Rating Curve

I watched this level about 5 minutes ago and I am genuinely in shock that I hadn't seen this level until now. I've always been familiar with PAHC, knowing some of their most popular levels such as SAVE AS and Charmed Life, as well as Vertigo which I saw on Twitter. I also recently beat their level Over Again which is INSANELY well made, and I should've probably taken that as a reminder to play their older levels because that meant I would've seen this one sooner.

From Dust is a 6 minute long progression filled masterpiece, which is almost exactly up my alley in terms of level design. It's a relatively simple concept at first glance, when a new element gets introduced into the song, a new element gets introduced into the level to match it. I think just that little combination between the song and the level is able to make them feel completely connected. Cacola has always been an insanely good progressive artist, so any level that tries to match it will most likely also be an insanely well made experience.

There isn't much to say that can't be explained by just playing the level itself, putting a level like this into words and analyzing each little detail would only serve to ruin the experience of viewing it yourself for the first time. I highly request you to play this if you haven't seen it already.

It starts off with almost 30 seconds of nothing, which is most likely why so many people haven't heard of it, they quit out before they could get to any of the progression.

Just play the level, you'll understand why I'm speaking so highly of it.

An incredibly fun journey of a level which reminds me of why I love this game so much. Sure there will always be very technically impressive levels, and levels that have super good atmosphere, and all of that. But in my opinion, none of that can compare to a level where you can just tell the creator was just having FUN while making it. It's why I shill the magic tab so hard, it's full of levels created by people who had a vision and saw it through!

This level just emits an aura of joy I haven't seen any other level do, every part just feels "happy" to me. It might just be because of the song, but I dig it SO hard.

However, despite what the level's theme and aura implies, I think is not what the level is truly going for. The level seems very happy-go-lucky at first, but in the drop there are some things that suggest that this level might not be as happy as you might think. Showing objects such as knives, bandages, pills, and a noose.

Now I might be completely wrong with this, and I am VERY sorry if I am, but this feels like a theme of someone escaping a very difficulty school life through self-harm/suicidal tactics. I'm not sure if they go through with it at the very end since it ends with the cube simply looking out of a window at a house, but it's definitely implied that something is happening.

From what I view, when the cube escapes the school they are sent on a journey through the clouds, which is very happy and fun. I think this might be a representation of either being extremely high off of medication and/or a final resolve for them. (They're celebrating because they finally decided to buckle down and "do it.") It's a shockingly heavy topic which I actually didn't notice at first glance due to the objects just kind of blending in with each other at the Falling Up-esque cube part. It's incredibly interesting and I'd love to know if I got the theme right on this, this is at least how I interpreted it.

Moving onto the actual level, this level has some SUPER cool parts which I really like! I really like how the level both begins and ends with this black and white monochrome slow cube part. It both fits the song and my supposed theme I gave. The beginning cube also has what seems to be overhanging school lights and the last cube seems to be lampposts, implying their walking home. The first part after the first cube is a really cool 3D visualization of a school building which heavily reminds me of Pinecones, jumping over various school themed obstacles. It's very simple but very effective for a level like this :)

You then break out of a window and fly through the air around a lot of various school supplies, which slowly transition into other things I mentioned before. After this, you get hit with a BURST of energy as you are now flying through the clouds! The spikes in this part look SUPER cool and I love how they pulse as you move by them, the block design is a really pretty pink and overall it just looks super happy! It eventually opens up into a free fly ship part which has these giant glow bars go down in sync to the song.

At the end of this you get hit with an even BIGGER burst of energy as you are now in a very zoomed out swing section flying around the same spikes as before but also with these really gool geometric space blocks! This part is very simple in retrospect and reminds me of the magic tab a lot, it might not be the best executed color wise but I think it fits for a level like this. The gameplay is also REALLY FUN HERE!!! I love it so much. It then enters a dual which has this super cool effect of the blocks you're jumping on literally flying into the void behind you! It feels like something out of early 2.1 (compliment again, i swear) and reminds me a lot of Disco Night by HeroMoltenGD actually!

