I, and I assume many other people, were first introduced to Petal Dance through one of AeonAir’s videos in which he played through some of the hardest levels of each difficulty. The reaction he had to this level in particular was priceless, as this level essentially hides a Hard Demon behind a beautiful scenery filled with grass, tree, and flowers.

Have you ever looked at a level showcase on YouTube and thought to yourself, “That doesn’t seem so hard” but when you go try the level for yourself, you realize the level is actually way more difficult than you imagined? This is one of those levels. What Petal Dance is infamous for is just how hard it is to distinguish obstacles from decoration, whether it’s green spikes blending in with the grass, or just straight up invisible saws. Knowing this, many people, including myself, never thought to even give this level a chance after hearing Aeon proclaim that this was harder than Tartarus.

However, with 2.2, we are now given the ability to view hitboxes while in practice mode, and I believe no level benefited from this update more than Petal Dance. It’s safe to assume WinterKeru underrated their level because they knew where all the obstacles were as the creator. While it doesn’t stop the gameplay from feeling jank in certain places like in the duals, the ability to view hitboxes allows for a much easier and effective way to learn this level, letting us know what exactly to avoid (with the exception of the mirrored part). I was able to beat this level in 628 attempts, which is definitely a lot more than a lot of Medium Demons I’ve completed, but I imagine it is way less than what it would’ve been without being able to see hitboxes, if I even beat it at all.

As for how I feel about the level, the vibe I get from it is honestly like no other. Everything about the decoration in combination with the song is just so serene, but playing it, you know everything around you is a lot more dangerous than it looks. It’s almost as if all the spikes and saws were made invisible as to not scare people away. I recommend you try this level for yourself, it’s just an interesting experience that you don’t really get often.