6:21 creator of soap here soap is not just a core level; it introduces the mechanics of the blue bubble and blue spring which both dont restore your dash, but your dash is still restored on the ground. I can see how itd be mistaken for core mechanics though still, my main focus was not on creating new experiences through the use of new mechanics (after all the blue stuff is nothing groundbreaking), but rather it was moreso creating new experiences through creative use of existing mechanics its a philosophy I picked up mostly from spring collab, strawberry jams less ambitious predecessor in which the majority of maps either didnt use custom mechanics at all, or if they did, they were basically just simple variations on vanilla ones my main gameplay focus was to take elements of gameplay design usually only found in higher level maps, and make them more beginner friendly to act as a sort of tutorial for what was yet to come first off theres a lot of reuse of elements, with you often having to take the same path multiple times under different circumstances or having to use a falling block a second time after youve already dropped it second there routing puzzles, with you needing to come up with a safe route through each room when there isnt one obviously laid out for you. you have to ask yourself questions about whether you have enough dashes to go somewhere or whether theres safe ground that you could create by bringing over a falling block or move-block, adding a more logical element to the gameplay finally theres resource management, with you having to keep constant checks on how many dashes you have, and making sure to only use them when necessary. though this idea is used in a lot of core and core-adjacent maps, I never felt like it was expored as fully as it could be, and so I tried to do just that (I also used a heart bounce in the heart room but it seems like you just cheesed past that. I didnt care to patch that out because buffering a dash out off the heart is a cool trick aswell) then each of the first 4 berry rooms served to act as an exaggeration of one of those elements. the first berry room puts emphasis on reuse of elements, having you pass through the same stretch of gameplay three whole times with a different number of dashes each time. the second berry room takes the "puzzle" out of routing puzzle, being a literal puzzle which you need to think outside the box in order to solve. the third berry room is focused on resource management, having you do basically the entire room dashless before finally using your one dash at the end. then the fourth berry room takes the "routing" out of routing puzzle, having no single intended path, and instead forcing you to come up with your own thats basically all I had to say. Im not going to say I dont respect your opinion or anything, but im just saying that my focus for soap was far from being on the things you marked it down for
I'm feeling little star struck reading this to be honest. Never thought one of the creators would ever see my video! I'll be honest, if I had to change anything about the video, it's what I said Soap. I definitely feel as though I was unnecessarily harsh when talking about it and definitely did not spend enough time on the positives. The level was so much fun and I really enjoyed it but looking back, there is no way people would be able to tell that just from the video. Also 1 more thing. I genuinely feel bad that the nuances of your level completely went over my head. You clearly put a lot of time and effort into it and to have some jerk (me) on the internet, that could never do what you do, say you did nothing new must have been frustrating. You made a fantastic level and I'm sorry that I missed so much of what made it unique
It feels like the creator has a hard tiering system of (puzzles) (mostly base mechanics) (new mechanics) and nothing is going to swap them out of that. If it means anything, as I'm going through at the moment, I really enjoyed soap, it's been forever since I played, and it just felt really good and satisfying to play, lots of things that were in the base game and were less utilised as you said (needing to fast drop was cool, wall jumps are not like tested much in base game iirc)
19:08 I'm not an expert at how Celeste works, but the fact that paint works at all is truly a spectacle. The reason why the music pauses during deaths is because the music was implemented as cassette music. When you die, the music tries to realign itself with the gameplay due to freeze frames that occur during the game, which means the GAME ITSELF is what's holding paint back. Not exactly sure of the specifics, but this is what I've heard.
@@nonnilmil no, paint seems to be consistently not fun for someone who silver the paint. I have seen like a few people not liking it and they also tend to silver the level.
Just about everything in Potential for Anything is a reference to VVVVVV. Every screen, mechanic, hazard, and even the name! As a huge fan of that game, it had me smiling the entire time
Personal ranking: *21. Over the City -* Remember Desolate Spire from Spring Collab 2020? That map was amazing. It introduces jump crystals so well, and there’s a sense of freedom and openness that reminds me of the early Celeste chapters. Imagine that but without your dash. This map is agony, it’s a pain to navigate and almost every room feels either boring or uncomfortable. I like the huge skips used for speedruns, but if one of my only positives of a map is the fact that you can get it over with faster, that’s not a good sign lol *20. Coresaken City -* Honestly not a fan of this one, but that might be because I’m comparing it to the huge scope and personality that almost every other beginner map has. It’s literally just Ch. 1 and Ch. 8 fused together so it doesn’t really get any points in the design department. The gameplay is fine but can feel a bit wonky with some rooms. I really like the strawberries that require you to enter and beat rooms with lava instead of ice. Otherwise this map is just meh. *19. Dropzle -* Imagine Celeste but without any platforming and only puzzles. I don’t hate puzzle maps, in fact, Pointless Machines and Lunar Pagoda are some of my favorite maps, but this one just isn’t my thing. I like the design, atmosphere and music, I think they fit the level well. For the most part, solving the puzzles isn’t terrible, but they REALLY went overboard with the last room, which almost took me longer than the rest of the map combined. I respect this map more than I like it. (Fun fact, FC-ing this map took me longer than Vinculum and Mosaic Garden, both of which are yellow Experts) *18. The Squeeze -* You uhh squeeze through tight gaps? I’m trying my best here. I guess the music’s nice and I like the jingle that plays when you squeeze through a gap. *17. Collapsing Skyline -* For using mostly vanilla assets, the design of this level is amazing. The gameplay fits the atmosphere, with all the crumbling buildings and “elevators”, but is it fun? No not really. Finding the mini-berries is fun, but aside from that, I have no strong opinions. *16. Azure Caverns -* This is a good map with not a lot wrong with it but I beat it in 3 minutes what am I supposed to say?? I like the design, music, and its simplistic nature. It definitely reminds me of an SC2020 map. We’re getting into “good” territory now. *15. Troposphere -* This map has absolutely godly vibes. The music takes me in a weird state where I can just turn my brain off and dash through the dream blocks, completely oblivious to the fact that the gameplay in this map is actually kinda braindead. It’s not bad, but it feels samey after a while. Also pet the cat. *14. Potential For Anything -* I’ve never been the biggest fan of this one, but I can still see the appeal. There’s a lot of different gameplay styles and the map refuses to stick with just one. There’s GravityHelper with a mix of cycles with a mix of dashless movement with a mix of screen portal pit thingies, and they’re all loosely tied together at the last room too. Most of the rooms are actually taken straight from VVVVVV. Seriously, some of it is 1:1. But it’s neat to see how this rooms would play in the Celeste engine. The music is a bit meh too. This map’s really fun at times but overall it’s a mixed bag. *13. If my ‘driveway’ almost did you in… -* This map is cool. It uses the “prologue block” in very neat ways, and it leads to some neat launch momentum rooms. It’s another short map that I don’t have much to say or complain about. *12. Midnight Spire -* The design of this map is honestly so good. I love how when you’re inside the spire, it’s mostly tight bubble gameplay, but when you’re outside, it’s a lot more open and has a bunch of clouds. The gameplay isn’t the best, but it’s far from bad. *11. Switchtube Vista -* This map looks great. The name says it all, it uses a bunch of switches and tubes. It leads to some clunky but fun stamina puzzles and dream block gameplay (I mean the tubes are basically dream blocks with extra steps). It’s really neat. *10 Treehive -* Kinda like troposphere but you just kinda bounce all over the place. It can definitely feel a bit slow and braindead at times, but it’s very fun to speed through and even silver. Out of the three beehive based maps (Honeyzip Inc. and Bee Berserk) this is sadly my least favorite, but it’s still solid. *9. A Gift From The Stars -* Kinda like Dropzle, but if there was actual platforming in it. The time-stop bubble is such a neat idea, I just wish it taught you what it does better. The design and music of this map is great, but it kinda sucks that the “UFO crash site” storyline doesn’t really go anywhere. The puzzles are quite well-designed for the most part and are fun to solve. *8. Cassette Cliffs -* Having a full-on song playing for the BGM just using the beat blocks seems really hard to do, but they did it. The tempo changes can feel a bit jarring, but when you listen to it on its own, the song’s a jam. The 1st half of this map is a bit slow, and has a bit of waiting involved, but the 2nd half has more movement and less room for error. I also like how the cassette blocks get fused with other assets. It’s fun. *7. Rose Garden -* Who put Mario Galaxy in my Celeste. Great map with almost no flaws, but I kinda wish it was longer and had strawberries. *6. Loopy Lagoon -* It’s a Fruit Loop level, how can you not love it? Extremely polished and bouncy and fun. But uhhh why does the milk kill you? Maybe it’s boiling *5. Forest Path -* I might be a bit biased since this was my first SJ map, but wow this map is so good. I love the Dream Crystal gameplay, even though they probably could have done more with it. Flipside Cliffside and The Tower (XVI) use this gimmick a lot better, but I guess they tried as hard as they could with the beginner limitations. The level’s still a ton of fun, and has amazing design and music. *4. Strawberry Orchard -* Genuinely excellent. Theo gameplay is so fun when you aren’t being chased by sleep paralysis demons. While the gameplay is simple, you still have to plan ahead and be careful. The storyline’s cute, the visuals are amazing (I especially love how the sky changes the further you get), and I love the song (TheGur90 doesn’t miss). *3. Seeing is Believing -* I played this with my friend on a call and we both had a blast. I then rebeat it in singleplayer and while it wasn’t as fun, it was still a pretty good time. This map just has one goal in mind and in my opinion it’s executed perfectly. The music is also way better than it has any right to be. *2. Soap -* Say what you want, but I think this map is simply incredible. It has springs and bubbles that don’t give your dash back, and they’re used in super cool ways. This map is here to test your ability to read maps and figure out the route, making it a shockingly great tutorial map for that kind of stuff. There isn’t a single room I don’t love dearly. *1. paint -* The obvious pick. This map has some of the best atmosphere and design I’ve seen in a modded map, and the cassette-like obstacles like the scissor thingies and paintbrushes are so well implemented. The storyline is very well made and, when you think about it, might actually have reflected the creator’s experience of making this map. It feels like a very high effort side-chapter I would find in the base game. The beginning uses the splitting paths from Chapter 6, making silver attempts slightly more fresh everytime you die. I also really like the open section towards the middle, it reminds me of a little metroidvania. The ending where the music intensifies as flags start to appear is also super well done, and my favorite part of the map. Definitely deserves the top spot. Great video btw!
During soap: "Blue springs are so cool!!!!!" During Summit Downside: "I hate blue springs!!!!!!!" Sorry I just find the contrast between those two levels that are based around the same mechanic somewhat funny
The green and yellow platforms in casette cliffs are not actually a new mechanic and are in the basegame! It’s just, theyre far in the longest and hardest chapter in the base game
im so so so happy youve made this ranking. i agree with a fair amount of them, but some of my rankings vary drastically. i also think the quality of your video, explanation and editing is exemplary, and that if you keep this up, your channel can really grow if you want it to. cheers!
my personal rankings: 21 - if my driveway almost did you in i simply disagree with the design choice of having dotted lines indicating all the block movements, i think itd be much more fun if they were unpredictable but still offered some leniency. and also just uninteresting map overall 20 - azure caverns its just below average i guess 19 - a gift from the stars there are 2 puzzle maps in beginner lobby, one of them is at least fun to execute and the other one is a gift from the stars. really liked the vibes tho 18 - over the city the path you take throughout the level is pretty cool, but yes it gets frustrating sometimes. it was also really funny to cheese the whole thing by farming jump crystals while silvering the map 17 - the squeeze narrow hollow in the expert lobby is better 16 - dropzle its just dropzle. love the visual style though, its like youre a lab rat being stuck in an experiment 15 - troposphere reminds me a lot of "starjump" from sc, similar tilesets and repetitive gameplay designs, its just a cute little map 14 - midnight spire its fun 13 - potential for anything ive not played vvvvvv but this map was pretty nice 12 - collapsing skyline this map executed its theme really well, awkward platforms and paths as if youre exploring some really busted up ruins, the story (or at least what i interpreted of it) was engaging too 11 - seeing is believing i waited to do this map last during my playthrough just to do it with a friend, really loved the experience. dont know how to rank it however so im putting it right in the middle 10 - loopy lagoon its gr-r-reat 9 - switchtube vista i cant think of much to say but i loved this map's vibes a lot, kinda drags on at some parts tho 8 - forest path wish there was more, really cool map overall 7 - rose garden askdlahflkaflklkdahdahslkfjlkdsjflkdsajfjdskajfdsakjlfkdsjflksakjfsdjfjdsgalhsfdfj sorry i just dont know how to write stuff other than this map is good i liked it a lot 6 - coresaken city seeing people's opinions on this map made me feel like this is a guilty pleasure, lol, i just really enjoyed this whole gimmick, and the rooms are really well designed and actually felt like a great mix of chapter 1 and 8's level designs 5 - cassette cliffs the music is super good, level visuals are great and i love the gameplay designs 4 - strawberry orchard strawberry orchard!! amazing stuff, the constant movements and adjustments you do throughout the entire thing is very engaging and nice 3 - treehive just look at 4 i guess lol 2 - soap such an adorable map, its main theming goes over most people and it makes me kinda sad, the entire map is built around slipperiness, making you be really cautious with your dashes and wall jumps, or else you'd easily slip off and fall, and its so much fun!!! 1 - paint paint
@@justanothersamthe map 74(it is dashless) in the grandmaster lobby of this mod is great but it doesn't have custom music for it (even if mirror magic is the best celeste track imo). Oops, I spoilered a lot...
