I know this is a very cold take, but I really do feel WELL RESTED is one of the best levels ever made, and one I just could not find any flaws in.
You know how some songs have an awkward introduction? The song would do some weird out-of-place notes before dunking into the actual song, and I love when songs do this. However, it's really hard to replicate the sensation these musical moments bring into GD levels since you also need to accompany it with visuals and gameplay. WELL RESTED pulls this off exceptionally well, and with a song with a longer awkward intro too. I would say the first 25 seconds of the level is one of my favorite parts. It feels like WELL RESTED is still booting up, as the level and the song wind up into existence together. The song only has funky drums and distorted voice samples, and the part of the level has simple but funky gameplay, a loading screen-like background, and structures and colors that move and pop in beat with the song. After one blue orb, you fall a bit more than anticipated...
...you hit the ground, there's a flash of light, and you are in a new scene. It looks and feels heavenly. You're in this otherworldly garden, on this big pearly white marble structure over some gorgeous waters looking out towards a magnificent blue abyss. The flora has this great shine to it and is adorned with beautiful patterns. After the dark and somewhat muted introduction, this change of scene hit me like a truck. Neither of these two parts are my favorite primarily because of what they are individually, but because of how one leads into another AND this is the first thing WELL RESTED hits you with. The song starts with one really long synth chord with a few occasional notes in beat with player inputs. There is one sequence where the player does three inputs back-to-back. Each time, the player rises up a bit more than normal thanks to some levitating pads. WELL RESTED utilizes these all throughout the level. Not only do these airborne pads make the gameplay more varied, it also helps the player's movements visually synchronize with the song as well, and these both make the utilization of these pads feel satisfying every time.
The song and the level start to speed up. Some bass and vocals kick in, and the player is doing inputs more often. Then, the song shifts into its normal groove and 2x speed. Most parts of the level from here on out work because of similar reasons to each other, though each part still looks unique from its surrounding sections. All of the colors work great with each other. All of the structures work with simple patterns and designs that never feel lacking because of what each of these level elements are paired with. It's all a great blend of heavenly and futuristic. The floral decor this level has strikes a great balance between natural and artificial while having a sleek, modernistic look. The level spends most of its time with a really well-made gradient background (really impressive for being done in 2.1 before the advent of the gradient trigger) that is just as pleasing to look at as the vivid gradient of a clear blue sky and some rising particles that resemble stars. It's a very simple background, but it's invigorating in the same way as the actual sky it is trying to emulate. Another thing WELL RESTED does that keeps the level feeling lively and eventful, aside from its visuals, is the fact that the camera is almost always moving. With the exception of certain sections, the usage of bordered gamemodes in WELL RESTED is very short compared to that of the unbordered gamemodes. Bordered gamemodes hold the camera in place for too long for WELL RESTED. You're always going up and down and fast and slow and this way of making gameplay gives the level so much more energy than it would have otherwise.
After a space-like segment, you fall once again, but this time the level cuts to black and fades back in. The level is really slow now, the structures are dark with rainbow outlines, there is a purple twilight sky with some drifting stars. Non-English runes are printed on the sky as the lyrics of the song are read at the top of the screen. This part already gives goosebumps because it's a moment for you to brace yourself for what comes next. All the level elements fall away, some art displays on screen, and then it happens.
Okay, before I talk about that one part of the level, I need to address the elephant in the room first. There are these black borders on both sides of the screen for everything up until this point. It's one of those things where upon booting up the level, the player notices them, thinks it's an odd choice, and then immediately adapts as they focus on trying to play the level. It does make the level up until this point seem a bit more cinematic having it at 4:3, but it's what the level decides to do with these borders that make their usage truly special.
The borders disappear off-screen, there is a flash of light, and the level and song reach their climaxes. The sky is full of shooting stars. The dark structures and the rainbows stand out firmly and beautifully. You aren't just in space now, you are dashing among the stars. They twinkle and shine on your command. You are a god now. You are WELL RESTED for the ascension. All the while the song is going through a divine synth passage and the pre-chorus repeats, but even louder with more energy. This is one of my favorite parts in any GD level ever. It would still be one of my favorites if it were standalone, but it is this buildup and release that is truly unlike anything I've ever felt in my 11 years of playing GD. After this level, the level comfortably works itself down from this insane soaring high with the intro reappearing in a glitchy, distorted way as you're being spoken to in this smooth, yet also glitchy and distorted spoken word passage.
The level continues to work itself down smoothly with more heavenly futuristic garden landscapes like what we saw before the climax. The borders start closing back in and the level returns to 4:3. The level eventually restabilizes on a scene very similar to what we first saw, with pearly white architecture, perfectly lush greenery, the water flowing, and the sky's blue abyss. More and more elements of the song start dropping out, and the gameplay corresponds by getting simpler and less involved. The level reaches a final elevation, inputs are very spaced out, Sarah Bonito gives us one final spoken word passage, and the credits appear accordingly with the final remaining beats of the song. Once the final beat passes, the credits fade away. This is what the end looks like: a garden with the greenest grasses and bushes, a fountain with the clearest water, architecture of the gods, and only the sounds of birds chirping and the water running. It's a very simple way to end the level consider the highs this level spends a lot of its time in, but after 7 minutes of action and some very high nerves, it's so deeply satisfying.
The one main point I have been hinting at throughout this entire review is this: The level and the song go hand-in-hand. In fact, they go hands-in-hands with both hands, that's how well WELL RESTED represents its song. No other level could use this song like how cometface did, and a level with this design, theme, and execution could never work with any other song. The gameplay (which admittedly I didn't talk a whole lot about in this review) is perfect, I have no complaints, there are no choke points or bugs, and it is always fun to play and extra satisfying since you move in tandem with the song. If you want to get more into playing XXL+ levels, WELL RESTED is a must-do. It's only medium demon as well, so you don't have to be too skilled to give it a shot.
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sorry about this gang