Cytus II

Cytus II arrived on mobile in January 2018 and quietly established itself as one of the finest rhythm games available on any platform. Developed by Rayark, the Taiwanese studio behind Deemo and the original Cytus, the sequel expanded on everything its predecessor offered. More songs, more complex mechanics, and a fully realized narrative set in a cyberpunk future where music and technology collide. The game asks players to tap, hold, drag, and flick notes as they cross a scanning line, but that mechanical simplicity belies a game with extraordinary depth in its difficulty curves, its musical variety, and its storytelling ambition.

Community reception has been overwhelmingly positive since launch, with players praising the music quality, the challenging gameplay, and the surprisingly deep narrative. The game maintains a passionate fanbase years after release, with consistent content updates expanding the song library well past 600 tracks. Criticism focuses almost exclusively on DLC pricing, which can climb to significant totals for players who want every character and song pack. The core experience, though, earns its reputation as one of mobile gaming’s genuine achievements in the rhythm genre.

Hundreds of Songs Across Every Genre

Staggering in both volume and variety, the musical library stands as the game’s crown jewel. It features compositions from artists worldwide spanning electronic, pop, rock, classical, jazz, hardcore, punk, and genres that blend boundaries between all of them. Each playable character in the game represents a different musical style, meaning switching between characters changes the entire sonic palette of your session. A run through PAFF’s songs delivers pop and electronic tracks, while NEKO’s catalogue leans into aggressive EDM and hardcore. This variety prevents the fatigue that plagues rhythm games with homogeneous soundtracks, and the quality of individual compositions consistently impresses.

Rhythm mechanics build on the original Cytus formula with meaningful additions. A horizontal scan line moves up and down the screen, and players tap, hold, drag, and flick notes as the line crosses them. New note types introduced in the sequel add complexity without sacrificing readability. The scan line can change speed mid-song according to the musical beat, creating dynamic chart patterns that feel intimately connected to the music rather than arbitrarily placed. At lower difficulties, songs flow smoothly and teach fundamental timing. At Chaos difficulty and above, charts demand precision, pattern recognition, and physical dexterity that challenge even experienced rhythm game players.

Seven difficulty tiers ensure the game scales to any skill level. Easy charts welcome complete newcomers with forgiving timing windows and simple patterns. Chaos, Glitch, and Crash difficulties layer in dense note clusters, tricky timing shifts, and charts that require genuine mastery to clear. This range means the same song can serve as a relaxing experience or a serious test of skill depending on the selected difficulty, and the progression from struggling with Hard charts to eventually conquering Chaos charts provides a long-term skill development arc that keeps dedicated players engaged for months or years.

The narrative sets Cytus II apart from nearly every other rhythm game. Set in a future where humanity connects through a virtual network called cyTus, the story unfolds through a social media system called iM that mimics real platforms. Playing songs advances the story for each character, revealing posts, conversations, and news articles that gradually build a mystery involving a disappeared virtual DJ, gang activity, human trafficking, and questions about the nature of consciousness. The storytelling is layered, rewards attentive reading, and provides real motivation to progress beyond the rhythm gameplay alone. Few rhythm games attempt narrative at all. Fewer still succeed at making players care about their characters and world.

The Price of a Complete Collection

DLC pricing is the game’s most persistent point of friction. The base game costs roughly $2 and includes eight characters with substantial song libraries. Additional characters cost $10 each, and Black Market song packs run $5 apiece. Purchasing every piece of content approaches $200 at full price, a figure that shocks players who discover it after investing in the base game. Sales reduce this significantly, and a bundle offer appears after reaching certain milestones that packages story-essential characters for around $35. But the sticker price of complete collection creates a barrier that the community consistently criticizes, especially since significant portions of the narrative require paid characters to experience fully.

Story progression involves grinding that some players find tedious. Unlocking new songs within a character’s library requires gaining experience points by playing existing songs. The grind isn’t severe, but it does mean repeating songs you’ve already cleared before accessing new content. For players focused purely on the music, this gating feels unnecessary. The system exists to pace the narrative reveals, but it occasionally conflicts with the desire to simply play new songs as quickly as possible.

Cloud save reliability has been a sore point for some players who lost progress after changing devices or reinstalling. While the system works correctly for most users, those affected by data loss report frustrating support experiences. For a game where progression represents hundreds of hours of play across purchased content, the stakes of a failed save transfer are uncomfortably high.

Touch-only input means physical controllers cannot be used on mobile, which occasionally frustrates players who prefer tactile buttons for rhythm games. The touch controls are excellent and specifically designed for touchscreens, but the option for controller support would be welcomed by a subset of the community.

A Rhythm Game That Respects Your Intelligence

What makes this game special is how it treats mobile gaming as a legitimate platform for deep, challenging, artistically ambitious experiences. The music is curated and composed at a level that would be remarkable in any context. The difficulty curves reward actual skill development rather than time investment or spending. The narrative asks players to think, piece together information, and engage with themes beyond what rhythm games typically attempt. It’s a game that refuses to condescend to its platform, delivering something that competes with dedicated rhythm game hardware and console releases without apology.

Should You Play Cytus II?

Anyone who enjoys rhythm games should download Cytus II immediately. The base game alone provides dozens of hours of content at a trivial price point, and the musical quality surpasses most full-price console releases. Players who appreciate narrative in unexpected places will find the cyberpunk story deeply rewarding. Skip it if the DLC pricing structure feels exploitative on principle, if you strongly prefer physical buttons over touchscreen input for rhythm games, or if narrative elements in a music game sound like unwelcome interruptions rather than welcome additions.

The Verdict on Cytus II

Cytus II is the rare mobile rhythm game that would be remarkable for its music alone but goes further by wrapping hundreds of songs in a cyberpunk narrative that rewards real investment. The touch controls are precise, the difficulty scaling is generous to newcomers while punishing for experts, and the sheer volume of musical genres represented means the soundtrack never grows stale. DLC pricing adds up quickly for completionists, and the story requires paid characters to fully experience. But the base game offers enough content to justify its entry price many times over, and what Rayark built here stands as one of the best rhythm games on any platform.