I absolutely adore this level, easily my favorite one of the Space Gauntlet contest winners.

The best part of this level for me is undoubtedly its artstyle; there are so many synonyms I could use to describe it, but my biggest ones would have to be intruging, atmospheric, and just… beautiful. I would kill to see more levels done in an artstyle like this. And there is also such a high attention to detail in many parts (yes, I’m including the statue with a penis LMAO), all of which help further compliment the level’s atmosphere. The artstyle feels like a unique mix between Hollow Knight’s artstyle and old Renaissance era paintings, and I am ALL for it. My favorite part has got to be the cube part at 72%, it reminds me a lot of Tree Top Town from Donkey Kong Country. Or… is it actually at 72%?

Ah, that’s right! Another crazy detail that caught me off guard was that the level actually kept on going past 100% in the progress bar about halfway through the level! Initially, I thought it was another typical 2.2 bug with the progress bar, but there was so much gameplay following this occurrnce, that I slowly learned this choice was indeed intentional. The level isn’t called “Out of Place” for nothing after all! It’s actually really cool to see this bug being used in the level’s favor, as it really makes it feel more alive and atmospheric. I could gush on about how much I love the decoration in this level, but I think you get the point.

I also think the gameplay really compliments this level! Now, I have seen a few complain about it, as they think its too boring and goes on for too long, but I have to disagree. The gameplay being so open and easy actually work’s in this level’s favor, as you can take in even more of this level’s beautiful visuals, and immerse yourself even further. And I think the length is hardly an issue too, the gameplay is easy enough to a point that you will almost certainly fluke it.

Really the only thing I will criticize in the gameplay is the Swing part at the first drop. I’ll admit the timings in it can be a little jank, but at least it isn’t at the end of the level.

In conclusion, this level is a masterpiece, and easily one of my favs from this year. Shame how its only placed at 7th in the contest, when it shouldve been top 3 minimum.