top 3 level of the year for me, and right now the best platformer of the year for me

this level somehow seems like it was MADE for me, every aspect of the level somehow fits perfectly into my tastes and biases and i think that's crazy. there's this game series i used to play as a kid on coolmathgames called abandoned and it was always my favourite online game. i had a song from abandoned 2 as my menu music for years before 2.2 came out. wretched is like the exact same genre as the abandoned games but done even better... in the geometry dash editor???

it's longer than all of the abandoned games which is insanely impressive, has harder puzzles, a more engaging story and even LOOKS better, still insane to me. i've seen people complain about the controls but tbh they're completely fine. in fact i think it's the best way you could've controlled this. the fact that this is an entire solo level by at the time a completely unknown creator is incredibly impressive. svallux managed to do so much and i give my biggest respects ever to her. this is also the most fun ive ever had in a gd minigame, and places top 3 in the most fun ive ever had in the entire game. i spent HOURS straight solving the puzzles, piecing together the lore, and making a document on how to do each puzzle. once i beat the level for the first time i was like wow this is the greatest thing ever, and then the ending animation blew me away. i guess it's nothing that special but to me, the amount of effort and passion put into the ending animation just makes me so happy, and the fact that its an entire original song used is actually insanely impressive. getting the coins and all achievements was the hardest thing ive ever had to solve by myself... and i ended up needing outside help...

there's a lot of things i want to say about this level but for some reason it's not coming to me right now, but i can definitely say this is one of the best pieces of art ive ever seen in my life lmao

This hits so well when it comes to a “horror” level. No cheap jumpscares, but a slow trickle of unsettling imagery and a generally haunting atmosphere. Works great...it's also so fun to go through.

Horror minigames are really rare for Geometry Dash, considering its a funny lobotomy kids game. Even rarer are point-and-click games. So it's really cool to see such an ambitious realization of those genres come to fruition with this game.

Let's talk about the horror first. Unlike most GD horror I believe this one lends itself to a consistent, unsettling atmosphere. Each room permeates a consistent unsettling atmosphere, leaving you with more questions than answers. I actually really dig the unpolished, more "homemade" look of this game as it really sells the eerieness (However, as I'll explain later on, this isn't always the case). And when the game uses jump scares, I think they're done really effectively. It's not some FNAF ROOOOAR - game over screen, you actually see lingering, disturbing imagery which makes the jump scares feel earned.

For the point-and-click aspects, the controls will take some getting used to. It uses a masked ship for the cursor, which was probably for the best, but I wish there were some mechanics in place that make the cursor stay mid-air rather than having to frustratingly straight-fly all the time. That aside, the puzzles are very creative and well made. Some puzzles could have been better telegraphed, but for a majority of them I have no issue at all. The highlighting feature gets inconsistent at times, which made me resort to pointless clicking to find something that wasn't highlighted.

Lastly I want to discuss the story. Wretched does a great job at drip-feeding the underlying story by sprinkling little clues throughout the rooms. The dedication towards the lore-building is actually insane: from hidden scribbles and silhouettes, to a full-fledged 10 minute podcast made specifically for the level. But unfortunately I just don't think the payoff worked. I won't spoil it here, but I feel like we're left with little emotional investment or sheer terror. It feels too disconnected and vague for me. It also doesn't help that the unpolished nature of the cutscenes make them feel goofier than resolute. Of course this doesn't detract much from the experience because let's be real, this is probably the best story in a minigame by default. But I do feel like these deficits hold Wretched back from being a true masterpiece. WITH THAT SAID, this is still an incredible minigame that you should try out.

i like this level

Fue una gran experiencia, me gustaría retornar luego a este nivel y pasármelo al 100%.

Es un nivel muy completo, la escena final es bien bonita.

But, is such a pretty experience!^^

El Legendary totalmente merecido, quizá hasta Mythic debería tener.