The part ends with you starting back at a similar looking black and white cube as I mentioned before, to which the level then ends.

I was honestly shocked to watch this level for the first time, I had only known Somie because I had occassionally seen them on the community tab, (usually getting some sort of backlash for a tweet where they just wanted to show off something cool [I FEEL THAT DW 💔💔]) but I never expected them to make such an awesome level, I definitely have to check out more of their levels after this :D

I beat Feral a while back when I was beating random insane demons, and what can I say, it definitely doesn't overstay its welcome. Feral clocks in at about 40 seconds and makes incredible use of its short timeframe.

It's a very simple level on first glance, really only containing a couple of colors. Black, red, and orange, but the way these colors are used in conjuction with pulses and the effects makes it a genuine feast on the eyes (I keep using that expression for some reason LOL)

The unconventional song really sets the tone for the level from the very beginning, it's already something that almost nobody would be expecting to hear in a GD level, and yet this level fits it perfectly in my opinion.

The level starts off very slow for a couple seconds, showing this waning glow in the background showing the structures in sync with the song, before almost instantly throwing you into a 4x speed robot. You are instantly assaulted with rapidly flashing red and black colors as these lines in the background seem to be shaking and curving all over the place. The lines in the back reminds me of a heartrate monitor for some reason, and it stands out to me a lot. Everything in this part just moves extremely fast past you, so much so that it all kind of blends in with each other. I can understand why that is for a level like this, but I wish I was able to see some parts of it more. I also really like the spinning x's in the blocks LOL

The next part just ramps up the intensity even more, with the background going into complete chaos as all the blocks and structures start to break open. It's like an effect of when you reach a floating point in a game, definitely not the intention, just an observation. It's an extremely cool effect and definitely fits the chaotic nature the level is trying to go for. I also really like the UFO parts where you hold your wave through them and these spikes with decoration appear on a pulse. It's slightly subtle, but it really sticks out to me in this chaotic mess of a part. (Compliment I swear LOL)

The next part brings it down slightly in intensity, while still keeping it at the same speed. The structures are much more visible and put together, however the background is moving even faster and the objects are rotating MUCH faster. It feels like you literally can't keep up with the level anymore despite being at the same speed. I also like the really subtle white flash on the dash orb where everything seems to stop at the moment. It's a very small moment of the song which I'm glad they highlighted!

The part ends with the background going black and you jumping on the numbers 1, 2, 3 , and 4 in sync with the song which I LOVE. I love interactivity with songs like this and I think so many more levels should do it. Having lyrics or song representation in your level is cool, but having you INTERACT WITH IT is so fun. The level slows down vastly after this, switching to an orange color scheme at this rate that flashes red. This part's atmosphere is absolutely crazy. It keeps the same waning glow effect from the beginning and after each measure, the gameplay moves up by 1 block. It keeps it SUPER interesting, especially for the end of a level like this. I also love the zig-zag floating spike structures that only appear on the pulse that moves the blocks up.

Feral is an incredibly well made level that fits the song super well, I love all the effects used in it and I feel it fit's the intensity that the original song artist was going for. I just wish that it was a bit longer personally and that some of the effects didn't blend in with each other. That's just a small nitpick though :)

what the fuck did i just play

The reason I am rating this version of Six Paths of Pain, is because, while I understand the reasoning behind the redecoration and other certain changes to the level. I think it ruins the original charm the level had and why I fell in love with it so much. This is the original version of Six Paths of Pain and what I will always see it as.

Six Paths of Pain is my second favorite impossible level of all time, just behind Sakupen End. I've never seen a level so accurately capture the old impossible level feel as this one does. The stupidly impossible wave spams, the edgy text and style, the insanely good song? It has EVERYTHING.

I would go into detail about each part of the level, but I feel like all of my reviews have just been plot summary and I kind of want to stray away from that. I'll instead talk about specific details which I love and what make the level so special to me.

