Uploaded February 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
I wasn't supposed to ever finish this level. I've had progress on this going all the way back to 2020, not long after it came out. I got some solid progress on it, getting 45%, before deciding I just couldn't handle playing it anymore. I swore for the longest time that this was the most unbearable level I ever seriously attempted. There were several times I tried to return to it, but I still had hated it so much each time I tried that I never stayed for long, but a few days ago, I, for whatever reason, decided to do a practice run out of boredom, and when I finished it, I still felt like playing it somehow, and this was the eventual result.
Now, I still really disliked playing this level, but for how much I used to despise everything about it, it has softened up for me considerably. Practicing the later parts can honestly be a little fun, and the level in general is incredibly simple to pick up and play for how hard it is. The 1.0 aesthetic grew on me a lot too over how I used to feel about it. I can't imagine the level looking like anything else, and it's pretty well executed. There are certain things that just never change, however. The first third of the level, and ESPECIALLY the first 7%, remains an atrocity in my mind, and the whole level suffers dramatically because of it. The level in general is pretty chokepoint dependent, but from 0 it just felt like running head first into a brick wall over and over waiting for it to finally come down. The dash orb at 3% is probably the single worst click amongst anything I've beaten. There's many other bad spots that soon follow it, but just that one click was enough to make playing from 0 a snoozefest. The pink orbs in the mini ball at 6-7% is another thing that felt needlessly inconsistent. Not a hard part to do, but one that just felt like luck. The ship gap at 13% was something I was good with most of the time, but it was horrendous dealing with back in the day. And really, each of the ships throughout had something that annoyed me a lot. There are some other spots like the 30% jump, 58%, 67%, 77-78%, and each of the waves that annoyed me a bit, but the level generally gets better the farther you get. It's just a huge shame that most of the experience from 0 is with the worst parts of it, which is why I tend to have a disdain for front loaded levels like this one. I either get frustrated with them more easily, or they just feel hopeless if the level is too hard. And additionally, it just made it all the more frustrating when my 3 worst fails (61%, 67%, 78%) were all to spots I never once died to in practice since picking the level up again. Maybe it's something you can enjoy if you're more into that kind of balancing, but I'm not going to miss playing it. That being said, it's really cool to have finished it after so long, and I'm glad to have found it a little less bad than I once believed it was.
Attempts - 11,879 (only ~2,000 of this is recent)
Worst Fail - 78%
Hardest Part - 0-7%
Easiest Part - 79-100%
Difficulty Tier (Non-Listworthy Spreadsheet) - Relentless
Personal Tier - Relentless
FPS Used: 240
Gameplay - 0.5/10
Experience - 2/10
Overall Level Rating - F
Clicks - youtube.com/watch?v=rXMaHqxwKYM
Discord - dementeddd
Content Credits
Level Song: "XO (Eden Cover & Remake)" by aaronmusslewhite
Link - newgrounds.com/audio/listen/766165
Menu Song: "Serenity" by Heart Plus Up!
Link - youtube.com/watch?v=qRm4IwboNmM
I wasn't supposed to ever finish this level. I've had progress on this going all the way back to 2020, not long after it came out. I got some solid progress on it, getting 45%, before deciding I just couldn't handle playing it anymore. I swore for the longest time that this was the most unbearable level I ever seriously attempted. There were several times I tried to return to it, but I still had hated it so much each time I tried that I never stayed for long, but a few days ago, I, for whatever reason, decided to do a practice run out of boredom, and when I finished it, I still felt like playing it somehow, and this was the eventual result.
Now, I still really disliked playing this level, but for how much I used to despise everything about it, it has softened up for me considerably. Practicing the later parts can honestly be a little fun, and the level in general is incredibly simple to pick up and play for how hard it is. The 1.0 aesthetic grew on me a lot too over how I used to feel about it. I can't imagine the level looking like anything else, and it's pretty well executed. There are certain things that just never change, however. The first third of the level, and ESPECIALLY the first 7%, remains an atrocity in my mind, and the whole level suffers dramatically because of it. The level in general is pretty chokepoint dependent, but from 0 it just felt like running head first into a brick wall over and over waiting for it to finally come down. The dash orb at 3% is probably the single worst click amongst anything I've beaten. There's many other bad spots that soon follow it, but just that one click was enough to make playing from 0 a snoozefest. The pink orbs in the mini ball at 6-7% is another thing that felt needlessly inconsistent. Not a hard part to do, but one that just felt like luck. The ship gap at 13% was something I was good with most of the time, but it was horrendous dealing with back in the day. And really, each of the ships throughout had something that annoyed me a lot. There are some other spots like the 30% jump, 58%, 67%, 77-78%, and each of the waves that annoyed me a bit, but the level generally gets better the farther you get. It's just a huge shame that most of the experience from 0 is with the worst parts of it, which is why I tend to have a disdain for front loaded levels like this one. I either get frustrated with them more easily, or they just feel hopeless if the level is too hard. And additionally, it just made it all the more frustrating when my 3 worst fails (61%, 67%, 78%) were all to spots I never once died to in practice since picking the level up again. Maybe it's something you can enjoy if you're more into that kind of balancing, but I'm not going to miss playing it. That being said, it's really cool to have finished it after so long, and I'm glad to have found it a little less bad than I once believed it was.
Attempts - 11,879 (only ~2,000 of this is recent)
Worst Fail - 78%
Hardest Part - 0-7%
Easiest Part - 79-100%
Difficulty Tier (Non-Listworthy Spreadsheet) - Relentless
Personal Tier - Relentless
FPS Used: 240
Gameplay - 0.5/10
Experience - 2/10
Overall Level Rating - F
Clicks - youtube.com/watch?v=rXMaHqxwKYM
Discord - dementeddd
Content Credits
Level Song: "XO (Eden Cover & Remake)" by aaronmusslewhite
Link - newgrounds.com/audio/listen/766165
Menu Song: "Serenity" by Heart Plus Up!
Link - youtube.com/watch?v=qRm4IwboNmM
