Rating Curve

man playing this genuinely got me sentimental

i cant remember the last time i felt joy from playing a gd level. like ive had fun but that just doesnt equate, like the pure sense of discovery from a toddler finding a new playground for the first time. and the playground isnt entirely metaphorical either, because this level is entirely constructed like a playground. the all-too- familiar gd bounce pads recontextualized to be not just a part of the gameplay but the entire level itself, stripping away any conventional barriers between a level's gameplay, visuals, and overall identity. and the resulting "gameplay" is essentially a sandbox . it's the idea that i tried and partially succeeded to capture in orbdancer - the joy of exploring this entire new world and playing around with toys that the level provides you in the form of monumental pad structures and

orbdancer is not even the only personal connection here; the level uses conclusion by waterflame, an upbeat soundtrack that i also chose for uniformity, my first real break into the creating scene. To date uniformity is still the most fun i've ever had building a level, having absolutely no expectations for myself while the self-imposed restriction forces me to channel my innermost creativity. this level cements conlusion as essentially the anthem of discovery and exploring the infinite possibilities of the gd editor

im reminded of a time in the hyperbolus server when someone (i think somie) posed a question on who the most influential creators of all time are, using quazery as a personal example. they were expectedly dogged on for suggesting this, but maybe they would be right in the perfect world. because this feels like what creating should have been. theres nothing technically difficult or groundbreaking about what quazery is doing here; all it takes is an enthusiasm for discovery and loving the process. So its genuinely profoundly sad to me that not many other people are really doing stuff like this

some of the most entrancing gameplay i've ever seen. this level is absurdly addicting to watch

(Copied from yt description)

I fell in love with this level almost instantly when I first saw it and continued to be obsessed with it days after. The worldbuilding and atmosphere are absolutely fantastic; the two climax parts, 50-67 and 88-100, had me experiencing emotions that I did not know were possible from a GD level. I remember traversing through these broken city structures with the giant humanoid figures and vivid flames in the background in my first blind practice run made me feel somehow powerful and powerless at the same time. Powerful when soaking in the environment surrounding you but powerless when reminded of your place within it. I especially want to highlight the spinning spiral structures at 60 and 65. Getting to these in practice for the first time was like... trying to navigate through some inescapable nightmare machinery, remnants of some long-gone vast city where everything is just so much bigger than you. I don't know. It's hard to recapture exactly how I felt in my initial experience, even if it was only a week ago.

I need to bring up the song too. Opinions on this song choice are somewhat polarizing but personally this might straight up be my favorite song from NG. The level and song elevate each other to such a degree that it almost feels like the song was made specifically for the level. It's odd because song's nautical theme (it's called "The Sailor" after all) might initially seem contrasting with the level's mechanical theme, but I think there's a connection between the idea of being swept away by relentless waves and being swept away in vast, broken (conquered?) cityscapes. As the song builds up to those blaring electric guitar drones it demands to be accompanied with the most overpowering scenery possible, and this level fully delivers. I even love the more subdued parts of the song. The glockenspiel that persists throughout it all adds this element of delicateness that just makes the whole package feel complete.

I've mostly talked about the climax parts up until now, but really the build-up parts are just as immaculate. There's a sense of anticipation throughout the entire first half where, even though so far you are only traveling through this really cool looking decaying world you can sense that it's all escalating towards something. It culminates into this final buildup part at 42% where you get utter chills as the structures rise up into the sky, a prelude of some absolutely insane shit about to go down. The humanoid figures reappearing and moving across the screen as even bigger versions than before captures a similar feeling too.

The gameplay is also a contentious aspect of this level, not for its enjoyability but rather for whether or not the gimmicky nature of it fits the atmosphere of the level. My initial thoughts were that, while the gameplay is very fun and satisfying to learn, it didn't necessarily suit the level except for certain standout parts like the aforementioned spinning spiral ship. However, the more I played it, the more I became convinced that this type of gameplay was a perfect match for the level. surveyor's gameplay style is incredibly unique. The way everything is arranged makes the task of learning the gameplay similar to that of solving a puzzle - it's the type of memory (kinda?) where you can rely on your knowledge of game mechanics to figure it out. This makes the gameplay feel familiar yet alien - it's not pulling any tricks on you with fake or invisible structures and the memory feels completely intuitive after learning. But the gameplay objects manipulated in such unconventional ways with the extensively scaled objects and the long row/columns of portals/orbs/pads. In a sense, the familiar yet alien feeling mirrors that of the environmental worldbuilding. It's what you might feel while traveling through the wasteland of a previously thriving world, one which is now ruled by incomprehensible alien humanoid figures.

So a bit about my personal experience beating it. I was consistently drawn towards doing practice runs over and over throughout the past week, and for the first few days I wasn't even fully set on beating it. With how much I was enjoying the learning process though I later committed to it, which I'm glad about because having this level completed is just so satisfying. Playing from 0 can be frustrating at times dying to completely random things each attempt (not the level's fault), but also reaching the climax parts from 0 is the only way to replicate the feeling of adrenaline I got playing this for the first time. Or maybe an even greater degree of it with how these parts are for sure the hardest in the level raw-skill wise.

still funny to me that first showcase i watched of this was from someone using black and white icon colors so when i saw mannyheffley's actual video it brought my rating up by a solid 2-3 points

i mean i respect it. its an absolute fever dream for sure