Rating Curve

Logging in for the first time in weeks just to rate this

I'm really not sure what it is, but something about this level just works. I'm the first person against this kind of edgy text and sudden effects to make levels feel more creepy, but the reason it works here is it's doing the opposite. It's not using scary art or jumpscares or anything remotely similar. It just uses a single core object: the smiley face. And that makes it feel so much more genuine. The whole theme combined with the silent song as a whole just makes it naturally mysterious without trying hard.

I still cannot put my words into why I like this level as much as I do, but it's been stuck in my head for years and memorability is one of the things I consider most important in any level.

Out of all the levels that use this song this one represents it the best and it's not close. It's very silly and fun and the simple yet effective visuals fit the theme very well. I especially love the puzzle decoration.

Can't say a lot about this other than the fact that it's a much more overpolished and cut down version of a concept that has been done before. If you have seen MR PUZZLE by Fofii you'll know what I'm talking about. It predates this, uses the same song and idea of picking the right object. Ultimately you cannot judge this level without bringing the other one up. I find Fofii's level a lot more genuine and charming, because it takes its silliness in a less serious way, and all the parts feel connected in a way. OBJECT PERMANENCE on the other hand doesn't evoke the same feeling on me. The non-question parts feel disconnected while the questions themselves feel too polished to even pass it off as a joke level.

It definitely deserves the rate especially after those 30 sends (which I guess is what made the level most popular for after all) but rather than a fun joke level it just seems like that was the intention all along.

Up until now I dismissed this level as "forgettable"; after watching the NCS contest results this is the only level that I completely forgot how it looked like at all. Well now I'll make sure not to forget it because this has some of the worst gameplay on any gauntlet ever.

I have many negative things to say about this level, so let's just start with the positives. The first part is SO good. The color scheme is fantastic and fits the cyber theme very well, I really don't know why it was ditched for the rest of the level. The moving tetrahedrons look great and the rotation effect is very well made. It takes a bit to get used to navigating through this part because of the vertical screen, but it's not that bad. The ball part that follows right after is a bit of a letdown to me though; it's very monochrome compared to the previous part and the 3D doesn't look that great in my opinion.

The big highlight of this level is obviously the ... wave? What do I even call it? Technically it plays like a ship, but it would be so, so much better if it played like a wave instead. There's a reason why most games that have 3D corridors akin to this one are played by switching lanes. Navigating through it as a ship is not fun at all. I can't complain too much about it visually though; it looks good and very cyber which I like, and I like the backgrounds used although they got less interesting towards the end. I just wish it used more purplish colors on top of just different shades of blue just like the first part did. I'm also not a fan of the underwater section, it feels very forced and the SFX work (in general, not just that one part) is dreadful. Most sounds are either too loud or just unnecessary.

The final swing just takes everything the level built up to and throws it in another direction. Again, it looks nice, but compared to how cybernetic and electronic the other parts felt, this one just doesn't hit it. The endscreen is great though, the rotating title is done very well.

Neozenith started REALLY strong and just slowly lost it for me. I have to give credit where it's due though, most of the effects look fantastic but it's a stack of questionable creative decisions on top of the gameplay just being really poor that ruined it for me.