor value, boredom, and repetitiveness, making the game unengaging after a short period.
- High Difficulty and Frustrating Levels (weight 0.35): Despite a seemingly relaxing theme, the game is often perceived as unexpectedly difficult, with some levels being 'torturous' or 'impossible to grasp.' This leads to frustration, rage quits, and a feeling that the game is not as relaxing as advertised, especially when aiming for perfect scores or achievements.
- Unintuitive Rhythm and Audio Cues (weight 0.27): Many players find it difficult to discern the rhythm and timing from the music, often needing to rely on visual cues rather than audio. This is exacerbated by unclear sound effects, audio lag, and a perceived disconnect between visuals and sound, making the game less playable by 'feel' compared to other rhythm games.
- Strict and Unclear Judgment System (weight 0.13): The game's judgment system for perfect scores is frequently described as overly strict, ambiguous, and inconsistent across levels. This makes achieving 'All Perfect' scores frustrating and often feels unfair, leading to a sense of rage and mental fatigue for players aiming for completion.
- Confusing Controls and Tutorials (weight 0.08): The game's controls are often described as weird and unintuitive, with some mechanics feeling forced. Additionally, the tutorials are confusing, difficult, and do not adequately prepare players, leading to frustration and a struggle to understand basic gameplay.
- Poor Custom Content Support (weight 0.06): Players report significant difficulties with the custom level editor, including its complexity, inability to switch or export songs, and a lack of an active community for sharing custom content. This limits the game's replayability and value for those seeking user-generated levels.

Gameplay feedback:
- Rhythm Heaven-like Gameplay (weight 0.24): The game is a rhythm-based mini-game collection, heavily inspired by the Rhythm Heaven series. It requires players to synchronize button presses with music and visual cues, offering both simple and challenging rhythmic experiences.
- Varied Difficulty Modes (weight 0.19): Each level features Normal (Score) and Hard modes, with Hard mode often increasing tempo, complexity, and introducing visual obstructions. The game also has adjustable difficulty settings and accessibility options to cater to different skill levels.
- Short Completion Time (weight 0.16): The main story can be completed quickly, often within 2-4 hours. While achieving 100% completion or perfect scores extends playtime, the core experience is relatively brief.
- Community Content & Editor (weight 0.15): The game includes a workshop and level editor, allowing players to create, share, and download custom levels. This significantly extends replayability and offers a diverse range of community-made content.
- Easy to Learn, Hard to Master (weight 0.11): While the game has a simple premise and is easy to pick up, achieving perfect scores or mastering all levels requires significant precision, skill, and practice, making it challenging for perfectionists.
- Focus on Audio Cues (weight 0.06): The game primarily relies on auditory cues for timing, often lacking traditional visual hit markers by default. Players need to listen carefully to the music and internalize the rhythm, though visual assists are available.
- Practice Mode Available (weight 0.02): Each level includes a practice mode that explains mechanics, demonstrates hint methods, and provides short samples with visual and auditory aids, helping players learn new rhythms.

Performance notes:
- Excellent Steam Deck Performance (weight 0.03): The game performs exceptionally well on the Steam Deck, including the OLED model, with options for calibrated display colors and stable framerates, even at 90 FPS.
- Potential Input Latency Issues (weight 0.02): Some players report experiencing input latency, particularly with wireless Bluetooth controllers or when framerates drop below 60 FPS. Even high-end hardware might not prevent these issues.
- Rare Performance Stutters/Crashes (weight 0.01): A few users noted occasional stutters during game phases or complete crashes, which they attributed to their specific PC configurations.
- Generally Lag-Free Experience (weight 0.01): One player reported a largely lag-free experience, indicating good overall performance for some users.
- Missing V-Sync Option (weight 0): A player expressed frustration over the absence of a V-Sync option, suggesting it's a desired feature for display synchronization.

