Rating Curve

More story driven than gameplay driven but I like it. Generally I prefer the platformers that just drop you in with no explanation of events and leave the world up to your interpretation like Hollow Knight and ANIMAL WELL, but this is cute and fun too (also it is very unfair to compare levels made in Geometry Dash to games that took years to make but I felt like those were the easiest examples I could think of to explain what I'm looking for in terms of exploration). Very nice world building, since it does actually feel like you're on a journey as you progress. The way the character slowly decays is neat and adds a sense of urgency and purpose to the journey. This could probably be its own game if it wasn't as short as it was honestly. I liked exploring the city a lot, as while the level is still pretty linear it felt like there were a bunch of places I could go around and see. The artwork is overall pretty and immersive, with enough areas to feel complete. Overall may actually be pretty memorable because of the writing and the visual quality, but I don't think its really innovative enough with the gameplay to really be memorable for that. Fine for what it was going for though.

This level's so cool. I love the way it plays with the contrast in a black and white color scheme, though I might be biased since I created a level that does something similar. Still this level is weird in a good way, works well with its song, and is pretty unique from a lot of other levels primarily because of the block designs. The level features very grid-like boxy structuring where each block on the grid is decorated slightly different than the ones surrounding it. Sure, the designs repeat since creating that many designs to fill that many blocks is just asking for burn-out, but the pattern has enough decorated blocks to where you hardly even notice it. Noirv uses its cluttered nature to its advantage, overstimulating the player in a pretty interesting way. This level doesn't change a whole lot over time, but I'm unsure if it really needs to since it somewhat stands alright on its own. I think the repetition also fits the song.

A classic, has aged quite well.

Very enjoyable and consistent gameplay, though I'm unsure how it plays in 2.2.

Love how well Kiriia’s style works with the song here. Wish it was longer but that might just be because I haven’t seen many levels like this and I love this.

Having also participated in making a three and a half minute level for the discord contest myself, I really respect the effort Bli was able to put into this. If you’re actually making new decoration for each part and not just inverting the colors or changing the level slightly, this requires you to make seven minutes worth of decoration under a tight deadline. The fact Bli was able to produce something fairly consistent in quality under these constraints still baffles me, and normally I don’t really find levels memorable for whatever makes them technically impressive but this is a little exception. It isn’t like this level repeats a lot of decoration either, since Change of Scene features around twelve distinct parts.

Even if it may be consistently high quality, I wouldn’t say it is conceptually consistent. Part of this feels intentional, as if to better represent freely jumping between ideas like the level claims its theme is, though especially towards the middle you start to forget exactly what this is themed after due to just how random the level can be. Especially at the matrix part I start to lose the narrative, since I feel like that could have been executed way clearer with more artwork if Bli just had the time to work on it more. I think the seven seas, the dragon, and the wild west are very good ideas for parts when the level is half themed around plays and media, the rest doesn’t really hit as hard for me though. The two “modes” of Change of Scene decide if the level “comes to life” or not, but honestly I wish more work was put into the path where the level is more reserved. The first few parts offer a really charming play aesthetic that I mentioned, with the monsters and structures seeming to be puppets made of cardboard and paint. After these parts the levels kind of just loses this theme and I think I blame the pixel part. The level tries to bring its theming back at the end with the short little recap before the bossfight, which I like but ultimately still am left wanting just a bit more. The bossfight itself… doesn’t really make a whole lot of sense in the context of the level. It feels like it was inserted in just to add a finale without really giving much thought towards how it would work with the rest of the level’s theme. It’s overall a really solid level, but I wouldn’t say it’s the best thing the game’s seen and part of that definitely was because of the gauntlet deadline getting in the way. The level feels a tad bit rushed, but I don’t blame Bli due to how I also struggled with my entry.

Gameplay is alright especially considering how hard it is to make an XXL easy demon fun. Ending is a little weird to play though.

I have to admit this level was very inspiring to see due to how much I could connect it with my own experiences with building my entry, so even if it may have flaws, I can ignore some of them.

Never been a big Pixar or Disney fan but I still understand the themes of nostalgia and growing up that the level is trying to express and I respect the level for it. I think overall the level is very well put together and is heavily under-appreciated, however I’m not sure I like the black and white mode as much as the color mode. The text I feel is close to telling an interesting narrative, but it feels too attached to what the song is currently trying to say. An example of how this limits the level can be seen at the very end, with a text that says “then I sing my last word to you. You’re up against only duuust”. This level is trying to be serious, but to appeal with pathos it tries a bit too hard to insert qualities of an unserious tone (such as the repeating letters) to make the text seem more human. I think the last line would stand fine on its own without the repeating letters, like when the level used only dust for the first time.