3:25 i really enjoyed this level, because i got super lucky and just so happened to be playing the entire mod with a friend. but i do agree that solo it kinda sucks
you can play seeing is believing blindfolded by using the badeline at the start of the level? ... so you dont need a friend to play it. and also the dream dashes arent used solely in that level im p sure they are used later in the collab
There is one in advanced lobby which went from a D tier map to an A tier, truly some character development. The gm one is themed around chapter 4, and even if I hated chapter 4 on my first playthrough, this map is quite nice.
the reason the music in paint stops when you die is because paint is a rhythm level and is kinda similar to the cassette rooms in base game. also 100th comment.
I thought soap had really fun gameplay, because it still allowed you to make mistskes (unlike levels with no dash refill). I was able to save myself using the great level design which was difficult but still allowed you to experiment, probably one of my favorites tbh
Mad respect the beginning community does not get enough attention I swear we always get the least inspired levels and the least amount of levels and it’s nice to see some attention for once
I 100% relate to your experience with puzzle maps. I get that plenty of people love them, but I just feel cheated when my precision platformer is interrupted with a puzzle. I play plenty of puzzle games, and I love them, but it just doesn't work for me here because it's not what I sign up for when I open Celeste. Also yeah the "uniqueness" of removing the game's primary mechanic and the primary reason it's as fun as it is - the dash - is definitely a... choice...
As a person new to modded Celeste, Soap was one of my favorite maps because it was just fun to do the gameplay, like how Troposphere felt with chaining dashes in the right direction and with the springs / routing puzzles
I do plan on it! I have 2 videos in the works right now but Intermediate lobby is going to be my 1st or second video of 2024! Glad you enjoyed the video!
there _are_ more levels with the dream dash crystal in them, they're just not in beginner. If I remember correctly, you'll see them again next in... grandmaster. Yeah. Have fun! (I recently finished expert, I might be forgetting about some level or something but I think that's the only other place they're used.)
overall pretty agreeable, especially Dropzle. recently started over because i realized you can play on your main file just fine and didn't mind replaying most levels, but Dropzle was the big exception. normally i enjoy puzzles, but not that one. the puzzle should not be so good at killing you. Collapsing Skylines i wasn't very fond of, until i found all the secrets. it's not much but it gives it a lot more personality imo. gameplay wise it's still not great. Rose Garden i accumulated soooo many deaths because the temptation to beat it with vators instead of the actual mechanic was too strong for me lol. and Potential For Anything is 100% a nod to VVVVVV. it's named after one of the songs in that game, and the helper mod that implements the gravity is called V6. when i saw that name it took me by surprise and i knew what i was in for. was mildly disappointed the bg music wasn't Potential For Anything itself, though.
My ranking for intermediate lobby levels(my least favourite lobby for now). 18:pointless machines. The chapter 1 heart puzzle but with actually gameplay? This sounds good in theory but on practice it's bad. Puzzle maps are really disapointing for now... 17:sleeping under stars. Remember the part of farewell where you have to collect the keys to procceed? Now add dream blocks and decrease the number of keys. This level isn't bad, just very boring. 16:vertigo. Boring. Short. That's all. 15:the tower. This is... Another VVVVVV level? Yes, but it doesn't have anything to do with this game! It's just Core but fully vertical +ice is always on. 14:sea of soup.This map is special:if you want, you can beat without dashing! Because of that, the whole is about being patient and careful, even bubbles are giving you a lot of time choose the direction! But that's the bad part. They are giving you TOO MUCH time, so you are messing up supers and wavedashes easier. 13:low-G botany. This is level with, the gravity like in the end of Core. The gameplay is simple, slow. There are some gravity changers that look like elecricity boxes. That's the only problem I have with the level. Can't you reskin them? 12:fifth dimension. SOAP 2 LETTSSSS GOOO. It is good that the arrows are pointing where you have to do a wallbounce or fall a pixel perfect gap. But map is so short that I can't put it any higher. 11:supernautica. This level doesn't look special, just some jelly and pipes gameplay. But when you try to go in any place that looks suspicios, you will get a funny dialogue. Also there is a granny telling Madeline's ip adress, that's funny. 10:temple of a Thousand skies. A chill dream block level. There is nothing special, but these weather changes while exiting a dream block are really good for me. 9:EAT GIRL. The idea of the map is interesting. You have to collect all coins in a small maze while being chased by Badeline. The level is inspired a game with same name which is cool for me. But the decoration is very boring. 8:Deep blue. How many Water maps are there?! Nothing too special, gameplay is good, song is a banger, but I can't listen to it on youtube( Also, the decoration is Fire! 7:Pufferfish Transportation Co. An alternate universe of Celeste:Madeline is working in a [insert the name of this level] and helping Granny with transporting puffers. At the highlights: pufferberry! It explodes when a puffers explodes! The worst part is the routing:it is really strange. 6:Frosted fragments. I never really liked chapter 4,but this level changed my opinion, on it! The main mechanic is a block that you can move after dashing in it. It is very fun to use, especially in the later rooms. Also, there are some lore! 5: midnight monsoon. The most athmospheric map in the lobby. The music, the background... The gameplay is Hard to understand at first, but great. The new Theo-like things is very fun to use. But the map is too short and that ruins it. 4:Honeyzip inc. Another Bee level! Once again, connected zippers. But, not only that, there are also hooks. These are really fun to get the momentum with them. 3:construction coundrum. A story level about Theo using a crystal on the construction and surrounding electricity? Why not! The jump and double dash crystals are working diffirently. Now, they save the effect until you touch another crystal or go through the special barrier. The rooms are really fun to clear! 2:Square the circle. A neon kevin/bubble level. The music, is catchy, gameplay is very fun with all this momentum. Overall, a great level! 1:In filtration. Madeline is a spy. Almost no dash, connected zippers, lasers and... OVERPOWERED SEEKERS! An amazing level, that has TWO sound tracks. And a story!
Soap is my favorite level from the game I guess, right challenge, right music, right palette, right skill level. There are other great levels, but soap is the one I think of first
If you mean the heartside I didn't include it because it's just a mash up of all the levels. It's a good final challenge but it didn't feel right to compare it to everything else. If I had to place it though it would be dead center in the list
Two last heartsides are definitely the best maps in the lobby. The expert one has a whole story at the end and stunning visuals. It adds new tech and mechanics to the flags, too. Grandmaster heartside just feels like a journey. It has little cutscenes and transitions, like Madeline being eaten by the beast in flag 8, the game launching in flag 7 and screen becomes smaller at the end of Ivory flag. The thing that makes it perfect is flag 1. It starts with pretty easy cassette blocks gameplay but the flag is suprisingly short. The music becomes quiet after you get to the Badeline orb and... A real "shatter the pantheon!" starts playing! At the end of the flag there is a maze where you actually feeling lost. But after you escape this hell, you are collecting hearts representing each previous lobby and finally finishing strawberry jam.
Great video, I was hoping someone would do something like this eventually 🙂Are you planning on making a similar video for the other lobbies as well? I would love to see that. I mostly agree with your rankings, except I would certainly put Soap and Desolate spire somewhat higher (at least above Coresaken city and Cassette cliffs), simply because they both have excellent level design and are really fun to play the whole way though (unlike the two mentioned, which have some weak spots). Also seeing is believing is a very unique level and a lot of fun if you have a second person to do it with (which I fortunately had), but it gets a lot worse if you don't, so I think the ranking is fair. I agree that Forrest path and Rose garden were really hurt by being way too short and it would be really amazing if these levels specifically got their B-sides, where the mechanic was explored in more difficult scenarios (I know that at least the dream dash is used in a couple of later levels, but it is not the main focus there). We kind of got that in the Heartside, but one screen is simply not enough 😅
I'm hoping to do the other lobbies. I recently beat the intermediate lobby so I'm working on the script right now actually. I'm glad you enjoyed the video!
personal ranking: (with bad opinions) Collapsing skyline - 21 It's a map where there’s swap blocks and elevators. Don’t know what to say except for the fact that it's quite boring. Also, it uses mini berries, which are extremely annoying because if you miss one you have to restart all over again. Strawberry orchard - 20 I’m not that big of a fan of holdables, and I really did not like this one. I understand why people can enjoy it but for me it's just “throw the holdable and dash to bounce on springs”. This was rated higher than collapsing skyline mainly because clear pipes are a cool mechanic. (there's a way better holdable clear pipe map though) Coresaken city - 19 It's a core + city map. No interesting mechanics or anything, just core blocks with forsaken city blocks. This is ranked higher than strawberry orchard mainly for the fact that it wasn’t unfun, just boring Pfa (Potential for Anything) - 18 Another map that I just personally didn’t enjoy. It's based off of VVVVVV (however many Vs) levels, with some that are copies. I just don’t think it translates well, and there’s a better reverse gravity map in another lobby. Ranked higher than coresaken city because reverse gravity is a cool mechanic. Cassette cliffs - 17 Now we’re getting to the ones I enjoyed. This map is probably my least favorite cassette map in the collab, mainly for the fact that it didn’t use them that interestingly. Also I just don’t like cassette blocks in general. If my driveway almost did you in - 16 A map about intro crushers. There’s cool music and intro crushers are pretty interesting. Ranked higher than cassette cliffs because I like the mechanic. Azure caverns - 15 A map where you can push blocks along a track. There’s also a better map with this mechanic in this collaboration, but this one is pretty interesting. My only complaint is that it’s too short. Troposphere - 14 This map is pretty interesting. You dash through a dream block and badeline boost and keep doing that. It gets a bit repetitive after a while, but it's not that bad. Forest path - 13 The map that a ton of people play first somehow. Dream refills are such a cool mechanic and I’m glad to see them used here. It’s sometimes weird to see where you need to go but that's with dream refills in general. Not many complaints about this one. Midnight spire - 12 This map has an inverted tower xvi style. I think it has some very cool bubble gameplay. The breakable blocks work well as they set up drops perfectly. Switchtube vista - 11 Cool mechanics, cool gameplay. My only complaint is that jumping out of pipes is weird. (also there's a better pipe map in the collab) Over the city - 10 Double jumps are a very cool mechanic and I really like how it's used here. This is a map where you try to preserve all your double jumps to the end by not touching the ground, often creating some places where stamina is pretty tight. Also, if you skip to the end that part is tighter then usual (just a cool detail). Loopy lagoon - 9 I really like the mechanic here. The loop blocks (or whatever) having the mechanic where you can dash into them was cool. The squeeze - 8 The squeeze, also known as dropzle but no puzzles. This map has a mechanic that is not only cool but also teaches people that setups exist. There’s a better version of this map in the collab though. Rose garden - 7 Rose garden has very cool music, very cool mechanics, and very cool gameplay. Not really anything else to say. There’s a better version of this map in the collab though. Treehive - 6 Probably my least favorite honey map but still very cool. Only complaint is with bounce dream blocks its a bit harder to see where you’ll end up. Seeing is believing - 5 Another map with just a really good mechanic. Played this with a friend and it was extremely fun listening to my friend fail explaining the map. I’ve never played alone though. Soap - 4 Soap has amazing usage of move blocks and non-dash refill stuff. There’s one room I remember very well where you reuse the same section a ton and I thought that was very cool. A gift from the stars - 3 I’m very biased towards puzzle maps, but I think this is very deserving of its #3 placement. In this map you have to figure out when exactly to get all double dash pieces and how to not use your dashes throughout the level to get the coin while using time stops to help. The fact that there was barely any introduction to the time stop and you had to figure it out yourself was very cool too. Its pretty easy after a bit of experimentation to figure it out. Dropzle - 2 The best puzzle map in the entire collab. Lining up a drop from Kevins is a very cool mechanic especially because of the limited dashes. Often every room has a clever solution which makes you think “this is clearly impossible”. The hint feature is also very helpful as it often guides you to a mistake that you thought you had to do but really didn’t. My one complaint about this is how to get to a berry - the one where you use momentum from the previous room. This doesn’t really fit with how the rest of the map played and there’s no hint for how to get to that room even though its difficult. I still think this deserves it’s placement of #2. Paint - 1 Everything i can say has already been said before, so yes, this is #1.
