Rating Curve

not great but i felt bad for the low score this level has been getting lol

definitely way too much shenaniganery but it feels like its going somewhere the whole time which is nice for a change

Menace has evidently become the golden child of the demonlist in the past year, and I think Manny deserves every bit of it. I've been missing that elusive quirky effect creator who drops something insane every few months, and for 2.2 that creator seems to be MannyHeffley, in the mainstream at least. Although I wouldn't say Menace quite hits the same as his other levels since Out of Chaos, it has a ton to offer as a unique, difficult, and masterfully executed effect level.

Manny has set himself apart in the effect scene in too many ways to count, let alone while being a great songwriter, but the most influential to his levels is probably his approach to gameplay, especially where gimmicks are concerned. I can think of very few top demon list levels in the past with gameplay as ass-to-the-wall insane as the spiral part or whatever is going on in the last dual. I think that's definitely for the best though, difficulty has gotten really bland lately but I think the goofy gameplay meta is making a comeback. Whenever a level like Menace or Andromeda comes out with gameplay equal parts varied and ridiculous looking and places near the top of the list, I get a little bit more optimistic about what hard levels might look like moving forward. Menace in particular also knows when to pull on the brakes with its gimmicky gameplay, with a relatively simple opening and an absolutely chilling swing section halfway through. With that said, Menace is also gorgeous looking, with effects just as out there as whatever the icon's doing at the moment. Manny's work on the song is also a notable highlight; although it's not totally my thing and it gets a bit dramatic to really take seriously, it adds just enough of the MannyHeffley essence to really enhance the viewing experience.

My main gripe with Menace, and honestly the reason it's not a 10, is with the poem, and more heavily Manny's own rhetoric behind it. There's a video on Manny's channel, "The Meaning Behind Menace," that provides a meandering explanative background behind the narrative and some of the imagery in the level. The video is definitely worth a watch; in my opinion learning more about the intent behind a piece of art is always worthwhile if the creator is willing to share it, and discovering that the final gradient moves randomly and that the subject matter of the poem regards issues Manny himself grapples with was very interesting. With that said, I felt that the fragmented presentation of the full poem and the multiple instances of contradiction even in the excerpts shown were interesting, even cruelly deliberate. I also felt that the ambiguity behind the writing and imagery applied a lot of character and edge to the whole experience, since I think a healthy dose of following the general flow of the intent behind a piece can be more thought provoking. It's something I do in my levels and essays, and it's also why Civilization by Kero Kero Bonito is my favorite album. Upon realizing that each strong imagery element and theme in the poem had a rigid narrative purpose was disappointing to say the least, and ironically made it all come across as much more vapid. I put off wording why this was until this morning when I saw Devourer de Dieux by Hota1991 on my timeline, immediately realizing that to pull off something as deep and grand as Menace, or any CW2003 level for that matter, you have to be a little bit opaque and full of shit. Somehow it works every time.

I hate closing reviews with negative statements, so I'll reiterate that I've been a huge fan of this level since the day it was showcased! It's a phenomenal level and step in the right direction for top extremes, I just think Menace would have been more fittingly executed if Manny's vision for the level wasn't one of direct narrative and instead confidently towards the energy his effect and songwriting work can convey on their own.

I love it when artists are as nerdy about things as I am and the song definitely fits the bill for time signatures lolll very fun listen

Story 2 (the level) obviously complements the meter very closely, but I think what it nails harder is the progression. The increasing distress conveyed through the color changes and particle work is commendably subtle and is just as patient as the song is, which makes a part that would probably be boring otherwise more than worth it. I'm not a huge fan of the neopixel overlay effect - I think it gets in the way of an otherwise phenomenally stark and well made part - but it's not a deal breaker. I've probably set this review up to transition into the wave part being bad, but it's honestly good for most of the same reasons. However, I do feel like the restraintive progression the cube part showed is definitely lost here, as the instrumentation and lyrics of the song are still building in tension and it's just not capitalized on at all. Good progression doesn't immediately jump to its high point, and the level and song are definitely mismatched there. I do think the gameplay in this part is probably more fitting than in the cube, but I don't think any of this level's gameplay is very fun to deeply analyze by virtue of essentially totaling 3 seconds of runtime. I don't have many big problems with how the ending is structured either - I think it's actually an interesting callback - but the overlay is even more obnoxious here and for this part in particular it probably should have just been removed for the drama. Still a great level with an even better song, not to mention the phenomenal particle work right at the end, but Clipping definitely wins this one.