That being said, I feel like the consistency of the text overall makes this level a lot better. If you choose to take the path with the text, you’ll be reading a narrative throughout the entire level instead of it only being present in a few parts, left as an afterthought to complete an idea. This level does depend on its text, but it seems to do so in a more natural way. I don’t like comparing levels to each other, but I feel like Split Path by Jayuff is important to bring up here to show how text does not inherently make a level worse by telling instead of showing, though more focus is put upon the text in Split Path than in PIX. The nature of having to focus on playing Geometry Dash is somewhat what limits typical the game’s levels from approaching telling ideas through text, since unless you make a level auto you have to focus on multiple things at once and the meaning can only be absorbed well over videos. Levels usually don’t give you time to soak in their words, and if they do potentially the gameplay may prevent the player from actually understanding what is being said.

This is an entirely new side of the argument on whether “telling instead of showing is a good thing” that I’d rather not go much deeper into but I think this level poses some interesting questions to how we should approach telling stories in levels.

Visually, I think this succeeds at evoking a feeling of nostalgia, since the slow pace of the level combined with the old television filter work really well with the song. I like the way this is structured overall too; the level doesn’t feel too empty or too messy.

Really love the way this interpreted the prompt, probably more than almost all of the other entries. I just wish it was longer and I know a few friends have had serious issues running the level. I think the unique song also sets this apart from all the other entries, allowing it to elicit a mysterious yet fascinating vibe that encapsulates how interesting the science fields that got us to our current knowledge of space are. This level feels like you're getting lost in history in a way.

Very very very pretty. I think other levels have a stronger grasp on interpreting the space theme in a creative way, but I like how this approached that overall. Astronomy was something I really was hoping some levels would cover, and while this level starts to lose that theming towards the end the predrop is really nice with all of the individual documents, constellation maps, and pictures of the cosmos. The film reel is a cool concept for a part and it's well executed. I suppose everything could be a little more connected to each-other though since in general this level presents a lot of random aspects of astronomy without really connecting them together conceptually, and that's why the level comes off as soulless to a lot of people.

Honestly the beginning has the most unsightreadable and frustrating parts which is a lot better than the drop having them. The 3D part is surprisingly well made and enjoyable, since most attempts at 3D can be a hit or miss gameplay wise.
Honestly there's a lot of little small details in this level I could gush over for a while, not in a "OMG HOW WAS THIS MADE IN GD" way but more of a "woahh that's neat that you took the time to include that in your level" way, so maybe I'll come back sometime to this review and add more.

I'm going to be a bit biased here since this level personally inspired me to explore the editor more, but I hope this level also inspired others. The way Renn241 uses very basic objects here shifted the way I create, since I used to prefer using very complicated assets that would overall be a hit or miss. The Long Walk Home taught me how effective animated objects can be to make cool effects very simply, and way Renn combines these shows a level of creativity that may not be so evident on the surface. Building with basic blocks such as animated blocks is fairly similar to using puzzle pieces to create a larger puzzle, but I would say the influence this level had on me overall made me think less of the larger picture. There are many ways to create a level, but the two I've had to decide between are: having a very detailed plan and trying to build to it only to get disappointed, or to build the level as I go by finding out which object combinations look the coolest making me overall more motivated when I accidentally strike gold.

The Long Walk Home isn't incredible when compared to most levels, but the consistency of its quality over the long length is something that makes it stand out. By studying how Renn does this with limited objects, I believe newer creators can evolve the way they create in order to reach a better mindset. There isn't a right way to create, but experimenting periodically to find what works for you is important.

I think that the gameplay of the level overall is well made since mostly everything is sightreadable, but I can't say this level is that fun. Very chill level despite the nerves it will give you.

Honestly when this came out I underrated this a lot just simply because I didn't think I liked the structuring, I still feel that the blocks and structuring as a whole are very disconnected from the rest of the level, but I have came around to really like the other aspects of this. The designs and art are overall extremely pretty though sometimes their connection to each-other is questionable since the progression overall is a bit odd. Backgrounds in particular are really well made, and this level really knows how to use blending to make everything pop and seem beautiful since the colors are on point.

The gameplay is extremely fun to play, before you judge this level I'd recommend playing it since it's very fair even if obtaining that fairness meant sacrificing some creativity (orbit part probably being the hardest part to understand and is cool since it actually makes the gameplay connect more with the rest of the level, but this isn't seen much elsewhere).