The text is a bit too on the nose for me at all times, besides "You are no longer a child." That line is not atypical of analog horror tropes but it works; the rest feels way too tacky. Insane decoration, though the rather lackluster sync and random cuts are quite distracting

This is actually a fairly recent completion of mine and I felt strongly inclined to jump on and review this one, because this was honestly so close to perfection. I love the atmosphere, style, song representation, general concept, etc, but there is one major issue that really held this back for me. The absolute worst thing you can do in a horror level... well, aside from using skull.ogg, is putting text in it. This could have honestly been a perfect level if it just had 0 textboxes, because they really kill the liminal immersion that I think this was ultimately going for. Compare it to something like between us by katas, a level that makes perfect use of eerie, hollow music to carry the level on its own and give the player a deep feeling of sorrow. This level differs in that it pretty much tells you how to feel. It tells you you aren't supposed to feel like a child anymore. It tells you that things will never feel the same as they once did. Not only is it presumptuous, it forces emotion that should feel primal in a well-executed atmosphere, and in the process, weakens it.

That really is the only flaw in this level, because otherwise, this contends for one of the most gorgeous levels I've ever seen. I think the old Pixar style is done to absolute perfection, and the song truly drives that theme. It isn't disturbing per se, but it does maintain that hollowness I mentioned in regards to between us. There is still a sense of unease that complements the level perfectly, and I think would be even better if not for the aforementioned issue about the text. I would also be remiss not to mention the legitimate "horror" elements because they're definitely important here. One could call them cliché or forced, but I don't think that's the case here. The noose in the Up section of the level may be a bit of a generic choice, but given that this is a two route level, I think it works because you are actively sucking the life out of the level by hitting the switch for route 2. Therefore, a greater emphasis on death makes sense to me. A lot of this review probably sounds pretty backhanded, but the truth is that I honestly love this level. I just think some minor fixes could have made this a very special experience. Unfortunate that this isn't in the discord gauntlet (one of the most boring gauntlets imo so it would have been much appreciated), buuuuut, it is a little spooky, so I can't complain that this was kept away from the kiddies.

Made by my good friend GloryEX. Pretty nice looking, interesting level. I do much prefer the colored version over the black-and-white version because the text that accompanies the latter version pretty much spoonfeeds the messages and themes for you. I think its pretty neat to see an attempt at horror though, very nicely done. And the polish / attention to detail is very on point here.

Never been a big Pixar or Disney fan but I still understand the themes of nostalgia and growing up that the level is trying to express and I respect the level for it. I think overall the level is very well put together and is heavily under-appreciated, however I’m not sure I like the black and white mode as much as the color mode. The text I feel is close to telling an interesting narrative, but it feels too attached to what the song is currently trying to say. An example of how this limits the level can be seen at the very end, with a text that says “then I sing my last word to you. You’re up against only duuust”. This level is trying to be serious, but to appeal with pathos it tries a bit too hard to insert qualities of an unserious tone (such as the repeating letters) to make the text seem more human. I think the last line would stand fine on its own without the repeating letters, like when the level used only dust for the first time.

That being said, I feel like the consistency of the text overall makes this level a lot better. If you choose to take the path with the text, you’ll be reading a narrative throughout the entire level instead of it only being present in a few parts, left as an afterthought to complete an idea. This level does depend on its text, but it seems to do so in a more natural way. I don’t like comparing levels to each other, but I feel like Split Path by Jayuff is important to bring up here to show how text does not inherently make a level worse by telling instead of showing, though more focus is put upon the text in Split Path than in PIX. The nature of having to focus on playing Geometry Dash is somewhat what limits typical the game’s levels from approaching telling ideas through text, since unless you make a level auto you have to focus on multiple things at once and the meaning can only be absorbed well over videos. Levels usually don’t give you time to soak in their words, and if they do potentially the gameplay may prevent the player from actually understanding what is being said.

This is an entirely new side of the argument on whether “telling instead of showing is a good thing” that I’d rather not go much deeper into but I think this level poses some interesting questions to how we should approach telling stories in levels.

Visually, I think this succeeds at evoking a feeling of nostalgia, since the slow pace of the level combined with the old television filter work really well with the song. I like the way this is structured overall too; the level doesn’t feel too empty or too messy.

One if the most underrated level in the game. The atmosphere is unsettling yet fascinating.

This level shows that you don't need some jumpscare stuff to make a good horror/unsettling level.

The fact that there's an actual lore behind this level makes it more mind-blowing.

A total 10 from me.