I think it's kinda funny that some of yours are the complete opposite of mine, lol. Like Dropzle and Strawberry Orchard. But these are not bad opinions! There are no bad opinions when it comes to enjoying Celeste!
great video! here are my personal rankings (i should also note that ive done all of beginner deathless, which affects my ranking) 22: over the city yeah, i agree nearly completely with you here. honestly, i think the issue with dashless gameplay is at a low level its so boring. compare this level to 74, a dashless map in grandmaster. that level is one of the best in the collab and consistently was fun as hell. meanwhile i was trying to not fall asleep getting this silver. a good map, but unfortunately the least great in beginner due to an inherent issue of mine low difficulty dashless gameplay. 21: collapsing skyling again, i agree with you here. the waiting is quite exhausting but the level is so easy so i can look past it somewhat. 20: azure caverns i am so thankful this level is so short. if it overstayed its welcome it would have been painful 19: coresaken city i was personally mostly apathetic towards this purely due to the lack of modded mechanics. great level design however, love the choice of having the latter half possible in both fire and ice, and encouraging replaying to get the last berry because of that choice 18: if my driveway... its not a bad map at all, just less impressive than others. the lines indicating when the intro crushers move is highly appreciated. 17: forest path this falls into easy level syndrome for me. i can't enjoy it as much as others due to the braindead difficulty but it's a beautiful level. the music and visuals are great, and dream blocks (dashes in this case) are one of the best mechanics from the vanilla game. 16: troposphere similar case to the previous level. dream blocks are great, level's too easy to be higher. cat at the end is always appreciated 15: the squeeze middle of the road level. still in the part of my ranking where these are good levels, just less stellar compared to the high standard sj maps tend to set. 14: midnight spire not much i could add that you didn't already say. good level 13: potential for anything amazing homage to vvvvvv. the recreation of doing things the hard way made me burst out laughing in the best way and the only reason its this "low" on the list was that its a somewhat annoying silver due to the length. 12: a gift from the stars i have chronic stupid brain so this was painful. great aesthetics, i wish the story concluded though. 11: rose garden great level, even for someone who's never played mario galaxy (which i think is what its based on) way to easy for yellow though, i first tried the silver berry. 10: loopy lagoon the first level i played, and what a level it is. the music is a bop, the setting of being a bunch of froot loops is great and the custom loop blocks are a joy to play with. a perfect first level 9: cassette cliffs a great level that manages to make cassette blocks mostly engaging. alas it is still inherently quite boring for me especially when compared to my 3rd favourite strawberry jam map: shattersong. idk if i just have terminal grandmaster brain but cassette cliffs walked so shattersong could run. the best cassette gameplay ever made, especially its heartside flag, and it even features the "something more" you felt cassette cliffs needed. not spoiling it though 8: strawberry orchard the third map so far that i enjoyed but had a grandmaster analog that was far better in my opinion. i too used to be in the camp of people who didn't like theo gameplay. that changed when i played the solar express. despite it kicking my ass for 38 hours, despite me dying 33000 times, it is my favourite map in celeste modding. it is theo gameplay perfected. it is why i can't place this any higher because i feel that beginner just holds the potential of theo gameplay back. its tragic to me; some of the best maps in sj are inaccessible to likely 80% of people who will play it. back onto the topic of the actual map i'm ranking, it's good. love the music and vibes and despite my issues with low level theo gameplay it's engaging throughout. love the trans flag easter egg 7: soap great level. love the music, the gameplay is great, but it is handicapped by its existence. its a beginner map, meaning fastbubbling cannot be a part of it. if i can't fastbubble i'm inherently bored. even with the issue the map still is stellar. love the rubber duckies 6: switchtube vista it's just great, i'm not sure how else to put it. an issue i have that most people will never notice is with the pipes. (which isn't even an issue with the map, pipes have existed as a custom entity long before sj) unlike dream blocks, you can't buffer your jump out of them. it makes them just a bit annoying to me. still a stellar map. 5: dropzle i'll be transparent. i hated this map casually. the aforementioned chronic stupid brain handicapped me so hard. replaying the map and getting the silver berry allowed me to fall in love with it. a personal high point of all of my time playing strawberry jam (all five lobbies, first two deathless) is clutching the silver berry for this map after messing up the solution in the final room. i was able to use my experience with the game to line up a vertical dash to hit a touch switch without seeing the hitboxes based on pure intuition, saving the run. the hint system is great too. 4: treehive bouncy dream blocks. i mean, you said it yourself, the only way to make dream blocks more fun was to make you not die upon collision with a wall. (though, i think ivory in grandmaster made them fun in a different way, and also psychokinetic in expert to a lesser extent: making the blocks preserve momentum and in ivory's case allowing you to dash again inside them to redirect or multiply your speed. great stuff) again, this level's just great. music too, what a bop 3: seeing is believing i actually have not played this with a friend at all. i have exclusively played this in the singleplayer mode and even with that i love this map so much. personally i had never seen a blindfolded map in celeste before so playing this on release day was utterly magical. probably higher than it should be in all honesty but it's my ranking. bias is fun. 2: blueberry bay would you believe me if i said this is only the third best heartside in my opinion? putting it that way downplays just how good this map is. the music is so goddamn good. the screens are all fun and faithful to their original maps. goldening this was one of the most fun deathless challenges i've undertaken so far. and as always, love the trans flag at the end 1: paint the obvious choice. in all my 3 years (2.5 when i played this map casually) of playing celeste i have never seen such a highly polished map. i was left dumbfounded by this casually. the silver berry is painful because its 5 minutes long but even despite that this is still the top map. (yet its still only #5 on my overall ranking lmao) a must play for anyone who plays celeste in my opinion, even if they do not touch a single other modded map ever. 10/10 sorry for the egregious text wall (and occasional review of a grandmaster map). again great video, and good luck to you with however much more you play in strawberry jam!
My ranking is: 21: A gift from the stars. I *hated* the time stop mechanic, to the point that I had to debug past one of the rooms since I couldn't figure it out. At least the silver wasn't that bad when I knew what to do 20: Potential for anything. I know it's cool, but gravity swapping made this just ver frustrating to do anything in. I'm glad it wasn't any harder, or the silver probably would've taken hours 19: Dropzle. The only reason this isn't lower is because it's funny that you can skip almost the entire map with pixel perfect drops. Which I was really good at, for some reason 18: Over the city. Just.. meh. I thought it was kinda a cool concept, but the stamina management was really tight at times (although neutral jumps helped), and it was just way too *long* 17: Midnight spire. When I first played this, this map would've been higher for me. It was.. okay. But then I silvered it, and this is the most awful silver in the whole beginner lobby. Floaty blocks and clouds are so inconsistent 16: Coresaken city. I just don't like core mechanics. At least it wasn't long 15: Switchtube vista. The mechanics in this were cool, BUT the freaking tubejumps. Agh. If they let you buffer jumps out of tubes like with dreamblocks this would've been top 5, but I was so frustrated when playing this just because of this one thing 14: Azure caverns. It's a cool idea, but where is the map??? There's like 3 rooms! 13: Collapsing skyline. This map has a cool atmosphere, but that's.. about it. It's forgettable, and just.. could be a lot better 12: The squeeze. I actually liked how this map did pixel perfect drops, it was just way too short. If it was 2 or 3 times longer I think it'd be in the top ten 11: Cassette cliffs. This was a really cool idea, but some of the cycles felt really awkward. Maybe I was just doing them wrong 10: Forest path. This one was a cool mechanic, but it.. just is there. It's like right above the middle in terms of coolness. Plenty of other stuff is just cooler 9: Rose garden. The mechanic was cool (although it felt weird without controller rumble), but it was wayy too short. Same thing as with the squeeze. It just felt like a map intro 8: Loopy lagoon. This one's cool. The mechanic's a lot of fun to do stuff with. But it's also not much of a challenge, and a bit long to silver 7: Soap. This map was fun, and had a cool style. I liked it, but there's not much to say about it. Although the badeline ducky made it 10x better 6: Seeing is believing. I had a friend or two to help, and that made this map *so* fun. Also, the heartside flag is super cool. ALSO, I think the singleplayer mode is still cool to do. I also got to be on the other side, giving directions, and it was fun there too 5: If my driveway almost did you in. Nyoooom. Too short 4: Strawberry orchard. Theo stuff can be cool. Theo stuff while *moving fast* and bouncing is awesome 3: Treehive. Bouncy dreamblocks are the best thing ever 2: Troposphere. I somehow just didn't struggle seeing which blocks were the double dash blocks, and even now I'm not sure how. The movement in this map is my absolute favorite, with all the dreamjumps and airborne movement 1: paint. Do I even need to say anything? Okay, I will say something. The *music.* I'm a musician and composer who's making music for another celeste mod (called Zenith's Descent), and seeing what they did with the music and timing here inspired me so much. And the artwork!! And just aa this is such a good map 0: Heartside. Doesn't count, but like. It's awesome. Heartsides are always cool
I can see where you're coming from for most of these, but I feel like you were a bit harsh on most of the bottom few. Still, pretty understandable list. Here's mine: 21: Dropzle. Same as you, basically. I feel like this map was meant for the Intermediate lobby, cause I took more time and effort to get through this one than any of the other Beginner maps. It wrecked my brain, and not in the good way. Let's not talk about the berries. 20: Over The City. Cool mechanic, but not a good way to use it chief. I like that a few rooms get used twice, but except for that it just feels like it overstays it's welcome. Plus, this Silver has been really tedious to do. 19: Gift from the Stars. I like the setting, I like Core Dash Conservation, but the Timestop is just made to annoy me. I've never really enjoyed timestop puzzles and this one just drives it in further. Maybe my brain was just fried from Dropzle, but eh. 18: Troposphere. This one is just... meh. It's alright, but I don't feel it's more than that. The added mechanic is just too subtle for me to truly enjoy it. 17: Azure Caverns. Fun, but WAY too short. I love the "dash to activate" blocks, but this is too short of a level to make the player used to them. As soon as the player gets a hang of em, the level ends. 16: Collapsing Skyline. I like the gloomy atmosphere of the desolate city, but all the DashBlock usage felt repetitive. If I wanted DashBlocks again, I'd play Mirror Temple. The mini-berries were really fun to find, however, especially the last sneaky one. 15: The Squeeze. Puzzle done right. I personally love the gloomy atmosphere in this one, even if it is just Forsaken City sprites. Some of the berries here are also really fun, like the one where you have to do a whole room backwards. 14: Coresaken City. This one's so high mostly because of its final berry. Being able to do most of the level in reverse temperature, adding an extra challenge layer? Perfect. Except when you accidentally dash into the heart instead of the last room for the third time. 13: Midnight Spire. Pretty fun overall, I just wish it could have been more than just Golden Ridge: Vertical Edition. 12: Forest Path. Pretty much the same thing as Azure Caverns, but with a better mechanic. Dreamy Dashes are fun, too bad the stage is done in like 2 minutes. 11: Soap. Now we're into great territory. Soap has a great aesthetic, and I love the mechanic of non-dash recovery springs and bubbles. Dash Conservation is one of my favorite things ( *unless its dropzle* ) and Soap does it really well! 10: Seeing is Believing. Quite a shift compared to most other maps. A map you can't see? They did it perfectly, as it's fun multiplayer or singleplayer. I love getting to the end of the screen, for it to light up and reveal the easy obstacles you just passed. 9: Cassette Cliffs. I loved the rhythm sections of Celeste, and this level did it wonders. I like the random parrots lying around, they're chill. 8: Potential For Anything. A great tribute to VVVVVV, and just a fun map to play. That one screen with all the mechanics stuck together is absolute peak. 7: Loopy Lagoon. Fun Fact: I had never played Celeste on PC before getting Strawberry Jam. I just played on my Switch, a friend gifted it to me, and I thought it'd be cool to finally be able to play Strawberry Jam. This was probably the best level I could have started with. The mechanic is fun and not too complicated, and this is one of my favorite aesthetics for a level. I'd listen to that BGOST all day if I could... 6: If My Driveway... Mostly this high due to how fun and smooth the gameplay is. Every fling from 1 block to the next just feels so good to do. A bit short, but like you said about Rose Garden, if my one complaint is not having enough, I think it's a good sign. Speaking of... 5: Rose Garden. GOD MARIO GALAXY IS THE BEST GAME EVER AND I WILL LUNGE IN EXCITEMENT TO WHOEVER THOUGHT TO PUT IT IN CELESTE RAHHHHHHH I don't think there's a better way to say it than that. 4: Treehive. Despite the next levels being better, this is my favorite aesthetic. I don't know why, I've been infatuated with bee stuff ever since I was a kid. Look at my profile pic! I don't see why honey would make Dream Blocks bouncy, but it doesn't get deducted points for that. I will love the bee aesthetic until I die. Oh, and the platforming is really fun, too. Berries are nice aswell. 3: Switchtube Vista. I first played this level with a friend on voice call, and the only thing he said about it was the pipes reminded him of Super Mario 3D World. Couldn't agree more. The level design reminds me of Sonic, and it's beautiful. Gameplay is also very smooth and fun, and getting every berry was a blast to collect. 2: Strawberry Orchard. This level made me love Theo mechanics again. Throwing the jam around through pipes and springs, you yourself getting sent flying by said springs, it's a very fun and energetic level. Oh, and all the secret rooms here are truly delectable. We love our animal band. 1, and it wasn't a contest to begin with: Paint. Pretty obviously. The story is... scarily reminiscent of some of my own experiences with long and tough projects. Love the rhythm gameplay with the cassettes, bird-shooty-things and paint brushes shooting out Gaster Blaster lasers. Design is just a beauty, especially with all the cats around. Speaking of, holy moly there's a lot of secret rooms. I didn't even see the firework one you showed off! It's simply a perfect level all around, and for it to not be a sort of finale of the lobby? Cruel. Feel free to leave your thoughts in the replies.
