The Most CONTROVERSIAL Geometry Dash Levels

[@PilotBFFRI]

10:48 Calling the game unoptimized does also go by the fact that the game was set to have a default object limit of 80k. Using cosmetic and creator hacks like object limit bypass does go with the risk of having a bugged game interface

[@sholka8170]

Tru

[@truebino]

So true.

[@neeko2198]

I was thinking the same thing. There’s an object limit for a reason.

[@hohoo4067]

exactly, but it's kinda stupid because it's literally impossible to make a epic level without hacks

[@andrecosta9552]

@@hohoo4067 congregation

[@jabsse1086]

12:01 ok but this has gotta be one of the biggest power plays in GD LMAO "Oh, you're gonna kick me from the verification and make it an open verification? Ok :)" *Verifies it anyways*

[@SyntheticNuclear]

It is an open verification so technically…

[@usernonegd3751]

@Creeper Slayer ikr

[@zod1acgd]

Yes

[@zod1acgd]

Big brain

[@Sergonizer]

I haven't yet watched the video but let me predict it's zylenox requiem situation

[@MrLajko]

21:02 i think it is rateable. People just dont think basic blocks can be used as a deco because they're used to it being a placeholder or a layout

[@ERRR0RR]

Finally someone appreciates RobTop's block design

[@billy6678]

I don’t get it. It’s not the typical decoration but I feel like I can look at it and go, “hmm this is visually appealing.” Regardless, it should mainly rely on gameplay, not deco.

[@SupercellularChaos]

The problem is that every other level that was getting rated at the time had deco, and suddenly xo gets rated for no apparent reason other than it is by Krmal.

[@kkoniichan]

this is not ur typical gameplay commentary video, but I still enjoyed it, in fact a little bit more than some of ur level completions. I personally would like to see some more of these

[@jayblueguy9932]

Just like 4d clubstep monser

[@carrit8501]

same

[@staco522]

@notabearGD you are the least funny trend follower ever

[@lampchair69]

@notabearGD ur the mistake

[@lampchair69]

And btw yea i would like more of these too

[@squirrel_disaster]

I feel that the gd community got too spoiled and now always expect top of the line levels

[@fireinthehole_727]

I'm making a level called Phasmophobia (I'm personally proud of the work I put into the gameplay, it's not "top of the line", but I think it's pretty good), and I think it might be one of the more controversial levels mainly for not being "top of the line", but also for being a jumpscare level (it starts off kind, but becomes a horror level). And right now, I'm working on the decoration.

[@squirrel_disaster]

@@fireinthehole_727 Well sounds like a cool premise, hope you upload some of the level on your channel I'll sub

[@d00styTV]

this is an incredibly based take

[@Simontax]

this is exactly my opinion

[@DG1C]

Ya aint wrong

[@robin.r]

16:26 - this still pisses me off Like… why do people have the audacity to tell someone to „verify faster“ and stress them? Some people even attacked knobbelboy for taking so long… it’s crazy to me… like those are usually the people who would never be able to get even 10% on the level Its the same with people sh*tting on verifiers for nerfing a level! This should only be between the creator and the verifier

[@Monkewarrior6868]

I think it's straight up ego. Maybe they're not that player, but they feel like if that player is so good then they must not take "too long" (you tell me how much time is too much time)

[@mortaIIychallenged]

Unless it's aeden with azure flare, you're right.

[@ueIl]

Meanwhile Kugelblitz has yet to verify Death Corridor to this day

[@ShamelessSlvt]

Nerfing the level should straight up be not allowed lmao. Why on earth would it be okay to make the level easier??/

[@confringo667roblox]

i do agree with you, it must be stressful, but you gotta understand that the community wasn’t used to a verification taking so long. he broke both the 100,000 attempt record for the first time, and he also took the longest to verify ever (in an active verification and not an abandoned level or such). it was all new to the community so in a way you have to understand why they stressed him out, but that doesn’t mean i think it was right. telling someone to just “verify faster” is like telling a dyslexic person to just “memorize their letters”. they should have been more patient, but you still have to understand just how much patience they were losing for the first time in gd history. basically, the stress wasn’t deserved, but the overly dramatic anticipation/impatience was. ykwim?

[@TrideGD]

Not what I expected when I saw that tweet, but that was super interesting. I knew about half of those, so it was cool to hear what levels stirred the pot and why

[@troprogd4463]

its tride

[@Innno0]

Hi tride

[@sameeknowsitall]

Hi tride

[@mainconman2201]

Hi tride

[@som3th1n95]

Hello tride

[@pichythereal]

I think Invisible Deadlocked should be on this list, same reasons as XO and conical depression

[@relangel]

Yea basically selecting everything and adding an alpha trigger and ofc verifying

[@SirLampsALot]

Same with blind blizzard

[@aalph_lb]

@@SirLampsALot yeah but blind blizzard is not rated, invisible deadlocked is

[@AeonAir]

I was considering it, but it also felt redundant having yet another "krmal level rated cuz krmal" tho Invisible Deadlocked's story is really funny

[@aalph_lb]

@@AeonAir Will u make a second part of this video? It's really cool

[@hwgaming1832]

honestly, to this day I am still impressed by mullsy's class act of handing Tartarus over to dolphy, truly a fine gentleman

[@randomannoyance]

it was open verification... it didnt matter if he was for or against dolphy

[@kry6012]

@@randomannoyance if he wouldnt have done that dolphys version wouldnt get rated

[@DoubleeyAG]

it was open verification meaning anyone can play it and verify it, everyone could be verifier and mullsy and dolphy were 2 of many, so they basically raced.

[@randomannoyance]

@@kry6012 so? is he a hero because he didnt take the option of stealing open verification to his account?

[@hwgaming1832]

@@DoubleeyAG didn't mullsy hand the rate over to dolphy when dolphy was proven to not be a hacker?

[@MorseLevvBJ]

Nine circles isn't created to make a trend so it actually did less wrong then for example problematic

[@ducky4ever75]

Nine circles is the only respectable nine circles level because it started the trend but stuff like swi is not as bad as ones that don’t change style.