The colors in this level are perfect for what it is trying to achieve. The gray, red, and black do wonders for fitting this old impossible level edgy theming, and the first part feels like a bit of a bait and switch for what the level is going to be. One of my personal favorite parts of this level is actually the text. There isn't a lot of it, but what it says REALLY brings me back.

"Those who can't understand TRUE PAIN, can never understand TRUE PEACE."

"Open your third eye, you won't believe the TRUTH."

Both are said at extremely impactful parts of the level and makes it SO much more memorable. I especially love the 2.0 flowers around "PEACE" in the first quote.

Another thing I love is the abundance of faces/monsters, a lot of them look really goofy but I think that's a good thing! All the scary faces and monsters fit the edgy atmosphere the level gives off!

I can't really talk about this level without mentioning the song though. Nuke Powder is probably the perfect song for a level like this and is probably what makes it so memorable to a lot of people. The song representation is PERFECT in this level, having a couple parts which genuinely feel as dramatic as the song. It's one of those level + song combinations where you can't associate the song with any other level.

While I am sad that the redecoration ruined almost all of this for me, I am still happy that this version still exists and is able to be watched. This level is absolutely amazing and I'm so happy I was able to watch it in my lifetime.

"Limitation breeds creativity."

Phenomenal level. The atmosphere in this level is out of this world, only thing that breaks the limits of 1.0 in this level is object count, which I can understand. Never seen anything like this level before, and I doubt I ever will.

Despite 2 player mode being introduced all the way back in 1.8, Duelo Maestro is by far the most recognizable level that utilizes it. Nacho21 has always had an insanely unique style which you can recognize in an instant, with very notable levels such as Retro Circles, Invisible Light, Conchetumare X, and of course, Duelo Maestro.

I don't know what the hell Nacho21 laced this level with, but I swear no matter how many years pass since its creation, it never ages a day in it's life. It looks just as good as it did when it came out 8 years ago. Now most people obviously like to focus on this level's gameplay, as it is very recognizable and I feel like anyone could recognize the keys in the asymmetric dual. I'd like to focus on this level's decoration and style.

The first memory cube I'd say is one of the most recognizable predrop's in all of GD, the weird timings and fake spikes is something that doesn't exactly leave a lot of player's heads I've noticed. It shows you what the style is going to be like right away and sets you in for a 4 minute long journey. The next robot adds some color to the background, swapping between green, blue, and purple as you jump up these platforms of what seems to be a glass maze. It's super simplisticly designed, and yet, somehow extremely memorable! I think the gameplay here is also super unique because of its maze-like gameplay despite not seeming like one at first!

You then get to the next ship part where it becomes night time, this part is very simple in about every way. Pulsing stars in the background that follow you, the bricks from the building that pulse brighter and darken again, the giant structure where you hold and release? That might sound very non-descript but if you know the level, you know exactly what I'm talking about! That's what I'm talking about with this level's gameplay, it's just that memorable even if it isn't the most advanced. The next ball part keeps the night time theme aesthetic going with these floating spike lanterns with fire in them that shine the way through this dark area. All the blocks are now completely black and it makes it feel like you're going through some sort of dungeon. This part utilizes ball portals to bring the camera up and down, which genuinely makes it feel like you're exploring it. (Side note, I've always LOVED when levels did this, it makes the level feel so much cooler and like you're actually exploring it)

The next part is the cube right before the drop, bringing a very simple design with slowly changing colors where you follow the music notes to the song. You go up a giant staircase to the song and enter the symmetric drop for the first time. This buildup is very simple but REALLY COOL AND MEMORABLE. This level makes such simple design choices but is somehow able to use them effectively every time. I genuinely don't know how Nacho does it.

