Rating Curve

My 3rd favourite level of all time.

FUN, the map. They took everything that made troll level an amazing level and turned it into

pure chaos.

This level is inconsistent, unbalanced, high CPS, but it’s also super colourful, lively and overwhelming, all of which are compliments imo. All of these qualities are what makes this into the most fun experience I ever had in this game. I was waiting for this to drop for more than a year and wow it didn’t disappoint.

What a map for sure.

sadly, it’s gone now

NEVERMIND ITS BACK, WE ARE SOOOOOO BACKKKKK

It uses its runtime perfectly, setting itself up with 3 minutes of pure build up where it gets more and more intense as the level progresses. You start with simple spikes, then you start to see a new environment where you stay for a decent bit and then for the build up, you climb up a building which is genius. It also works perfectly because it breaks the flow of the level, just like the song did. And then you get thrown into random gameplay. This part is definitely the highlight here, it could’ve been executed better for sure but I love this part. And then the level goes back to normal with the vocals appearing again. This level is so nicely paced, I didn’t even feel like this level was almost 6 minutes when I was beating it. It is an incredible level and definitely one of the best level that this new update has seen

Crossroads.

Wow, what a fantastic map. The decoration is so charming, the invisible gameplay really do work with the vibes and atmosphere, and it represents the song representation so well. The last dash orb also feels like a climactic end to the level, it’s such a cool way to represent the key chance that leads to the end of the song. Despite how repetitive this level may feels, you really get to feel emotions in this one which all lead to the final click where you feel relieved and yeah, this level is beatiful. So much charm, so much energy, peak vibes

Hollow.

Out of all the levels that I’ve played, I can’t really think of a level that did song representation better than this level. Every single details of the song are represented in a way or another in this map. QuazeryIceCube really did an outstanding job crafting this.

I’m gonna try to review every section in this level because I think that it is the best way to understand what the level was going for.

Before that though, I didn’t even explain what kind of level this is. This is a « memory » XL level that has a very unique approach to memory. Basically, you have to navigate through blocks that are seemingly placed randomly. That makes the level open with many ways to beat the level and many areas to explore. The decoration compliments the gameplay and the song very well. It is very simple but it also has a lot of charm. It sacrifices complicated visuals for song representation and honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I don’t think this level would work better if it did have a different visual style.

Anyway, now let’s talk about each sections.

The Introduction:

The first part is a great introduction to the level. It is a robot part with bunch of blocks and you need to find a way out. Already, you can already experiment with the open environment as there isn’t really a clear way to pass this section. Just like the song, the part starts very simply, with just regular blocks but once you get used to that, more and more elements starts to appear. All of those elements are colored differently, it’s like a group of instruments that have different functions but serve the same role but instead, it’s with different blocks. I really do like this first part, it introduces the concept in a very simple but effective way and the song representation is so clever and well executed. Though I guess there was one complaint I had, which is obviously the length of that section. It is by far the longest in the level and since it feels very similar throughout the entire part, it does drag from 0. It didn’t really matter to me though because honestly, playing this part is super fun and I also really love the song so yeah, it could affect some, but not me. Last thing I wanna talk about this part is the choice of the gamemode. Yeah no, there was absolutely no other way this level could open. Cube is generally more versatile than robot however in this context, robot is definitely the better option. It makes exploring the section way more fun and allows for more pathways to be used and found. Even with orbs and pads, robot would be the better option here and of course, this level doesn’t have any orbs or pads until way later in the level.

The Build-up:

This part is so cool. Again, very simple in ideas but well it works a lot. You start this section with a few more blocks to avoid as the robot. The twist here is that these appear with the song, meaning you have to memorize where the blocks are to avoid them. Then, what follows is pretty much an extension of what I just said. You enter a mini-ship section with blocks that switch back and forth with the music. This time, there is less emphasis on the exploration aspect, and more on memory. You have to know where those blocks are, not to use them like previously, but to avoid them. It’s a simple but effective way to build tension which is emphasized by the more closed area (the ship is not on free mode which limits the area). My favorite part here is definitely the later part of this section where you switch from ship to robot in order to convey represent the vocals which just appeared. And then guess what! When it says « it is hollow », you have to go through holograms, which are pretty much just hollow blocks. So I guess you can call them « hollowgrams », wait that’s the name of the song! That’s so clever. Jokes aside, this part is super cool, it definitely work as a build-up as there more and more things happening overtime which builds tension really well.