[@sameeknowsitall]

@@ducky4ever75 yeah. If your gonna do an nc level and want it rated it has to be a different design. Unless you want to make the original design for fun and not rated it just won’t get rated.

[@Moxie2017]

@@ducky4ever75 I'd say the only respectable nine circles levels would be Nine Circles, Bausha Vortex, Glacial/Molten Core (Kinda), Cosmic Cyclone and the new Aerial Gleam (Kinda). All these levels had a more unique spin on the Nine Circles style so in my opinion are more respectable. Glacial and Molten Core are up for debate though in my opinion as they didn't change too much and Aerial Gleam would've been ass without the revamp. Many newish Nine Circles levels like Hyper Paracosm, Arctic Lights and Azure Flare were more or less leaching off of the hype brought along by Bausha Vortex so they wouldn't be here. Sonic Wave Infinity would be here if it wasn't for the fact that it was a superbuffed remake of an already awful level in Sonic Wave, as well as the fact that there are way too many Sonic Wave remakes.

[@rustamaniacc3922]

@@Moxie2017 The hallucination is the one thats most unique

[@yourlocalcorrectidiot927]

@@ducky4ever75 what about sakupen circles for being top 1/2

[@trbld5219]

Here's my opinion. The decoration of levels should not matter substantially when it comes to the demons list. The list is to document the toughest levels present, not fancy looking ones.

[@chrouu]

Unless the decoration is what makes it harder than when undecorated

[@granda3649]

@@chrouu There are many ways to buff a level, but deco should not be one of them unless if it has thematic purpose.

[@devog1842]

Tell that to Sonic Wave Infinity vs Sonic wave

[@chrouu]

@@devog1842 Except swi is buffed a bit

[@SoMNoMW]

@@devog1842 SWI is buffed rather heavily

[@flopnote8491]

Demon park because it scared away the devout Christians from gd

[@averagedumbproto]

@@TheCrackedComedianyou just don’t understand the depth and meaning to it 🤓🤓

[@jujudragod2513]

@@TheCrackedComedian like nobody asked 🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓

[@MugCt]

​@@jujudragod2513 I asked

[@jujudragod2513]

@@MugCt but when did i

[@daviddow3705]

@jujudragod2513 Minor spelling mistake detected. Argument invalid

[@Kozzly]

This community has changed so much, I remember when decor didnt matter at all, just difficulty. Anyone starting controversies about the decoration of a level is just sad

[@EMLeth]

yeah, levels nowadays are mainly all about having the best deco, and being as hard as possible and it's stupid

[@SDseb]

Hard agree. I miss when levels were more on gameplay. Most levels still has that element, but I feel like a lot of levels now are over decorated, some to the point where it disturbs the gameplay itself. That’s why I love Robtop main levels cause they show gameplay first, and decoration as a bonus where it’s not overdone.

[@Trickshotter]

A level I missed was Catharsis, this level was so hyped just like Woodkid and I seriously think like 80% of players in this community did not even know it was verified. So Catharsis was in my opinion one of the most underwhelming verifications in this games history

[@dylan9371]

Plus the song is really good, I actually consider it one of my favorites now

[@abjokern]

Im gonna be honest, i dont really like this level. It looks like a weird attempt at making "advanced" decoration and it is not nearly as polished as woodkid - even in some older versions.

[@dylan9371]

@@abjokern Well it was made in like 2017-2018ish, so it's not gonna look as good as some levels of today

[@tntblast500]

The thing with Catharsis for me is that it worse than Osiris in my opinion. Like it feels like it tried being like Osiris and just fell flat on its face. I mean, Osiris was hardly a polished level, but Catharsis doesn't know definition of polish.

[@dylan9371]

@@tntblast500 I meant I liked the song, didn't mean I liked the level itself lmao

[@seawolfmikes2111]

a lot of people are forgetting that rob was actually hesitant to rate kowareta because the first timing was impossible on 60fps and 120fps, though after a fix was made kowa was rated

[@chippy9707]

RobTop: RATES AND FEATURES Wysteria, a level that literally displays the story of a man who murdered and ate children Also RobTop: deletes a goddamn middle finger from an extreme demon

[@Skyymon]

to be fair, wysteria was one of the first of its kind. robtop prolly didnt realise that the level would affect young children, or he may have not even thought about it at all, and just went for a feature rate. the middle finger situation occurred after like 20 other dramas relating to the same issue, showing how cautious robtop is nowadays, aldoe keeping in mind that no one is perfect

[@ThePaintHistorian]

I personally think that andromeda has completely redeemed from his hacker days. He reverified all of his old levels and buffed some such as Poltergeist. Now he is even better than what he was viewed to be back then.

[@davidci]

Another thing to add about the Save As controversy, Mulpan's video. Mulpan simply uploaded it on his channel as if it's a glitch level and people said he was undermining the message and severity of the level, since it's about a real life mental issue. I myself also thought his video was tasteless, but a year later, I now think the community had taken the response a bit too far, even so far as to bully him online. Even PAHC, the level's creator, was distraught that his level sparked that kind of hatred.

[@ERRR0RR]

I never understood why people would hate anyone for doing something not smart and realising that only after being told. It's same as spelling a word incorrectly.

[@Frdnnd]

Tasteless? Isn't it just a showcase? I probably missing something

[@Lunaticboi956]