Honestly, I disagree about a gift from the stars - while I do agree that it's not great that the story bit only gets started; it's imho how a Celeste puzzle level *should* be - where the puzzle & execution challenge are somewhat inversely proportional. So if there's something easy to figure out, the execution can be a little harder, but if it's hard to figure out, the execution wasn't an issue. dropzle...... was not that. And I think that you not being able to move about quickly & misinputs being so incredibly punishing in dropzle is what makes it so incredibly grating to me. Also the squeeze was imho also pretty fun as well, it's not one of the best ones but it's pretty decent.
My ranking 21: A Gift from the stars - Genuinely never want to complete this map again, especially collecting all the berries. The time stop mechanic was horribly implemented, the difficulty seems wildly random at best, and wholly inaccurate at worst. 20: Dropzle - Basically same reasons outlined in the video. Trying some of the berries made me hate it more, but could have definitely been worse. 19: Seeing is believing - This level is only enjoyable when not seen. how! It feels so boring when you complete it without the blindfold. 18: Over the City - As my first introduction into the fact that dashless exists, it is not fun to play through on a first try. after you've beaten an intermediate or 2 it becomes more enjoyable (slightly), but is still annoying overall. 17: The Squeeze - I like the aestetic somewhat, but the gameplay feels mechanical. 16: Coresaken City - The map overall is not too enjoyable, and feels like it's trying to force 2 weirdly opposite levels together. 15: Azure Caverns - forgettable, yet enjoyable 14: Midnight Spire - Its alright. The map layout works well, but where decoration. 13: Potential for Anything - Really same as Midnight overall. The use of gravity switching works to an extent. I understand it's supposed to be a reference (more a ripoff but...) to VVVVVV. 12: Loopy Lagoon - I dunno this one wasn't too interesting. It does have good decoration, but at the same time it's gameplay could be much better. 11: Cassette Cliffs - Not really a big timing fan. The inclusion of 4 colours (which were in the base game - Farewell) is neat, but overall I didn't enjoy it. The decoration is very good for what seems somewhat a mix of vanilla and modded blocks. 10: soap - Quite enjoyed this map! The use of no dash regenning springs works quite well, as well as the aesthetics of the map being very good. 9: Collapsing Skyline - I really enjoyed completing this on a rebeat when searching for all the mini berries. 8: If my "driveway" almost did you in... - The name is unwieldly long, but I like the reference. Fairly enjoyable gameplay, but the decoration is just prologue. 7: Troposphere - Quite fun gameplay, suffers from the same "Where decoration" issue as Midnight, but I feel like the gameplay, with a combination of modded and unmodded is very fun overall. 6: Forest Rush - First map I beat. Rebeats are really great to do, and is a good first silver (other than seeing but...), and I feel that the dream crystals were used very well. 5: Switchtube Vista - Its fun on rebeats. Very fun I'd argue. It was somewhat unenjoyable on a first playthrough, but looks really nice. 4: Treehive - Good, enjoyable puzzle gameplay. The environment is also really good. 3: Rose Garden - Very enjoyable atmosphere and gameplay. This is the first map where things like the triple boost jellies (idk what they are called) are used. 2: Strawberry Orchard - Somehow enjoyable Theo gameplay. 9.5/10 would rebeat again 1: paint - It's paint. Need I say more? it does have timing, but it is very enjoyable.
My rankings 21. A Gift from the Stars - This map has some of the worst puzzles in the collab, it is good its just not though, the whole story of the map is "UFO crash site investigation", which Is thrown out the window after the 1 piece of dialogue, like the map ends in a shack. I also think that badeline wouldn't just be like "no we shouldn't do this" and a dialogue box later say "okay", the map also DRAGS forever, the only redeeming factor is in the update which adds hints from dropzle. 20. Over the City - This is just barely above A gift from the Stars because it has real gameplay. The map is slow and doesn't indicate things very well, the dashless jump crystals is okay at best, the Idea is good but bad execution with it. This map is pretty much a worse Desolate spire. 19. Rose garden - You know whats worse then a map that drags? A map that actually is inflicting pain. Thats what Rose Garden is to me, when I first played it the gameplay was okay but it hurt my fingers, the main reason is my different keybinds, other then that the map is good. 18. Collapsing Skyline - The map is really forgettable, like the Intermediate lobby. Its really slow and the map absolutley drags, the story, and cross room berry redeem this map. 17. Azure Caverns - I can't believe I'm saying this but the green beginner map is too easy. It's way too short aswell, the map spans about 6 required rooms. Along with that the map's mechanic gets really old really fast, its almost just a zip mover, the map also gives no indication at the start. 16. Driveway - This map uses the prologue crusher with boosters, double refills, and zip movers, which is a fun combo but it gets old pretty fast. The map is also kind of forgettable to me. 15. Troposphere - This map is good and bad at the same time, the map itself is red but once you play it you are thrown into the flow without knowing it, and you complete the map to fast to comprehend what you just did, other then that its a good map. 14. The Squeeze - This map feels off, it feels like something is wrong but I cant put my finger on it. 13. Coresaken City - This map tries to be original by not being unique, It doesn't use dependencies other then the reqiured ones and is just Chapter 1 and 8 put together, while it is still pretty fun. 12. Midnight Spire - Now we get to the maps with alot of GOOD things to point out over the bad, Midnight spire has outstanding decoration and fun gameplay, although the gameplay is just chapter four with dash blocks it does alot of new things, the dash blocks and tight gameplay space makes this map stand out above others. 11. Strawberry Orchard - I personally am a big theo fan and having theo map in the first lobby was great, the jokes and decoration of the map are also outstanding, along with that the MUSIC is the best part of this masterpiece. 10. Potential for Anything - The nostalgia of playing VVVVVV when I played this map is why its so high, the music is really good and the deco stays true to the original game 9. Soap - Soap is where the collab's true coolness starts to shine, and you actually we're wrong in your soap section. The map introduces a new bubble and spring type (both not returning dashes) and there is NOT any core mode in the map. The map is really fun to play and has good music. 8. Dropzle - The top 8 was really close for me, so these can be interchanged easily but Dropzle needed to be put somewhere, it couldn't keep climbing the ranks, now the actual reason I put this here was for the looks, even though it looks boring and unfinished thats what makes it unique, the background reminds me of Ultra difficult and the kevins with limited dashes is pretty cool, what brings it down though is the 12 dash room, I had to use a guide for it and that sort of brings the map down 7. Treehive - The dream blocks are really cool to me, and the usage of connected zip movers puts this above most maps for me, the gameplay flows, the music is great, and the decoration pops out 6. Switchtube Vista - I think this is a reference to a game but I just dont get it. The map's gameplay has the color switches and clear pipes which are both very fun mechanics, The music is outstanding and the gameplay flows well and is fun, Decoration is really good aswell. 5. Seeing is Believing - This one goes way higher for me because of how outstanding it is with others, even if they arent good at celeste the map is really fun and can create wholesome moments. The decoration is a bit wacky but I still hold my case, along with this the secret are good. The gameplay flows well even if you cant see, and the music is a banger 4. Forest Path - The dream dash is a great mechanic and is really fun overall, the gameplay flows insanely well, the music sets the vibe, and the decoration is pretty good. 3. Cassette cliffs - I love cassette blocks, and this map is all about them. The music to these cassette blocks is outstanding, and the decoration is really good. The map's gameplay also flows really well, requiring constant movement to keep up with the beat 2. Loopy lagoon - A times greatest. This is almost everybody's first SJ map and rightfully so, the music is some of the best with its.. bongos? The gameplay of the map flows really well and the decoration is outstanding. 1. paint - some might say its overrated or its not that good but the team that worked on paint did fantastic. they hit all the right points with the music, gameplay, and decoration. especially decoration, every room is filled with crazy decals and buildings all around. the story of the map is absolutley the best aswell. the story is just the map maker decides to take a break from making paint. thank you for coming to my tedtalk
Why am I commenting twice here... Well, a gift from the stars has a secret room with a way harder puzzle than anything else in the map that gives you a key to LORE. I found it while getting the berries(and changed my opinion on the map itself). Intermediate lobby is... The worst one for me. It has only 18 maps in it and almost no new mechanics introduced which was disappointing because beginner gave us so many new ones to play around with. Advanced lobby, oh, the advanced lobby... 25 maps. That's too much. Most of the maps has a filler one or two. The green maps here are the weakest maps in the WHOLE MOD. the heartside(you should talk about them in the later rankings imo) is very unbalanced in the maps picks. Checkpoint 2 has 3 RED MAPS IN A ROW and checkpoint 4 has 1 easy red, 3 greens AND THE HARDEST MAP OF THE LOBBY AT THE END. The hardest lobby for now, even expert is easier. Expert lobby is the best one. If I remember correctly, every maps introduces something new which is amazing for 29 maps. There are quite a bit of yellow maps and one of them (plasma reactor) made me insane so I found the secret "nice view" in it(it is grandmaster difficulty so I didn't beat it. The red maps are all very good, especially psychokinetic, summit downside, chromatic complex, pcychokinetic and psychokinetic! Did I forgot to say psychokinetic? The yellow map clockwork is considered to be the best map in the mod, and even if I disagree, it is still in my top 3 sj maps. I didn't get to gm lobby yet :madelinestare:
Soap is unbelievable poorely ranked. I dont understand how in a sane mind you wrote it. Firstly it has a masssive mistake. No there is no core block or ice balls or anything from core so no it isnt in ice mode whole time. Second it has a unique mechanic with spring that dont give you dashes, but not a core mechanic. And thirdly it has a really cool looking and feeling gameplay with dash management.
![[Strawberry Jam] Grandmaster Heartside GOLDEN STRAWBERRY!](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/XHVXLqD1C2U/mqdefault.jpg)
![[Strawberry Jam] Grandmaster Heartside GOLDEN STRAWBERRY!](/img/tr.png)
6:21 creator of soap here
soap is not just a core level; it introduces the mechanics of the blue bubble and blue spring which both dont restore your dash, but your dash is still restored on the ground. I can see how itd be mistaken for core mechanics though
still, my main focus was not on creating new experiences through the use of new mechanics (after all the blue stuff is nothing groundbreaking), but rather it was moreso creating new experiences through creative use of existing mechanics
its a philosophy I picked up mostly from spring collab, strawberry jams less ambitious predecessor in which the majority of maps either didnt use custom mechanics at all, or if they did, they were basically just simple variations on vanilla ones
my main gameplay focus was to take elements of gameplay design usually only found in higher level maps, and make them more beginner friendly to act as a sort of tutorial for what was yet to come
first off theres a lot of reuse of elements, with you often having to take the same path multiple times under different circumstances or having to use a falling block a second time after youve already dropped it
second there routing puzzles, with you needing to come up with a safe route through each room when there isnt one obviously laid out for you. you have to ask yourself questions about whether you have enough dashes to go somewhere or whether theres safe ground that you could create by bringing over a falling block or move-block, adding a more logical element to the gameplay
finally theres resource management, with you having to keep constant checks on how many dashes you have, and making sure to only use them when necessary. though this idea is used in a lot of core and core-adjacent maps, I never felt like it was expored as fully as it could be, and so I tried to do just that
(I also used a heart bounce in the heart room but it seems like you just cheesed past that. I didnt care to patch that out because buffering a dash out off the heart is a cool trick aswell)
then each of the first 4 berry rooms served to act as an exaggeration of one of those elements. the first berry room puts emphasis on reuse of elements, having you pass through the same stretch of gameplay three whole times with a different number of dashes each time. the second berry room takes the "puzzle" out of routing puzzle, being a literal puzzle which you need to think outside the box in order to solve. the third berry room is focused on resource management, having you do basically the entire room dashless before finally using your one dash at the end. then the fourth berry room takes the "routing" out of routing puzzle, having no single intended path, and instead forcing you to come up with your own
thats basically all I had to say. Im not going to say I dont respect your opinion or anything, but im just saying that my focus for soap was far from being on the things you marked it down for
I'm feeling little star struck reading this to be honest. Never thought one of the creators would ever see my video! I'll be honest, if I had to change anything about the video, it's what I said Soap.
I definitely feel as though I was unnecessarily harsh when talking about it and definitely did not spend enough time on the positives. The level was so much fun and I really enjoyed it but looking back, there is no way people would be able to tell that just from the video.
Also 1 more thing. I genuinely feel bad that the nuances of your level completely went over my head. You clearly put a lot of time and effort into it and to have some jerk (me) on the internet, that could never do what you do, say you did nothing new must have been frustrating. You made a fantastic level and I'm sorry that I missed so much of what made it unique
It feels like the creator has a hard tiering system of (puzzles) (mostly base mechanics) (new mechanics) and nothing is going to swap them out of that.
If it means anything, as I'm going through at the moment, I really enjoyed soap, it's been forever since I played, and it just felt really good and satisfying to play, lots of things that were in the base game and were less utilised as you said (needing to fast drop was cool, wall jumps are not like tested much in base game iirc)
Hi soap creator! I’m late but I enjoyed your map the most in the beginner lobby! Very satisfying to complete!
