[2.11] Bent - HighScore47
Its time for a new level review! Another creator without creator points. In case you haven't noticed, the last 3 level reviews I've done have a bit of a backstory to them.
Not just because they're older levels, but because the creators haven't gotten the recognition they deserve.
Chocolate Milk - A very nice mid 2.0 effect level that still holds up to today's standards (in my opinion)
Valera - A level that was featured last year, but was immediately unrated due to a start position placed in the level.
Attain - Effect oriented level that's really mindblowing, but has remained unrated for a year and a half. Even with Viprin uploading it to his own YT channel.
And now we have this pretty nifty design level: Bent by HighScore47.
You may recognize HighScore47 if you played the game throughout a lot of 2.0. They participated in a LOT of well known collabs in mid-late 2.0. Some examples:
Transform by Usermatt18
Shrimp by Schady and Adiale (which was featured in the Poison gauntlet)
and Time Leaper by Hyperfox to name a few.
I'm honestly shocked that they haven't gotten a feature themselves. I hope Highscore47 can get a feature with this level in the near future! c:
Gameplay: While this level was fun, I found it very unbalanced. Yes, you can sightread this pretty well, has some very nice music sync, and its fun once you practice it enough, but it can get frustrating.
The first 25% is around 6* difficulty, but then after that it just jumps around in difficulty. At 0:22, a spider part begins and it really jumps up in difficulty. Almost to gameplay elements you'd see in an easy demon level.
The fake orbs, tighter spaces, etc. The dual at 0:45 is also very out of place. This can be a tricky one to learn as its an asymmetric dual. Overall it took a little while to learn the level and then beat in normal mode.
While I'm at it I should also mention that the moving objects are very erratic and can throw you off while practicing. I'd definitely recommend increasing move time and adding some more easing to help balance the difficulty a tad.
All-around: A very fun level once you learn it, but be warned, as it may frustrate you at some of the more tricky bits. This level just needs some more balancing, and that would make it almost flawless. Nonetheless, nicely done Highscore c:
Decoration: This is definitely in need of improvement, though in fairness, this is over 2 years old. I can see some solid air decoration work, as well as pulses. The structuring is also really well done. It looks reminescent of an early PotatoBaby/Alkali hybrid, so very nice job with that! Though this level lacks organization in terms of block designs and colors.
The best example is right at the very beginning. There are too many base blocks and little detail in any of them aside from some glow. I'd try narrowing down to 2 base blocks, and add some correlating details to them. This would definitely help the level have some more clarity.
The colors are mainly monochrome, but there are some elements that stick out like a sore thumb. For example: orange lava and random player colors in a mainly purple part. The bright side is that it improves as the level continues.
The colors look a tad more aesthetically pleasing later on around 0:37. Rather than a few details sticking out, its more of an object color oriented color mix.
This level also looks extremely cluttered with foreground and background decoration. Several aspects are overlapping and look ultra messy. The best example are the bricks at 0:37. I'd recommend removing foreground entirely.
Overall: There are several things I would change about this level. It's in desperate need of more cohesion. This has its strong points in pulsing and structuring, with some decent color scheme, although it needs some major polishing with block designs, as well as less overlaying with background and foreground detail.
Still a decent and dynamic design level. Good job Highscore!
If I were a mod, I would send this for a 9* star rate, although I can see RobTop featuring it, so I may send it for that instead, we'll see.
Level Info:
ID: 40467310
Creator: HighScore47
Difficulty: 9* (?)
Song: NGs DnB By: MegaSphere [Disclaimer: I had to use a song bypass to download the song, as it is not allowed for use currently] (651406)
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