Me and Xuser have already talked ad nauseam about this level, so I'll keep this brief: we both generally concur on the fact that the shop and item system is pretty contrived and that trying to ham in a sort of linear progression to an open level was probably overly ambitious. I brought up at one point that the ideal version of this level might not have any actual gameplay aspects at all and rather just exist as a world to explore and marvel at all the brilliantly placed details and beautiful, intricate designs.

The thing is, this version of the level still exists within the level! The combo system is extremely enjoyable, so it certainly doesn't detract from the experience and it incentivizes exploration. Once you've completed enough, anyways, you can unlock every orb type and even a nice zoom out on the camera and the UFO gamemode to freely roam and this truly stunning world unfolds before you, and having worked so hard for it, it almost means more.

So, I think I changed my mind about the ideal version of this level. The ideal is that it exists at all. Which it does. Isn't that lovely?