You finally enter the first 2 player dual, which is symmetric. It keeps the gray building look from the first part with this really cool circle moving background which seem to vaguely follow you, which I never actually noticed before LOL, it then goes darker after the wave part as all the blocks go black. The next part of the dual is a very unique take on a forest style, using the 2.0 grass and these customly designed mushrooms, as well as these low opacity yellow hexagons in the background which give a semblance of light above the trees. The gameplay here also only consists of jump pads and orbs but it's still REALLY fun to play as it syncs with the song. The design here is quite simple, but as we know, Nacho can achieve an incredibly unique aesthetic even with not much on screen at all. You then seem to enter the glow mushroom cave itself in the next part, as you jump across these invisible platforms surrounded by glowing ground topped off with glowing mushrooms. The background becomes this really cool moving square background, and it's overall just a really cool section. The gameplay here is also very fun for a robot dual :) The next part of the symmetric dual is probably the most recognizable, you finally leave the cave and are greeted with the bright sun as you are now flying along the clouds as a ship. It feels straight out of 2.0 and yet somehow feels like it hasn't aged a bit. Extremely memorable part and I haven't seen a single person dislike this part. The final part of the dual is back to the night time with the dual ball part, the gameplay involves sweeping across the screen onto different platforms and having the two players constantly swap sides. It's one of those parts that would be very easy with one player, but having two players makes it VERY reliant on both players performing at their best. The decoration is very simple once again, being night time and having low opacity glow and moving squares in the background. One cool part some people might not notice, is the moon appearing and changing phases during this part! It starts out as whole moon, becomes a half moon, and eventually disappears from the eyes. It's a very cool detail which is surprisingly visible yet a lot of people don't notice.

The dual part then ends and you are greeted with the beginning of the slow break part. This robot part has a very unique gimmick of all the blocks and spikes changing between high and low opacity. This part feels very still, as the background doesn't move at all. And all you can see is the fires that appear in the spikes when they go low opacity. The gameplay here is also very stressful as it involves some very weird robot gameplay where you have to microclick sometimes. It can be very precise which I find very cool!

You then enter the tech styled part, which will be the remainder of the break. This wave is EXTREMELY cool, bringing back the glass block design from before but utilizing a black color to make it look like shiny metal. The color goes purple and you wave this incredibly hollow feeling area, where the structures consist of one row of metal and then a pattern of gears. This part looks very pretty and the gameplay is AWESOME. It involves sweeping up and down, but you have to inch your way up and down, as well as go through these little spike corridors. It's very unique and fits the song extremely well!!

The next part stays the same style except you are now a ship. Nacho introduces these blocks that launch out platforms which you can use as a launch pad essentially. This is the first gameplay gimmick in the level and is used very tastefully. You have to view them as obstacles as touching them will 99% of the time launch you into a spike, but you also have to use them to your advantage to clear large heights you couldn't make with your ship. It's incredibly unique gameplay and I absolutely love this part.

You then enter the final portion of the break part. The level goes entirely red and utilizes these really cool blocks that constantly extend spikes out of them on a cycle. It also uses really cool orb chains and doesn't stop you if you stray off the main path! You jump up this giant staircase to the next part. This tunnel is my favorite part of the level gameplay wise, there are invisible portals that constantly swap you through four gamemodes. Ship, Ball, UFO, and Wave. You have to maneuver through this corridor while constantly swapping gamemodes and remembering when the spikes are going to jut out. It's all synced to the song and is SUPER satisfying to pull off. I remember always being enamored by this part when watching someone beat it. Shit like this is why I love Nacho21 levels so much, nobody else could pull this off as well as he does.

Finally, you enter the asymmetric dual. Each player has to collect their player color's keys and this is the final test of the level. The first part utilizes these very cool solid color blocks that get colored different colors as you move past them. The background consists of normal 2.0 objects that move in the background, however I really like what happens when one of the ships touches the blue auto pads. The low opacity black arrows in the background become real and start moving to the song! It's literally like watching something come alive in the background LOL, the wave part after keeps the same style but utilizes the tech styled blocks from before where they constantly switch colors. The gameplay here is SUPER fun and involves lots of sweeping over each other and making sure to keep track of where the other player here.

