When I play XXL+ levels, something I always look for and appreciate is if a level has a strong progression. For me, a level that feels like it goes nowhere and doesn't progress at all is one of the worst possible things an XXL+ level can do, and I feel like I wasted my time.

So when PAHC recommended me From Dust (his own level) last week and I saw the first part and realized the entire level was focusing around the level, I got excited to try it. A few days later, I beat the level after an unlucky 98% death. I didn't mind this death actually, as I got a chance to replay the level and look at the finer details again. New elements of the level are added at a sort of exponential rate, where it starts out really slowly but then gets overwhelming with how much is going on by the last minute. The way new elements are added is also really smooth, it is easy to overlook something new that is fading in until it is already fully visible. These two things also go hand-in-hand with its song, which I would normally consider difficult to use because it is all build-up and no release. Despite this, PAHC found a way to make great use of the song.

The most common criticism of From Dust is the gameplay, and while I don't entirely agree with its criticisms, I do see where some of them come from. The gameplay consists of the same sequence of ship gameplay that goes through iterations along the visual/song progression. I felt that the gameplay strikes a good balance between requiring a certain amount of focus while also not demanding too much, allowing me to take in the design of the level as well and try to look for newly added elements. I don't like how some of my deaths (including my 98% one) were caused by jerky movements of some blocks, which could launch me up/down into other blocks and kill me. The ending, where the level just cuts off with the song, caught me off guard pretty well the first time, but it never really hit the same after that. I feel like the level could've had a stronger ending, but at the same time it's hard to properly wrap up a level that uses a song that's only build-up and no release.

(This part is a bit of a rant) From Dust has also spurred some discourse surrounding how the level begins, where the level slowly eases into requiring any amount of inputs. Some consider this long, unskippable intro a waste of their time. Here is my two cents: I would also dislike this aspect of the level if the level itself was difficult, but it isn't. This took me 11 attempts total, and I learned the whole level in one practice run. It's rated 8 stars. Besides, just as a concept, really long GD levels themselves are a waste of your time, and if you are truly concerned with using your time the most optimally, From Dust isn't the level for that. From Dust is a level that focuses on build itself up gradually over time, and that's what I like about it so much.