if I'm being honest, I'm kinda tired of people trying to "push the limits" of GD, and then just spamming over 200k objects. In regards to Peaceful, it actually does NOT take that many objects to create the horror effects (I can't say too much on Zylenox's gory redecoration to the end). I can confidently say that it doesn't take that many objects because I literally created an optimized version of the level, with 104k objects instead of 220k. One of the biggest problems with the level is the circles used to make the eyes on the giant monsters often taking up to 22 objects to make each eye, which REALLY adds up when there's over 100 eyes per monster. even the tiniest eyes take 22 objects when they can easily be done with 3-4. There's also the fact that it uses CORNER GLOW to make the whites of the eyes which can be done with a simple glow circle. This is the real reason why the level lags so much at that part, not the amount of rotates. In my optimized version, I went for a different block design from Zylenox which to be fair was much simple, but still. I added more monsters to extend the original idea instead of devolving into fleshy gore. Also at the cutscene in the middle of the level, the glitch effects take up WAY too many lines, and there's stuff that's offscreen that shouldn't even be in the level. The block design for the part with dash orbs takes up over 70k objects ON ITS OWN. No wonder people can't run the level. The holes that the monsters are pockmarked with is also extreme, being around 600 or so if not more per worm if I recall correctly. there's around 9 worms in the section, one of which is inexplicably made invisible yet still has the holes, so it just adds to the lag and not the visuals. In my version, I replaced many of the holes with the little rock shine objects in the decoration tab with the chains and stuff, and added back the worm that was made invisible. You think that's it? You think that's ALL that was messed up in the level? WRONG. Because if not knowing how to make circles was bad enough., the use of triggers is downright appalling. EVERY SINGLE WORM that bobs to the beat throughout the level has its own groups and set of triggers. As a result, the level unnecessarily reaches over 900 groups, when there's SO much that could have been saved. Spawn triggers could have been used to save on many of these triggers as well, reducing the chance for inconsistency, AND the need to have so many triggers in the first place. After I uploaded Peaceful optimized, (it's just called Peaceful on my account), I created a level based on the beta version of Peaceful that is hidden above the first cube of the original level, and named it Joyful. Joyful is pretty much Peaceful but with a much more efficient sense of creating, making full use of spawn triggers, reusing groups, and knowing how to make circles. You can argue that Joyful is more like a watered down version of Zylenox's Peaceful, but you cannot argue that Peaceful needed that high of an object count, when Joyful only has 74k in comparison to Peaceful's 227k (the zy version). I want to use this as a springboard for a talk about optimization in general. I feel like people are being very lazy when they act like their levels need more than 100k objects to look good, when there's plenty of levels that look great with sub 80k. I think we can all agree though that the biggest problem is glow abuse. Rule of thumb: if you're passing the upper object limit with GLOW ALONE, you're doing something wrong. Night Rider is a good example of this as it feels like a glowy fever dream. Then there's Ocular Miracle which has OVER 200k GLOW OBJECTS. I don't wanna hear "but muh complexity" when your level bugs out because it passes an object limit that exists for a good reason. Half the time the glow does nothing but make the level feel like you've been drugged, and then you got Zimnoir12s part in OM which should have been scrapped because the assclown used the glow STICKS to make a glowy space, blowing out the object count even further. After Peaceful, The Mayhem War, Ocular Miracle, Castlemania, Boom Slayer, and so, so much more, when are you people gonna learn? Stop using complexity as an excuse, stop blaming Robtop that you can't run your 300k+ object abortions when the game explicitly does not recommend you pass 80k. Maybe instead of blaming him, you should reconsider if your level needs this many objects.

[@T1MAGEDDON]

god FINALLY someone points out how duplicating triggers is an awful performance weight when spawn exists

[@forg3tthis4ccount]

I coudn't agree more on this, I don't like it when even high-end PCs cannot run a certain level because of the very high object counts.

[@tarekazaz327]

Bro wrote a whole essay

[@g_zuz_krist695]

@@tarekazaz327 what are you doing here? This video is 10 months old

[@imagery5425]

@@g_zuz_krist695 what are YOU doing here.

[@clubstepmonster4322]

Honestly I generally have low standards when it comes to playing lvls, so sometimes I can care less what judgemental people say

[@jayblueguy9932]

4d clubsyep monsters

[@lool8421]

if the level is good and gives a good experience, it's okay to rate this

[@ToureTaylor]

@@lool8421 I'm having a hard time with Crimson Clutter.

[@imagery5425]

@@ToureTaylor hope you beat it :D

[@DrewK26]

SAVE AS honestly gave me a sense of terror in the level. I never knew you could convey Alzheimer’s in a Geometry Dash level where the gameplay and song deteriorate through the level’s progression. Honestly terrified me because this is metaphorically something people experience to this day, and it scares me.

[@krysisaverted]

20:13 Not really, Dear Nostalgists was basically a middle finger from TriAxis to people who were mad at levels that as you said "weren't geometry dash". The level was TriAxis' way to say "No, f*** you, this is my medium to express myself, if you don't like it, then stop playing my levels."

[@kingrazor9562]

Watching your videos improve my english, well my listening, I'll keep watching your videos :D

[@cripencio99crip]

Same

[@albert1537]

Same

[@zzyunogd]

improves lol

[@zgossara5361]

Kinda same lol. I used to be bad at it but now considering the only thing I watch is English, I am better at it than my own national language.

[@LouXYZ]

Akabane, He is improving his english so him making faults is ok, i am not english and i am watching english video to improve my english too, so you should not comment that.

[@dereckteixeira9520]

2:33 jumpscare warning

[@truebino]

10:48 I mean, they used hacks to go far far far far beyond the normal object limit set by rob, so you can really only blame the creators for going far beyond what the creator of the game expected you to go.

[@imagery5425]

Which is stupid.

[@pannnella]

@@imagery5425 kid named which:

[@avoh111]

xo is a pretty good looking level imo. Just because it uses default 1.0 gray objects (plus 1.8 slopes) doesnt make it a layout

[@neogrimm]

Agreed.

[@SupercellularChaos]

The argument is that every other level rated at the time had deco, but somehow xo gets a pass.

[@nintySW]

​@@SupercellularChaosI think the solution is just to not give xo and krmal a special pass, but instead to just Rate More good 1.0 style levels!! just because some people think it looks bad or boring doesn't mean it is, and levels like xo or dear nostalgists look Really good with the limited palette they use.

[@user-hh5pj5jv8p]

Honestly no, decoration is decent but nothing crazy in 2.0/2.1 standards. Like a 5/10 maybe

[@NotTheRealCake]

tbh i barely have seen ppl get mad at dear nostalgists, so why is it different with XO/conical depression?

[@DLAppleGamez]

4:31 I might be wrong here but I think that the Hell Zone was the level that drove Cyclic to confess. People caught a single frame in his video where his icon disappears.

[@scottm7310]

I think Rob should bring back his old system of being able to feature levels without rating them. That way, he could highlight big achievements like Thinking Space, Sakupen Circles, Ocular Miracle, etc. without "messing up the demon list" or creating other problems.