The next part is back to the night time where the background consists of a slowly rotating glow star in the background as you move two cubes across it. One starts as mini on the top and other starts as big on the bottom. The contrast of gameplay here is something I've always liked for some reason. You time some orbs and eventually both become big and start using the same platforms in the middle. One is forced to fall off and hit a blue pad to enter a ufo portal and spam up to the top. I really like the gameplay here and it's always stuck in my mind for some reason, I think it's due to how well it syncs with the music. It's able to make unique and interesting gameplay that also fits the music to a tee. I LOVE IT.

The part after is relatively simple, containing two mini balls traversing through two corridors on top of each other. A pulsing diamond reminiscent of the nine circles effect is used as the background and the balls have to do completely different gameplay that BOTH sync to the song. It flows extremely well. At the end of it they both come together in the middle, where they swap from top to bottom and bottom to top, leading to the next part, and my favorite from the asymmetrical dual.

This part HEAVILY reminds me of something KrmaL would make. The background is a simple darkened sky background with glow made to look like clouds. You also have these shapes made out of 4 hearts where each one individually moves to the song, making the level feel very vibrant!. The block design is SUPER cool, utilizing the gray 2.0 blocks with shadows to make it feel shiny like it really is in the sky! (I LOVE THIS) Both the wave and the ship have to then go through this wave corridor that is covered in spikes, where the ship has to sweep up and down. It's a super simple part in retrospective to everything, but the colors work perfectly and it's SO memorable.

The final part of the asymmetric dual is a dark brick style which feels like some sort of castle. The mini cubes dance across the screen, hitting different orbs to stay on their side of the screen and making sure to avoid any that the other should hit. I especially like the last row of orbs for the top player. It then gets darker as it splits into two corridors, the top being a big cube and the bottom being a mini ball. This part is very tense for solo players especially as the timings here are very awkward and makes for a fitting finale to the dual. Once the dual ends you enter this auto part as you make your way to the final cube. On sync, you also collect two invisible free coins, no idea why, but it's so memorable there's no way I can't love it LOL.

The last cube is probably the most stressful thing in any level EVER. After all of that 2 player dual madness, you enter a one player cube part where every orb is a question mark. It involves complete memorization of every orb and the timing of each one. You can't just simply buffer every single one, there's individual timings needed for each one. The background is completely black, there's no bells and whistles decoration wise, it's just up to you to remember the final part. It goes on for about 15 seconds, where the song resorts back to it's original melody after hearing dubstep for the past couple minutes. However, once it's finally over, the level gives you a free dual ship portal and thanks you for playing, and shows you all the dedication for about 20 seconds. This might feel drawn out, but I think this is perfect. It makes the level feel a lot more personal and a lot more like a passion project by the creator. It also serves as a break to react for the player(s) LOL, the endscreen is very simple just being a dual portal that say duelo maestro with your player colors. Very simple, very effective.

I don't think I'd be lying if I said this level was revolutionary. Even if it's not the most unique in it's decoration, it's able to form its own style and forces itself to make it known through it's incredible unique and satisfying gameplay, as well as its incredible song representation. There's no way I can't give this anything less than a 10 in everything :)

the first ever instance I realized that nothing can mean everything

rgbwheregisgold is a level with some INSANELY unique and fun gameplay which I will definitely remember for a while! I found this level through @OnlyTrying's rating request thread and this was the most recent reply!

This level has a very simplistic design approach and focuses pretty heavily on the gameplay, which I honestly respect! The gameplay was a BLAST to play through and figure out, and it all fit super well with the song! I think the color concept is very funny because it tells you straight up what it's gonna be and, hey! it's not wrong!

The first part is relatively simple both gameplay wise and decoration wise, using every object to it's advantage. I really like the clouds that float towards you and then away! I also like the spinning wave structures made by just alternating the colors, very cool :) You then lead to this row of pink orbs where you break through the spikes and fall into the sun background into which you get thrown out as a UFO! And here is where the unique gameplay really starts to kick in.

