One of Darwin's better levels. This desperately needs to just be cut down to like a minute or two tops, the layout style wears thin after a while and there's too much reliance on size portals for the sync rather than using the decoration or color work to sync with the music, which gets annoying quickly too.

Not to mention how senseless the whole theming is. Not too knowledgeable about CICADA3301 but I'm assuming most of the text relates to it... it's not particularly appropriate for this level. Just saying some shit for the love of the game.

This is one hell of a level, to say the least.

I found out about CICADA3302 shortly after I beat Eon when I took to the AREDL server and asked about any other good XXL extreme demons, and CICADA3302 was one of the names I heard. Two months later, in November 2024, I remembered the level and gave it a practice run.

To put it lightly, I was completely and utterly floored. I knew I wanted to do this as my next extreme demon immediately. I have been playing on-and-off since November, and since then I don't remember how many attempts I've had exactly, it is in the thousands, but I've had 20 72%+ fails with my personal best being 99% (3/20/25). (UPDATE: I have now beaten CICADA3302 as my 2nd extreme demon on 3/31/25)

I have never seen a level that looks and feels like CICADA3302 before. Yes, there are many effect levels centered around 1.0 blocks, but none of those levels are made with the length, style, and execution CICADA3302 brings to the table. The attention to detail seen throughout this entire level is on a whole other level. CICADA3302 is very eclectic design-wise, but it all somehow feels like it fits. There are all these scenes with intricate structuring and block designs that are almost all made up of standard blocks paired with complex, futuristic tech backgrounds and yet they all feel like they are meant to go together. There are these glitchy backgrounds and effects that felt so natural and authentic I still don't understand how they were made in 2.1. There are references to the CICADA3301 mystery, including the first 4chan post, the world map with the poster locations, and the really long timer. There is even a story in this level where you are travelling deeper into a Matrix-like place while you are accompanied by a speaker radioing to you from the outside. This story has just the right amount of interpretiveness that you can theorize on your own while the story itself doesn't seem too incomplete. Not following along with the story doesn't take away too much from the experience, so if you don't want to follow along you don't have to. All of this comes together to make this super gritty, intimidating atmosphere where you, the player traversing through the level, feel like you aren't welcome and this level wasn't made for players to come out the other end alive.

CICADA3302 also has one of the best progressions I've seen in any XXL level, too. The first half of the level takes you through these moderately high highs and moderately low lows that are all still great on their own, but it all serves as a setup for the second half the level. There is a zen segment halfway that is the first time you can really catch your breath, though it is not for too long. It's a calmer segment, but it's by no means an easier segment. From there, the level starts building up intensity again like it has a few times before, but then you're shot right into this part where time rapidly accelerates and the level reaches a soaring high more intense than anything seen before it. You're in a fast, asymmetrical dual with two rainbow afterimage trails while the song is going completely apeshit. The level does other effects, but still retains this soaring high up until 90%, where the level shifts into a falling apart, corrupted version of the first beat drop experienced at the beginning of the level. Even if you aren't playing from 0, 72-100% still feels absolutely divine to play legit. It's the hardest and most learny part of the level, but once you have it down, it's truly rewarding.

A dealbreaker for this level for a lot of people is the gameplay. A lot of people feel the gameplay is buggy in a lot of parts, and they would be right. You can find them all over the level. Despite that, this hasn't gotten in the way of me enjoying the level. I have died to some of these bugs legit (most notably dying at 92% because I didn't buffer), but a lot of them I have been able to been able to figure out why I was dying and have been able to work around the bug. The only one I haven't been able to work around and where dying has felt unfair is in the ship/cube blue pad corridor parts where you sometimes just get ejected in the wrong gravity and die because you weren't anticipating it. But other than that, I have still been able to enjoy the level plenty. A lot of people also just don't like the gameplay itself, which is understandable too. It's very unconventional, especially for a level of this length. I still have been able to enjoy the gameplay as well, when you have taken the time to learn the level thoroughly getting legit runs can be very satisfying.

It's with all these variables in mind that I feel comfortable giving CICADA3302 my reward of the best song representation in all of GD. This was Darwin's goal, and I think he did it. Everything just works so well with each other, the gameplay is all synced, the visuals are all synced, and the theme and the progression are all spot on with the song. All-around a complete and absolute masterclass, it's a shame this level went unrated for as long as it did.

this level was promising to get runs on, but when i started playing from 0 it just pissed me off. there are lot of chokepoints and awkward parts, as well as even bugs that can kill you, which is a massive issue for a 7 minute long level that's already unbalanced.

if you want to beat a super long very easy extreme demon, consider mystic bounds instead, it's only 5 minutes long, doesn't seem to have any bugs, and all of the gameplay is mostly the same, so you don't have to worry about balance or scary chokepoints