History YMMV / DJMAX

* PortingDisaster: While ''SUPERBEAT [=XONiC=]'' on Switch isn't a problem at the software level, it suffers because the Switch's buttons and analog sticks are not horizontally symmetrical; specifically, the left stick is ''above'' the directional buttons and the right stick is ''below'' the ABXY diamond. Cue missing analog notes all over the place, even if you ''haven't'' [[DamnYouMuscleMemory played the versions of the game on Sony platforms]] (which do have vertically-aligned sticks). You can try to use the touchscreen instead, but the game is unusually harsh when it comes to scratch notes, which seem to have a tendency to drop if you're so much as a few pixels off (although a later patch did address this somewhat).

* EnsembleDarkhorse: The NB Rangers, a ''Franchise/SuperSentai''[=/=]''Franchise/PowerRangers'' team who first appear in the animation for the song "NB Ranger," which has since had three sequel songs to it. Part of what makes them popular is their [[WidgetSeries ridiculous]] premise: ''[[AntiLoveSong beating up couples in love]].''

* WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs:
** A number of [=MVs=]. Taken literally with the MV for "D2" in ''Technika 2'', which has boatloads of drug imagery.
** Rule of thumb: If the song is visualized by ECO, and the song's not a relatively serious-sounding one, get ready for a weird time. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMkMs6rBL0k Case in point.]]
** Half of Kimys's videos are basically just a music player visualizer. The other half consists of 3D-rendered animations; ''some'' of them make sense, but then you get stuff like [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_QGPh1uIXE "Zet (Mr. Funky Remix)"]] consisting of various vehicles and mecha of rather unusual shape and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTsSDkTqeLk "Drum Town"]] which features humanoid-shaped mecha playing hockey on a bridge without a puck, all to a song in which "Drum" and "Town" are repeated ad nauseam.

* TearJerker: The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNzWea3Yh8s BGA]] for "Someday". It features a girl taking a train to see her boyfriend, and she discovers that he's been called to [[UsefulNotes/SouthKoreansWithMarines mandatory military service]]. She's separated from him as a result and when she sees him again at a train station while she's riding, she sees him wearing a military officer uniform, presumably still on his tour of duty and thus unable to permanently reunite with her. They can only briefly exchange forlorn gazes across the train doorway before the doors close and her train takes off again.

* TearJerker: The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNzWea3Yh8s BGA]] for "Someday". It features a girl taking a train to see her boyfriend, and she discovers that he's been called to [[UsefulNotes/SouthKoreansWithMarines mandatory military service]]. She's separated from him as a result and when she sees him again at a train station while she's riding, she sees him wearing a military officer uniform, presumably still on his tour of duty and thus unable to reunite with her. They can only briefly exchange forlorn gazes across the train doorway before the doors close and her train takes off again.

* TearJerker: The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNzWea3Yh8s BGA]] for "Someday". It features a girl taking a train to see her boyfriend, and she discovers that he's been called to [[UsefulNotes/SouthKoreansWithMarines mandatory military service]]. She's separated from him as a result and when she sees him again at a train station while she's riding, she sees him wearing a military officer uniform, presumably still on his tour of duty. They can only briefly exchange forlorn gazes across the train doorway before the doors close and her train takes off again.

* TearJerker: The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNzWea3Yh8s BGA]] for "Someday". It features a girl taking a train to see her boyfriend, and she discovers that he's been called to [[UsefulNotes/SouthKoreansWithMarines mandatory military service]]. She loses contact with him and when she sees him again at a train station while she's riding, she sees him wearing a military officer uniform. They can only briefly exchange forlorn gazes before the train doors close, her train leaving without him.