This part uses symmetry and repetition EXTREMELY well. There are four sections that repeat where you have these mirrored slopes with red orbs and pink dash orbs, except you go through them as a different gamemode every time! It gives variety each time you go through and after you go through the solid color background with mini spikes, where it will change depending on what gamemode you are! The decoration here adds a bit more to the previous part, including this cool pulsing background and the solid color background moving down as the all the stars rotate and pulse as you move past them. It's an incredibly solid and incredibly fun part :D

We then move on to my personal favorite part, here you are flying through the clouds where you enter these different cube tunnels in different ways! This also reminds me, but this level utilizes this very cool gimmick of double green portals! They don't do much but they are very cool :) You travel through each cube tunnel in varying ways, sometimes as ship, some as swing, and each time you get followed by these two arrows in the bars surrounding the tunnel! It's hard to explain, but it's extremely interesting and I like it a lot!

Now we're at the final part of the drop and we go through each of the 4 gamemodes again, except this time the structures from before are getting overlayed and SLICED in front of our eyes. It's very cool and I like this part a lot :)

The last cube is very interesting and also kind of difficult LOL, it's a sort of memory based cube and you have to hit all the correct orbs to make it to the end, it feels very strange but I honestly kinda dig it! Then you got the awesome end screen which shows rgb with a little * as the green changes to gold LMAO

rgbwheregisgold is a very simple and unique level which focuses on it's super fun gameplay and uses simple yet effective decoration to it's best! I think this should absolutely be rated personally !!

bmbmbm by 7ak is the level that introduced me to the band black midi. I had no idea who they were at the time, but 7ak told me that their new level was going to use the song bmbmbm by them. Out of curiosity, I listened to the song and I was both confused and ENTHRALLED. It is a repetitive and abstract mess of a song, and yet it just gets stuck in your head. I knew from the moment that I heard the song that 7ak was going to COOK with this.

And I was absolutely right.

bmbmbm is a very repetitive song in itself, repeating the same lyrics over and over, in random order. So 7ak decided to make gameplay for each of those lyrics, and fit them to each lyric in the song. It makes you feel like you're genuinely playing to the song and it's SO cool. It might sound simple here, but it is used extremely effectively and I absolutely love it.

The first three and a half minutes consist of these repeating blocks, the decoration is also relatively simple. Yet somehow, it keeps you intrigued the entire way through. The decoration consists of these white blocks that are all connected by lines, becoming more complex as more words are said in the lyric. There are occasional black slanted blocks with spikes coming out of the ground, and that's relatively it for gameplay and decoration. The white inside the blocks and the decoration around the orbs continues to expand in and out to the song, over, and over, and over again. It's honestly entrancing in a way. The ground is also a very unique pick, but it fits the very strange vibe the level has.

After the three and a half minutes, you hit a dash orb and get sent flying into a violently flashing rainbow glow that covers your screen as the song descends into complete chaos. Until it finally comes to a close and fades out into black as you slowly go down a slope, you hit two jump pads and get SENT into an extremely chaotic ball part with stuff flying through the blocks, a vibrant red and pink filling your screen. The gameplay simply consists of dash orbs that sync to the beat of the song, but the hits are so aggressive that it feels like you're SLAMMING into the blocks. It's extremely cool.

The level then starts to devolve into even more chaos, the lyrics flashing a bright and scrawled pink in the background as the structures from the first part of the level are copy and pasted en masse over everything. It is extremely cathartic and I LOVE it. It's such a simple way of invoking intensity, and yet it does it perfectly. The bars on the top and bottom slowly close in further and further until it fully closes and you're back as a cube. The song is back to the same repeating note as it was before, and each pink orb pulses the ground red. It ends off very simply with a recreation of the album cover that the song is from, 'Schlagenheim'.

I think this level is the perfect mix of abstract that this song needed, some people might call it repetitive, empty, or boring, but I think that fits the song! The song is just the same note over and over again, with the lyrics repeating over and over again, I don't think there's a better way 7ak could have represented it. It's been about 3 years since I've seen this and I still think it stands up to this day.