Rating Curve

Yay very glad this is finally out, very exhausting to work but very fruitful, very proud of the team and very glad we all pulled through and we tossed around all sorts of crazy ideas. I had to optimize a 40,000 obj asset down to 3,000 obj T_T anyways yeah uhh eta carnis. So crazy that this is finally out.

Horror minigames are really rare for Geometry Dash, considering its a funny lobotomy kids game. Even rarer are point-and-click games. So it's really cool to see such an ambitious realization of those genres come to fruition with this game.

Let's talk about the horror first. Unlike most GD horror I believe this one lends itself to a consistent, unsettling atmosphere. Each room permeates a consistent unsettling atmosphere, leaving you with more questions than answers. I actually really dig the unpolished, more "homemade" look of this game as it really sells the eerieness (However, as I'll explain later on, this isn't always the case). And when the game uses jump scares, I think they're done really effectively. It's not some FNAF ROOOOAR - game over screen, you actually see lingering, disturbing imagery which makes the jump scares feel earned.

For the point-and-click aspects, the controls will take some getting used to. It uses a masked ship for the cursor, which was probably for the best, but I wish there were some mechanics in place that make the cursor stay mid-air rather than having to frustratingly straight-fly all the time. That aside, the puzzles are very creative and well made. Some puzzles could have been better telegraphed, but for a majority of them I have no issue at all. The highlighting feature gets inconsistent at times, which made me resort to pointless clicking to find something that wasn't highlighted.

Lastly I want to discuss the story. Wretched does a great job at drip-feeding the underlying story by sprinkling little clues throughout the rooms. The dedication towards the lore-building is actually insane: from hidden scribbles and silhouettes, to a full-fledged 10 minute podcast made specifically for the level. But unfortunately I just don't think the payoff worked. I won't spoil it here, but I feel like we're left with little emotional investment or sheer terror. It feels too disconnected and vague for me. It also doesn't help that the unpolished nature of the cutscenes make them feel goofier than resolute. Of course this doesn't detract much from the experience because let's be real, this is probably the best story in a minigame by default. But I do feel like these deficits hold Wretched back from being a true masterpiece. WITH THAT SAID, this is still an incredible minigame that you should try out.

Really love this level. Its hypnotic in a way. I played this with the NONG replacement and tbh that might be the one that sticks to me. I just love the almost cold, frosty yet cozy vibe that the song and level do together. This level is of a visual and gameplay style that I think really can only be described as "Flash" style.

One of my fav levels. I think the criticisms of the gameplay and inconsistent theming are understandable but these factors don't bother me as much here. To me this level has much more cohesion than almost every megacollab in the game. And I actually do like the gameplay a good bit.

An incredibly engaging memory-based gameplay loop that does wonders in terms of replayability. Same as with Experiment, the gameplay concept is so bold and well-crafted that it pretty much eclipses almost every other memory level out there for me. Not to mention it's an easy demon, so its a perfect accessible experience for almost everyone.

I do wish the visual design went a bit harder, maybe having more aspects of "pattern seeking" through some metaphorical imagery, fill-in-the-blank visual assets, or maybe the level could have pushed further with its Windows XP-esque aesthetic. Although part of me really enjoys the simplicity here. I'll let this level sit with me, I will definitely say that I've enjoyed this one a lot more as time has gone by.

I can't really deny the joy and whimsy this level gives me, despite knowing full well that its a tech demo. I do not know if we're ever going to get something with this much hype, because I feel like upcoming "technical achievements" will either be way too obscure for most people to know, or way too detached from the game. Especially for the latter, if someone makes another "3D level in Geometry Dash", I really doubt it will have the same impact, even if it is superior in quality. This was the level that did it. Everything else would stray too far from the game and just end up being something else entirely. On that same note, most people know "3D level in GD" but very few talk about "3Depth" itself. Hell, this review is proof of that, I haven't even analyzed the level.

Onto the level itself, I think it was a very cute idea for Nemo2510 to pay homage to "Dim" by Spu7nix, which was 2.1's equivalent to 3d in geometry dash. I also like that the platforming was kept relatively simple so that people could get used to the extra dimension. I do wish there was more platforming than just jumping over spikes or lava pits. I also like how the level embraces its limits and doesn't try to do some goofy hyper-detailed renders.

I'm really torn on this level because on one hand, I love all of the ideas and mechanisms put to make this level possible. It stands as an insurmountable beast in the world of GD tech projects. And WHAT is a visual upgrade from HOW, feeling much more confident in its 3D-ness. But on the other hand, it really goes off the rails with the montage and the auto sections. It's like 30 seconds of one of the coolest levels I've ever seen, and then it just falls apart. I know it was probably because of Spu7nix rushing this before 2.2, but I still wonder what could have been had he managed to get enough time to fully realize this.

I think the existence of this level raises a lot of questions. Is there really true merit in recreating these innovative visuals when they could simply be done in 2 hours in Blender and Adobe After Effects? Does this level stray too far from being a GD level? Is GD going to just keep on being a platform for VFX and game development, until it inevitably loses its identity? When is too far, too far?

I love how earnest and joyful this level feels. I have no clue how people could find this level "corporate" or "soulless", it does so many insane things that I think no true soulless manufactured level would ever have the courage to do. Corporate levels stay safe. They pull all the safe, tried-and-true bells and whistles. This level doesn't do that. How many levels abruptly stop everything to deliver an evil monologue, only to have that monologue interrupted by an orange buff cube guy who helps you up to an escape pod??!?!

And maybe this is just me, but this plays unbelievably well. With so much shit happening on-screen, I have no idea how I was able to get through it all in like 1 attempt. I can tell this is a super polarizing level by looking at the reviews here, but I can't deny I love this level. It's like the GD equivalent of "Who Killed Captain Alex" or "Megan" if "Megan" was good.