While I agree Paint is the best level, Soap is my #2 level. Soap is so much fun that I was laughing while playing it.
soap was my favorite level in the beginner lobby, but the person i was playing with absolutely hated it. we agreed on pretty much every other level.
The secret room in paint with the huge graffiti really sold me on how good paint was.
I actually never found that one! I wonder how many more secrets I missed
@@justanothersamaround 13....
19:08 I'm not an expert at how Celeste works, but the fact that paint works at all is truly a spectacle. The reason why the music pauses during deaths is because the music was implemented as cassette music. When you die, the music tries to realign itself with the gameplay due to freeze frames that occur during the game, which means the GAME ITSELF is what's holding paint back. Not exactly sure of the specifics, but this is what I've heard.
my personal ranking:
1. the solar express
So TRUE
SEX, SO TRUE OOMFIE!!!!!
111. cycle madness b-side
@@x-asterisk-xfunnily enough it is literally last on my rankings so yes!
I can’t believe the entire beginner lobby is JUST The Solar Express by Solonii
16:00
The location is also called the "Victor VI" space station.
Victor's initial * 6.
VVVVVV.
18:35 "Look at them. They're PERFECT." couldn't agree more my good sir
soap #1 because of the secret room with a MASSIVE rubber ducky
(paint last because the silver berry took me forever 🔥🔥🔥)
I actually never found the ducky room. If I did it probably would have moved up a few spots
@@justanothersamyou need to do a demodash to find it. sorry not sorry
paint being last sounds like a you problem
@@nonnilmil no, paint seems to be consistently not fun for someone who silver the paint. I have seen like a few people not liking it and they also tend to silver the level.
Just about everything in Potential for Anything is a reference to VVVVVV. Every screen, mechanic, hazard, and even the name! As a huge fan of that game, it had me smiling the entire time
That's so cool!
Personal ranking:
*21. Over the City -* Remember Desolate Spire from Spring Collab 2020? That map was amazing. It introduces jump crystals so well, and there’s a sense of freedom and openness that reminds me of the early Celeste chapters. Imagine that but without your dash. This map is agony, it’s a pain to navigate and almost every room feels either boring or uncomfortable. I like the huge skips used for speedruns, but if one of my only positives of a map is the fact that you can get it over with faster, that’s not a good sign lol
*20. Coresaken City -* Honestly not a fan of this one, but that might be because I’m comparing it to the huge scope and personality that almost every other beginner map has. It’s literally just Ch. 1 and Ch. 8 fused together so it doesn’t really get any points in the design department. The gameplay is fine but can feel a bit wonky with some rooms. I really like the strawberries that require you to enter and beat rooms with lava instead of ice. Otherwise this map is just meh.
*19. Dropzle -* Imagine Celeste but without any platforming and only puzzles. I don’t hate puzzle maps, in fact, Pointless Machines and Lunar Pagoda are some of my favorite maps, but this one just isn’t my thing. I like the design, atmosphere and music, I think they fit the level well. For the most part, solving the puzzles isn’t terrible, but they REALLY went overboard with the last room, which almost took me longer than the rest of the map combined. I respect this map more than I like it. (Fun fact, FC-ing this map took me longer than Vinculum and Mosaic Garden, both of which are yellow Experts)
*18. The Squeeze -* You uhh squeeze through tight gaps? I’m trying my best here. I guess the music’s nice and I like the jingle that plays when you squeeze through a gap.
*17. Collapsing Skyline -* For using mostly vanilla assets, the design of this level is amazing. The gameplay fits the atmosphere, with all the crumbling buildings and “elevators”, but is it fun? No not really. Finding the mini-berries is fun, but aside from that, I have no strong opinions.
*16. Azure Caverns -* This is a good map with not a lot wrong with it but I beat it in 3 minutes what am I supposed to say?? I like the design, music, and its simplistic nature. It definitely reminds me of an SC2020 map. We’re getting into “good” territory now.
*15. Troposphere -* This map has absolutely godly vibes. The music takes me in a weird state where I can just turn my brain off and dash through the dream blocks, completely oblivious to the fact that the gameplay in this map is actually kinda braindead. It’s not bad, but it feels samey after a while. Also pet the cat.
*14. Potential For Anything -* I’ve never been the biggest fan of this one, but I can still see the appeal. There’s a lot of different gameplay styles and the map refuses to stick with just one. There’s GravityHelper with a mix of cycles with a mix of dashless movement with a mix of screen portal pit thingies, and they’re all loosely tied together at the last room too. Most of the rooms are actually taken straight from VVVVVV. Seriously, some of it is 1:1. But it’s neat to see how this rooms would play in the Celeste engine. The music is a bit meh too. This map’s really fun at times but overall it’s a mixed bag.
*13. If my ‘driveway’ almost did you in… -* This map is cool. It uses the “prologue block” in very neat ways, and it leads to some neat launch momentum rooms. It’s another short map that I don’t have much to say or complain about.
*12. Midnight Spire -* The design of this map is honestly so good. I love how when you’re inside the spire, it’s mostly tight bubble gameplay, but when you’re outside, it’s a lot more open and has a bunch of clouds. The gameplay isn’t the best, but it’s far from bad.
*11. Switchtube Vista -* This map looks great. The name says it all, it uses a bunch of switches and tubes. It leads to some clunky but fun stamina puzzles and dream block gameplay (I mean the tubes are basically dream blocks with extra steps). It’s really neat.
*10 Treehive -* Kinda like troposphere but you just kinda bounce all over the place. It can definitely feel a bit slow and braindead at times, but it’s very fun to speed through and even silver. Out of the three beehive based maps (Honeyzip Inc. and Bee Berserk) this is sadly my least favorite, but it’s still solid.
*9. A Gift From The Stars -* Kinda like Dropzle, but if there was actual platforming in it. The time-stop bubble is such a neat idea, I just wish it taught you what it does better. The design and music of this map is great, but it kinda sucks that the “UFO crash site” storyline doesn’t really go anywhere. The puzzles are quite well-designed for the most part and are fun to solve.
*8. Cassette Cliffs -* Having a full-on song playing for the BGM just using the beat blocks seems really hard to do, but they did it. The tempo changes can feel a bit jarring, but when you listen to it on its own, the song’s a jam. The 1st half of this map is a bit slow, and has a bit of waiting involved, but the 2nd half has more movement and less room for error. I also like how the cassette blocks get fused with other assets. It’s fun.
*7. Rose Garden -* Who put Mario Galaxy in my Celeste. Great map with almost no flaws, but I kinda wish it was longer and had strawberries.
*6. Loopy Lagoon -* It’s a Fruit Loop level, how can you not love it? Extremely polished and bouncy and fun. But uhhh why does the milk kill you? Maybe it’s boiling
*5. Forest Path -* I might be a bit biased since this was my first SJ map, but wow this map is so good. I love the Dream Crystal gameplay, even though they probably could have done more with it. Flipside Cliffside and The Tower (XVI) use this gimmick a lot better, but I guess they tried as hard as they could with the beginner limitations. The level’s still a ton of fun, and has amazing design and music.
*4. Strawberry Orchard -* Genuinely excellent. Theo gameplay is so fun when you aren’t being chased by sleep paralysis demons. While the gameplay is simple, you still have to plan ahead and be careful. The storyline’s cute, the visuals are amazing (I especially love how the sky changes the further you get), and I love the song (TheGur90 doesn’t miss).
*3. Seeing is Believing -* I played this with my friend on a call and we both had a blast. I then rebeat it in singleplayer and while it wasn’t as fun, it was still a pretty good time. This map just has one goal in mind and in my opinion it’s executed perfectly. The music is also way better than it has any right to be.
*2. Soap -* Say what you want, but I think this map is simply incredible. It has springs and bubbles that don’t give your dash back, and they’re used in super cool ways. This map is here to test your ability to read maps and figure out the route, making it a shockingly great tutorial map for that kind of stuff. There isn’t a single room I don’t love dearly.
*1. paint -* The obvious pick. This map has some of the best atmosphere and design I’ve seen in a modded map, and the cassette-like obstacles like the scissor thingies and paintbrushes are so well implemented. The storyline is very well made and, when you think about it, might actually have reflected the creator’s experience of making this map. It feels like a very high effort side-chapter I would find in the base game. The beginning uses the splitting paths from Chapter 6, making silver attempts slightly more fresh everytime you die. I also really like the open section towards the middle, it reminds me of a little metroidvania. The ending where the music intensifies as flags start to appear is also super well done, and my favorite part of the map. Definitely deserves the top spot.
Great video btw!
Glad you enjoyed! Enjoyed reading your rankings too!
i absolutely agree with over the city being so low
Soap is so underrated I completely agree, I had so much satisfaction beating the levels in soap an amateur Celeste player, I loved the challenge
Bro Over the City was the 2nd map I did and that shit made me stop playing the Beginner Lobby
During soap: "Blue springs are so cool!!!!!"
During Summit Downside: "I hate blue springs!!!!!!!"
Sorry I just find the contrast between those two levels that are based around the same mechanic somewhat funny
The green and yellow platforms in casette cliffs are not actually a new mechanic and are in the basegame!
It’s just, theyre far in the longest and hardest chapter in the base game
Oh my god you're right! I completely forgot about that! Good catch
im so so so happy youve made this ranking. i agree with a fair amount of them, but some of my rankings vary drastically.
i also think the quality of your video, explanation and editing is exemplary, and that if you keep this up, your channel can really grow if you want it to. cheers!
my personal rankings:
21 - if my driveway almost did you in
i simply disagree with the design choice of having dotted lines indicating all the block movements, i think itd be much more fun if they were unpredictable but still offered some leniency. and also just uninteresting map overall
20 - azure caverns
its just below average i guess
19 - a gift from the stars
there are 2 puzzle maps in beginner lobby, one of them is at least fun to execute and the other one is a gift from the stars. really liked the vibes tho
18 - over the city
the path you take throughout the level is pretty cool, but yes it gets frustrating sometimes. it was also really funny to cheese the whole thing by farming jump crystals while silvering the map
17 - the squeeze
narrow hollow in the expert lobby is better
16 - dropzle
its just dropzle. love the visual style though, its like youre a lab rat being stuck in an experiment
15 - troposphere
reminds me a lot of "starjump" from sc, similar tilesets and repetitive gameplay designs, its just a cute little map
14 - midnight spire
its fun
13 - potential for anything
ive not played vvvvvv but this map was pretty nice
12 - collapsing skyline
this map executed its theme really well, awkward platforms and paths as if youre exploring some really busted up ruins, the story (or at least what i interpreted of it) was engaging too
11 - seeing is believing
i waited to do this map last during my playthrough just to do it with a friend, really loved the experience. dont know how to rank it however so im putting it right in the middle
10 - loopy lagoon
its gr-r-reat
9 - switchtube vista
i cant think of much to say but i loved this map's vibes a lot, kinda drags on at some parts tho
8 - forest path
wish there was more, really cool map overall
7 - rose garden
askdlahflkaflklkdahdahslkfjlkdsjflkdsajfjdskajfdsakjlfkdsjflksakjfsdjfjdsgalhsfdfj sorry i just dont know how to write stuff other than this map is good i liked it a lot
6 - coresaken city
seeing people's opinions on this map made me feel like this is a guilty pleasure, lol, i just really enjoyed this whole gimmick, and the rooms are really well designed and actually felt like a great mix of chapter 1 and 8's level designs
5 - cassette cliffs
the music is super good, level visuals are great and i love the gameplay designs
4 - strawberry orchard
strawberry orchard!! amazing stuff, the constant movements and adjustments you do throughout the entire thing is very engaging and nice
3 - treehive
just look at 4 i guess lol
2 - soap
such an adorable map, its main theming goes over most people and it makes me kinda sad, the entire map is built around slipperiness, making you be really cautious with your dashes and wall jumps, or else you'd easily slip off and fall, and its so much fun!!!
1 - paint
paint
as someone who's favorite level is the squeeze for nostalgia reasons, the narrow hollow part absolutely killed me
I still don't get how people prefer dropzle over a gift from the stars
Guys I don't think he likes puzzle levels.
i quite agree with the over the city ranking although dashless maps in harder difficultys are so much more fun
I'm excited to try them!
@@justanothersamthe map 74(it is dashless) in the grandmaster lobby of this mod is great but it doesn't have custom music for it (even if mirror magic is the best celeste track imo). Oops, I spoilered a lot...
3:25 i really enjoyed this level, because i got super lucky and just so happened to be playing the entire mod with a friend. but i do agree that solo it kinda sucks
you can play seeing is believing blindfolded by using the badeline at the start of the level? ... so you dont need a friend to play it. and also the dream dashes arent used solely in that level im p sure they are used later in the collab
You first see them in beginner lobby and the next time its on the most janky advanced map by far
@@Puffman728 belated valentines day?
