My hardest demon at the time of me writing this, xo is a level that I had been looking forward to beating… pretty much since KrmaL verified the level in late 2019. Obviously, with my hardest at that time being Clubstep v2, there was no way in HELL I’d be able to beat it at that time, but I knew that I’d probably get to the skill level required. Fast forward nearly half a decade, I finally feel like I have the confidence to take it on after beating Sunset Sandstorm, Blade of Justice, Endless Dream, and Ethereal Artifice in the two and a half months prior. So I start going for xo… and, well…

The funny thing about this level is that it’s still really good! Most of the gameplay is very fun (and shockingly fair) and the decoration is a lot better than most people are willing to give it credit for. But this is a rare example of an Extreme that so blatantly tests your confidence, and seeing as that’s something I’d never really gone through - I struggled a lot. This was the first time since Doradura (which I’ll get to in a later review) where a new hardest made me feel genuine dread upon thinking about having to play it. I think a large part of this was due to the circumstances - I had mostly committed to playing the level entirely in secret, only telling about a dozen people. If I didn’t do that, I think it would’ve been a lot easier, especially since I didn’t try to beat any other Extremes while playing xo. (I have a set Extreme plan for my first 50 or so. Yeah, I’m weird.) But somehow, with three hours to go in 2024, I finally conquered xo - fluking it from 67%, to boot.

Despite my tainted experience and severe mental health struggles not relating to the level (school, college, and the cancer battle that one of my friends was going through pretty much the entire time I was going for this), I can still say with confidence that xo is a great level. This is yet another reason I consider KrmaL the greatest creator of all time - even a 1.0 level can make me feel things that the most impressively-built, hyper realistic levels can’t. He is truly one of a kind, and I’m honored to be able to have called multiple of his Extremes my hardest demon at one point or another.