* AuthorsSavingThrow:
** ''Black Square'', ''Fever'', and ''Trilogy'' drew complaints due to the new "key assist" mechanic in which if you hit the wrong key, you'll still get credit for it; with a 20% score penalty yes, but you still get full accuracy credit, which takes away a major competitive aspect of the rhythm game genre. A patch for ''Trilogy'' allows key assist to be disabled, and key assist was removed entirely from subsequent games.
** [[WordOfGod According to Respect's lead producer Bexter]], the North American release of ''Respect'' was supposed to have a DLC schedule where one pack gets released every three months, like the Korean version. They eventually decided upon releasing the four DLC packs available at the time [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqQUuQEWRTM all at once]] a few weeks after the game's launch, and the simultaneous global release of the ''Black Square'' DLC shows that Rocky Studio is keen on keeping overseas versions' DLC schedules on par with Korea's.
** Perhaps one of the biggest issues with Freestyle Mode's combo-based unlocks is that once you commit to a combo target, you can't really do anything else in Freestyle until you reach your goal (or miss a note, wiping out the ''entire'' combo). As of ''Respect'', you have the option to disable Freestyle combo with a setting; doing so not only prevents combos from carrying over from one song to the next, but if you have an active Freestyle combo, it will be frozen and protected until you turn the option back on, so that you can do whatever else (accuracy-based runs, taking on ThatOneBoss of a song etc) and come back to your combo-farming later.
** The release of the ''Portable 3'' DLC pack for ''Respect'' and ''Respect V'' addressed several long-standing issues with the playerbase:
*** The fact that ''Portable 3'' was released ''at all'' was a saving throw, after about two years of radio silence and the assumption by players that it turned into {{Vaporware}}.
*** The pack has remix mode missions, which was initially cited as the main reason behind the pack's delay.
*** It was released on both version of the game simultaneously, addressing complaints that post-''Respect V'' DLC for ''Respect'' was getting delayed due to PC favoritism.
** For players who dislike how Fever mode in versus matches impacts the competitive aspect of the game with an implicit combo-based factor, ''Respect V''[='=]s Ladder matches removes it, so who wins is based strictly on note accuracy. The [=PS4=] version's multiplayer still uses Fever, however.

* AudienceAlienatingPremise: ''Tap Sonic Top'', for the same reasons as ''VideoGame/LoveLiveSchoolIdolFestival''. Its gameplay unexpectedly borrows heavily from mobile [=RPGs=], including automatic replaying of stages, a stamina system, and an emphasis on essentially locking [[RankInflation S+ ranks]] behind a RandomNumberGod [[BribingYourWayToVictory gacha paywall]]. Basically, it takes ''DJMAX Portable 2'' and ''Portable 3'''s stat-influencing gears and characters and turns the player's dependency on them UpToEleven, putting off prospective rhythm gamers who'd rather rely on their own skills for high scores. The game also manages to fail to appeal to the ''Love Live'' crowd, as almost all of the characters have no personality or even voice-overs to them, barring the [[ImageSong image songs]] of the [[StarterMon first group of stars]].

** Playing with one hand. This is occasionally [[UpToEleven taken to new heights]] when the player decides to multitask, in particular eating with one hand while playing with the other.

** The Link Disc mission pack in ''Respect'', included in the game's Black Square DLC patch, is ludicrous. As if clearing the Clazziquai Edition and Black Square mission packs to unlock it aren't bad enough, which is time-consuming and difficult already, say hello to twelve more missions with absurd stipulations like a single 1% judgment resulting in an immediate game over, obtaining a [[FlawlessVictory Perfect Play]] with so much as a 90% also resulting in an immediate game over, playing MX-difficulty songs across all four modes against a competent A.I., and of particular note, the penultimate mission forcing you to play the hardest that Black Square has to offer on [[HarderThanHard XB Mode]]. Needless to say, these missions are not for the faint of heart.

** ''Respect V'' has SC charts that are designed with keyboard play in mind, as the original charts were designed for ([=PS4=]) gamepads and thus are substantially easier on keyboards due to their limitations. However that's only ''one'' keyboard-tailored chart per song per lane style, and that's for the songs that do have SC charts as not every song does. To be fair, replacing ''all'' of the existing charts with new ones just for ''V'' would be a tall order for the developers.

** ''Respect V'' has SC charts that are designed with keyboard play in mind, as the original charts were designed for ([=PS4=]) gamepads and thus are substantially easier on keyboards due to their limitations. However that's only ''one'' keyboard-tailored chart per song per lane style. To be fair, replacing ''all'' of the existing charts with new ones just for ''V'' would be a tall order for the developers.

** Due to the infamous update that removed Fast/Slow indicators, many people (mainly ''VideoGame/{{BEMANI}}''-centric rhythm game players and the usual Konami hatedom) assume that fast/slow (also known as early/late) note hit indicators are straight up banned or nonexistent in non-Konami rhythm games due to [[https://twitter.com/echospherics/status/1276229916195876864 Konami's patent on fast/slow indicators]]. However, a lot of other rhythm games still have fast/slow indicators (such as ''VideoGame/{{Arcaea}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Performai}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Lanota}}'', and ''VideoGame/MuseDash''), although how exactly they get away with them varies from game to game or is ambiguous.[[note]]Among the games cited, ''Arcaea'' and ''Muse Dash'' may be due to using non-overhead note perspectives (into-the-horizon/"hallway" and side-scrolling, respectively), [[LoopholeAbuse as the patent features an overhead note presentation]] similar to ''beatmania''[='=]s, ''Performai'' could be due to Sega's relationship with Konami, and ''Lanota'' locks fast/slow indicators behind a subscription which implies that the publisher pays royalties to Konami for the patent..[[/note]]