@@kouko6677 Ok I'll admit that one is a lot worse in terms of consistency but I meant The Tower XVI
i really appreciate you for putting some more analysis-y celeste mod content out there! (even though i disagree with pretty much every ranking lol)
I can't wait to have you disagree with my ranking of the intermediate lobby! (Seriously thanks for watching tho)
4:01 i played it alone and i say that even when playing without a friend it's a very good level
The forest path dream dash mechanic has a map in either expert or gm lobby (can't remember which) so u get to have more of it later
Maybe one day I'll be good enough to get that far lol
The one you're talking about is a green GM level called Flipside Cliffside, and it was awesome, one of my favorite levels so far!
Oh, there's also The Tower XVI in the advanced lobby, but we don't talk about that one.
There is one in advanced lobby which went from a D tier map to an A tier, truly some character development. The gm one is themed around chapter 4, and even if I hated chapter 4 on my first playthrough, this map is quite nice.
Well I mean, the gimmick is based around the heart room of chapter 4. It’s tile set is more similar to the first cutscene in Farewell.
potential for anything is a reference to VVVVVV when you die there is even a V shape
The Dreamy Dash can also be found in the Grandmaster Heartside.
the reason the music in paint stops when you die is because paint is a rhythm level and is kinda similar to the cassette rooms in base game. also 100th comment.
I thought soap had really fun gameplay, because it still allowed you to make mistskes (unlike levels with no dash refill). I was able to save myself using the great level design which was difficult but still allowed you to experiment, probably one of my favorites tbh
Mad respect the beginning community does not get enough attention I swear we always get the least inspired levels and the least amount of levels and it’s nice to see some attention for once
I wish there were more mods at this difficulty level
I 100% relate to your experience with puzzle maps.
I get that plenty of people love them, but I just feel cheated when my precision platformer is interrupted with a puzzle.
I play plenty of puzzle games, and I love them, but it just doesn't work for me here because it's not what I sign up for when I open Celeste.
Also yeah the "uniqueness" of removing the game's primary mechanic and the primary reason it's as fun as it is - the dash - is definitely a... choice...
i love the level soap, the gameplay is very fun and not so hard
Putting seeing is beleiving where you did is so unfair bruh
It cant be that hard to get some friends in a dc call to play the level as intended
In hindsight I definitely would have put it higher
If I could delete any one thing from existence it would not be poverty or evil. It would be Over the City
HOW DO YOU ONLY HAVE 50 SUBS? this is criminally underrated
Probably cause I haven't released a video in like 3 months lol. Hoping to change that this month tho! Happy you enjoyed
As a person new to modded Celeste, Soap was one of my favorite maps because it was just fun to do the gameplay, like how Troposphere felt with chaining dashes in the right direction and with the springs / routing puzzles
The Squeeze is one that I enjoy, I actually like the music and the aesthetic. Probably just me being pluviophilic but it was nice.
Great video, I disagree with quite a few of the placements. Idk if you plan on making an intermediate lobby ranking, but I hope you do
I do plan on it! I have 2 videos in the works right now but Intermediate lobby is going to be my 1st or second video of 2024! Glad you enjoyed the video!
Hype
we know the dreamy dash is good because it returns in flipside cliffside
18:50 got me 😂
The yellow and green cassette blocks are in the base game! They're only in farewell, though.
Bottom spot: ugh platforming and puzzles? Disgusting.
3rd spot: oooh cool, a puzzle in a platformer! I love it!
I just liked the pretty colors
This is one of the best ranking celeste vids i ever seen (also an idea, i would just love if you did one for spring collab)
I'll check it out! Glad you enjoyed the video!
am I the only one who found over the city quite fun?? started sj a couple days ago btw
there _are_ more levels with the dream dash crystal in them, they're just not in beginner.
If I remember correctly, you'll see them again next in... grandmaster. Yeah. Have fun!
(I recently finished expert, I might be forgetting about some level or something but I think that's the only other place they're used.)
Advanced The Tower would like a word with you...
@@SSP2056 true
why does no one talk about the music in cassette cliffs? i dont know about you but its a banger for me
YES DUDE
overall pretty agreeable, especially Dropzle. recently started over because i realized you can play on your main file just fine and didn't mind replaying most levels, but Dropzle was the big exception. normally i enjoy puzzles, but not that one. the puzzle should not be so good at killing you.
Collapsing Skylines i wasn't very fond of, until i found all the secrets. it's not much but it gives it a lot more personality imo. gameplay wise it's still not great.
Rose Garden i accumulated soooo many deaths because the temptation to beat it with vators instead of the actual mechanic was too strong for me lol.
and Potential For Anything is 100% a nod to VVVVVV. it's named after one of the songs in that game, and the helper mod that implements the gravity is called V6. when i saw that name it took me by surprise and i knew what i was in for. was mildly disappointed the bg music wasn't Potential For Anything itself, though.
Finally someone agrees with me on dropzle
What is your 1st favourite game then
Kingdom Hearts 2. Maybe I'll make a video bout it some day
arent you glad i made you finish celeste? strawberry jam next
those are stuff from chapter 5 😭, how did u get that wrong 2:26
Cause I didn't double check obviously lol
knew these opinions were gonna be buns when i saw one of the best levels in this lobby at 21 💀
My ranking for intermediate lobby levels(my least favourite lobby for now).
18:pointless machines. The chapter 1 heart puzzle but with actually gameplay? This sounds good in theory but on practice it's bad. Puzzle maps are really disapointing for now...
17:sleeping under stars. Remember the part of farewell where you have to collect the keys to procceed? Now add dream blocks and decrease the number of keys. This level isn't bad, just very boring.
16:vertigo. Boring. Short. That's all.
15:the tower. This is... Another VVVVVV level? Yes, but it doesn't have anything to do with this game! It's just Core but fully vertical +ice is always on.
14:sea of soup.This map is special:if you want, you can beat without dashing! Because of that, the whole is about being patient and careful, even bubbles are giving you a lot of time choose the direction! But that's the bad part. They are giving you TOO MUCH time, so you are messing up supers and wavedashes easier.
13:low-G botany. This is level with, the gravity like in the end of Core. The gameplay is simple, slow. There are some gravity changers that look like elecricity boxes. That's the only problem I have with the level. Can't you reskin them?
12:fifth dimension. SOAP 2 LETTSSSS GOOO. It is good that the arrows are pointing where you have to do a wallbounce or fall a pixel perfect gap. But map is so short that I can't put it any higher.
11:supernautica. This level doesn't look special, just some jelly and pipes gameplay. But when you try to go in any place that looks suspicios, you will get a funny dialogue. Also there is a granny telling Madeline's ip adress, that's funny.
10:temple of a Thousand skies. A chill dream block level. There is nothing special, but these weather changes while exiting a dream block are really good for me.
9:EAT GIRL. The idea of the map is interesting. You have to collect all coins in a small maze while being chased by Badeline. The level is inspired a game with same name which is cool for me. But the decoration is very boring.
8:Deep blue. How many Water maps are there?! Nothing too special, gameplay is good, song is a banger, but I can't listen to it on youtube( Also, the decoration is Fire!
7:Pufferfish Transportation Co. An alternate universe of Celeste:Madeline is working in a [insert the name of this level] and helping Granny with transporting puffers. At the highlights: pufferberry! It explodes when a puffers explodes! The worst part is the routing:it is really strange.
6:Frosted fragments. I never really liked chapter 4,but this level changed my opinion, on it! The main mechanic is a block that you can move after dashing in it. It is very fun to use, especially in the later rooms. Also, there are some lore!
5: midnight monsoon. The most athmospheric map in the lobby. The music, the background... The gameplay is Hard to understand at first, but great. The new Theo-like things is very fun to use. But the map is too short and that ruins it.
4:Honeyzip inc. Another Bee level! Once again, connected zippers. But, not only that, there are also hooks. These are really fun to get the momentum with them.
3:construction coundrum. A story level about Theo using a crystal on the construction and surrounding electricity? Why not! The jump and double dash crystals are working diffirently. Now, they save the effect until you touch another crystal or go through the special barrier. The rooms are really fun to clear!
2:Square the circle. A neon kevin/bubble level. The music, is catchy, gameplay is very fun with all this momentum. Overall, a great level!
1:In filtration. Madeline is a spy. Almost no dash, connected zippers, lasers and... OVERPOWERED SEEKERS! An amazing level, that has TWO sound tracks. And a story!
keeeep it up you have great potential
I just released a new video today!
Soap is my favorite level from the game I guess, right challenge, right music, right palette, right skill level. There are other great levels, but soap is the one I think of first
One thing I have learned from this video is people really loved soap a lot more than I thought
I like dropzle because I love pixel perfects
I have exatly the same for the number 1 and 21 but I have a question wy you not ranking the final level to the lobby ?
If you mean the heartside I didn't include it because it's just a mash up of all the levels. It's a good final challenge but it didn't feel right to compare it to everything else.
If I had to place it though it would be dead center in the list
Two last heartsides are definitely the best maps in the lobby. The expert one has a whole story at the end and stunning visuals. It adds new tech and mechanics to the flags, too. Grandmaster heartside just feels like a journey. It has little cutscenes and transitions, like Madeline being eaten by the beast in flag 8, the game launching in flag 7 and screen becomes smaller at the end of Ivory flag. The thing that makes it perfect is flag 1. It starts with pretty easy cassette blocks gameplay but the flag is suprisingly short. The music becomes quiet after you get to the Badeline orb and... A real "shatter the pantheon!" starts playing! At the end of the flag there is a maze where you actually feeling lost. But after you escape this hell, you are collecting hearts representing each previous lobby and finally finishing strawberry jam.
Great video, I was hoping someone would do something like this eventually 🙂Are you planning on making a similar video for the other lobbies as well? I would love to see that.
I mostly agree with your rankings, except I would certainly put Soap and Desolate spire somewhat higher (at least above Coresaken city and Cassette cliffs), simply because they both have excellent level design and are really fun to play the whole way though (unlike the two mentioned, which have some weak spots). Also seeing is believing is a very unique level and a lot of fun if you have a second person to do it with (which I fortunately had), but it gets a lot worse if you don't, so I think the ranking is fair.
I agree that Forrest path and Rose garden were really hurt by being way too short and it would be really amazing if these levels specifically got their B-sides, where the mechanic was explored in more difficult scenarios (I know that at least the dream dash is used in a couple of later levels, but it is not the main focus there). We kind of got that in the Heartside, but one screen is simply not enough 😅
I'm hoping to do the other lobbies. I recently beat the intermediate lobby so I'm working on the script right now actually.
I'm glad you enjoyed the video!
soap done dirty 😭
If I learned 1 thing from making this video, it's apparently people really liked soap lol
@@justanothersam I can't believe you didn't catch that pun.
@@RadioactiveBluePlatypus lmao that wasn't even intentional
@@__archermaster__8790 LMFAO
personal ranking: (with bad opinions)
Collapsing skyline - 21
It's a map where there’s swap blocks and elevators. Don’t know what to say except for the fact that it's quite boring. Also, it uses mini berries, which are extremely annoying because if you miss one you have to restart all over again.
Strawberry orchard - 20
I’m not that big of a fan of holdables, and I really did not like this one. I understand why people can enjoy it but for me it's just “throw the holdable and dash to bounce on springs”. This was rated higher than collapsing skyline mainly because clear pipes are a cool mechanic. (there's a way better holdable clear pipe map though)
Coresaken city - 19
It's a core + city map. No interesting mechanics or anything, just core blocks with forsaken city blocks. This is ranked higher than strawberry orchard mainly for the fact that it wasn’t unfun, just boring
Pfa (Potential for Anything) - 18
Another map that I just personally didn’t enjoy. It's based off of VVVVVV (however many Vs) levels, with some that are copies. I just don’t think it translates well, and there’s a better reverse gravity map in another lobby. Ranked higher than coresaken city because reverse gravity is a cool mechanic.
Cassette cliffs - 17
Now we’re getting to the ones I enjoyed. This map is probably my least favorite cassette map in the collab, mainly for the fact that it didn’t use them that interestingly. Also I just don’t like cassette blocks in general.
If my driveway almost did you in - 16
A map about intro crushers. There’s cool music and intro crushers are pretty interesting. Ranked higher than cassette cliffs because I like the mechanic.
Azure caverns - 15
A map where you can push blocks along a track. There’s also a better map with this mechanic in this collaboration, but this one is pretty interesting. My only complaint is that it’s too short.
Troposphere - 14
This map is pretty interesting. You dash through a dream block and badeline boost and keep doing that. It gets a bit repetitive after a while, but it's not that bad.
Forest path - 13
The map that a ton of people play first somehow. Dream refills are such a cool mechanic and I’m glad to see them used here. It’s sometimes weird to see where you need to go but that's with dream refills in general. Not many complaints about this one.
Midnight spire - 12
This map has an inverted tower xvi style. I think it has some very cool bubble gameplay. The breakable blocks work well as they set up drops perfectly.
Switchtube vista - 11
Cool mechanics, cool gameplay. My only complaint is that jumping out of pipes is weird. (also there's a better pipe map in the collab)
Over the city - 10
Double jumps are a very cool mechanic and I really like how it's used here. This is a map where you try to preserve all your double jumps to the end by not touching the ground, often creating some places where stamina is pretty tight. Also, if you skip to the end that part is tighter then usual (just a cool detail).
