Rating Curve

People don't seem to like this level much, from what I've seen. I like it, though! While it started off as a pastiche of Laser Room (hence the name), it eventually morphed into a comment on the state of 1.9 levels in the community. I quite like the 1.9 style, with its limited object pallette and relative staticity. Unfortunately, by looking at the levels made on the 1.9 GDPS, one gets the impression that they actually hate the update with how much they're trying to break past the limitations of the time. As such, Faux Room largely uses 1.9 objects and emulates the aesthetics of levels actually released during the update, but intentionally uses many features from later updates, including gameplay objects like dash orbs, in order to show that the usage of 1.9 objects is not a result of limitations, but of intentional aesthetic choice. I think the end result is quite neat, though UFO Circles definitely did it better.

The zenith of neodesign, in that it caused the style to almost die down completely, because no one could make a neodesign "genre level" (the Geometry Dash equivalent of genre fiction) without it being utterly eclipsed by WELL RESTED.

DeCode is so iconic that most people are willing to completely brush off the lackluster decoration and thematic inconsistency permeating this level. That's fine, I can do that as well. It's a fine 1.9 level, I guess, and I quite like how its perceived difficulty has dropped over the years (mainly due to wave becoming the dominant gamemode among GD players, but still).

I will not sugarcoat it: this level has some really awkward gameplay, and its decoration has not aged particularly gracefully; specifically, the dual part looks garish with all the rainbow objects. However, I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel absolutely elated when getting to the drop after all that buildup. Progression in GD levels had always been a thing in the short term, and it'd be ahistorical to claim that this level specifically pioneered slow-burn XL levels (I mean, Lonely Travel exists), but I think this level really exemplified how stunning it can be, if done well. Plus, it popularized the use of Cacola's music in GD levels; who can complain about that?

Gotta face the elephant in the room here: the gameplay in this level is unacceptably bad at spots. However, this is only a minor detraction to the sheer style this level oozes—even if it is admittedly wholly unoriginal, it's also a superb minimalist showcase of glow, in a style which I don't think has ever been tried before. It's beautiful!

While this level is still pretty damn good, I do consider Tetrix to be the better Insendium XL level, because unfortunately, there's only so much you can do with just two colors stretched across 3 minutes. It constantly tries to introduce new designs, and eventually, it just runs out of steam.