[@don_chanLIVE]

the demon list is a list of the hardest demons

[@scottm7310]

@@don_chanLIVE precisely. So if you feature a level like thinking space, it is not a rated demon and won't make it on the demons list, but it still allows the achievement to be highlighted. Seems like a good compromise to me

[@spriterefreshed935]

Features don’t even do anything because there’s so much old levels that still are featured, and they ain’t up to my standards of a fun level

[@62049]

i feel like ratings without features should be used for that purpose

[@sideslash6938]

@@62049 exactly! feature is for really good levels, epic is for amazing levels and rate but no feature or epic is just a level that is not that great but should be rated for some reason.

[@JustAspect]

15:35 Initially when Dolphy started getting framed as a hacker, Mully's version of Tartarus was the one that got rated. The only reason Dolphy's version ended up getting rated was because Mullsy himself asked RobTop to unrate his Tartarus version, and rate Dolphy's version, since he beat the level before Mullsy did. Edit: About Phobos, what you said isn't entirely true, KrmaL's version of Phobos was significantly easier then the original one. Deimos, the one verified by npesta, was a redecorated version of the original hacked Phobos, to give you an idea of how much more difficult the original version was.

[@joycemarques3815]

Deimos is way more buffed than unnerfed phobos, the most significant changes in the unnerfed version are the first ufo and the last dual

[@Antegggggggggg]

Deimos is buffed unnerfed phobos

[@Ankky22]

than* not then

[@JustAspect]

@@joycemarques3815 really? my bad then, that I did not know

[@arcturus0379]

The original Phobos wouldn't even be list worthy anymore, it's like between Athanatos and Subsonic Deimos is way harder

[@DMRmar1]

For dv, it was first accusations of semi auto at first due to inconsistent difficulty, and THEN the 54 objects were noticed, which caused the team to find the exact auto spots. It was eventually reverified by tosh.

[@NotNochos]

Congregation is one of my favorites of the extreme category imo

[@cosmicjenny4508]

I remember when one of the most controversial levels was Time Machine lmao

[@7Pulsar]

ok this made me laugh lol

[@Alejandro-yy5kn]

Ngl i liked time machine

[@darkstorm_omega]

Tbh I miss the days of being a newer player and constantly being like "dude Time Machine is impossible, that damn grav ring keeps screwing with me." ...you know exactly which ring I'm referring to here.

[@cosmicjenny4508]

@@darkstorm_omega I honestly don’t lol

[@pepearown4968]

I mean, I’m able to beat the level just fine, but why do I feel like it’s harder than ToE and Fingerdash? It has like 30 something triple spikes.

[@adcgdsin9320]

Definitely think that Save As controversy was silly. Even though the gameplay was very sketchy, it was meant to be that way for showing Alzheimers disease. I also wanted to point out, what I think is, another controversy with Save As, and that was the removal of the old version of the song, The Noise Experiment. Apparently, triplebarrel decided to remove the song altogether, just because she didn't like it. That's it. Well yeah, there's a new version of The Noise Experiment and while it does convey dementia better, removing/replacing the first version ruined the meaning of "Save As" as a whole. -To me, I don't get it at all: PAHC asked her to make the song (which she had a chance to refuse btw), she made the song at 2am (which she could have had more time with the song), the song was loved alot for its meaning, but then she deletes it because in her words, "it's shit lol". So much for trying to create a level with meaning. I guess that removal of the song just rubs me the wrong way.- Edit: It is within my attention that both PAHC and triplebarrel wanted the song removed (it was mutual). For that reason, I rescind my “I don’t get it” spiel.

[@kenossongreal6494]

I want to see more levels like it too. I love levels like this or requiem where there is a message that is useful in real life. Hope to see more.

[@razzley]

Gameplay and decoration should ALWAYS come first before “message” or “atmosphere”. I dont think the controversy was silly in the slightest considering that save as is absolutely awful to play, look at, and listen to, good message or not.

[@kenossongreal6494]

@@razzley you don’t understand the point of art then. Everything in gd is an opinion. Some people like that type of gameplay, therefor levels like that should be rated.

[@razzley]

@@kenossongreal6494 im sorry but have you played the level… its literally broken. Its utterly awful i cant understand why people defend this. There are very few levels i would even call “”art”” in gd, and this is sure as shit not one of them

[@kenossongreal6494]

@@razzley we don’t defend the gameplay, we defend its purpose. Your not comprehending the purpose of the level. The gameplay is bad on purpose. The fact that it is unplayable is perfect for the purpose of it.

[@washering]

In my opinion, I think any level that has been created with care and love put into it should be rated; Imagine spending 100 hours to create a level with great gameplay just for it to be shut down by the community because it hasn't got the latest decoration techniques, e.g XO, which, let's be honest, has some of the coolest gameplay and is still seen as just an ordinary "layout" by many players. Not gonna lie, it really pisses me off when great levels are killed because of this, and what people need to remember is that levels started off like today's layouts! New blocks were added to the editor to make more creative possibilities, not to get people to change how the game works!

[@Skyymon]

if u think any level should be rated if love and care was put into it, then what about vsc? what about ocular miracle? or peaceful? or any other unrated level in this video? i understand ur point, but that argument is not completely valid. in the case of xo, its very similar to other effect layouts, but ig less effects, so i do think this level deserves a rate, though not a feature rate.

[@EHMM]

​@@Skyymonblah blah blah

[@THTB_lol]

@@Skyymon vsc is too short, it would have to get an easy rating, ocular miracle literally couldn't run properly, peaceful has the same reasoning

[@necrolord5799]

Bad opinion, some people are so bad at making levels that they could spend a year on a level and it would still be terrible, levels should be rated on decoration gameplay and length

[@vinity5202]

Something to consider about Nine Circles controversy is how the trend changed over time. There was a point where RobTop specifically said he would not rate more Nine Circles-style levels, however as time progressed some "Nine Circles" levels were decorated in a more modern way. For example, Auditory Breaker and Bausha Vortex are "Nine Circles-style levels" levels, but they got rated.

