Rating Curve

Ok. Longer, proper review this time instead of one sentence. Still not gonna talk about the GP and visual sync bc they're not what I actually want to talk about with this level, but just know they're the only reasons this isn't a 1/10. Now, with that out of the way...

This level doesn't understand the concept of "show, don't tell". This is already one of the worst things you can do to a level and it makes me cringe every time I see one fail at this basic task (and before you accuse me of doing anything in my own levels, the point was to be intentionally blunt). Hopefully it doesn't require much explanation to see why the GIANT GLOWING TEXT TELLING YOU WHAT EMOTIONS THE CREATOR FEELS kinda kills the mood.

But wait! There's more!

This level ALSO struggles with the concept of "tell". What is the message here? I'm getting mixed signals.

Is it "people dying is sad"? Frankly I don't know why you would ever feel the need to tell me that, and furthermore this level makes it seem incredibly simple. This feels like it was created by an alien who was trying to understand human concepts of grief only based off a funeral.

Is it "never kill yourself"? The ending says "The minute you think of giving up, think of the reason you held on for so long"... WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU SAY THIS IN (presumably) A LEVEL ABOUT THE REASON YOU HELD ON DISAPPEARING? If that's indeed the case, I really have no choice but to conclude that the message of this level is "kill yourself"

Lolita "Complex"? I find it quite simple actually

I like the general aesthetic of the designs and BG but it's attached to generic flow gp and camera abuse with distracting text that doesn't add to the level at all

Also, "it's not a dogwhistle" is a really cute and funny thing to say given that I'm a dog and I can certainly hear it, and I can tell based on the way you act that you can too. Though I guess in a sense it isn't actually a dogwhistle since humans can also hear it and you're just making this harder on yourself by pretending you can't

I used to kinda like this but every time I look at it I find more and more issues with the deco

Coming back to revise my review of this because I've gradually warmed up to the song (granted it's in the same way that I liked the Silly Songs With Larry segments in Veggietales. Not sure if that was the intention, but knowing Pamka's taste in music he probably didn't see it that way). Thanks for the vocal stims

Granted this is still very much "a few good parts in a pile of trash" and the song STILL doesn't do it many favors since it's not exactly the sort of song that works well with GD in general.

When You See It

This level is strange, partially for the better, mostly for the worse. There's clearly a unique and creative vision in here, the backgrounds and designs are great, but it's so screwed up and poorly executed in ways that just baffle the mind to the point that I really can't support this level.

The sync is awful. Occasionally it'll have nice click sync, but that just makes the random extra jumps in the click sync parts extra painful to see. The non-click sync parts completely ignore the song and have zero visual sync to make up for it. AT MOST some pulses. If you told me this was built with the sound off I'd believe you.

Then you get stuff like a bar saying "TOO CLOSE TO THE SUN!" when you go near it, which like... ??? The text itself just sounds stupid, but even beyond that initial reaction, think about it for a moment. Why is that there? To let you know the big glowing laser can kill you? In an Extreme Demon you'll be practicing a lot beforehand?

And y'know what the worst part is? That's not even the worst piece of text in the level! No, at the 2nd drop, the climax of both the song and level, nearly 4 minutes in, the gameplay suddenly just stops. Giant glowing text saying "ALL WILL BE ONE" pops in and kills any excitement before just disappearing, and the gameplay continues on as if nothing happened. What's the point? Why would you ruin the most intense part of the level by adding in a cutscene segment instead of continuing the gameplay? It doesn't even pulse to the music! It's awful, and all of this is on top of the rest of the 2nd drop's issues. Janky attempt at making a vertical wave part, which sucks even given this was made in 2.1. The sync is nonexistent as always, but it hurts even worse with the last most intense note being unsynced. What was going on here

The gameplay may not be good, but at least it's original, right? :)

I was gonna write a longer review but then I noticed the video description already summed up everything I was gonna say

Watch WHErwin's "Difficulty vs. Accessibility" video then think about what this level would've been like if it didn't have jump indicators. Do you see the problem?

Listen I know it's Galaxy Collapse but seriously you do not need to sync to every little barely audible beat

No one will shed a tear for him.

It's a real shame this has a couple ugly parts in it that drag the whole thing down because there are a lot of cool concepts and neat details in here. I like how the color palette changes along with the song while still retaining the hell theme, even if the actual usage of those colors isn't the best. The whole level is pretty well synced with 46-48 and Trusta's part being highlights. I also really like the magic circle structures in Zundex's part. I wish Obliviscetur's remake layout got decorated, or that Meatius would've actually gone through with getting an update/whatever he said on that one stream done for this.