The Climax:

This is obviously the highlight of the level and one of the best memory gameplay part I’ve ever played. This section is a combination of the spirits of the two previous sections. You’ll have to explore this open maze made of randomly placed objects of bunch of kinds in order to escape this landscape of mini blocks like the 1st section and also to avoid all the obstacles that are in your way, like the 2nd. The addition of portals and pads makes this section feels like it is not meant to be played, that you are facing a confusing puzzle that you have no idea how to solve and where to even start, which definitely adds to the atmosphere of the part. It also makes this area very confusing in an « elegant way », without relying on fakes or other fancy tricks of the kind. And of course the best part about this section is the fact that there are like pretty much an infinite amount of way to tackle it. It makes the section like SUPER HARD TO LEARN but figuring it all is so satisfying. You have to explore as much you can, because you need to know which way will kill you and which way will lead to the end, but you also need to do that after learning because maybe you will find a more confortable way to go through the part. You have to make it work for yourself. Figuring it out is already a very difficult process and doing it from 0 is even more nerve-racking. Going through the robot part from 0 is like a long journey and once you get to the ship, your nerves are already up because you know what awaits at the end of the section. It gets progressively more tense as the gameplay and song introduce those vocals and then it all explodes at the drop. A lot can go wrong in this part, you could forget where to go, couldn’t get the setup that you’ve found or simply you could let the nerves get over you and lose your focus. It doesn’t help that the part actually gets harder as you approach the end because of those pads that force you to go to specific locations and finally you get to the two last pillars and if you managed to go through them, the level is finally over. This is why this climax works so well. It definitely didn’t happen out of nowhere, it is the natural conclusion of what happened before. Getting there is no easy task and getting out of there is even harder. I didn’t really mention it before but aside of song representation, I also think it has one of the best progression in a level ever. The process of learning this level is a huge task but a task that gets rewarded after you pass those two pillars and in my opinion, all of that makes this truly a great conclusion to this great map.

Overall, this is easily one of my favorite levels of all time. From the song representation, to the progression, to the experience, everything about this level is absolutely fantastic. The fact that I got so much of something with such a minimalistic approach really amazes me. You can easily tell QuazeryIceCube did their absolute best with what they were working with, I can definitely see the effort and care that went into this level. I really hope this map will be remembered because wow was it incredible (and i also hope robtop stops being hollowophobic and rate this already it’s been 8 months 😭)

anyway, yeah this map bangs, good job 👍

Quazery do be the DORABAE of today

knot.

Where do I even begin…

I originally beat this on April 2021 and wow, it was genuinely one of the greatest experiences if not THE BEST experience I’ve ever had in this game. Even today, it still remains as my favorite level ever made despite not being that known and despite the numbers of masterpieces that were made before and after it.

If you don’t know what this level is about, it’s a memory insane demon that takes a lot of inspiration from Crohn44. It’s not really your typical memory demon with bunch of random fakes here and there, it’s a memory level that uses repeated structures as its base so figuring out the way is very trick.

This is exactly for this reason that I enjoyed this map so much. Learning the level is very hard, even harder than some memory extremes I’ve played. But once you figure it out, it is such a satisfying feeling to have. The learning process is easily one of the best part of this level.

Next I wanna talk about the gameplay. The gameplay, as I said, takes a very long time to learn, not due to difficulty though, but because of how it is structured. But once that is done, the gameplay is pretty satisfying to pull off and sticks in your brain (literally beat this level about a hundred times and never got bored once). There is not a single unfair chokepoint or anything like it. It may seem a bit unbalanced at first but that’s only bc some parts take way longer to learn. It being an insane demon definitely helps as well, it is not easy enough where the gameplay could become boring and the memory uninteresting, but it is also not hard enough where the difficulty could become more annoying than just confusing. At the end of the day though, this level is very consistent and very fun to pull off.

The structures in this level are very simple but it works perfectly with what the creator had in mind. It makes the level very confusing despite not having any visuals that obstruct you way, which is something that I appreciate a lot with this level. Don’t get me wrong, memory levels with a lot of visual clutters are also great imo but I really appreciate how modest the memory aspect of this level presents itself.

And finally the decoration. Well, obviously it is not the most impressive thing in the world. I don’t really mind though as long as it compliments the gp and the song well, which it definitely does. It’s simple again, but very effective and matches the vibe of the song (which is great btw 👍). I think it was the best way those structures could’ve been decorated and plus, I like the decoration.

In conclusion, this is the best level I’ve ever played (this is obviously a subjective opinion), ofc it’s not flawless, however, I can’t see those aforementioned flaws. This is the level that gave me the best experience in this game and it is not even close.

i love knot.