[@ADTcudi]

With what you said about man man and red rooms, “many people wonder if devin is mentally ok” and stuff, I actually DMed him on the subject and his response was simply “never been better”

[@Paragon_]

And where's the proof

[@ADTcudi]

@@Paragon_ right here bub 🤣🤣🤣 kzbin.info/www/bejne/bqvckGSVd7eShpI

[@ADTcudi]

@@Paragon_ LMFAO seems like your speechless

[@Paragon_]

@@ADTcudi Yeah no I was sleeping

[@robin.r]

I personally love those effect layouts. Yes. They are kinda empty but man if done well… they can look so good.

[@todd203]

1:28 The talk of the town? That’s an understatement. People were telling BotC to end himself.

[@Tethysus]

Going to the Man Man and Red Rooms levels, I don't understand why people are wondering if the creator is mentally sane. Why wouldn't people wonder the same thing for horror movie directors? I feel as though there should be an age restriction option for levels like that, but still not allowing any pornographic material.

[@ElectrifyXD]

Pretty interesting video to talk about. Personally, I would have included Element 111 RG, as it was more or so lost in history, the Hell series from Sohn and ICDX, Your brain on drugs by Jayuff, and Gunslinga Corridor. I could go more and more about levels that had a bad history or drama, but I would take forever lol.

[@prakesh2904]

Bruh i just realized that there were technically 3 controversies around bloodlust lmao. First there was that it took too long, then there was the crazen thing which was sort of an extension of the first, and then the bloodlust vs PPF stuff

[@karotgamin790]

For the horror levels, it’s kinda like saying that the person who made Resident Evil is mentally unstable. They weren’t in the slightest.

[@TheBombyExtra]

Honestly, I feel as if the "Demon levels have to be heavily decorated" argument misses the whole point of a level being a demon in the first place. Demon levels are meant to display the hardest levels in the game, not by how pretty your super hard level looks. (Unless the level's decorations are put to specifically effect gameplay. Like with the darkness effect in Slaughterhouse and a few other extreme demons) At this point, I feel as if we need a filter seprete from demons for those kinds of levels. Kind of like the magic levels that are on the bar tab

[@Shronut]

Doing a sort of series like this where each episode discusses a certain controversial level could be fantastic, even if the videos aren’t very long

[@sirmemes1225]

Tbh if you have epilepsy you cannot play gd, period

[@jubafila7625]

12:31 When you are uploading a level it literally says: "By sharing a level you give the rights to use the level (in any way) to the creators of Geometry Dash" Dude, what's wrong with Twitter.

[@daviddow3705]

That's Twitter for you

[@lmaoeyisdead]

This really shows to me how mad people can get over levels. I get conical depression, but it wasn’t really krmals fault…

[@user-hh5pj5jv8p]

Nah, Krmal actually said that if rob didn’t rate it he’d be ok with the spam comments and hate to pressure the rate

[@bug.]

seeing this video made me go on a nostalgia trip. having followed the game since late 1.9 being reminded of all these levels almost brought a tear to my eye.

[@eboone]

4:50 fun fact: the original light blue SW was made to rival Poltergeist as the most difficult NC level, but the dark blue update was made to rival BB

[@tammid8423]

Ngl I think it just works so well as a counterpart to Bloodbath Both specialize in one gamemode (ship for BB and wave for SW), have opposing colors, contrasting atmosphere (tense and grounded for BB and cool and surreal for SW) and overall both feel EPIC in very different ways

[@THTB_lol]

@@tammid8423 and both have gameplay that sucks ass

[@mightbefrostie]

Just wanted to say that you could've boxed together bliss & karma, as they dealt with the same controversy. great video as always! :D

[@zetatypes]

I think if the meaning of a level hits heavy, it's rate worthy despite the lack of gameplay.

[@playboikaniiii]

This video reminded me that the Geometry Dash level editor gives you so much freedom that simply creating a new project can result in something very pleasing or straight up concerning. From creating games and animations inside a game to, well, Red Rooms.

[@playboikaniiii]

@@Therealgamer544 yeah i forgot the object limit exists lmao

[@nitroflux_o1040]

Gd is a pretty cool game

[@qitadel]

@@Therealgamer544 xender games made alot of his bossfight levels on mobile

[@pepearown4968]

@@Therealgamer544 GD’s levels don’t have checkpoints. No one wants to make a level that’s over 6 minutes. Also, GD’s editor, even without object hacking, is still way less limited than, say, Super Mario Maker. You have a lot more freedom, but it’s just that it’s a lot harder to use.

[@imagery5425]

@@pepearown4968 SMM and GD are the 2 extremes of the accessibility vs. visuals argument for level makers.

[@-nastrohan-3953]

I would’ve loved to hear your opinion on Peaceful and SAVE AS, as I think they’re both extremely impressive.

[@Hyperlaser_Merc]

The "Save as" controversy is not directly about the level. It was about Mulpan who misunderstood the level about altsheimer with a glitch level. He didnt deserve the hate at all.

[@SoziFang64]

Another good aeon vid! But there have been 2 levels i noticed, that hadnt been told the full meaning/story of so imma correct them. Man Man/Red Rooms These are 2 levels inspired by 2003devins favorite movie called "august underground" which is a story about 2 murderers recording themselves as they do heinous stuff with their victims. This movie features alot of gore, blood, vore etc. Some art of man man and red rooms are actual scenes in august underground. Battle of the shades Battle of the shades is a level made by GDvirus which started of as a pretty normal level with a monochrome color pallet. The level recieved quite alot of attention which also increased the ammount of haters and critizism and it made GDvirus angry up to a point, that he updated the level to a completely different level to snap back at the haters. The more haters come, the more "phases" battle of the shades got.

[@racoon_in_ankhmorpork]

I’m new to the gd scene, and these kinds of videos help me understand the community a bit better, so that’s super cool. Thanks, Aeon :) This game has a lot of history, and way more depth than people give it credit for. I’m just now realising how much weight the “code of honour” regarding verifications etc. holds, how important it is found to be by the players. I think that’s super nice, and I wish more people appreciated it. Instead, I am the only person I know who knows even the slightest bit about the gd community (like, that it even really exists), and that’s kinda sad :/

[@ImpactGD]

12:44 i think he cab remove stuff from the level because when you upload a level it says like terms of service or something that robtop can do that.

