Level expects me to solve the Riemann Hypothesis for some moons

Sorry, I'm just watching WKGames' video "CODE REVEALED ~ Over Again by PAHC 100% - Geometry Dash (9 Moon Riddle, Check Description)" which can be viewed at the following link:

The idea behind this level was executed so well, absolutely an incredible level

Over again by PAHC is a level I first found out about because my friend @abso was stuck at a part in the level. I was curious, so I opened the level and tried to get where they were as soon as possible. What I didn’t expect was an entire journey through old levels, decrypting different codes, and understanding the true intentions behind a narrator.

This level starts with a simple code that you have to figure out. However, there are no clues to be seen. Everything you try just flashes the screen red. Eventually, a voice near the bottom of the screen gives you a suggestion. Maybe you should try a more original line of thought. Maybe there’s more information outside the level?

Let’s call this character the narrator. They will be your guide through this carefully crafted journey through their levels, finding every little piece of the puzzle to finally complete it. Hey, it’s just like an ARG! The narrator brings you through many of their old levels, telling you stories about what caused the creation of them, how they were feeling, all little details to get you attached to these little levels. Eventually it ends with some sort of next step, another level to try out usually, to find the next part of the code.

You head through auto levels, old minigame levels, their first level ever, their first full level. A whole experience of levels, all to find the code. The levels are cool and all, and it’s nice learning about them, but what are you here for in the end? You continue progressing through the level, in awe at how much detail was put into this puzzle. How well made this puzzle is. How they make you go through their old levels to look for a code.

Eventually after all of these puzzles and searching, you end up in a recreation of their level Strange Conversation made within the original level. Strange Conversation is an insanely cool story type level, where you make choices to progress the story in different ways. Choosing to redirect the story when need be. In this recreation, you decide not to redirect. Let’s see how the story plays out after all? But then, it loops. Again, and again. You decide to try and redirect, but instead, you leave the cafe. You get teleported to this strange out of bounds area it seems, as the narrator then starts… berating you? For sequence breaking their level? But you had no other choice? They start getting angrier and angrier for your lack of care put into their old levels.

By this point, the player is most likely very confused. The narrator they had been following every exact detail from, is now talking about how they did something wrong? Did you? Were you supposed to play the original Strange Conversation? No, nothing there. Were you supposed to let it loop over and over again? Nothing seems to be changing. Maybe. Just maybe. The narrator isn’t as trustworthy as you once thought. Maybe they aren’t your guiding light throughout this level. Maybe they are a person with feelings, and motives.

Maybe the narrator isn’t a good person?

The narrator told you before leaving to take any of 4 paths, all leading you to different old levels from them with separate parts of a code. After a while, you eventually retrieve all four parts and gain new information for how the code system really works. It took a while, but it was fun finding the codes in each level. That Go You one took a while though… maybe it should’ve been shorter so you didn’t have to play it as long.

You enter the new code, expecting to finally beat the level. However, you are greeted with a simple ‘Access Denied’, and an email to report to if you feel a mistake has been made. I mean, you sat here this whole time exploring all these different levels for codes, and now it’s not right? You decide to email the address given, and get a very strange response.

The email tells you a story of a creator named ‘Babelism’. They’re a normal player, making challenges that they find really fun and enjoyed making them a ton. Five of them, to be specific. They finally decide to make a full level, possibly even rateworthy! But they aren’t proud of it. There’s flaws everywhere, ideas that they could’ve implemented that they couldn’t figure out, it looks basic compared to other levels. If this level got rated, is this all they would be known for? Would people still enjoy their other challenges, knowing this level was cool and got rated? Would they even check out their other levels? Or will they forever be known for that one cool level they made.

You go and open up the ‘Babelism’ account and play through their challenges. Getting different pieces of the code at the end of each one, maybe even giving them a like to show that you enjoyed them! You can tell they enjoyed making them, and you had fun playing them too.

Once you obtain every part of the code, you return back to the original level, entering this new update to the code you just received. However, when you enter it, the narrator returns and starts getting angry at you again? They’re angry that you took your time on every level that ‘Babelism’ created and didn’t give their levels the time of day! At this point the player is most likely very confused once again, how were you supposed to know what the narrator wanted from you? You simply followed everything they asked of you, they got mad at you for spamming one job on Go You, but that’s what they told you to do?

Maybe this narrator isn’t that good of a person after all, maybe they don’t know what they’re talking about and can’t expect the world from you. Maybe this narrator is being selfish and shouldn’t expect you to be able to read minds. Maybe, just maybe. This narrator is a representation of someone years ago.

