Rating Curve

shatter, one of the few levels released by the controversial creator and ex-moderator efext, definitely gets quite a bit of flak and no doubt some of it comes from the general sentiment towards the creator. people have this tendency to want to vehemently hate anything associated with people they don't like, which i don't think is right. in a way, it being created by a person who is now banished from the gd community makes this level a bit more special. anyway, i believe i first found this level in around 2021, when it was still on the pointercrate list. my brother and i came up with a challenge where we would try to complete every single level on the list in practice mode. we never really ended up going through the entire list, however we did play three levels: untitled, alpha baa x, and shatter (and maybe removed submission but that one i'm less sure about). ever since then, those levels have stuck in my mind a bit more than the rest of the demon list at the time. and finally, in october of 2023, i gained the skill to actually be able to beat shatter, so i started going for it. the level has an eerie but a bit of a sad vibe to it. kind of like a haunted house, in a way. the black and white colors, usually something i don't like, really helps with that vibe. the gameplay is also very odd, especially for 2021 standards when everyone was busy making flow levels, myself included. this level can be separated into 4 main parts, those being the cube, the ufo, the duals, and the final robot. i don't think many people realize this, but dividing your level in multiple gamemode sectors helps make a part more memorable. when i say "the shatter ufo," people who've played the level will immediately know what i mean. it's harder to know what i mean when i say, for example, the 55% green orb in niwa. if you didn't know, levels tend to have a lot of orbs so this doesn't particularly narrow it down. but of course, i'm talking about that one godforsaken buggy green orb that the fucking dumbass creator decided to add an invisible ball portal to! even then, maybe that wouldn't immediately be obvious. in particular, i remember the dual very vividly because my brother and i struggled to find the correct path for a long while. although i think what ties the gameplay and decoration all together into one neat package is the song. this song might be one of the oddest songs i've ever had the pleasure of listening to, in structure, instruments, and all the choices made by the creator. the creator's name, by the way, is prettymuchbryce. i tried checking their account for anything even remotely similar, but came up with nothing. the song used in shatter was originally for a game called "glass fish rhythm adventure," also made by prettymuch bryce. specifically, it was used for the section where you get eaten by a whale, hence the song's name, "inside the whale." even when looking at other songs in the game, none of them have a similar vibe to inside the whale. if you're interested, you can play the game for yourself. it only takes around 10-30 minutes to complete, depending on how good you are with the controls. it isn't an amazing game, but i think it's worth playing just to see what people made back in 2009. anyway, i think shatter is the closest anyone can ever come to representing the song well. and the reason for that is because this song doesn't make any sense. it starts with these weird mechanical noises, then static plays. the static has always been the weirdest part of the song for me. even in the original game it was meant for, it didn't make much sense. the next part almost sounds like the kahoot song in a way. no? just me? alright, whatever. i think my favorite part has to be the sections with the flutes, though. the choice to make the level's background flash white with the ominous text "breakthrough" splattered all over the screen feels very intense. when playing from 0, it's an indicator that you're getting far. it places extra importance on such short sections and tells you to "breakthrough," almost as if meaning to tell you to keep going. break out of this weird cage of a level and shatter it into pieces. admittedly, i haven't shattered it yet. i still have 98%. this level is intimidating. annoyingly, a 2.2 change where the ground of the dual moves instantly makes two clicks harder. another reason to hate 2.2, i guess. that aside, this level feels a bit nostalgic to me. along with the fact that i played it back in 2021, that being four years ago now, all those things that make this level special? you will never, ever, ever see them ever again. prettymuchbryce doesn't make music like this anymore, and it really is a one-of-a-kind. efext was banished from the community, so this level will stand on its own, with nothing else that could possibly replicate it or its style. it will stand on its own and nothing will ever climb the mountain it's stranded on. it will stay unchanging on efext's account until the end of time, or whenever gd's servers finally get shut down. and it really is even more of a reason to treasure a level like this.