For those of you who are unfamiliar, RASH was Loltad’s first slam-dunk of a level, getting him his very first epic, and over 228 thousand downloads. This level has been one of my favorite Loltad levels for a while now, and I am finally glad to have completed it. Both the decoration and gameplay are amazing, making for a level that is very memorable.

To begin with, the decoration in RASH is fantastic, even for having aged a bit. This level is inspired by the “Corpse” floor in The Binding of Isaac (from the Repentance DLC), which is strongly reflected in the grotesque theming. Although the theme starts to apply strongly in the later half of the level, Loltad built the theme through disgusting assets. These assets start to become plentiful past 55%, as this level pulls out a part with designs reminiscent of flesh, complemented with lots of eyeballs. I think the last drop is the best instance of the theme, as there is a mix between more traditional designs, and decayed flesh structures. And to top it off, Loltad included a lot of flies in the last part, truly getting the point across of this being a gross level. Even though the theme is more apparent in the second half, the first half still works to build a nasty look for the level. The entire level uses a warm color palette, as well as a predominant desaturated red color, providing an almost humane feature to the designs. On top of this, the level has lots of pulses, movements, and fantastic level composition that make RASH enjoyable even regardless of the intense theme.

As for the gameplay, it’s just as enjoyable and unique as the decoration. Loltad has a knack for making very interesting gameplay, and it’s very evident in RASH. This level has so many unique timings, fun skill-based sections, and lots of slopes to keep the gameplay fresh. There is also some repetition utilized in the beginning of the drop, which makes this section of gameplay particularly memorable to me. As for the balancing, it’s a little busted. The level drops off in difficulty towards the middle, and then picks up in the final drop, which makes this level extremely flukeable. This is both a positive and a negative, depending on if the player flukes the entire ending, or gets a progress fluke (like me).

Overall, RASH is a very special level that cemented Loltad as a talented creator. Even though I was annoyed that I had a progress fluke to 93% and then took another 2 hours to complete the level, I still enjoyed this level a lot. The fantastic decoration, grotesque theming, and fun gameplay helped me continue to enjoy the level. I would absolutely recommend RASH to anyone looking for an interesting but difficult Extreme Demon to complete.