SAVE AS is PAHC's magnum opus and really the only level from his catalogue that is worth talking about in the big 2025. Really none of his other levels are worth engaging with at all compared to this one. This level exposed me to the greatness that is the Everywhere at the End of Time (EATEOT) album by The Caretaker back in 2021, and I've been a fan of that album ever since. I already reviewed this level in the description of my SAVE AS showcase so I'll just copy what I wrote about this level back in 2021 here:

I'll start by describing the gameplay and then discuss the artistic value of this level. Overall, one of the easiest medium demons in the game but it still may take some time to beat because of how long it is. It's not very fun to play but the song really adds to the experience and helps build tension for the end. The level is free until the UFO at 1:41 which has some fakes. The ball at 2:44 is also pretty tricky, the platforms just stop moving at certain points which can throw off your timings. The cube at 3:00 is one of the hardest parts of the level, just remember you can hold jump at the bottom platform 5 times and the sixth time you have to time it. Practice this part a few times before playing in normal. The UFO at 3:16 is easy but it can throw you off and I died to it three times in normal. One thing that surprised me is that the glitchy part at 4:03 is completely auto. The cube / robot / UFO part at 4:19 is similar to the cube at 3:00 but slightly easier and I never died to it in normal. The cube at 5:16 can be tricky with some tight jumps. The ship at 5:29 is the last part where you can unintentionally die, it's not hard at all, you just have to focus on maneuvering the ship and don't go too high like I did. The final robot is auto until the dash orb which ends the level. Overall, a free medium demon, this probably isn't even hard enough to be an easy demon tbh, other XL insane levels like Tetrix and High Life are much harder imo.

Onto the decoration. This is the easiest milestone demon I've uploaded by far (Lonely Travel, Nine Circles, and Boom Slayer are much harder). The reason I chose it is because I think it is one of the most thought-provoking and interesting levels in GD from an artistic perspective. This level exposed me to the album Everywhere At The End of Time (EATEOT) which can be viewed below:

For those unfamiliar, both EATEOT and Save As attempt to artistically show the gradual decay of the mind during the progression of dementia or Alzheimers. Overall, I think EATEOT does a much better job of showing this decay but this is mostly due to the limitations on the length of a Geometry Dash level. EATEOT is 6.5 hours long, this level isn't even 6.5 minutes long. For such a short amount of time, Save As manages to faithfully recreate the effect of EATEOT. I think some parts of the progression seem out of place such as the blinking part at 3:51 but other than that, the level manages to remain interesting and relevant throughout its length. This level is much more fun to watch than to play and I'm glad I managed to record myself doing it so I never have to play it again to see it. The music really adds another layer of immersion to this level. I personally preferred the older version of the song which I have edited in for this video but the new version of the song is also pretty immersive. If you wish to see the version of this recording with the old song, check this link:

And if you'd prefer to see the recording with the new version of the song, check this link:

SAVE AS is also the sixth level you visit while playing Over Again by PAHC the intended way. If you look in the editor of this level, you'll see the ID 115279681 which is the ID for Export by PAHC.

I'm gonna be honest, I was pretty disappointed when I saw SAVE AS in Over Again that it just redirects you to an unlisted level. It would have been cool as heck to have a secret way added to SAVE AS, although I could see how it could reduce the artistic value of this level. That being said, this level works very well as the Trial of Memory for Over Again as the level is literally about a decaying memory going through dementia.

Incredible execution of what it represents compared to nearly everyone else on the internet completely butchering it and more somehow

re: rephrased to sound less mean spirited because i cant delete my account so i might as well extrapolate on this a bit more. also put in simpler terms

• theres good postmodern art and theres bad postmodern art. there are ways to cut the lines across but a good way to tell which side youre on is how if you feel that your art was too ambiguous - so much so that you feel the need to shove the supposed 'meaning' down everyones throat so that they would able to appreciate it as a kind of extradiagetic context - it probably wasnt good and failed at its main goal.

• the main point here is that i never enjoyed SAVE AS as a work of art where the artist feels the need to tell the audience What To Think. it doesnt... really have good implications for your work. PAHC some years later followed this up with Cosmic which i felt was the immediately better execution. its self contained and sufficiently subtle, akin to some of the more effective narrative-exploration walking simulators out there. next to that SAVE AS invariably feels a bit hamfisted

• there is also a point to be made about the implications of adapting such a heavy topic to a heavily gamified context as well. if its an experience only to be watched, fine. but as an interative experience, its awful. its hard enough to be a medium demon, which means youll have to learn it, and replay it over, and over, and over, and over again. it doesnt take a genius to figure out how that could sour the experience in the end. in the same regard, it fails in the same way many interactive art has failed before: the levels of interaction required consistently contradicts with the ideal experience. in the same way this is where alot of modern gaming failed when trying to tackle topics of similar caliber. the most recent example being silent hill 2 2024's hilarious chase sequences that tries to put you into the center of Angela's trauma and ended up just downplaying it for the player. the original game, in comparison, knew to treat it with grace and actually understood things.

I honestly expected to forget this level as it tried hard to experience but the fact it was not forgotten makes me question whether I was supposed to because me remembering the level doesn't make sense as I can't relate to the story

Awesome level tho 10/10

I would like to handle this as tastefully as I possibly could, but it's so high concept that it's actually really corny when you consider the fact that this is a Geometry Dash level. It's carefully handled and beautifully executed nonetheless.