Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago

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wow

i have a lot to say.
so, the reason why i decided to go for this. I beat Frozen Cave over 5 years ago, july 18th 2021. i didnt end up recording the completion unfortunately due to shadowplay capturing the wrong damn monitor. i did get 94 on recording when trying to rebeat it, but didnt end up beating it again since it wasn't fun anymore.
lately since march i've been casually playing the game, beating extremes for fun and star grinding.
i had 11700 stars on march 23rd, got 25000 by beating super probably level on april 15th, beat Sink and Next Stage, and got to 49 extreme demons

at the end of july, i ended up coming to a realization. long story short, i figured out why i beat myself up over this game so much, and ultimately my end goal. i've wanted to return to celeste for a few months at this point, but there's a little worm in my head that wants something. it wanted something very very strongly. it wanted to dethrone Frozen Cave. and i accepted that i Had to do this before returning to celeste, otherwise i wouldn't ultimately feel satisfied.
so... i decided, screw it! if i'm going to get a new hardest, i'm not gonna do something only a few spots above on aredl (i originally wanted to do CONNECT, and i still do tbf, i will eventually), i might as well commit to what i believe will be the hardest thing i will ever reasonably do. at least for the forseeable future.
Zodiac had just fallen out of the top 150, so i had no pressure to try and beat it before it was no longer on pointercrate.

this level is beautiful. it really is. it somehow ended up naturally being an incredibly climactic, perfectly crafted level to play on your nerves. i LOVE it. every bit of it. but holy damn it is so ruthless. if you want to have fun with this level, you're gonna have to commit and accept any and all deaths that may happen, especially with the balancing having such massive chokepoints. but thats what makes it EXCITING!!!! getting to shock (38%), passing shock (42%), getting to samifying (52%), getting to TMN (56%), getting to failure (61%), passing failure (66%), getting to pennutoh (74%), passing pennutoh (80%), and passing 94%. Every Single One of these points in the level has a unique feeling attached to it, and it's incredible. the song is so good, it ties in perfectly, and its incredibly emotional.
i really can't properly describe the impact and weight that this level has

and now, instead of being a far away pipedream, i've completed it myself.

attempts: 10,886
enjoyment: 11/10
furthest deaths: 79%, 92%, 93%, 97%
deaths past 37%: shock x84, juhou x21, tactiq x17, sami x21, tmn x23, failure x4, marwec x1, pennutoh x1, leo x2, enlex x1

hardest accomplishments: #2
my spreadsheet: tinyurl.com/issysrepository

i'm obviously not "quitting" gd, you never truly quit a video game anyway. i'm just going to put my focus and efforts towards doing hard things in celeste again, instead. i can't push my limits in 2 different games at the same time

vod: youtu.be/mh8hhuV2bIg
0:00 august 3rd
2:45 august 5th
3:11 august 6th
4:51 august 9th
5:49 august 12th
5:55 august 13th
6:55 august 14th
9:37 august 15th
11:37 august 17th
14:04 completion
17:17 reaction
19:42 end

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