[@kellystevie9878]

8:15 god eater could've been an oops moment and him not realize, but woodkid is just bruh

[@mx_ae]

woodkid had like 5 separate big discussions around it and you put it in the same category as god eater

[@mx_ae]

also you should probably put betrayal of fate in the next vid

[@YoyleMetalBerry]

I’m one of the people who loves the nine circles trend I’ve attempted to make several NC levels but I never seemed to get the effect right, luckily while making a level named Special Effects I learned how to make effects using the color trigger

[@BtheBLmao]

NC levels are really fun to make if you know how to make them. I know people don’t like NC levels but I personally agree with you.

[@62049]

If learning a level wasnt a factor in the difficulty, leyak would be a hard demon. However, I think it should be a low insane demon due to the learning process

[@novasphereyt8123]

20:27 bro just foreshadowed the spaceuk situation

[@SohnnyD]

The argument of Man Man and Red Rooms being "genuinely disturbing" levels and "Devin not being mentally sane" is an absolute joke. (I made a video on Man Man where I go into more detail, but this is just a summary of some of my frustrations.) Have none these GD players been to a public middle school or high school? Most kids say the N-Word in every sentence. Or have these GD players ever been on the internet for more than 5 seconds? Like on KZbin if you type . or / into the search bar you'll find some wired stuff. And if you search deep enough you find just straight up illegal stuff. You can find equally messed up stuff on the Surface Web, just as much as on the Deep Web. Even Mutahar debunked the whole Live Red Rooms thing in his "How "Scary" is the Deep Web... 2021 Edition..." at 12:30. And yes of course there are videos of beheaddings from terrorists groups, but not any actual red rooms. Heck even real life is more scary than these levels. Like South Park even had entire episode on how school shootings are just an average thing that happen on a tuesday now. Devin levels are so much more tame than what an average person would find anywhere else on the internet. I mean have you SEEN what Sydney (Sydsnap) Hentai tastes are!?!? SHE LIKES UB AND NTR FOR GODS SAKE!!! All jokes aside, Devin is probably one of the more normal people that live on the internet. Great video Aeon. :) I'm surprised didn't add the controversy of UnderWorld not being added to the Doom Gauntlet, because it was "too scary and disturbing." Bruh like 5 year olds would even make it that far into the Doom Gauntlet. Or Crazen, Guitar, or the worst of all that "human" who made the UniKitty Series.

[@diamonddemon935]

I couldn't agree more.

[@alecrutz956]

tbh I felt the same way about Peaceful, it's disturbing sure, but it's not that bad unless you're trypophobic. As for Red Rooms and Man Man, I hate both levels but mainly due to the gameplay. I never understood how people thought it was THAT disturbing. Yes it's creepy and disturbing, but I've seen some legit terrible stuff online, I've been on 4chan and yeah, people can be truly horrifying. Man Man really pisses me off though because the level doesn't just feature graphic gore, but straight up pornography. Then ends on an image of a decapitated naked woman. People mindlessly praised the level for being so unique, when it's basically the equivalent of a teenager saying the n word for shock value.

[@Name-ej8mt]

devin is in fact weird, but not insane (at least its not confirmed)

[@PalmettoGD]

I LOVE Congregation. The art is simple and incredible when you look at the small details. And yeah, it’s really atmospheric!

[@TJ-hg6op]

It looks really good!… for an early 2.0 level.

[@Kajlj5000real]

*congregation drop*

[@levelmake7758]

1:51 As an epileptic (Literally had a seizure this morning) less then 1% of epileptic have seizures that are caused by flashing lights. For example, my two main triggers is overheating and overexerting myself, I have no idea how or who started the myth that all epileptics can’t look at flashing lights but it is not true. Ok thx.

[@hypphen]

less than 1%??? girl omfg ive been lied to my entire life thank u

[@DarthSkril]

Imagine saying deadlocked is harder than leyak. Those people shouldn't have a say in the gd community.

[@DedikateSSB]

About Red Rooms, Devin has said before that it was heavily inspired by his favorite movie. I dont remember the name of it though.

[@SlushFiend]

it was august underground

[@ThePersonWhoAsked69420]

Man Man and Red Rooms are really strange levels, but you gotta respect Devin for making them look so good and have such good gameplay.

[@ViVerna]

SAVE AS controversy boils down to "should a level be made if I don't like it?"

[@itssergio44]

I have beaten Thanatophobia and I can say a 100% sure it is an Extreme Demon, the predrop is sometimes very frustrating that the true difficult is to not go insane playing the level and then in the drop is the 56% bug on the ball part that makes the level a bit weird but it is an Extreme Demon imo

[@fireinthehole_727]

I don't think thana is an extreme demon but I respect people who do think it is *as long as they have sufficient progress on the level*

[@Arct1c.]

Coming from someone who has thousands of attempts on Leyak, I do believe it’s current spot is good for it. It’s not hard enough to be an extreme, but deadlocked sure as hell isn’t harder

[@moreluxarion2522]

6:54 and yet when a gore filled movie comes out everyones like: OMG THIS IS SO COOL

[@averagelightningenjoyer285]

8:02 honestly, xo actually deserved to be rated. it’s an amazing level, even despite that it doesn’t use “modern” decoration.

