As you probably can tell, TrotMania Crusaders has been getting a good bit of attention lately in development, especially with that mega 43-song pack in [4]. Well, that was an accumulation of a lot of content from abandoned projects plus some new material, so the chances of that large an update again are somewhere around "non-existent". That doesn't mean we are giving up; it just means there will be a more normal size for updates from here on out (I will confirm that Crusaders is still going to be the companion game for Chrystalize's sequel, at the very least). As such, for [5], there are 8 songs to be added to the Crusaders category. Read on to find out which!
Why not start with some bombast? Applause is Lady Gaga's newest single and is quite the entertaining track written about the entertainer. The steps are mostly simple, except (of course) for the buildup right before the chorus.
Coming off of Amaranth both in the real world and in TrotMania, Bye Bye Beautiful was debuted in 2008 by Nightwish. The music video swaps the band members (except for the lead) for a group of female models at points, teasing the criticisms made that the new lead singer was chosen solely for good looks. Most of the steps are very streamy until the ending bridge, where some guitar 16ths are charted.
Once again the one PMV track in the update, we now have the 80's classic Centerfold in the game. The song has actually made an appearance before in the DanceDanceRevolution series, but as a 130 BPM remix of the dance cover Captain Jack did in the 2000's. This original is actually far tougher than that version, with swinging steps across the pad, constant 16ths, and even 1 beat bursts of 24ths to go with the sliding keyboard!
Oh yeah, one other thing I try to balance is normal stuff with weird stuff, with this pretty squarely in the latter category. Little Red Rappinghood is actually a repeat from DanceDanceRevolution Disney Grooves for the Wii, but with all brand new steps. As far as I can tell, the original version of this goofy little song was used in the show for one of their skits, but correct me if I'm wrong. In any case, the rapping aspect is mighty beneficial to the steps, and you get plenty of standard and weird rhythms from it.
Objectively, this song isn't good. The beat does sound suspiciously like my audio-based mosquito repellant during the verses, and the energy doesn't really come until the chorus. However, Scream and Shout has very fun steps to make up for it, with the aforementioned beat actually providing most of the difficulty for the chart.
Ellie Goulding has recently crossed the pool from the UK, gaining a very loyal fanbase in America. However, I actually found out about her a little early thanks to a game called Everybody Dance, which featured this song on it and hooked me right away. Where Lights was more subdued with its beat, Starry Eyed keeps the energy going with a pumping beat supported by some nice piano ambiance. While observing users might remember this track from way back in Zenius-I-Vanisher's Summer Contest of 2012, it has actually been enhanced with some fixes and a new Challenge chart!
Now, this is only a reveal for Crusader's part of the [5] update. I can tell you right now that there will be some exciting stuff added to Chrystalize as well, but it shall remain a surprise for a bit longer. Also note that all information pertaining to charts is subject to change, though it most likely won't.
