Niflheim has certainly aged noticeably, like most other levels made in 2.0. However, I can’t help but feel that this monolith has an atmosphere that remains so thick one could choke on it and then some, after all these years.

Niflheim feels extremely slick, yet almost laboriously so. It rapidly throws sharp movements, disorienting “portals” and nearly random speed changes in the player’s way to ensure that one misstep or a single moment of forgetting what to do next kills you immediately. Nonetheless, the battle against Niflheim is one of attrition, as its steam slowly but surely depletes, as seen in its general decrease in speed and the breaks strewn throughout; almost as if the level itself is trying to catch its own breath and struggling to keep up with itself.

Although the drop is the highlight in Niflheim, that’s not to say the other parts are underwhelming. Niflheim remains charming and subtly beautiful in a way, gradually transitioning from feeling delicate and vulnerable in the beginning, to gradually and thoroughly building up towards the climax, and then releasing all that pent up energy in a dazzling dance of magic and metal.

If I were to describe the aesthetic in Niflheim through a single Google Search, it would be: “2010 Fantasy Weapons”. With just the right amount of cheese and the genuinely unfiltered angst it exudes, Niflheim remains a revered classic within the GD community, and for very, very good reason.