Recommendations:
- Recommended for Rhythm Game Fans (weight 0.24): Many players highly recommend this game to fans of rhythm games, especially those who enjoy titles like Rhythm Heaven, Taiko No Tatsujin, or OSU!. It's seen as a must-play for veterans and a good entry point for newcomers seeking a relaxing experience.
- Generally Positive Reception (weight 0.18): Overall, the game receives very positive feedback, with many reviewers giving it high scores (8-10/10) and strongly recommending it. It's considered a good, sweet, and spectacular game that's worth experiencing.
- Worth Buying, Especially on Sale (weight 0.16): While many consider the game to be good and worth the price, there's a strong consensus that it's an even better value when purchased on sale. Some players feel the full price is too high for its length, suggesting a discount of at least 40% is ideal.
- Desire for More Content (weight 0.1): A significant number of players express a strong desire for more content, including additional levels, songs, game modes, or even a sequel. This indicates high enjoyment and a wish for the experience to be expanded.
- Refunded Due to Disappointment (weight 0.03): A small but notable group of players refunded the game, citing disappointment or that it simply wasn't for them. This suggests that while generally well-received, it may not appeal to everyone, particularly those who care deeply about strict judgment in rhythm games.
- Utilize In-Game Hints (weight 0.01): Players advise using in-game hints and slowdowns, especially if encountering difficulties with certain levels. This suggests that the game can be challenging, and these features help make it more accessible.

Other player notes:
- Relaxing yet challenging experience (weight 0.12): Despite its 'Melatonin' title and soothing aesthetics, the game can be both relaxing and surprisingly challenging. Some players find it calming enough to induce sleep, while others find it engaging and even stressful, revealing their rhythm skills.
- Low PC requirements (weight 0.03): The game is noted for its minimal system requirements, making it accessible to players with low-end PCs. Its small file size further contributes to its accessibility.
- Limited language support (weight 0.02): Some players noted the lack of support for certain languages, specifically Russian and Korean. While the game's largely language-independent UI and gameplay mitigate this, it remains a point of feedback.
- Potential for visual interference (weight 0.02): One player suggested that background visuals could interfere with gameplay, indicating a need for options to reduce visual distractions or adjust note speed for better clarity.
- Review bombing suspicion (weight 0.01): One cluster of feedback suggests that the game's popularity might be inflated by content creators or that it's only for 'rich people,' which could indicate a review-bombing sentiment. This point is noted but given low importance due to its unconstructive nature.