[@totallynormalminecart519]

My personal unneeded opinion: Plus minus any quality level deserves a rate. It might be short, it might be simple, it may have a meaning, a nong song. Mostly they should be rated if they’re good. Some levels even have those characteristics more as a speciality. Regarding copyrights and stuff, I think these should be rated as a compensation for the work put in, but with some punishment/limitation. For example if you make a level with a nong song with copyrights then your level needs to be more unique and like actually great let’s say and that you can’t get more than just a rate for it. It just makes sense as it’s kinda rewarding then, but not very tempting. The nc controversy in my opinion puts light on an important topic when it comes to rating levels: creativity. When a style is getting overused there should be kinda the same kind of punishment that goes for nong songs levels. What also is a factor is memory. Memory can make a level way harder. No need to explain here. Levels with depiction of gore, violence, all that kind of stuff... Can’t really say anything about them. On one hand making levels is art of some sort and there shouldn’t really be any boundaries when it comes to art (I like the fact that such levels exist actually), but on the other one not every member of the gd community is “mature” enough to deal with that kind of levels. By the way I think it’s important to put disclaimers on them. It also has been mentioned throughout the video about levels that shouldn’t be rated, biases and so on. When I found out about levels like cd or buff this I didn’t think it’s a bias. There might be however a chance that there was, but I took it as some kind of a joke which is also a possible scenario in theory. Especially knowing the Rob’s temptation to doing pure random things sometimes. Hopefully I didn’t forget anything and once again it’s my personal opinion. If you read all this through: Congratulations! You just wasted a ton of time. Have some cheese. 🧀

[@thenickstrikebetter]

🧀

[@XxTR1D]

Just me or 2003 devin’s levels should still be playable at least. It has a warning for literally 10% of the level. The art work is still amazing no matter the gore😂 It is one of the main reasons he won artist of the year for sure

[@ajinurfajri1952]

Wdym? He only made 2 unplayable levels. The rest are pretty safe unless you know too much about the stuffs in the level

[@Name-ej8mt]

you can play it when you are an ingame friend of devin or someone else who has it uploaded on their account

[@astroh4936]

Buff This: fine joke level, nice for straight fly practice. Should probably not be rated but yeah Congregation: really good atmospheric level, creates a good feel with the song also. I would not say it's lazy at all NC: fine trend, but only rate worthy if presented with new gimmicks or with a really polished decoration (i.e. Bausha Vortex, Cosmic Cyclone). Also preferably not too eye-hurting deco Thinking Space: deco wise it's bad, and not rate worthy, but with the Atomic thing i think the rating's justified. As of me, I'm one of the few people who likes the level, bc I haven't really seen a similar level, I like the color palette, the wanky gameplay feels interesting and impossibile and the song's not that bad SW: deco wise generic NC level, good song and sync, out of my skill range and seems unbalanced but that's just the nature of the level being an old top 1. Not that Yata and Erebus are much better deco wise Kowa: neutral towards the decoration, prefer Kuzureta, but I like Kriz's remake Gumi Devin levels: people are way too sensitive lmaoo they're really gonna say Devin is some sorta psychotic killer just because he implemented horror in an art form xd (gonna separate these two) xo: rate worthy, possibly feature worthy. I think what krmal manages to do with this level is unique. It incorporates the feeling of the song perfectly, the background effects are fine, the structuring is good, the sync is perfect. The level only uses 1.0 blocks but in reality there are way more objects, the grey scale is good also. Way too overhated Conical: I'd say rateworthy for its time, not now, but the idea of the level being broken hitboxes reliant and the structuring of the level is kinda interesting and also the finale I think is cool also I'll say it here. If levels like Conical are rated, it *does not* mean that every bad generic level should be rated. Conical is not the rule, it's the exception, same for xo and Thinking Space. They're levels that manage to breake the rules and still get away with it, and even if they're bad to some sort everyone remembers them Woodkid: Jakerz doesn't deserve the rate at this point Astral Divinity/God Eater: copyright stuff don't care Devil Vortex: kinda interesting story right there Battle of the Shades: as Andromeda had done with Poltergeist, people should not randomly remake levels because it puts people off Requiem: no that's censorship Ocular Miracle: bad song, well yeah maybe the level should have been optimized more but it was years ago. Tbh it should be remade with today's deco standards with an object count of maybe 200k Peaceful: omg that's disturbing lmao Thanatophobia: I'm pretty skeptical myself of the in game ratings. I think for example it makes no sense for Nine Circles to be a hard demon, since it's not that much harder than something let's say like Decode. Or Acropolis, I would say it's more of a hard demon since aside from the first 15% and 24-33 it's like medium demon difficulty. So while I have not beaten Thanatophobia, I think it would probably be an insane demon. Leyak: same thing Tartarus: since it was an open verification, Dolphy has the right to be the verifier The Hell Series: fine vibey levels, they're like bad but they have the old vibes that make them unique. I'd say rate worthy Bloodlust: fine Molten Gear/TUP/Phobos/Zodiac: idk I'm God: rate worthy Dear Nostalgists: good level gameplay and structuring wise, especially for its time, rate worthy I'd say. Bliss: not rate worthy. It's good but generic and not recognizable Save As: good level, surely not fun but dementia is not fun. Maybe it could be portrayed in ways that don't make the gameplay annoying but I'd say it's still effective

[@Owen123c]

There was more legal trouble in with God Eater/Astral Divinity. There was a strand of copyright claims against the song used in the level (Crystal Corruption by Lia;Quo). One of the people who got claimed was Lia;Quo herself, and all the legal trouble that followed made her almost completely quit creating music altogether. Thankfully, she came back a few years later and made some more songs.

[@Owen123c]

@FloboaT I think it was because whatever company did it did a mass claim that ended up claiming lia;quo's video.

[@hotdogga]

6:29 "i'm not gonna be showing any clips of the levels because they are genuinely disturbing to look at" *puts it in the thumbnail*

[@Fishtenders]

I love Congregation’s atmosphere. It embraces the song used in the level to its fullest, with a 90’s tech aesthetic complete with what look to be errors and a very calm-looking starting segment to reduce distraction with the tight beginning jumps.

[@thekingofangel777]

Also the meme.....(u know what i mean)

[@jbsr]

19:12 people were also unhappy that wless unchecked a speed portal in the editor to make it long length when in reality it was medium length. after that was exposed it's been updated and it shows correctly as medium

[@kirbygmd4783]

as long as the level is at least 30 seconds it doesn't really matter to me and I personally think it shouldn't have mattered and become controversial.

