kowareta occupies a very similar space to levels like effot and Fexty, and in some ways I think that's really unique among this level- it feels like a series of stop-start challenges back to back to back, crammed one after the other, condensed as much as possible. This is the closest I think a level has gotten to replicating that vibe, yet there's also a lot of new stuff added in to distinguish itself from ozpectro's work. Sadly, I think a lot of the additions are negatives here- the dark color pallete, excessive glow, less verticality in the gameplay, and spam of those black spike structures makes this a much harder level to parse, compared to ozpectro's other levels, which exemplify how clarity can still exist in very claustrophobic works. A bit of a shame, since I think if this were a bit more in-line with ozpectro's levels, it would be one of my favs of all time- the song is such a bop and I really like its vibe, it just sadly is in service of a level that looks like a mess.

kowareta is a level that definitely stands out from all the glow levels that came around that time. It has some of the most uniques aesthetic this game as ever seen. Also, if kowareta didn’t exist, shukkestu wouldn’t exist, and that is one of my favourite maps ever.

so yeah, kowareta is awesome

In an era of the game where there exist multiple rated IWBTG clones, somehow it's this level that captures the essence of the level as an adversary the best. There's such a deuteragonist charm to kowareta in the contrast between its groovy, twee song and its absurd, suffocating difficulty compression. The fact that I enjoy this "post-glow" aesthetic is just a bonus.

Overrated level which ended up heavily influencing a ton of creators. The designs in this are nice but it is not as good as some make it out to be, and I do think the repetition can make it a bit bland over time. Having friends who have beaten this level before, I will give a rough judge from what they said regarding gameplay, since I am not good enough to properly judge the gameplay and difficulty myself.

One of the best top levels of its era, the claustrophobic structuring and unpolished gameplay of kowareta builds a raw, unfiltered atmosphere that isn’t found in many other levels of this difficulty range. Despite every input and release needing insane precision, the level is incredibly enjoyable.