One of my favorite parts about the longevity of GD creating is that many creators have established their own immediately recognizable style. Flash is one of the more recent cases of this, with an incredible run of levels as of late. Arguably the shift from standard (but innovative) design creator to whatever he's doing now started with Sleeper, though it was Sculptures that really set the whole style rolling. Arguably the biggest form of continuity between their levels are the beige backgrounds and laid-back atmosphere, but there's a sort of essence that permeates everything Flash has made since Sleeper that I've grown very fascinated of, and it's one of the reasons I'm so excited for his creator contest to potentially yield some similar stuff.

For all I've talked about the niches Flash has managed to establish as a creator, it's more than worth beginning mention of Sky Garden with its very obvious draw from that style. The most direct inspiration is probably from Sculptures, particularly in gameplay, but more impressively Grenada effectively captured the essence of all of Flash's newer works despite Sky Garden having little literal visual resemblance to them. One thing I think people forget when drawing heavy inspiration from creators is that the style they're drawing from has a shift of its own, and the best of levels like Sky Garden will keep that in mind when putting their own spin on the source material. Despite very distinctly doing its own thing, it still feels like it could fit perfectly in Flash's catalog, though I'm obviously still happy with the direction Planispheres went too. Sky Garden is shiny and colorful throughout, making for a beautiful experience with a heavy moody atmosphere. There's also a night mode, which I think does improve the level a bit but it's a bit confusing why it says it's recommended. If the night mode was the preferred experience it probably should have been switched with the day mode, and the change definitely shouldn't be permanent. I still think the option is cute though, and both modes work incredibly and distinctly from each other. The gameplay is also fun to figure out; there's a surprising amount of friction in the learning process but once it clicks it's very fun and pretty readable for the most part. If there's one thing holding this level back it's that it's really really short!! I like the ending a lot but then the song keeps going which is pretty disappointing after a level that's essentially under a minute. Still a very fun and underrated level though, if you're down for a learny medium demon definitely go play this!

you just had to be there

nubivagant if it was 8 years old

ok since this is like the real one ill put a real review https://x.com/bork_fireforge/status/1923241397123010910

I'm sorry Arcadiac but this is not it

RaveYard was made for the NCS gauntlet contest, and actually got an epic rating which is really cool! I was prefaced to be as brutally honest as I wanted to be when Arcadiac requested this level, though I don't think the (relatively) low score comes from anything they anticipated I would complain about, given their track record of basing reviews primarily off of gameplay. I actually think the gameplay is pretty alright all the way through, and even some of the more unorthodox parts only really suffer from some bad transitions after learning them. The decoration is fine I suppose? Some parts are pretty empty or just kind of ugly, particularly the ones that rely on pixel objects, but the last part is pretty good and it's not a level ruiner.

What are level ruiners are the song choice and the transitions. I have no issue with the song representation in this level - I actually think it's painfully standard more than anything - but I think the song itself is absolutely terrible and anything that uses it is pretty much always better suited by something else. No further comments. RaveYard also has several moments where literally nothing happens, usually in transition parts but even in one part with gameplay, where the background is so dark it's basically just floating structures on a black screen. There's even a completely black screen transition (that lasts like two full seconds??) in the middle of the last part, it's so abrupt every time it happens and I was very excited to see it cleaned up in Starcadiac. Other than that, RaveYard has some great ideas and interesting gameplay, and I'm happy to see how many of them were realized in Arcadiac's later stuff.