** Due to the infamous update that removed Fast/Slow indicators, many people (mainly ''VideoGame/{{BEMANI}}''-centric rhythm game players and the usual Konami hatedom) assume that fast/slow (also known as early/late) note hit indicators are straight up banned or nonexistent in non-Konami rhythm games due to [[https://twitter.com/echospherics/status/1276229916195876864 Konami's patent on fast/slow indicators]]. However, a lot of other rhythm games still have fast/slow indicators (such as ''VideoGame/{{Arcaea}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Performai}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Lanota}}'', and ''VideoGame/MuseDash''), although how exactly they get away with them varies from game to game or is ambiguous.[[note]]among the games cited, ''Arcaea'' and ''Muse Dash'' may be due to using non-overhead note perspectives (into-the-horizon/"hallway" and side-scrolling, respectively), [[LoopholeAbuse as the patent features an overhead note presentation]] similar to ''beatmania''[='=]s, ''Performai'' could be due to Sega's relationship with Konami, and ''Lanota'' locks fast/slow indicators behind a subscription which implies that the publisher pays royalties to Konami for the patent.[[/note]]

** Due to the infamous update that removed Fast/Slow indicators, many people (mainly ''VideoGame/{{BEMANI}}''-centric rhythm game players and the usual Konami hatedom) assume that fast/slow (also known as early/late) note hit indicators are straight up banned or nonexistent in non-Konami rhythm games due to [[https://twitter.com/echospherics/status/1276229916195876864 Konami's patent on fast/slow indicators]]. However, a lot of other rhythm games still have fast/slow indicators (such as ''VideoGame/{{Arcaea}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Performai}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Lanota}}'', and ''VideoGame/MuseDash''), although how exactly they get away with them varies from game to game or is ambiguous.[[note]]among the games cited, ''Arcaea'' and ''Muse Dash'' may be due to using non-overhead note perspectives (into-the-horizon/"hallway" and side-scrolling, respectively), as the patent features a ''beatmania''-style overhead note presentation, ''Performai'' could be due to Sega's relationship with Konami, and ''Lanota'' locks fast/slow indicators behind a subscription which implies that the publisher pays royalties to Konami for the patent.[[/note]]

** Due to the infamous update that removed Fast/Slow indicators, many people (mainly ''VideoGame/{{BEMANI}}''-centric rhythm game players and the usual Konami hatedom) assume that fast/slow (also known as early/late) note hit indicators are straight up banned or nonexistent in non-Konami rhythm games due to [[https://twitter.com/echospherics/status/1276229916195876864 Konami's patent on fast/slow indicators]]. However, a lot of other rhythm games still have fast/slow indicators (such as ''VideoGame/{{Arcaea}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Performai}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Lanota}}'', and ''VideoGame/MuseDash''), although how exactly they get away with them varies from game to game or is ambiguous.[[note]]among the games cited, ''Arcaea'' and ''Muse Dash'' may be due to using non-overhead note perspectives, as the patent features a ''beatmania''-style overhead note presentation, ''Performai'' could be due to Sega's relationship with Konami, and ''Lanota'' locks fast/slow indicators behind a subscription which implies that the publisher pays royalties to Konami for the patent.[[/note]]

** Due to the infamous update that removed Fast/Slow indicators, many people (mainly ''VideoGame/{{BEMANI}}''-centric rhythm game players and the usual Konami hatedom) assume that fast/slow (also known as early/late) note hit indicators are straight up banned or nonexistent in non-Konami rhythm games due to [[https://twitter.com/echospherics/status/1276229916195876864 Konami's patent on fast/slow indicators]]. However, a lot of other rhythm games still have fast/slow indicators (such as ''VideoGame/{{Arcaea}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Performai}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Lanota}}'', and ''VideoGame/MuseDash''), although how exactly they get away with them varies from game to game or is ambiguous.[[note]]among the games cited, ''Arcaea'' and ''Muse Dash'' may be due to using non-overhead note perspectives, as the patent features a ''beatmania''-style overhead note presentation, ''Performai'' could be due to Sega's relationship with Konami, and ''Lanota'' locks fast/slow indicators behind a subscription which implies that the publisher pays royalties to Konami for the patent[[/note]]

