Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago

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This is not something I could've ever seen coming. I was seriously believing it back when I beat Zodiac, that I would never play something that hard again. Of course, this isn't my first instance of going against what I said over two years ago, but this time, I actually managed to pull it off. I suppose that isn't yet a clear thing, but I anticipate this will most likely be considered my best achievement, and I won't attempt to counter that. Even more amazingly, I managed to claim the title of first victor on this level, which is something I don't think I can say about any other extreme, discounting Ryft for obvious reasons. So whether or not it really is harder than Zodiac, this is the greatest I've felt about any completion of mine in at least the last five years. I would like to thank @Lobster6 in particular as the whole reason I started playing this to begin with was due to a joke comment he made about racing this. Quite appropriate for how non-serious the level appears to be on first watch, really.

That brings me to my experience. It was only 14 days ago that this level was rated, and I started playing it that night. Initially, I thought this was going to be something I would struggle a lot more with, but it turns out that I spent more attempts in my first two days of playing than I spent the rest of the way afterwards. It still remained very difficult to learn and start piecing together, but when I neared completing the learning process, it got a lot more consistent and incredibly less grindy to play. In less than a week, I already had the level done in 2 runs, and it just continued to get better from there. From 0% was somewhat slow, but I started getting some insane runs in practice such as 18-100% and 27-100% twice. It became very difficult again to progress when I had to start playing from 0% more, but the last 24 hours of my experience went crazy. I only had 60% beforehand, but after a long time in what seemed like a mediocre sitting, I fluked to the second drop and got 78%, then not long after that I reached 86%. I thought for sure that I wouldn't get back there for at least a few days with how difficult the break part is and my lack of times reaching that point, and really just with how hard the middle third of the level is in general, but today was certainly not that. I had two other deaths in the 60s, but then not long after that, it was over, and I seriously can't believe that I managed to get this lucky on a level of this difficulty. Certainly a bit different from the 300 times I had to reach the 50s on Zodiac, but it doesn't feel any less satisfying than that to me. I really couldn't be happier with how this experience went, and while the experience itself was really good, I generally did enjoy the level itself a lot as well. I did have a few frustrations with it- particularly with how much 35-47% would tire my hand out when it came time to play that section, but this came across to me as very well executed. Level name aside, this is put together excellently for being over five minutes long, and there are hardly any spots I can point out for being unfair or inconsistent. I really enjoyed the 2.0-2.2 crossover theme it goes for as well. There's a lot of character built in without anything looking unpolished or out of place, generally speaking. Again, the level's difficulty is very concentrated into the middle third of the level, but it largely avoids feeling any bit of chokepointy. It's probably exactly how I would want this to be balanced like, really, just maybe if 38-46% and 59-61% were a little easier. The 94% wave and 95% green orb were also terrifying with how late they are in the level, but it's hard to complain when I didn't have to experience dying there. So, when the most I have to complain about on the level of this difficulty range is the level name itself, that's a fantastic sign. I'm so glad that I was brought the idea of trying this out, as I was about ready to accept the fate of losing my final list level next month, but maybe I'll get to enjoy that a tad longer. GG!

Attempts - 12,367
Estimated Playtime - ~31 hours, 0 minutes (updated due to legacy calculations)
Worst Fail - 86%
Hardest Parts - 36-46%, 58-70%
Easiest Parts - 0-18%, 85-93%
Difficulty Tier (Listworthy Spreadsheet) - Pending
Personal Tier - Merciless
Gameplay - 8.5/10
Experience - 9/10
Overall Level Rating - A
Discord - dementeddd

Content Credits
Level Song: "Mantis Shrimp Showdown" by Boom Kitty
Link - youtube.com/watch?v=AhQWFKXp7ws

Menu Song: "Serenity" by Heart Plus Up!
Link - youtube.com/watch?v=qRm4IwboNmM