Rating Curve

Bad level, dunno why people seem to enjoy it so much. It’s literally just click-sync slop that is too repetitive in terms of both its gameplay and decoration, didn’t really feel satisfying to do. Not to mention this level was made much worse visually by a 2.2 update that abused camera controls like its life depended on it. Worst part is just how much of a difficulty spike the last 20% is, gotta be another level of bullshit to have the gameplay be repetitive and still not balanced. Go play levels with satisfying click sync that provide much better value than this.

This might sound strange, but in my opinion, this is genuinely the weakest mythic level in the game, and its not even close. In fact, I hardly like this level at all.

I sincerely hope I’m not alone in this, but I don’t really “get” jshadow levels. I’ve seen many gas up his platformer gameplay in exchange for his rather basic deco style, and while it’s far from the worst, I hardly see anything in it that would make it mythic worthy. And Throat of the World is the perfect example of how I feel about jshadow as a creator.

I’m gonna be honest, the gameplay isn’t all that interesting; its way too repetitive, and the gimmicks this level utilizes (such as wall jumps and dash orbs) were very hit or miss, and even then, they didn’t do enough to spice up the gameplay. Most of the time, it just plays like your average platformer demon. I do like the adventurous atmosphere this level sets up, but all the environments look too similar to each other or are just too bland for my liking; there’s a reason the level peaked in the third area (Maw of the Mountain).

These qualities make me feel the level doesn’t deserve mythic, though they aren’t enough to set me over the edge for disliking it so much. So what is? I’ll tell you; the last checkpoint before the final boss. GOOD GOD, THIS IS ONE OF THE WORST PARTS I HAVE EXPERIENCED IN ANY GD LEVEL. It is ABSURDLY harder than the rest of the level, as over HALF my time completing this level was spent on this one checkpoint alone! What kind of bullcrap difficulty balancing is this?! And dear LORD is this part hella inconsistent. The three jumps from moving out left and instantly right back onto the platformers are SOME OF THE MOST ATROCIOUS AND UNSATISFYING INPUTS IVE EVER DONE IN THIS GAME!!! ITS SO BRAINLESS!!! And don’t even get me started on the last few jumps with the swinging platforms…

Is there any actual praise I can give to this level? Well yes, and the biggest one has to be for the two bosses, built by none other than the winner for best platformer creator in the GD awards, MoistenedEgg. while there is a little bit of RNG involved with them, they are pretty solid overall. The skill far outweighs the luck involved, as you have to be ready and react fast to dodge their attacks, especially when trying to reach the next emerald to damage them. I also like how you can take up to 3 hits in each boss, making them feel more like actual fights than just obstacles you avoid for the sake of it. It’s a rare instance of a platformer level having well-designed bossee for once. That being said, I sadly couldn’t get to fully appreciate the second and final boss on my playthrough, as it came right after the abomination that was the checkpoint I ranted about above, so I just wanted to close shop by the time I passed that checkpoint. But I certainly do appreciate it way more now, especially considering how well built it is compared to a majority of this level.

In conclusion, while it is nice to have completed a platformer extreme demon, Throat of the World was a very frustrating experience, mostly starting out as just boring due to the middling gameplay and aesthetics, only having a few glimpses of enjoyability, before devolving into a nightmare to play due to the last checkpoint before the final boss. Definitely does not deserve mythic, or even legendary for that matter, just an epic. May sound too far out, but words cannot describe how overrated I feel this level is. I think most of the praise for this level comes from the fact that it isn’t a platformer extreme demon that isn’t the usual low quality tech-spam slop seen in every other platformer extreme. Yes, its nice to have a platformer extreme not built like this slop, but that is a bar BEYOND hell. Seriously, an “Unnamed 0” level you just created with 0 objects whatsoever is enough to surpass the quality of those levels. If this level is as good as platformer extremes can get, then you can bet your soul I will never try to beat another one again. Maybe I’ll try out Storm Front at some point, but who knows.

(oh wait this level has a sidequest where you burn an innocent dude alive on an altair nvm its a 10/10)