Rating Curve

Very illegal!

Eh, fuck it. Might as well write a proper review for this one too instead of just saying "Very illegal!" Honestly half of this is just an explanation for my personal connection

I could talk about the wider history behind this level, the removed parts (which aren't the ending, at least), some specific changes that make this "The Better Kenos" in my eyes, etc. And don't get me wrong, these are all fascinating and good parts of the level. But really, I don't think any of that matters when the ending and my personal connection to it are so much bigger reasons as to why I love this.

First, the ending itself. You're teleported up to a slow, empty, unstructured area, as the music suddenly changes into sounds that I like to think are pained cries. I like to imagine that you're slowly inching your way along a small, unstable bridge where any wrong step could send you straight into the depths of hell below. Then when you make it through to the drop, you're met with...

A wave so ridiculously brutal that it's honestly funny. There's a lot to talk about here in this 4 second part. Was there going to be even more after this? The following ball portal certainly implies that was the case. Why would you make something so stupidly hard like this? Why're the ground spikes misplaced? Why this specifically for a hard ending? This is the only 4x part of the level in this version, mind you. Oh and lets not forget that (afaik) there were 0 recordings of this part before me, so it certainly came as a shock when I discovered it (making it even funnier).

After I discovered it, I thought "y'know what would be funny? if this was on waving with npesta". I told Croanix about it and he said no. Then he said no again. And again. Third time was not the charm, but at that point this thing already brainwashed me. Even considered changing my twitter @. Kept coming back and staring at it. It's such a stupid part and I love it.

I don't remember the reason I made this my priv's banner beyond "it's funny", but either way, through that, it more or less became a symbol of that part of myself. Every time I open up my priv I see it. Staring at me. It understands me

This too, is modded Minecraft

Disp's review says this didn't win the CC because it was unfinished, but if you ask me, the unfinished version of this level was still so good I would've chosen it without a second thought. Platnuu basically disappeared from the internet for several months a little while after making it, and Sea's CC video was also unlisted, but even with no videos available for that period it still managed to stick with me.

The designs and gameplay and atmosphere and theme are all soooo good dude. There are plenty of "tech" themed levels out there, but this really is something else. It's an interconnected network of fascinating machines all sending signals to each other, tightly yet elegantly packed together for efficiency.

The system is fully online all throughout, but of course, simply running on "blue mode" isn't enough energy for that intense drop. No, we need ORANGE MODE, with MODIFIED BACKGROUNDS AND DESIGNS. I don't know what that means exactly, but I like it, and I also like the fact that some effects still remain in the 2nd blue part, like the machines have gotten some upgrades or something.

I'm aware there are actual words in that buildup (which, by the way, I love the "ship portal lens" design at the start of it), but it's so distorted that I assumed it was random vocalizations. I'm gonna pretend that's true because that fits better somehow.

I clicked play while I was pooping, I saw the pic then I had explosive poop. True story.

New addition to the favorites list. Love the theming and details and its also fun to play. I was gonna upload this to youtube but I forgot to record (lmao).

First jump is just at the right difficulty to let the level be fun from 0 but still make you have occasional streaks where you die to it 5 times in a row and you start to question why you're doing anything. Also in the first cube you're introduced to the otherworldly voices in the music and also the demon guy you follow throughout this level and I love him. Title card has a faint face in the background which I didn't notice at first but I appreciate that its there especially since it's also a recurring motif at multiple transitions later on. Discovering it is pretty fun, like noticing foreshadowing on a rewatch of your favorite series. Speaking of easter eggs what the hell is up with the poem in the editor what does that mean for this level

First ship is generally easy but that one gap at 8% is pretty rough. I vaguely remember a number of people not liking the smoke emitting creatures when this first came out and I'm glad all those people seem to be dead. In general I really like the rough artstyle this has. It helps add to the bizarre feeling of this level.

