input latency is the only stat that matters

controversial rhythm take, i judge every game by one number nobody else even measures: input latency. the gap between me pressing the button and the game registering it. in a timing game that gap is the whole experience. funky friday has the charts and the windows but online it stacks delay and my clean hits land late, which for someone chasing full combos is genuinely painful. blade ball is the opposite, the parry window is tight but the input feels immediate, you press on the frame and it responds, thats the entire reason i rate it so high, no gap between the read and the result. games like steal a brainrot or dress to impress dont even enter the conversation because theres no timing window to be late for, its rng and votes. if you want to know whether a game respects skill, ignore the graphics and the content and just ask one thing, when i press the button how fast does it happen. everything else is decoration. FC or nothing, and latency is the only thing standing between me and the FC.