Wow just played this for the first time today... and this game is hard as hell. Blows the other bemani rhythm games I've played out of the water. I couldn't even pass the level 4 songs! Fun as hell though, definitely gonna play it some more. Thankfully I've already found two locations with machines - much rarer than jubeat though.
A few beginnery questions, since I don't read Japanese (played on SPADA, assuming this is the most recent version?):
What are all the different modes? I played standard and another called "step up" or something similar, but I saw two other modes I could choose as well. I just assumed standard was... well the standard mode.
How do I unlock more songs? I was surprised when I scrolled through the whole selection so quickly - I'm assuming there are hundreds more songs though. Are they all locked at higher difficulty levels?
How do I change song settings? probably won't use this for a while since I'm still terrible, but I've seen players make the note display zone smaller or speed up the fall speed.
What am I supposed to do in the minigame thing at the end? I can only attack something once. I assume this is where I unlock songs though.
and finally, how do I get not terrible >_>? Just tons of practice? Is there some sort of technique I should look up, like how I should position my hands or something?
Thanks in advance.
What country are you in? jubeat is rare as hell in the US - only five machines I know of in the country, three of them in private hands.
SPADA is the newest, yes. I assume you are playing using an eAmusement pass? All unlocking and such is locked to that.
Step-up is sort of an extended tutorial mode designed for guided improvement. You can pick your skill level and it'll try to give you songs tuned to that level and guide you into harder and harder levels.
Standard is pretty much standard play, yes; you get a set number of songs, and you end your set if you fail any of them. Depending on your ranking level (see later) you will be restricted from playing high difficulty songs on your first stage, with the difficulty barrier dropping by the final stage.
Daninintei is a nonstop mode with preset courses designated by rank (7th kyu or so being the bottom rank, going up to 1st kyu, then 1st dan, all the way up to kaiden). Clearing a given course earns you that rank (displayed in your account statics at the beginning and end of a set).
Free gives you a predefined number of songs (usually less than Standard) but there are no difficulty barriers and you are always given the same number of songs regardless of pass or fail.
As for play techniques, my only suggestion is to not ignore use of your thumbs and pinkies. At high levels, being accustomed to a playstyle that doesn't use all your digits leads to roadblocks.