This is so powerful

I have honestly no idea what to make of OCCCCCO, the story line is pretty cute and the gameplay was fun enough to play through (VERY confusing though) so it ended up being a pretty fun level to finally play. I think more than anything OCCCCCO is missing the disarming silliness that most of CW's best levels excel in. The decoration is definitely a high point of the level, with Icerod complementing CW's textured and pointed style with his own equally great part in the middle. Every peak and lull of excitement is appropriately acknowledged, and even with a bit of a stupid song choice everything is easily more polished and cohesive than any of CW's past solos. Overall, under the lens of simply being a level on the servers that I was asked to play, OCCCCCO is perfectly fine and definitely deserved more than a feature. However, I think the level is actually a bit too serious for its own good.

What makes CW levels so fascinating to me is how they grapple with being so heavily story-driven in a medium that has not shown itself to be supportive of stories as complex as what many creators have aimed towards, often falling on their face and producing works that are better appreciated in a detached and humor-seeking fashion, insert Mr Gawne dog here. A Fishing Trip is honestly haunting in conception and execution, and yet it's impossible to get around that most of the level looks really stupid in the lens of a Geometry Dash level. There's oversized animated fire objects spammed everywhere, hardly any structuring when there's gameplay at all, and two parts where you play as a fish for like three seconds. I don't think any of this hinders the level, though - in fact, this sort of honesty with the medium it's in makes A Fishing Trip all the more intense and harrowing, and it's come to be my favorite level CW's put out even today.

With the 2.2 update, it's become feasible to create more realistic designs and use the icon as an animated character, and now any execution to create a serious story (i.e. Final Orbit) just feels silly and jarring when put next to a square jumping around the screen. CW seems to have lost that for OCCCCCO, choosing a more developed story over something sillier and more at ease with existing in a game like GD. None of this is to say OCCCCCO completely loses that feeling, by the way - obviously the FatRat song provides some welcome unseriousness, but it's not like the visuals indicated something that was drafted in a writer's room either. Everything is still very light, upbeat, and fun, and surprisingly polished.

Also to Icerod I'm sorry if you feel ignored here, I love your part and it ties in so well with the first and last third that I thought your contribution to the level was the layout or something. Amazing level guys <3

My opening point is that Solar Wind by Jumper is an incredible song and works well in literally every level it's ever been used in. Sol Invictus (or Invincible Sun from Roman, this doesn't matter at all but it's cute) very clearly does not cohere to modern conventions, strangely drawing influence from many updates prior to 2.2. Many of these were probably never considered in the creation process, but it was fun to think about for myself anyway. The designs themselves are mostly one or two block palettes, like many old (~1.9ish) levels did before compound block design was really required to not look silly in a high quality project. Similarly, the structuring is noticeably old fashioned and strangely seems to go back even further than the 1.9 era, calling back levels like B L A Z E and pretty much anything that was popular in 1.8. The gameplay is inexplicably very 2.1 coded, almost seeming hesitant to be more complicated, but the clearest parallel I can pull to older styles are the faded structures in the background, very reminiscent of some early forms of custom backgrounds and a desire to fill space as it was a growing convention. These structures are probably my favorite part of the level, especially with the way they're all a little rotated and often move to balance out much of the foreground being annoyingly static. The color work is also pretty good; I'd wish for either the whole level to be orange or change throughout the level and not just towards the end, but the compromise is fine enough. If I had to sum up my issues with this level it just feels boring, and not just because of some lackluster designs. Despite the song picking up speed, the second half doesn't play all that differently from the slower parts, and the duals actually slow it down further which feels entirely wrong to me. I do enjoy early 2.1 gameplay a good chunk of the time, but I also made the comparison to say that it's really not that exciting most of the time, including in Sol Invictus. The colors and designs also don't do much in terms of progression, I'm fine with a visually consistent level but having a more colorful and flashy drop could have picked up some of the slack the gameplay left. Overall, though, Sol Invictus is a perfectly fine and fun level that I hope Metronismo's happy with.