Loopy lagoon - 9
I really like the mechanic here. The loop blocks (or whatever) having the mechanic where you can dash into them was cool.
The squeeze - 8
The squeeze, also known as dropzle but no puzzles. This map has a mechanic that is not only cool but also teaches people that setups exist. There’s a better version of this map in the collab though.
Rose garden - 7
Rose garden has very cool music, very cool mechanics, and very cool gameplay. Not really anything else to say. There’s a better version of this map in the collab though.
Treehive - 6
Probably my least favorite honey map but still very cool. Only complaint is with bounce dream blocks its a bit harder to see where you’ll end up.
Seeing is believing - 5
Another map with just a really good mechanic. Played this with a friend and it was extremely fun listening to my friend fail explaining the map. I’ve never played alone though.
Soap - 4
Soap has amazing usage of move blocks and non-dash refill stuff. There’s one room I remember very well where you reuse the same section a ton and I thought that was very cool.
A gift from the stars - 3
I’m very biased towards puzzle maps, but I think this is very deserving of its #3 placement. In this map you have to figure out when exactly to get all double dash pieces and how to not use your dashes throughout the level to get the coin while using time stops to help. The fact that there was barely any introduction to the time stop and you had to figure it out yourself was very cool too. Its pretty easy after a bit of experimentation to figure it out.
Dropzle - 2
The best puzzle map in the entire collab. Lining up a drop from Kevins is a very cool mechanic especially because of the limited dashes. Often every room has a clever solution which makes you think “this is clearly impossible”. The hint feature is also very helpful as it often guides you to a mistake that you thought you had to do but really didn’t. My one complaint about this is how to get to a berry - the one where you use momentum from the previous room. This doesn’t really fit with how the rest of the map played and there’s no hint for how to get to that room even though its difficult. I still think this deserves it’s placement of #2.
Paint - 1
Everything i can say has already been said before, so yes, this is #1.
I think it's kinda funny that some of yours are the complete opposite of mine, lol. Like Dropzle and Strawberry Orchard. But these are not bad opinions! There are no bad opinions when it comes to enjoying Celeste!
great video! here are my personal rankings (i should also note that ive done all of beginner deathless, which affects my ranking)
22: over the city
yeah, i agree nearly completely with you here. honestly, i think the issue with dashless gameplay is at a low level its so boring. compare this level to 74, a dashless map in grandmaster. that level is one of the best in the collab and consistently was fun as hell. meanwhile i was trying to not fall asleep getting this silver. a good map, but unfortunately the least great in beginner due to an inherent issue of mine low difficulty dashless gameplay.
21: collapsing skyling
again, i agree with you here. the waiting is quite exhausting but the level is so easy so i can look past it somewhat.
20: azure caverns
i am so thankful this level is so short. if it overstayed its welcome it would have been painful
19: coresaken city
i was personally mostly apathetic towards this purely due to the lack of modded mechanics. great level design however, love the choice of having the latter half possible in both fire and ice, and encouraging replaying to get the last berry because of that choice
18: if my driveway...
its not a bad map at all, just less impressive than others. the lines indicating when the intro crushers move is highly appreciated.
17: forest path
this falls into easy level syndrome for me. i can't enjoy it as much as others due to the braindead difficulty but it's a beautiful level. the music and visuals are great, and dream blocks (dashes in this case) are one of the best mechanics from the vanilla game.
16: troposphere
similar case to the previous level. dream blocks are great, level's too easy to be higher. cat at the end is always appreciated
15: the squeeze
middle of the road level. still in the part of my ranking where these are good levels, just less stellar compared to the high standard sj maps tend to set.
14: midnight spire
not much i could add that you didn't already say. good level
13: potential for anything
amazing homage to vvvvvv. the recreation of doing things the hard way made me burst out laughing in the best way and the only reason its this "low" on the list was that its a somewhat annoying silver due to the length.
12: a gift from the stars
i have chronic stupid brain so this was painful. great aesthetics, i wish the story concluded though.
11: rose garden
great level, even for someone who's never played mario galaxy (which i think is what its based on) way to easy for yellow though, i first tried the silver berry.
10: loopy lagoon
the first level i played, and what a level it is. the music is a bop, the setting of being a bunch of froot loops is great and the custom loop blocks are a joy to play with. a perfect first level
9: cassette cliffs
a great level that manages to make cassette blocks mostly engaging. alas it is still inherently quite boring for me especially when compared to my 3rd favourite strawberry jam map: shattersong. idk if i just have terminal grandmaster brain but cassette cliffs walked so shattersong could run. the best cassette gameplay ever made, especially its heartside flag, and it even features the "something more" you felt cassette cliffs needed. not spoiling it though
8: strawberry orchard
the third map so far that i enjoyed but had a grandmaster analog that was far better in my opinion. i too used to be in the camp of people who didn't like theo gameplay. that changed when i played the solar express. despite it kicking my ass for 38 hours, despite me dying 33000 times, it is my favourite map in celeste modding. it is theo gameplay perfected. it is why i can't place this any higher because i feel that beginner just holds the potential of theo gameplay back. its tragic to me; some of the best maps in sj are inaccessible to likely 80% of people who will play it. back onto the topic of the actual map i'm ranking, it's good. love the music and vibes and despite my issues with low level theo gameplay it's engaging throughout. love the trans flag easter egg
7: soap
great level. love the music, the gameplay is great, but it is handicapped by its existence. its a beginner map, meaning fastbubbling cannot be a part of it. if i can't fastbubble i'm inherently bored. even with the issue the map still is stellar. love the rubber duckies
6: switchtube vista
it's just great, i'm not sure how else to put it. an issue i have that most people will never notice is with the pipes. (which isn't even an issue with the map, pipes have existed as a custom entity long before sj) unlike dream blocks, you can't buffer your jump out of them. it makes them just a bit annoying to me. still a stellar map.
5: dropzle
i'll be transparent. i hated this map casually. the aforementioned chronic stupid brain handicapped me so hard. replaying the map and getting the silver berry allowed me to fall in love with it. a personal high point of all of my time playing strawberry jam (all five lobbies, first two deathless) is clutching the silver berry for this map after messing up the solution in the final room. i was able to use my experience with the game to line up a vertical dash to hit a touch switch without seeing the hitboxes based on pure intuition, saving the run. the hint system is great too.
4: treehive
bouncy dream blocks. i mean, you said it yourself, the only way to make dream blocks more fun was to make you not die upon collision with a wall. (though, i think ivory in grandmaster made them fun in a different way, and also psychokinetic in expert to a lesser extent: making the blocks preserve momentum and in ivory's case allowing you to dash again inside them to redirect or multiply your speed. great stuff) again, this level's just great. music too, what a bop
3: seeing is believing
i actually have not played this with a friend at all. i have exclusively played this in the singleplayer mode and even with that i love this map so much. personally i had never seen a blindfolded map in celeste before so playing this on release day was utterly magical. probably higher than it should be in all honesty but it's my ranking. bias is fun.
2: blueberry bay
would you believe me if i said this is only the third best heartside in my opinion? putting it that way downplays just how good this map is. the music is so goddamn good. the screens are all fun and faithful to their original maps. goldening this was one of the most fun deathless challenges i've undertaken so far. and as always, love the trans flag at the end
1: paint
the obvious choice. in all my 3 years (2.5 when i played this map casually) of playing celeste i have never seen such a highly polished map. i was left dumbfounded by this casually. the silver berry is painful because its 5 minutes long but even despite that this is still the top map. (yet its still only #5 on my overall ranking lmao) a must play for anyone who plays celeste in my opinion, even if they do not touch a single other modded map ever. 10/10
sorry for the egregious text wall (and occasional review of a grandmaster map). again great video, and good luck to you with however much more you play in strawberry jam!
What an awesome video. Do you think you'll rank any other lobbies?
I will! I got some other videos in the works first but I will come back to this
My ranking is:
21: A gift from the stars. I *hated* the time stop mechanic, to the point that I had to debug past one of the rooms since I couldn't figure it out. At least the silver wasn't that bad when I knew what to do
20: Potential for anything. I know it's cool, but gravity swapping made this just ver frustrating to do anything in. I'm glad it wasn't any harder, or the silver probably would've taken hours
19: Dropzle. The only reason this isn't lower is because it's funny that you can skip almost the entire map with pixel perfect drops. Which I was really good at, for some reason
18: Over the city. Just.. meh. I thought it was kinda a cool concept, but the stamina management was really tight at times (although neutral jumps helped), and it was just way too *long*
17: Midnight spire. When I first played this, this map would've been higher for me. It was.. okay. But then I silvered it, and this is the most awful silver in the whole beginner lobby. Floaty blocks and clouds are so inconsistent
16: Coresaken city. I just don't like core mechanics. At least it wasn't long
15: Switchtube vista. The mechanics in this were cool, BUT the freaking tubejumps. Agh. If they let you buffer jumps out of tubes like with dreamblocks this would've been top 5, but I was so frustrated when playing this just because of this one thing
14: Azure caverns. It's a cool idea, but where is the map??? There's like 3 rooms!
13: Collapsing skyline. This map has a cool atmosphere, but that's.. about it. It's forgettable, and just.. could be a lot better
12: The squeeze. I actually liked how this map did pixel perfect drops, it was just way too short. If it was 2 or 3 times longer I think it'd be in the top ten
11: Cassette cliffs. This was a really cool idea, but some of the cycles felt really awkward. Maybe I was just doing them wrong
10: Forest path. This one was a cool mechanic, but it.. just is there. It's like right above the middle in terms of coolness. Plenty of other stuff is just cooler
9: Rose garden. The mechanic was cool (although it felt weird without controller rumble), but it was wayy too short. Same thing as with the squeeze. It just felt like a map intro
8: Loopy lagoon. This one's cool. The mechanic's a lot of fun to do stuff with. But it's also not much of a challenge, and a bit long to silver
7: Soap. This map was fun, and had a cool style. I liked it, but there's not much to say about it. Although the badeline ducky made it 10x better
6: Seeing is believing. I had a friend or two to help, and that made this map *so* fun. Also, the heartside flag is super cool. ALSO, I think the singleplayer mode is still cool to do. I also got to be on the other side, giving directions, and it was fun there too
5: If my driveway almost did you in. Nyoooom. Too short
4: Strawberry orchard. Theo stuff can be cool. Theo stuff while *moving fast* and bouncing is awesome
3: Treehive. Bouncy dreamblocks are the best thing ever
2: Troposphere. I somehow just didn't struggle seeing which blocks were the double dash blocks, and even now I'm not sure how. The movement in this map is my absolute favorite, with all the dreamjumps and airborne movement
1: paint. Do I even need to say anything?
Okay, I will say something. The *music.* I'm a musician and composer who's making music for another celeste mod (called Zenith's Descent), and seeing what they did with the music and timing here inspired me so much. And the artwork!! And just aa this is such a good map
0: Heartside. Doesn't count, but like. It's awesome. Heartsides are always cool
Squeeze is so cool its underrated
Just another sam is sucha random name
I can see where you're coming from for most of these, but I feel like you were a bit harsh on most of the bottom few. Still, pretty understandable list. Here's mine:
21: Dropzle.
Same as you, basically. I feel like this map was meant for the Intermediate lobby, cause I took more time and effort to get through this one than any of the other Beginner maps. It wrecked my brain, and not in the good way. Let's not talk about the berries.
20: Over The City.
Cool mechanic, but not a good way to use it chief. I like that a few rooms get used twice, but except for that it just feels like it overstays it's welcome. Plus, this Silver has been really tedious to do.
19: Gift from the Stars.
I like the setting, I like Core Dash Conservation, but the Timestop is just made to annoy me. I've never really enjoyed timestop puzzles and this one just drives it in further. Maybe my brain was just fried from Dropzle, but eh.
18: Troposphere.
This one is just... meh. It's alright, but I don't feel it's more than that. The added mechanic is just too subtle for me to truly enjoy it.
17: Azure Caverns.
Fun, but WAY too short. I love the "dash to activate" blocks, but this is too short of a level to make the player used to them. As soon as the player gets a hang of em, the level ends.
16: Collapsing Skyline.
I like the gloomy atmosphere of the desolate city, but all the DashBlock usage felt repetitive. If I wanted DashBlocks again, I'd play Mirror Temple. The mini-berries were really fun to find, however, especially the last sneaky one.
15: The Squeeze.
Puzzle done right. I personally love the gloomy atmosphere in this one, even if it is just Forsaken City sprites. Some of the berries here are also really fun, like the one where you have to do a whole room backwards.
14: Coresaken City.
This one's so high mostly because of its final berry. Being able to do most of the level in reverse temperature, adding an extra challenge layer? Perfect. Except when you accidentally dash into the heart instead of the last room for the third time.
13: Midnight Spire.
Pretty fun overall, I just wish it could have been more than just Golden Ridge: Vertical Edition.
12: Forest Path.
Pretty much the same thing as Azure Caverns, but with a better mechanic. Dreamy Dashes are fun, too bad the stage is done in like 2 minutes.
11: Soap.
Now we're into great territory. Soap has a great aesthetic, and I love the mechanic of non-dash recovery springs and bubbles. Dash Conservation is one of my favorite things ( *unless its dropzle* ) and Soap does it really well!
