ultimately faint praise for arguably one of the worst offenders of its respective gauntlet contest, but I love how texture is used here. most levels, including many space gauntlet winners, end up looking mushy or amateurish - not so here. that kind of cascading pulsar at 0:38 really captures not just the look, but the feel, of a supernova going off, and the use of color and grain at 0:58 is, on a technical level, great. that to me is worth the price of admission. if we're gonna be in the age of releases intentionally designed to be watched on Youtube rather than played in-game then you may as well take it all the way

more broadly, a masterclass in how technical ability does not translate to aesthetic prowess. it's this game's equivalent of listening to technical death metal