I like the bee movie on the TV it makes 0 sense, anyway the next ship is also easy with one random hard gap which is noticeably even harder with the ship I started playing this level with. The tongue creatures are cool and I also like the sort of "agent of chaos" type role the demon starts taking by throwing a sawblade into the creature with the do not enter sign eyes and it starts bleeding and then you go inside it and then the background in the following ball is presumably its digestive tract.

The ball itself has another creature with its tongue sticking out and it bends in sync with the music like this is so good dude. Also the blue orbs are fun and satisfying to hit despite how easy they are.

The following part has the demon causing even more chaos via a smoke producing device and can you tell I really like this guy ok. The gameplay also gets pretty weird here and I appreciate that you can skip things and still survive.

The wave is iconic and the demon splits into at LEAST 3 and the effect is REALLY good and I also like that.

The dual is around where nerves start kicking in. It's very hard to learn but eventually you'll get the first half pretty consistent. The swingcopter is a lot more inconsistent but luckily I only died there a couple times from zero. The sync in the swingcopter is also really good with the background swirl and the other background swirl and also the ball all rotating in time nicely.

UFO is pretty fun, depending on the angle the last timing can be harder and it keeps you on your toes and hitting it at a hard angle is super satisfying to do. I like the sync with the glitch effects and hey wait is this Ballistic Wistfully? Also the background chomping being followed up with the foreground chomping is cool.

Last ship is also kinda hard to learn. Love the background, it's another iconic bit, also why is there a minecraft head here. Also this is where the nerves really start increasing.

Finally, the last cube. How the fuck did I not die here from 0? Anyway, even in runs this is the part where you need to really focus and the atmosphere both in the deco and song as well as the effects do a great job of conveying that. The smoke emitters are now dying on the floor and a face just pops by randomly. The effect also combines with that precise jump at 84% to make it the hardest click in the level (the entire reason I played this on 120fps was so this wouldn't be as stupid) and 96% is basically blind and you have to rely on audio and it's the 2nd hardest click and again you have plenty of nerves so idk how I got past these without issue.

Overall, very weird level. TriAxis would've liked this

baka

I cannot come up with a solid explanation as to why I like this level so much.

Best I can give is that the concept is really well executed (when I first saw this without further context I assumed this was an actual megacollab for longer than I'd like to admit lol) and the gameplay is interesting and well synced, but it really does not feel like enough for a 10/10. My philosophy is that reviews should be post-hoc explanations for a rating anyway

"oh yes stormfly.." ossy moaned out as the dragon queen rode his throbbing dick.

"oh shut up ossy." she growled at him,

ossy sighed and complied with the request.

he didnt want to disrespect stormfly, the dragon queen.

See also: my review on the worse version of this level

모래마법사(sandwitch)

The gold standard which any remake should strive for. The already insane gameplay is now even more insane, it builds on the humor, and it fixes the weak points of the original (mirror portals and deco) without sacrificing the scrappy feeling. There are also a number of small details to love like the first ball having simple effects that follow the player (NO CLEAR! sign lighting up, arrow movement) or the orb mazes.

You're never gonna recreate the feeling of seeing this for the first time

soaking

Something special for my 200th review

Yeah yeah Yatagarasu and some others are better overall but no other level is made so much better because of external reasons. If I were to judge this in a vacuum I would give it a 2/10. It's a generic 2020 flowglow megacollab with a number of questionable design choices. It's got some nice parts here and there, sure, but I would not give this level a second thought if it didn't happen to have a long and fascinating history intertwined with the career of one very particular player, and as a consequence, myself. Through that, I too became a bit obsessed with this level and started appreaciating a lot of smaller details.

FUcker took my rotating bat though. unforgiveable 0/10 trash hate this level

HAHAHAHA, RONALDINHO SOCCER!

Creative and memorable gameplay. Amazing sync and structuring. Great designs. A theme that you wouldn't think of first but somehow works amazingly. And little details I absolutely LOVE. The pulses in the ball changing to match with the different instruments. The way the deco changes in the drop is beautiful and goes with the increased energy in the song very well.