Rating Curve

i kind of hate easy demons nowadays because to be completely frank, my skill level is just too far past them to enjoy levels that are generally pretty inconsistent and unsatisfying to do. this one, however, is actually quite fun for an easy demon. common split72 w? the high cps gameplay is pretty enjoyable to me as a high cps enthusiast, but i can see why other people wouldn't like it. the decoration is just average split72 decoration, but the final ball is actually kinda pretty. definitely my favorite easy demon

5th extreme and my current hardest. my opinion is probably kind of definitely absolutely influenced by the fact that i beat it in just 2 days and fluked it from 63 so i may be overpraising the level a bit based off of just my initial opinion, especially considering that the level wasn't as appealing to me when playing it after beating it, but it's fine. anyway, this level's gp is actually very very good, especially the final wave which feels satisfying to play. the ball and robot are also fun and the song helps to intensify them, making them more exciting to reach from 0. the parts before are kinda boring though. i prefer the higher cps parts of this level. the decoration is there i guess and it is math-themed, so the title wasn't lying. it's a bit too glowy (!?) for my liking though (say that again...). oh also the song is a banger and it still pmo me that hyperbolus doesn't have a song rating

4th "extreme" (this is only extreme because insane demon players can't spam or something idk). i personally like high cps gameplay, so the dual would naturally be my favorite part of the level. the rest of the level isn't as interesting, but still good. the level is pretty short anyway so i can't really complain about the dual being at the end. the decoration is kinda just rainbow meh whatever but i do like the background of the first ball part (without ldm) and the enter effects in that same part

3rd "extreme" (not extreme). this level has some very meh gp that isn't particularly good or bad but just boring. the visuals are alright but they certainly leave a lot to be desired with the feelings they invoke in me, or lack thereof. in other words, i guess you could say it's ""goodslop""; it kinda looks good, but isn't very interesting. sorry, i just had to get one s-word out of my system. i hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me

my second "extreme" (not extreme but it kinda pushes it. if it didn't get balanced it probably would be). glowflow level but i think it's actually kinda decent, mainly because of the song. the balance update was good because Certain clicks used to be horrendous. yeah idk this level doesn't particularly interest me because it seems like anime level creators have an inability to make anything other than glowflow levels (except me because my gp is Goated (peep my taidada layout on the Tube (shameless self advertisement but i don't care (ok this is a lot of parentheses i should stop))))

memory level that was my first ""extreme"" (it's actually mid-end insane demon). i used to hate it back when i was shit at the game, but i can see its merits now. it's still not amazing though. the predrop is also very boring to play, especially when the only thing you ever actually die to is the pink dash orb. song is good i guess, 6/10

this level is a silly one for the books! the fact that this is rated is insane. albeit it took two years, but it still got rated. not that i care too much for the rate system because a lot of bs goes on there, so let's move on to the things of actual value. i think it's impossible to talk about this level without mentioning its song. i've seen people say that the only reason this level is good is because of the song, but i have to strongly disagree with that. first of all, a level's song choice should be considered one with the level and not a separate aspect, but there's also the fact that even without the song, this level stands on its own as a genuinely good level. the newgrounds theme is something that hasn't been seen much before, giving this level a fresh look compared to even levels with a similar decoration style. i really like all colors in general, but i am especially a sucker for warm colors like orange. the little highlights in the blocks showing comment bubbles, among other things, look very nice over the dark gray of the main blocks. at the same time, it isn't too overbearing; there isn't so much detail to where it would be hard to see the individual elements. this can be to its detriment, however, because some designs can be a bit empty, but it's nothing major. the gameplay is also very smooth, especially in the drop parts. the parts in between are less smooth, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. the gameplay quality stays consistent, for the most part. the smoothness of certain parts also matches the flow of the song, where the drop parts are more coherent while the parts inbetween represent what the actual words are. for example, the spam parts whenever he says "spam," along with the movements of the cube, and the iconic "collect to kys" key. i'm personally not a fan of xl levels, but this one is acceptable 👍

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.

i personally haven't beaten this level yet so my words may not as credible, but i'll give my thoughts regardless since i think this level deserves a few affirming comments. now, i want to get out of the way that the main spectacle of the level is the dual. beside maybe the ufo immediately after the dual and the final cube-ship dual, i don't find many other parts of this level to be particularly intriguing. what the levels lacks in those regards, however, is definitely made up for by the dual. upon first seeing the dual, one might be compelled to think that the colors... don't exactly work that well, to put it kindly. i think most people would probably dismiss it simply for that fact alone, but i think we should keep in mind that this is the drop of the level. the drop is the most intense part of a level, and the strong color choice here really helps to accentuate the energy of the drop. the level is so high in energy that for a good while, i had thought that the dual was in 4x speed. nope, it's entirely in 3x. the gameplay itself is also very interesting, with it being more wave-based than it seems. i think this also helps with the kick of the level, wave being a very "sharp" gamemode. overall, the entire dual really fits with the song and gets me very excited, so awesome job to wiremuncher. i hope i can beat this someday :)