* CommonKnowledge: There’s a rumor that is widely known by some rhythm game fans: Oriental [=ST8=] (a composer who has made a few songs for ''[=DJMAX=]'', such as ''"Dear My Lady"'' and ''"Shoreline"'' is an alias for Kors K[[note]]Kors K is a Japanese composer who makes some songs for ''VideoGame/BeatmaniaIIDX'' and other rhythm games[[/note]]. However, after a few fans have asked Kors K through private messages, it turns out that it’s a hoax. He confirms that Oriental [=ST8=] is not him (instead, he says that Oriental [=ST8=] is [=M2U=])[[note]][=M2U=] is a Korean composer who has made some songs for ''VideoGame/{{Deemo}}'', ''VideoGame/{{O2Jam}}'', ''VideoGame/MaiMai'' and ''VideoGame/PumpItUp'' (besides ''[=DJMAX=]'').[[/note]] and he never makes any songs for ''[=DJMAX=]'' (the evidence is right [[https://imgur.com/a/kBYEK2C here]]).

** Starting with ''DJMAX Portable 2'', your save file is locked to the PSP that you made it on. While the most likely intent is to prevent players from simply downloading a [[OneHundredPercentCompletion fully-unlocked]] file from the Internet to avoid having to grind for unlocks (especially those pesky combo unlocks) as well as to cheat the now-defunct Internet rankings, it ''also'' means that if you switch over to a new PSP, you can't play your game on that new PSP without starting all over from no unlocks.

** ''Respect'' added an update that introduces timing window adjustments and an indicator of whether you hit a note too early or too late...which were then removed in a July 2020 patch, and were not included in ''Respect V''. It's been speculated that Konami (of ''VideoGame/{{BEMANI}}'' fame) holds patents of some sort on those features, but no official explanation has been made by the publisher other than that there were "unavoidable circumstances".[[note]]This hasn't stopped other vertical-scrolling rhythm games on PC like ''VideoGame/{{EZ2|DJ}}ON REBOOT : R'' and ''Sixtar Gate: STARTRAIL'' from having timing adjustments and early/late indicators, with ''[=EZ2ON=]'' in particular known for being part of a series that was litigated against by Konami as well.[[/note]]

** ''Respect'' added an update that introduces timing window adjustments and an indicator of whether you hit a note too early or too late...which were then removed in a July 2020 patch, and were not included in ''Respect V''. It's been speculated that Konami (of ''VideoGame/{{BEMANI}}'' fame) holds patents of some sort on those features, but no official explanation has been made by the publisher other than that there were "unavoidable circumstances".

* {{Narm}}: Some of the songs have {{Engrish}} lyrics that tend to kill the moods of the songs once you understand them.

* SoBadItsGood: "Para Q" from ''DJMAX Online'', "Xlasher" from ''Technika 2''. The latter, due to a serious case of {{Engrish}}, may also qualify as NarmCharm.

* ReplacementScrappy: Not many were pleased when the "International" build of ''DJMAX Portable'' replaced "Dreadnought" with "River Flow" simply because the former's background animation is basically one big TakeThat against UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush, the [[UsefulNotes/ThePresidents POTUS]] at the time of the game's release. Pentavision could've simply given "Dreadnought" the generic animations (the ones seen in 8-Button mode) to avoid controversy.

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: The original ''Portable'' ended up being a hit with foreign audiences, leading to an "International" UpdatedRerelease with English- and Japanese-language options, albeit still only in South Korea; the intent was for curious foreign gamers to import the game[[note]]Most likely, getting the game localized wasn't an option for Pentavision at the game[[/note]]. Subsequent installments got the same treatment, until Pentavision began releasing ''DJMAX'' games officially in other regions.

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: The original ''Portable'' ended up being a hit with foreign audiences, leading to an UpdatedRerelease with English- and Japanese-language options, albeit still only in South Korea (although the PSP has no region lock on physical media). Subsequent installments got the same treatment, until Pentavision began releasing ''DJMAX'' games officially in other regions.

** In ''Respect'', there are teal long notes that take up either half of the playfield and which must be hit with the corresponding analog sticks. This is mostly fine in the [=PS4=] version, but on ''Respect V'', these "analog notes" become "Side Track" notes that don't translate well to keyboard play. Unless you have a twin-stick controller that you can hook up to your PC, Side Tracks are basically just two extra keys that are really annoying to hit, especially in 8B and XB modes (meaning that in the latter case, you're effectively playing ''12''-button mode). The devs put out a patch that attempt to serve as an AntiFrustrationFeature by having them not break combo, but ignoring these notes still gives MAX 1% which does no favors for accuracy-focused play.