Rating Curve

this was my all time favorite level for a very, very long time. it's an incredible little experiment in minimalism and its position in my favorites has stood strong, even if it's not at the very top of my list anymore. the ease at which it represents the song with such bare decoration is stunning; a twenty-second part in the very middle with absolutely no moving objects or sharp movements being more tense than most 4x speed sections in extreme demons is beyond impressive. the only things present throughout the level excluding the bare gameplay elements are either lumps of intersecting lines or lyrics to the song written out, the latter of which would be a huge negative usually as i don't care for transcribed lyrics in levels but they manage to stay aligned with the rest of it visually and tonally so it's just another great feature.

also worth noting despite its extreme simplicity the transition into the chorus is jaw dropping.

best platformer in the game by a thousand miles. this thing is stunning, every single little section has so much care and attention to detail it's insane. 30 minutes into my first playthrough and i was still discovering new areas of the map lol. really feels like its own little world. favorite parts:

- the little flowers made of pink pads (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

- the teleport portals between the blue orb and yellow orb structures

- the sun and smaller yellow orbs revolving around it

- the bottom right fire section that was painfully hard to get into without red orb access

- the blue orb waterfalls (and the delightful combo challenge that goes along with it)

- the overgrown yellow pink and red orb semicircles in the bottom left

look at that mural about a minute in. coming across that on a first playthrough must put someone in a daze. up until that point the terminator has been putting together a stereotypical, if a bit unsettling, picture of heaven: statues of angels, white marble, flowers and pastel colors. there are hints of imperfection prior to the mural in smaller details but this “hint” is so incredibly striking and out of place it smacks you right in the face. the image of people burning in hell big and centered in the middle of the screen, surrounded by clean pale structures. one of two big narrative anchors in the level, it’s perfectly timed, even if it foreshadows the most obvious "twist" possible; soon after the facade pulls away (literally! the level deconstructs and lets more red seep through in the designs) and the objects actually individually flitter out of the level. two jaws close on you — the first organic structures you’ve seen so far besides the flowers — and the level reveals itself, fading back in as hell.

relative to other “hell-themed” levels in the game this particular representation is wildly unique. the neon red common in nearly every other gd hell takes a backseat here to darker desaturated crimson, purple, and brown, and the structures are made out of flesh and teeth, deliberately placed among design elements present in the first part of the level driving home the idea that you’re still in the same place you started. the tension created in the short time between this reveal and the closing part hits its peak at the climax of the level, where everything breaks away for a second time and you're sent down even further to what i consider the second anchor. this fairly small part with only four inputs total is the level’s reason for existing; everything that happens up to this point is justified because of this payoff, and it is absolutely fucking miraculous. the colors burn the brightest they’ve been yet and all four clicks have an immense weight to them, so every time you fall back onto the platform it’s as if the ground is being punched. it’s a hypnotizing high point in the level while you are literally the lowest you could feasibly go in the world skywalker’s created, a really creative way for the gameplay to contribute to the immersion. You start the climb back up after those four clicks (thankfully allowing you to see that gorgeous background) and finally everything fades out again. An unrewarding yet completely fitting ending.

the terminator leaves behind the polish and fine-tuning of other "art" levels and sets its goals exclusively in the representation of its theme. everything is directed towards this goal, and as a result all the nitpicks and critiques one could make, no matter how applicable, fail to even make a dent in the absolute monolith that this level is as an ensemble. untouchable

orbs are used in this level to make clouds and apples. one of them even falls from a tree. which you then use as a gameplay element. i love this thing to death, real comfort level

grotesque. commanding. follows the colossal release of devin2003 with something of a counterpoint, arguably the most raw and chaotic form his style has taken. everything that devin is known for is done not just better but so much more powerfully here. secretly his “masterpiece,” only truly challenged by old rust dont dry

She mooouuuves with a Poirpus . oh it is such a porpos it is such a pourpos Ouuuhh what a poirpous. What a mag nificent. pourpose

pretty genius gameplay. i don't know how ak came up with this but it's so damn cool

better than black blizzard. grueling but gorgeous first half into the most rewarding back half of any level ever

deserves the 10 for introducing sampling to the wider gd community. should've started a trend, unfortunately didn't. some of the most unbelievable and admirable commitment to song representation ever seen in the game

probably the most recent level i'd consider a real classic both because of how infamous it is and because of how singular it is outside of wless's other levels. the gameplay might be obnoxious on the surface but it works with the song fantastically and feels great to pull off. people who say they can't play this from 0 are weak minded and lack love in their hearts

odd to look back on this and actually recognize all the influences and where the design elements come from. the artists the level references aren’t plagiarized, their work is actually being engaged with, understood, and adapted to a different medium (gd). mindblowing stuff here, one of the coolest ever