This is a level both so far ahead of its time and completely right with its time. I am not going to delve too far into the gameplay or visuals since it is quite standard for the most part. However, it's what this level does with the individual parts that make it into something truly extraordinary, even for modern times.

"Let's go back in time!" Larga Espera is a level with a story that doesn't need narration for the most part. It is a level that progresses through the history of the game, each section of the level represents a specific update or a part of an update. 1.0-early 1.9 have no text outside of the language selection at the beginning of the level.

It's impossible to talk about why this level is excellent without talking about the "song." Aurora Theory is a 2013 studio album composed by Erik McClure during his time in college. The "song" Larga Espera uses is not any particular song off the album, but rather a teaser for the album posted to Newgrounds which contains a roughly 1-minute long excerpt of each song. There is a progression to the album, but there isn't a story. Larga Espera utilizes the "song" for its progression AND builds a story around it. From 1.0-early 1.9, the level reflects the first 10 songs' upbeat, trance-EDM sound, and as the last few songs are less upbeat, late 1.9-2.1 reflects that as well with its worry about the future of GD and the slower pace of updates.

"The 1.9 remained..." The last 30% of the song marks a tone shift as time moves slower. The rest of the level has text narration as it takes a concerned approach for the game's future and community. There are some moments where the tracks seem more upbeat, like when 2.0 first releases and when Meltdown drops, but the level with its narration is able to keep the somewhat downtrodden mood going throughout these parts.

"?" The 2.1 part is the only time a completely empty layout has ever given me goosebumps. It's easily the most sad part of the level with its gray background and ambient section from the final song of the album "Next Year" (this is a surprisingly fitting song name in the context of waiting for the next update). For being the most simple part of the level, it is the most emotional and conveys the feeling of disappointment really well. The end of the level is entirely just jumps on the ground over spikes in the robot and cube gamemodes with text that gives the player one final takeaway as they leave the level: be patient, be hopeful, be creative with what we have in the current update.

And now, to address the elephant in the room, yes, the time gap between 2.1's release and 2.2's release ended being 2,019 days longer than the time gap between 2.0's release and 2.1's release. Not only does that wait blast the long wait depicted in Larga Espera out of the water, the community was also able to hold up better and mature during that wait and seeing as how the gap between 2.2's release and 2.3's release is already shaping up to be longer than the Long Wait of Larga Espera, but there is far less people complaining about where 2.3 is currently. While this perspective does make it impossible to view Larga Espera without a tinge of irony, I think it's unfair to look at the level that way. How was Nacho supposed to know what the next 7 years would look like? Looking at the level as a perspective from its time period in 2016 is a lot more fair of a way to read it. This is also helped by the level's broken English translations (the other translations may be broken too but I don't know as English is my only language) that add a charm to the level that could only have been done then and seemed normal.

One final thing I want to bring up but don't have space to anywhere else in this review is the fact that this level is entirely at normal speed. Surprisingly, this doesn't make the level feel poorly paced at all because the story the level tells is so well-paced. Admittedly it does feel a bit weird going through the 1.7 part entirely in normal speed, but I feel like going through the level entirely in normal speed is a deliberate choice by Nacho. Time always moves at the same speed - 1 second is always 1 second long. No matter how long the wait is between two updates, we always progress through the time in-between at the same rate, no matter how long it is, no matter how fast the time flies when you're having fun and enjoying the game, no matter how slow the long wait can feel.

As I said earlier, this level was so far ahead of its time while also not misplaced in time at all. No one was making retrospective levels with this much depth and clarity in 2016, no one was authentically recreating older styles like this, and absolutely no one was building levels of this length in 2016, and it still managed to claim the throne of the longest non-minigame rated level 6 years after it released when it randomly got rated in 2022. Legendary level all-around.