Rating Curve

It takes a while to get going (frankly a bit too long for my liking, that's my biggest problem and what's really holding it back), but man when it gets going, it REALLY gets going. Amazing atmosphere at some points and solid effects throughout. 3 points less than perfect

I'M DEAD WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME

I'm still honestly shocked at how well this maintains its theme given that it's made by 13 different people with conflicting, though I suppose being made by 13 different people with conflicting ideas is precisely part of why the theme is done so well.

(Saved by AcropoliX)

I was gonna say "this is only time where someone else's unofficial silent superbuff is better than the 'original'" but then I remembered Azure Flare exists so this isn't even uniquely bad.

Credit where credit's due though that little mini section in the wave should not sync that well. Kyouki dash orb type shit

Update: Also Low Death and Relife. Those are also good unofficial superbuffs

Built like a dark, fucked up version of God Eater haha. Just a glimpse into my dark reality. A full stare into my twisted perspective would make most simply go insane lmao

There aren't many levels that have really benefitted from being unfinished. I don't mean as in "this sucks so bad thank god it's dead" (no pun intended) or "the layout is great but the deco sucks", there are plenty of both of those. Rather I mean "this is so much higher quality with less than half the layout built". The only other thing I can really think of that does this is Bottomless Pit.

So, why does this benefit from being unfinished? Because it's more unsettling this way. "Famous author is forced to cancel his horror-themed work due to external reasons and hide its existence, only for someone to break the rules and find out about it" is literally a horror trope, and the contents of the level itself could hardly go with that concept better.

A single, looming face silently watches you at the start. Much of the gameplay is surrounded by darkness, with the little that can be seen being incredibly barebones, only consisting of disconnected outlines, and the fact that most notes are slightly offsync kinda indicates "something went wrong here". Even the famous circle, which everyone has seen in its full glory, has been grotesquely cut up into individual spike patches. It all just feels like it's not meant to be seen in an entirely unintentional way, and that's compounded by the fact that it really is not meant to be seen.

Also another reason this is better unfinished is because many parts of this song suck ass including some of what would be used in this level if it were finished

THE restricted design level. One of the harshest limitations on what can be built out there, and of course, since limitation breeds creativity, this has designs that FAR surpass most others. The only things I've seen that even kinda feel similar are made by TiO2 or are TiO2-inspired, and even then it's still pretty different. This honestly feels more like an art gallery than a regular level (in a good way, akin to how Khorne feels). Also while the sync is basically nonexistent due to this level's whole nature, that kinda makes the cube shooting up at the drop a bit more impactful (though the sync is still definitely something that could've been done better)

Y'know I was kinda wondering a while back if anyone's made something using a persistence-of-vision illusion, and today I learned someone has, so that's cool. Being attached to a watered-down version of the hi predrop takes away from it though

So glad we have a good level back at the #1 spot I was worried we were gonna be stuck with Necrotic- What? It got removed? And they put Tax Evasion back at #1? Why'd nobody tell me?

I had no idea what to expect going into this. For obvious reasons I haven't really been keeping up with a lot of the modern ILL landscape so I'd never heard of this before, but the moment I saw that dual miniwave spamming in sync with the music I knew I was in for a treat, and WOW did this deliver.

The sync (as mentioned) is so amazingly done everywhere, it really uses its impossible nature to the fullest with this high-speed song. You can't get stuff like this with regular gameplay. It's not just the gameplay either, the music also works in tandem with the theming too. Starting out dark but just itching to really let the energy out, and then letting that energy out with an absolutely euphoric drop. It's insane how great of a sense of progression this packs into such a short level. Haven't immediately fallen in love with a level to this degree since DEATH

Not to be that guy but this was never funny

xo but not as powerful. I mean that not only in the sense that it's just generally not as polished as xo (it's still good though no doubt about it), but also in the sense that the energy is spread out everywhere and as a result there aren't any individual clicks or sections that carry as much weight as the ones you find in xo

Hatsune Miku Twerk Compilation

Despite the poor sync (the genral energy is represented well but otherwise it's pretty bad) and rather questionable playtesting, the creativity on display here from so many legendary names really makes this worthwhile, and I'm glad we finally got to see this complete. I especially love Manix's memory part, and the one bit where the sync is good (the transition into Daddy Yankee's part), the sync is REALLY good.