Emotions:
- Satisfaction (weight 0.29): Players feel satisfied due to the game's high aesthetic quality, including beautiful art, visuals, and music, which often creates a dreamy or cozy atmosphere. The engaging rhythm gameplay, balanced difficulty (offering both accessibility and challenge), and the overall polished experience contribute significantly to this emotion. Additionally, the availability of custom levels and workshop content enhances replayability and value.
- Frustration (weight 0.1): Frustration primarily stems from the game's strict judgment system, especially when aiming for perfect scores or achievements, which often feels inconsistent or unfair. Difficult-to-understand audio cues, reliance on visual reflexes over auditory rhythm, and issues with timing, calibration, or controls also contribute to players feeling annoyed or even rage-quitting. Some specific challenging levels or achievements are frequently cited as sources of this frustration.
- Disappointment (weight 0.09): Disappointment is largely driven by the game's short length and perceived lack of content, especially given its price point, leading players to feel it's not worth the money. Some players also express disappointment when the game doesn't meet expectations for being relaxing or fun, or when its rhythm mechanics, music, or overall design choices don't resonate with them, particularly when compared to other rhythm games.
- Excitement (weight 0.09): Players experience excitement from the game's overall high quality, engaging gameplay, and challenging aspects, particularly when discovering its depth or replayability through hard modes or custom content. The unique art style, amazing soundtrack, and the addictive nature of mastering levels contribute to a strong positive reaction, often leading to high recommendations and a desire to continue playing.
- Joy (weight 0.07): Joy is evoked by the game's fun and engaging rhythm gameplay, often enhanced by its cute art style, vibey audio, and beginner-friendly design. The relaxing and calming atmosphere, combined with the satisfaction of skill progression and achieving goals, contributes to a delightful and mood-boosting experience for players.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.05): Enjoyment comes from the game's fun and simple gameplay, engaging music, and appealing visual style. Players find pleasure in playing levels, exploring custom content, and the overall relaxing yet stimulating experience, often leading to hours of playtime and a general positive sentiment towards the game's qualities.
- Relaxation (weight 0.03): Relaxation is a core emotion, primarily caused by the game's chill atmosphere, soothing music (often lo-fi), and calming visuals, making it ideal for unwinding or before sleep. The predictable and pleasant gameplay experience, along with its sleep-inducing effect, contributes to a therapeutic and stress-relieving experience for many players.
- Appreciation (weight 0.03): Players appreciate the game for its thoughtful design, seamless integration of music and visuals, and its unique charm. The high-quality art style, accessibility features, and the developers' evident care and effort in creating a well-made rhythm game, often filling a niche similar to 'Rhythm Heaven,' are frequently highlighted.
- Calmness (weight 0.03): Calmness is fostered by the game's serene atmosphere, healing art style, and tranquil music, which collectively create a peaceful and stress-relieving experience. The game's ability to help players relax, unwind, and even fall asleep, particularly when played at night, is a significant contributor to this emotion.
- Challenge (weight 0.02): The game presents a significant challenge, particularly in achieving perfect scores or completing difficult levels, which requires skill, reflexes, and precise timing. The strict judgment system and unexpectedly fast or complex sections contribute to this feeling, pushing players to master the game's mechanics.
- Admiration (weight 0.01): Admiration is inspired by the game's exceptional artistic value, including its beautiful visuals, creative level design, and immaculate soundtrack. Players are deeply impressed by the game's unique charm, thoughtful details, and masterful execution, often considering it a standout or favorite title.
- Confusion (weight 0.01): Confusion arises from unclear or counter-intuitive judgment criteria, especially when trying to achieve perfect scores, and difficulty distinguishing between visual and audio cues. Conflicting design elements, unexpected difficulty, or issues with game mechanics (like controller problems or language settings) also contribute to players feeling bewildered.
- Desire (weight 0.01): Players express a strong desire for more content, including additional levels, a longer campaign, or a sequel, due to the game's enjoyable but often short experience. There's also a wish for more community-created content, mod support, or specific features like translations, indicating a longing for expanded engagement with the game.
- Love (weight 0.01): Love for the game is driven by its captivating music, appealing visual design, and overall enjoyable rhythm-based gameplay. Players develop a deep affection for the game's aesthetic and mechanics, often describing it as a favorite or expressing immense personal enjoyment.
- Surprise (weight 0.01): Surprise often comes from the game exceeding initial expectations, either by being unexpectedly good, more difficult than anticipated, or by revealing a unique and engaging experience. The abrupt ending or unexpected enjoyment despite initial reservations also contributes to this emotion.
- Anger (weight 0.01): Anger is triggered by the game's perceived unfair timing and rhythm programming, particularly for perfectionists struggling with strict judgment or specific difficult levels. Inability to play due to technical issues or a strong sense of the game not delivering on its promises also leads to significant frustration and rage-quitting.
- Boredom (weight 0.01): Boredom sets in due to repetitive gameplay, a perceived lack of variety in songs or gimmicks, or when the game becomes uninteresting after a short period. Some players find the levels too easy or the overall pace too slow, leading to a loss of engagement and a desire for the game to end.
- Hope (weight 0.01): Hope is expressed through desires for future content, such as sequels, updates, or more custom levels, indicating a belief in the game's potential for continued enjoyment and improvement. The game's positive emotional impact and its message of finding 'dawn' also inspire a sense of optimism.
- Nostalgia (weight 0.01): Nostalgia is frequently evoked by the game's strong resemblance to 'Rhythm Heaven,' reminding players of past enjoyable experiences with similar rhythm games. The game's unique atmosphere and specific stages also trigger fond memories and a desire to revisit the game.
- Relief (weight 0): Relief is experienced when accessibility features help players overcome difficulties, allowing them to enjoy the game more fully. The game's calming music provides a welcome break from more intense experiences, and community levels offer a solution to replayability concerns, contributing to a sense of ease and reduced anxiety.}