10: Seeing is Believing.
Quite a shift compared to most other maps. A map you can't see? They did it perfectly, as it's fun multiplayer or singleplayer. I love getting to the end of the screen, for it to light up and reveal the easy obstacles you just passed.
9: Cassette Cliffs.
I loved the rhythm sections of Celeste, and this level did it wonders. I like the random parrots lying around, they're chill.
8: Potential For Anything.
A great tribute to VVVVVV, and just a fun map to play. That one screen with all the mechanics stuck together is absolute peak.
7: Loopy Lagoon.
Fun Fact: I had never played Celeste on PC before getting Strawberry Jam. I just played on my Switch, a friend gifted it to me, and I thought it'd be cool to finally be able to play Strawberry Jam. This was probably the best level I could have started with. The mechanic is fun and not too complicated, and this is one of my favorite aesthetics for a level. I'd listen to that BGOST all day if I could...
6: If My Driveway...
Mostly this high due to how fun and smooth the gameplay is. Every fling from 1 block to the next just feels so good to do. A bit short, but like you said about Rose Garden, if my one complaint is not having enough, I think it's a good sign. Speaking of...
5: Rose Garden.
GOD MARIO GALAXY IS THE BEST GAME EVER AND I WILL LUNGE IN EXCITEMENT TO WHOEVER THOUGHT TO PUT IT IN CELESTE RAHHHHHHH
I don't think there's a better way to say it than that.
4: Treehive.
Despite the next levels being better, this is my favorite aesthetic. I don't know why, I've been infatuated with bee stuff ever since I was a kid. Look at my profile pic! I don't see why honey would make Dream Blocks bouncy, but it doesn't get deducted points for that. I will love the bee aesthetic until I die. Oh, and the platforming is really fun, too. Berries are nice aswell.
3: Switchtube Vista.
I first played this level with a friend on voice call, and the only thing he said about it was the pipes reminded him of Super Mario 3D World. Couldn't agree more. The level design reminds me of Sonic, and it's beautiful. Gameplay is also very smooth and fun, and getting every berry was a blast to collect.
2: Strawberry Orchard.
This level made me love Theo mechanics again. Throwing the jam around through pipes and springs, you yourself getting sent flying by said springs, it's a very fun and energetic level. Oh, and all the secret rooms here are truly delectable. We love our animal band.
1, and it wasn't a contest to begin with: Paint.
Pretty obviously. The story is... scarily reminiscent of some of my own experiences with long and tough projects. Love the rhythm gameplay with the cassettes, bird-shooty-things and paint brushes shooting out Gaster Blaster lasers. Design is just a beauty, especially with all the cats around. Speaking of, holy moly there's a lot of secret rooms. I didn't even see the firework one you showed off! It's simply a perfect level all around, and for it to not be a sort of finale of the lobby? Cruel.
Feel free to leave your thoughts in the replies.
sorry to correct you but actually dashing platforms are from chapter 5
Don't be sorry! I appreciate the correction!
Honestly, I disagree about a gift from the stars - while I do agree that it's not great that the story bit only gets started; it's imho how a Celeste puzzle level *should* be - where the puzzle & execution challenge are somewhat inversely proportional. So if there's something easy to figure out, the execution can be a little harder, but if it's hard to figure out, the execution wasn't an issue. dropzle...... was not that. And I think that you not being able to move about quickly & misinputs being so incredibly punishing in dropzle is what makes it so incredibly grating to me.
Also the squeeze was imho also pretty fun as well, it's not one of the best ones but it's pretty decent.
realy
good vydeo
My ranking
21: A Gift from the stars - Genuinely never want to complete this map again, especially collecting all the berries. The time stop mechanic was horribly implemented, the difficulty seems wildly random at best, and wholly inaccurate at worst.
20: Dropzle - Basically same reasons outlined in the video. Trying some of the berries made me hate it more, but could have definitely been worse.
19: Seeing is believing - This level is only enjoyable when not seen. how! It feels so boring when you complete it without the blindfold.
18: Over the City - As my first introduction into the fact that dashless exists, it is not fun to play through on a first try. after you've beaten an intermediate or 2 it becomes more enjoyable (slightly), but is still annoying overall.
17: The Squeeze - I like the aestetic somewhat, but the gameplay feels mechanical.
16: Coresaken City - The map overall is not too enjoyable, and feels like it's trying to force 2 weirdly opposite levels together.
15: Azure Caverns - forgettable, yet enjoyable
14: Midnight Spire - Its alright. The map layout works well, but where decoration.
13: Potential for Anything - Really same as Midnight overall. The use of gravity switching works to an extent. I understand it's supposed to be a reference (more a ripoff but...) to VVVVVV.
12: Loopy Lagoon - I dunno this one wasn't too interesting. It does have good decoration, but at the same time it's gameplay could be much better.
11: Cassette Cliffs - Not really a big timing fan. The inclusion of 4 colours (which were in the base game - Farewell) is neat, but overall I didn't enjoy it. The decoration is very good for what seems somewhat a mix of vanilla and modded blocks.
10: soap - Quite enjoyed this map! The use of no dash regenning springs works quite well, as well as the aesthetics of the map being very good.
9: Collapsing Skyline - I really enjoyed completing this on a rebeat when searching for all the mini berries.
8: If my "driveway" almost did you in... - The name is unwieldly long, but I like the reference. Fairly enjoyable gameplay, but the decoration is just prologue.
7: Troposphere - Quite fun gameplay, suffers from the same "Where decoration" issue as Midnight, but I feel like the gameplay, with a combination of modded and unmodded is very fun overall.
6: Forest Rush - First map I beat. Rebeats are really great to do, and is a good first silver (other than seeing but...), and I feel that the dream crystals were used very well.
5: Switchtube Vista - Its fun on rebeats. Very fun I'd argue. It was somewhat unenjoyable on a first playthrough, but looks really nice.
4: Treehive - Good, enjoyable puzzle gameplay. The environment is also really good.
3: Rose Garden - Very enjoyable atmosphere and gameplay. This is the first map where things like the triple boost jellies (idk what they are called) are used.
2: Strawberry Orchard - Somehow enjoyable Theo gameplay. 9.5/10 would rebeat again
1: paint - It's paint. Need I say more? it does have timing, but it is very enjoyable.
My rankings
21. A Gift from the Stars - This map has some of the worst puzzles in the collab, it is good its just not though, the whole story of the map is "UFO crash site investigation", which Is thrown out the window after the 1 piece of dialogue, like the map ends in a shack. I also think that badeline wouldn't just be like "no we shouldn't do this" and a dialogue box later say "okay", the map also DRAGS forever, the only redeeming factor is in the update which adds hints from dropzle.
20. Over the City - This is just barely above A gift from the Stars because it has real gameplay. The map is slow and doesn't indicate things very well, the dashless jump crystals is okay at best, the Idea is good but bad execution with it. This map is pretty much a worse Desolate spire.
19. Rose garden - You know whats worse then a map that drags? A map that actually is inflicting pain. Thats what Rose Garden is to me, when I first played it the gameplay was okay but it hurt my fingers, the main reason is my different keybinds, other then that the map is good.
18. Collapsing Skyline - The map is really forgettable, like the Intermediate lobby. Its really slow and the map absolutley drags, the story, and cross room berry redeem this map.
17. Azure Caverns - I can't believe I'm saying this but the green beginner map is too easy. It's way too short aswell, the map spans about 6 required rooms. Along with that the map's mechanic gets really old really fast, its almost just a zip mover, the map also gives no indication at the start.
16. Driveway - This map uses the prologue crusher with boosters, double refills, and zip movers, which is a fun combo but it gets old pretty fast. The map is also kind of forgettable to me.
15. Troposphere - This map is good and bad at the same time, the map itself is red but once you play it you are thrown into the flow without knowing it, and you complete the map to fast to comprehend what you just did, other then that its a good map.
14. The Squeeze - This map feels off, it feels like something is wrong but I cant put my finger on it.
13. Coresaken City - This map tries to be original by not being unique, It doesn't use dependencies other then the reqiured ones and is just Chapter 1 and 8 put together, while it is still pretty fun.
12. Midnight Spire - Now we get to the maps with alot of GOOD things to point out over the bad, Midnight spire has outstanding decoration and fun gameplay, although the gameplay is just chapter four with dash blocks it does alot of new things, the dash blocks and tight gameplay space makes this map stand out above others.
11. Strawberry Orchard - I personally am a big theo fan and having theo map in the first lobby was great, the jokes and decoration of the map are also outstanding, along with that the MUSIC is the best part of this masterpiece.
10. Potential for Anything - The nostalgia of playing VVVVVV when I played this map is why its so high, the music is really good and the deco stays true to the original game
9. Soap - Soap is where the collab's true coolness starts to shine, and you actually we're wrong in your soap section. The map introduces a new bubble and spring type (both not returning dashes) and there is NOT any core mode in the map. The map is really fun to play and has good music.
8. Dropzle - The top 8 was really close for me, so these can be interchanged easily but Dropzle needed to be put somewhere, it couldn't keep climbing the ranks, now the actual reason I put this here was for the looks, even though it looks boring and unfinished thats what makes it unique, the background reminds me of Ultra difficult and the kevins with limited dashes is pretty cool, what brings it down though is the 12 dash room, I had to use a guide for it and that sort of brings the map down
7. Treehive - The dream blocks are really cool to me, and the usage of connected zip movers puts this above most maps for me, the gameplay flows, the music is great, and the decoration pops out
6. Switchtube Vista - I think this is a reference to a game but I just dont get it. The map's gameplay has the color switches and clear pipes which are both very fun mechanics, The music is outstanding and the gameplay flows well and is fun, Decoration is really good aswell.
5. Seeing is Believing - This one goes way higher for me because of how outstanding it is with others, even if they arent good at celeste the map is really fun and can create wholesome moments. The decoration is a bit wacky but I still hold my case, along with this the secret are good. The gameplay flows well even if you cant see, and the music is a banger
4. Forest Path - The dream dash is a great mechanic and is really fun overall, the gameplay flows insanely well, the music sets the vibe, and the decoration is pretty good.
3. Cassette cliffs - I love cassette blocks, and this map is all about them. The music to these cassette blocks is outstanding, and the decoration is really good. The map's gameplay also flows really well, requiring constant movement to keep up with the beat
2. Loopy lagoon - A times greatest. This is almost everybody's first SJ map and rightfully so, the music is some of the best with its.. bongos? The gameplay of the map flows really well and the decoration is outstanding.
1. paint - some might say its overrated or its not that good but the team that worked on paint did fantastic. they hit all the right points with the music, gameplay, and decoration. especially decoration, every room is filled with crazy decals and buildings all around. the story of the map is absolutley the best aswell. the story is just the map maker decides to take a break from making paint.
thank you for coming to my tedtalk
I love dropzel
Why am I commenting twice here...
Well, a gift from the stars has a secret room with a way harder puzzle than anything else in the map that gives you a key to LORE. I found it while getting the berries(and changed my opinion on the map itself).
Intermediate lobby is... The worst one for me. It has only 18 maps in it and almost no new mechanics introduced which was disappointing because beginner gave us so many new ones to play around with.
Advanced lobby, oh, the advanced lobby... 25 maps. That's too much. Most of the maps has a filler one or two. The green maps here are the weakest maps in the WHOLE MOD. the heartside(you should talk about them in the later rankings imo) is very unbalanced in the maps picks. Checkpoint 2 has 3 RED MAPS IN A ROW and checkpoint 4 has 1 easy red, 3 greens AND THE HARDEST MAP OF THE LOBBY AT THE END. The hardest lobby for now, even expert is easier.
Expert lobby is the best one. If I remember correctly, every maps introduces something new which is amazing for 29 maps. There are quite a bit of yellow maps and one of them (plasma reactor) made me insane so I found the secret "nice view" in it(it is grandmaster difficulty so I didn't beat it. The red maps are all very good, especially psychokinetic, summit downside, chromatic complex, pcychokinetic and psychokinetic! Did I forgot to say psychokinetic? The yellow map clockwork is considered to be the best map in the mod, and even if I disagree, it is still in my top 3 sj maps.
I didn't get to gm lobby yet :madelinestare:
wtf soap is so good
I disagree with almost everything you said but great video nontheless
People actually like Midnight Spire? It's meh to me because the only good thing about it is that it's vertical.
I just really like it because it's a vertical level that doesn't make me want to pull my hair out
Soap is unbelievable poorely ranked. I dont understand how in a sane mind you wrote it. Firstly it has a masssive mistake. No there is no core block or ice balls or anything from core so no it isnt in ice mode whole time. Second it has a unique mechanic with spring that dont give you dashes, but not a core mechanic. And thirdly it has a really cool looking and feeling gameplay with dash management.
...so you think soap is placed too high?
@@justanothersam no i yhink you r to high. Its really unprofessional tank it on your feelings so much that you dont even understand what the level is.
Hate to break it to you, but you're in the wrong place if you want professionalism, my guy lol
@@justanothersam i know but i want to say that you were so wrong about the soap, that i needed to clarify.
paint is ass.
also just my opinion
my opinion is that this is incorrect