But then you realize, you played through all of Babelism’s levels because you knew what was happening. You played them because you knew they had fun making those challenges, and that they weren’t proud of their full level. You enjoyed giving them support on what they made. What do you know about the narrator? Do you know how they were feeling when they made all those levels you played? Did you get a detailed email describing exactly what happened with each level? Do you know exactly what the narrator wants of you? Do you think you could ever fit their idea of how to enjoy ‘their’ level?

No, you can’t. You can’t read minds, nobody can. You can’t figure out what the narrator is thinking, you can’t figure out how they want you to look at and view their level. You can’t figure out why they are so angry at you. You’ll never be able to understand, because you can only know what you’re told. You were lucky with ‘Babelism’, you knew everything about them. You could see them in your mind while playing, and you knew exactly what they felt like when they released that full level they weren’t proud of.

Is the narrator in the right? Have you been enjoying their levels wrong? But no, if they wanted something they should have told you to do something, not brought you through a convoluted puzzle simply focusing on finding codes. But, can you know what this narrator is thinking? Maybe there was a reason for this, and you’re in the wrong? But maybe you’re also in the right, maybe this narrator will never get their fill and will constantly spout about how nobody will understand that level. Maybe there are signs from the beginning of who this narrator is, maybe you should go on play those older levels again. Maybe you should replay this level and see if anything could change? Maybe you could finally understand who this narrator is, and their true intentions?

Maybe you have to play everything Over Again.

Opening an ARG, fully expecting something unconventional and not like what I'm used to in Geometry Dash, that much goes without saying. However, I did not expect something so out of the ordinary to the point where I'd have to exit the game a couple times to beat a single level.

This level is truly something. Whether it's the fact that it has you bouncing around the servers, around PAHC’s levels and old uploads, around a secret account, even pushing me as far as emailing; there's not a moment of boredom along the ride.

PAHC, throughout the experience, casts a side of himself as the narrator. The experience with said narrator is fascinating as you feel the way he's meant to feel through dialogue and story, him even at times getting angry and annoyed at the player, which I think is where this entire level shines.

The story takes you on an adventures through PAHC’s world, his journey as a creator, and his memories embedded in the game itself. You get to know his viewpoint, while also experiencing the change of emotion as he refuses to let go of his old emotions, experiencing his feelings over again, as the title suggests. It teaches you that holding onto such feelings can worsen you as a person, and for that this level is truly special.

I have somewhat of a background in ARG puzzle solving, and so I went in wanting to like this. I was extremely disappointed to find out that this level exemplifies the very worst of """ARG"""s, a simulacrum of what most people THINK an ARG is. What the "puzzles" amount to in this level are following some set of instructions that are given to you by the level. I can think of one puzzle where I was actually meant to infer something, that being the inference from the spike jumps to Morse code. Everything else was just paint-by-numbers bullshit, the level told me to do something and I went and did it, picking up codes to then put back into the level so that it could give me new codes to put back again. The most egregious "puzzle" by far was the 4 part level scavenger hunt. This puzzle is not hard, but it is tedious. It requires you to scroll through all of PAHC's levels, many of which look exactly the same to me, just to find the one thing he wants me to find. That's not even mentioning the fact that it does not actually require you at any point to play the levels; I had much more success just copying the levels and opening them in the editor to find the clue. Now I imagine one of you might object that this is against the spirit of the puzzle, but keep in mind that this was literally an INSTRUCTION I was supposed to follow. OnlyTrying cheesed the first "puzzle" by doing the exact same thing. By far the worst "puzzle" was the one in Go You where you had to get 1500 currency. The fastest way I found to get currency was the button hitting, and it would take several minutes of monotonous button pressing to get through it (I cheesed it by opening in the editor and duplicating the touch trigger that gave the currency, but this took a pretty long time to do as well. It was more fun than mashing that's for sure!).

The fact that PAHC lampshades this all at the end does not mean the leadup to it was in any way enjoyable. It also just doesn't work, because the character chastises us for playing the Babelism levels while not engaging with PAHC's, but I literally didn't do what they said. I didn't play the Babelism levels either, I just opened them in the editor. Nor did I actually die on cosmic, I just opened the editor. I get the impression that the intent was to do some kind of Undertale-esque thing, where it holds a mirror up to you for the way you chose to engage, but it just doesn't work here at all because it incorrectly guessed what my engagement was like. It also isn't subverting some kind of expectation by doing this because the trials were set up in such a way that the things is chastises you for are the things that it tells you to do!

Overall this level just made me angry more than anything. It has no understanding of what makes ARG type puzzles interesting and it completely punts on the message of the level by not understanding its own construction very well. I'm tempted to give it a 1/10 but I can't bring myself to do it, I do on some level appreciate the attempt even if the execution was god awful.

Rate I would give: Legendary
Full review here: https://gamingas.cz/gdlists/review/23

cool level but this is why i dont play puzzle levels my brain is fried