[@jbsr]

@@kirbygmd4783 but long levels are more likely to be rated and since its empty and copypasted its probable that was done to get a rate

[@heptaval]

in my opionion, the learning process should count as difficulty and memory levels shocase that concept. also in my opinion most of these weren't explained as well and could create confusion: for example lithifusion kicked zylenox from verifying requiem because "he roleplayed" also the creator of battle of the shade actualy updated the level because he was salty about the criticism he was getting on the level also the saws in devil vortex made people suspicious because they had the same object count as it would take in blue pads to auto the wave parts (they thought that the wave parts were autoed, not the whole level) nontheless really good video! also to be honest the save as situation was quite ironic, as people were judging the gameplay (which was made to explain how alzheimer's generally works) negatively, just like some people in real life tend to dislike people with alzheimers and dementia just because they have a brain disease

[@sirlunar]

finally someone who justifies save as, speaking straight facts

[@finadoggie]

to respond to the first part pretty much everything involving difficulty in gd will come down to either learning or execution. many hard levels are hard due to the difficulty of execution, but as you mentioned, memory can and will serve as it's own barrier and should be seen in a similar light, though I'd argue that memorization difficulty can only go so far, as at some point it'll be easier to close your eyes than to look at whatever sort of confusion the level is trying to inflict on you.

[@heptaval]

@@finadoggie yeah, now that i think of It, wasureta is a good example of the fact that the learning process is part of the difficulty, as without that counted it would be lower on the demonlist

[@hello_hello569]

Really nice video! I feel like another level that could be added to this list is either deconstructed level or darkerer drop by braedenthecroco as a lot of people complained about the levels quality and whether robtop has a bias towards certain creators.

[@CatkinsonGD]

Very informative. I learned a lot from this, though I think Sonic Wave Infinity should have been included. There was a lot drama surrounding it around the time Xanii verified it, ranging from whether he was milking the verification for clicks to whether it should've been rated with the crash trigger. There's still people hating on it for its decoration, so it's still a hot topic even today.

[@sameeknowsitall]

Yes same

[@PhotonZXY]

Thing that u forgot: When SAVE AS was released, a KZbinr named Mulpan made a video about it. He saw the level as a “spooky glitch level” and after he released that video, the GD community blew it’s lid. Every one started getting mad at Mulpan for his misunderstanding, and all the while he was in the army. And before he went into the army, he said he would take a break, and he had made a big mistake. Man, I love this community.

[@leyoshivenere350]

Damn people are becoming demanding these days. Most of these levels are fine, deserve star ranking and don't deserve all of their "hate". Like Dear Nostalgists and Bliss, these levels are very good I don't see a problem

[@eshleyyy]

In my opinion levels like Ocular Miracle and Peaceful really pushed the creating community towards optimizing levels. The GD creator obviously was not intended to have literally 300k objects stuffed into it, therefore the game does not like when creators do that. Look at levels like Night Rider, which is heavily optimized, but has (IMO) comparable amount of detail to Ocular Miracle. Also Culluc, oh how could I forget Culluc.

[@592Johno]

Night rider is still shit tho

[@xZyvon]

Questioning someone's sanity for making something with gore / dark themes is honestly stupid, if you really think someone's mentally unstable or anything along the lines for making something discomforting, I wouldn't say they should be rated as GD is intended / marketed as a more child friendly game but it's still a creative outlet for many, and if they wish to do so by making something "dark and disturbing" that should be fine. It's just a expression of art, and you can't deny the quality of the levels (for Geometry dash) is very high (refering to: 6:16 )

[@GGsquared]

9:59 if zodiac did not need to be “reverified” neither does devil vortex. it was already unofficially verified in sunix in 2017 (if tosh hacked/semi-autoed the level ofc)

[@plexyglass429]

The gatekeeping that some people do is crazy. Maybe some creators dont need hundereds of thoasands of details crammed into levels for it to be visually appealing or fun. All that mindset does it prevent new creators from coming up

[@N0tasava7]

Nine minutes ago!?

[@RungleJungle]

@@N0tasava7?

[@ahadaffanmir9527]

well before this video i had never heard of man man or red room and after doing some googling and going down MANY rabbit holes I am extremely stressed for no reason and heart rate is through the roof. MY FAULT THO

[@synkloites]

I getcha, I accidentally started this at 3am and I have regrets

[@minetieplays2092]

I will never be one is those people who hates levels just because they’re poorly decorated. I personally have no idea how to make good level decoration, so I try to make gameplay that’s simple or fun for people that play my levels. Levels that don’t have that much decoration can still be good levels. Edit: T.L, D.R. whether a level gets rated or not shouldn’t solely rely on how much decoration there is.

[@SupercellularChaos]

15:18 okay do people not understand how open verifications work?

[@moonstoone6546]

I would definitely add bonus round by Darwin. It’s a 1.8 style level with no added decoration, and it got epic. It’s used to show how bigger creators can get levels rated epic that wouldn’t be rated by a smaller creator.

[@pcklkng8501]

Congregation prolly shouldn’t have an epic but I wouldn’t say to unrate it. It’s got a nice creepy atmosphere, fun gameplay, and the decoration is still really good even though there’s not much air deco

[@SupercellularChaos]

20:37 okay, i feel like it should be common sense that, for hacked verifications, the verifier title simply be moved to the first victor.

[@DZNRBX]

I'm surprised acu never made it in the list actually. Side note, Tosh did actually reverify Devil Vortex legitimately in 2021

[@AeonAir]

Acu felt too similar to thanatophobia to me, but less intense of a discussion, so I opted not to include it to avoid repeating myself :)

[@ZunoDubstep]

you should've discussed about triaxis' levels "hysteria" and "tick tock", they were basically one of his last levels before committing suicide

[@k1ngcraz3official]

Nah congregation looks great. To me its proof that you can have great looking levels with out the crazy effects. Its just about how u put it together and how it applies to the theme that makes it look great. I myself am working on a remake of toe 2 and im making it very 1.9 style

[@gloryo13]

Imagine being so comfortable playing peaceful

[@CodyStrange_10]

When will this community realize that the demon list is supposed to measure the hardest levels. Not the best levels

[@TheGhastyYT]

The hardest beatable demons you mean Otherwise you get something like Ton 618

[@gabriendoesthingssometimes]

21:04 a level kind of like bliss is Layout by alkali, which also sparks the idea that its only rated because a popular creator made it