Rating Curve

ViPriN has cultivated a reputation as a more than capable megacollab host (amongst other roles in the community), and his projects often include the most relevant creators at the time. Chronos is no different - there's plenty of big names all more than eager to get involved with another early 2.1 megacollab (Chronos released a little over a year into 2.1, and came after Hypersonic, Subsonic, and Digital Descent). Perhaps this tight schedule meant that this level did not get quite as long in the oven as you might expect (ViPriN has said it took about half a year), and unfortunately, it shows.

In a breath of fresh air(?), Chronos is chiefly an art level and not the usual design affair. Each section is presented as a snapshot of a different time in history, ranging far back to prehistoric times, to ancient human history, and then to more recent times. However, the quality of the art isn't typically very good, and some early sections have aged very poorly. Obviously, at the time of release, it wasn't quite so bad, but this level has never looked particularly good on a whole. Charm also does little for this level, because there's really just not much to like here, outside of the first and last sections, the best of which was built by ViPriN himself and allows the level a satisfying end. It's a great part, but, like Altair, a great final part doesn't make up for a poor level.

If the dated art wasn't bad enough, the gameplay is worse. Again, the first and last sections are the best, and in between there are some shocking gameplay decisions. Every single transition is blind, and some parts (like Rustam's) are full of janky, poorly balanced segments that feel like zero thought went into their creation. Elsewhere, theres out of place dash orbs, randomly tight sections, and, thanks to a pretty strange song for a Geometry Dash level, almost no sync at any point in the whole experience. This is a strangely unengaging level.

It says a lot that Chronos, Altair, and Kyrie Eleison are the only modern ViPriN megacollabs each with less than a million downloads. That's mainly due to the fact that they aren't extreme demons, but it's also the fact that these are simply not on the level of other megacollabs of this nature. However, the massively charming Duality, as well as the Gauntlet Contest 3 megacollabs Empyrean and Odyssey also don't have extreme demon ratings, and have been played far more. Maybe Geometry Dash players need to go back in time to when levels like Chronos hadn't aged like milk.

Valor is about as 2.0 as it gets. Long, messy, lacking any form of consistency or cohesion, and carried to relevancy entirely by its publisher's reputation. Having said all that though, 2.0 megacollabs certainly come far worse than this - and it's an early example of a level where progression is the most important factor, even if unintentionally.

For its time, this level was nothing special and time has not been kind. One of the crowning achievements of Valor is how memorable it manages to be despite being chiefly comprised of extraordinarily forgettable decoration. In fact, the first half of this level often cycles between extremely boring, safe decoration, and vintage 2.0 chaos with static backgrounds and far too much glow. One of the earlier parts, built by TheDevon, does manage to mostly succeed in its goals, and there's a few inoffensive parts around the middle, but this level's visuals seriously kick into gear at Krmal's section, which signals the start of the second half. In traditional Krmal style, it's complete visual bedlam, and it's weak for a creator with such heights as Falling Up and Black Blizzard, but at least it's interesting! The decoration peaks at the drop, which is serviceably designed by Asriel96, and, while basic, HexHammer's part shortly after is decent enough for what it is. Valor is definitely stronger in its latter half, but an undecorated layout would probably suffice there.

Valor has a reputation amongst those who have beaten it. The balancing is mindboggling - there's very little difficulty until it slows down, and then it skyrockets into borderline unfair territory at Krmal, before dropping back down to just challenging. Of course, the final wave is nonsense and almost adds an element of luck, but judging a 2.0 level for its ending is like judging a child on its calculus ability. Despite the awe-inspiring lack of balance, there's a lot of gameplay in this level that is just okay, and some of it (specifically towards the end of the level, post-Krmal) could even be classified as generally enjoyable, but it's easy to forget this in the red-mist-filled haze after your fourth 96% death. Still, credit must be given where it is due, especially to HexHammer, who manages to perfectly craft gameplay to accompany an extremely intense crescendo in the song. Their minicube maze is a fantastic way to approach the end of a level, and does a lot of heavy lifting in making Valor a tolerable experience.

Valor has undeniable charm. Granted, most 2.0 megacollabs do (it seems to be inversely related to level quality), but it feels deserved here. Maybe it's the sheer audacity of the balancing. Maybe it's the inspiring quote in the endscreen. Maybe it's simply nostalgia. We can't know for sure. It's definitely there, though, because the two sequels (Mystic and Instinct) have not shown to have that thing that this does. It might be a level for the brave, but Valor feels more like a level for the clinically insane.