Rating Curve

This level is a frankensteined mess, but I'd be lying if I said it wasn't interesting. Pretty bad still but it does get some funny points.

Eventually I want to do a rant on sampling in GD and why it doesn't work or at least why I think no level has used it in an effective way so far. (EDIT: I took another look at Radio by 7ak and I think that level actually uses samples pretty effectively. No other level that I've seen uses sampling in an interesting way though) Maybe I'll be proven wrong when I see the results of Audieo's CC. For now I'll talk about why this level sucks.

Vegtam seems to have a lot of talent as a creator being able to pull off many different styles, but I think that's part of the reason why his creations tend to fall flat. They have no identity. They are all heavily inspired by something better and make very weak strides to do something different. I'm mainly talking about his gauntlet levels as I'm not familiar with his other work. This level is no different and the issue is actually compounded by the heavy use of sampling. To put it simply, this level feels like a mechanical blob. Nothing sticks out to me apart from the occasional structure that I may recognize from another level. The theme is barely developed beyond another cutesy character to draw thumbnail attention. The gameplay is so watered down and stupid that I want to fall asleep while playing. The song is really not my thing at all.

Just a disaster that I'm surprised is getting praise.

___________

I'm splitting up my thoughts here after I read what the theme is actually supposed to be from another review. It's a good idea in all honesty but it's just so poorly communicated and doesn't change much about what I said earlier. It's enough to raise my score a point tho.

This level is kinda funny

The best way I can describe this level is it feels artificial, and I don't think I can explain why without mentioning It Back by Hangyking first.

To keep it short, It Back is really cool! I think its main strength is it sacrifices polish to match the murky tones of the song as best it could. Additionally, the gameplay is really fun. SayItBack on the other hand feels like the complete antithesis of that design approach. It feels overproduced and unfun. There are an insane amount of transitions in this level which may work for an aftereffects edit, but in a Geometry Dash level it just doesn't work. Transitions are sucky to play through and when a level is entirely made up of transitions, you have a recipe for disaster. Additionally, the overproduced approach to the visuals feels completely artificial due to the song being made up of unusual and complex tones. Since It Back was released before this level, I couldn't help but associate the song with It Back and its approach to representing the tones of the song. As a result, SayItBack completely falls on its face.

When the level isn't putting you through a transition every second, the gameplay and visuals work a lot better which is why I'm giving this level a 3 instead of a 1.

This level is so obviously meant to be watched instead of played. The gameplay changes completely void any aspects of the original level that made it interesting and the deco ruins any possibility for enjoyment so it is utterly pointless to play. The deco is quite technically impressive but every aspect of it has little staying power and feels completely vapid after a first viewing.