Me and Zim (Host) have discussed this privately and think it is for the best for this video to stay up (zim has been open and accepting of my criticisms), but to clarify things. I’ve really valued the team’s willingness to accept criticism after this video! I only had permission from Trick to upload a showcase of this, however Zim was down for me to showcase it a few months ago so I assumed that was still the case. Nevertheless he is still fine with me having it up so all is OK on that front and I apologise for the confusion! Trick has also been unreliable in terms of verifying the level from APTeam’s perspective for a few months now, and the nerfs to the level were already underway by the time I posted this video and were not wholly Trick’s idea. Trick and I did not communicate besides sharing a copy prior to this video’s publishing and it was not made to ‘prove’ anything. The verification has since been passed to Polterghast, and though I think it is kind of harsh to get rid of Trick after sending me a copy, I understand how that could be the straw that broke this whole thing down after all their frustrations from the team’s perspective previously unknown to me. It is not my situation to really comment on. The team thinks it is better to nerf the level to its base difficulty, polish it and get it out as the level would take too long to fix in its current state (I agree with this, I think it is a lesson to be learned from) and instead allow time to focus on better projects. I am still looking forward to playing the release version. Please, do not hate on either Trick or Zim or anyone at APTeam over this video! You can never be aware of other people’s current states so it’s always best to be kind. Levels are completely unimportant compared to mental health, and even after being filled in on everything I still think it’s too complex of a situation around this level for me to really understand. So please don’t think you do either. Also keep in mind that my standards are extremely high, and this is still above average in quality in my opinion. The team is full of amazing creators and this level is definitely less than the sum of its parts. And they are probably better creators than anyone who trashes them anyway. I understand how difficult it is to host a level and that is why I have been as constructive as possible.
for context: this video was made to show why it's best for me to nerf this project. i want to allow you guys to play this, not force 2015 gameplay into 2024 top 1 gameplay it's just not gonna work. i have other big projects that i will be announcing soon but sadly this one will not be the big top 1 that i will be verifying.
another thing id like to point out is that it seems as if apteam as basically abandoned this project after zim got demotivated, and NOTHING is linked it's impossible for me to do everything on my own so that's why i felt it was best to nerf it
and so this is why i haven't been active with the project. this version is supposed to represent me asking "you really want it to be top 1? this is what you are gonna get" and not really meant to be something i want to verify.
Completely understandable. Not a lot of people know that this level is literally insane to play. Aftercatabath buffed to hell. I can't even complete bloodbath. I believe you should do what you believe is best.
Ohh wait im dumb af I thought this was the rebalancing u were doing to make it top 1, so if it isnt then it means this indeed wont be the final version right? Im happy to hear that this wont be a forced top 1 since the beggining it honestly didnt feel like it should, still i hope everythin turns out the best for the level and for u trick :3 tysm
Actually, I feel it's better to consider this level an overcooked pizza. Taking so long to be finished only hurt it in the end, could have been good if it was finished 6 years ago
Yeah I was gonna say "needed more time to cook" is a bit strange since APT has been in the works since 2.0 Literally has taken longer than mf robtop not even counting verification
Good thing bloodlust didnt end up like this. It changed alot of bloodbaths gameplay while making it fun and consistent to learn. Best top 1 in my eyes even better than zodiac
Honestly a great decision to make the issues of this level more known, rather than allow AP Team to release it in this state and let the community grow to hate it instead of not expecting a shit product, and while admittedly it would be a little disappointing to have it nerfed to such little difficulty, it would certainly make it WAY more fun and respected, so good on it yk, better to have it accessible and fun then inaccesible and hated Hopefully these changes will be made so at the very least it’s not a generic “new top 1” anymore
Why does everything have to be top 1 now? I do think it would be cool as a top one but if it’s shit and turns out like avernus where it takes THREE FUCKING MONTHS FOR A SINGLE PERSON TO GET LIST PERCENT. Let me just repeat that for the people in the back. THREE MONTHS FOR NOT FIRST VICTOR BUT LIST PERCENT. I think there were several top 15s verified within the time avernus was released and got list points. The list doesn’t need 2 shitty top 5s that no one wants to play
Apteam is like the modern hollywood of gd. Hypes up upcoming releases but then the final products turns up half baked with a lot of generic tropes we have seen a million times.
the problem is this "Space hell" deco was initially popularized by this level (at least that's what I remember), but the level took so long that it's no longer original.
Although I don't agree with some of your points listed I'm sure you'll be glad to know that the level has been going under rebalancing, bugfixing and playtesting for a while now with the idea of making it not top 1. Although Trick mostly has the final say as of currently I do hope that at least some of issues will be resolved surrounding the gameplay. I do super agree about the inconsistent decoration scheme which is honestly probably by far the most disappointing which will almost definitely go on to not be resolved. Oh well.
@@RemecArt honestly i don’t think they’re supposed to look exactly alike. if every part looked the same people would say the level looks “corporate” or something. it’s all in the transitions from part to part which i think they did pretty well. and it’s not supposed to look like the original levels, it’s supposed to look way better than them but keep a similar atmosphere which i think it does just at well if not better than the old levels
I fully agree with the description, this level honestly does absolutely nothing for me. I love Grief, I love Banshee, I love Anathema, I love Amethyst, I love Heliopolis, I love Flamewall, and I love Tidal Wave, but this just doesn't hit the same.
Misanthrope: ERR aw dang it Natural Disaster: ERR aw dang it Eternal Night: ERR aw dang it Adramalech: ERR aw dang it Ton 618: ERR aw dang it Galaxy Collapse: ERR aw dang it Yes i could keep going
As a person that agree on the description, we know that Avernus is quite bad with it's decoration. But damn, dude, this thing is very overcooked it's not tasty anymore.
someone needs to completely redecorate this level in a space theme, so that the level can portray what the song was originally made to symbolise: a journey through space, and then it would actually be memorable
I lowkey feel bad for the creators in this. They tried to make iconic levels shine and it got overshadowed by the plethora of hell levels. If there were less, this level would stand out. Not to mention the forced top 1 gameplay ruins the level. Someone pointed out a blue orb in Michi's part in BB which is unessecary. This was really great when the first preview dropped but, from the playtesters not caring, the poor merging. It is such a shame and I feel for the creators. But don't get me wrong, the level looks phenomenally exceptional. But it just sucks that there are so many things holding it back. 0:57 this part is awesome but the part after brings it down. It still looks good, but it also feels generic. Edit: I will go through the whole APT and personally state out things that are underwhelming or not needed whilst also being as constructive as possible. Cataclysm: 0:07 the big spikes, don't feel necessary. They could've put it as BG rather than FG. 0:20 Do we need the moving objects? Why not have them just stay in position, makes the level look empty coming up to the objects. 0:30 the first spikes didn't really need to move, imo gives a false impression the second ones would move. If they were going to be moved, why not have them out, rather than moving the objects. 0:51 I have one thing to say, the spikes look a bit weird in contrast to the BG but the part looks phenomenal overall. 1:03 Here we go, the final wave. Overall looks solid, but it gets overshadowed by the ridiculous amount of glow, it seems super overkill and could've been reduced. 1:11 The bridge part look great, with nice lighting effects flowing through. Bloodbath: CuLuC cooked, that's about it. 1:49 Michi's part looks phenomenal, why is the orb at the ball, I will never know. The pulsing of gray and red look good and gives it an iconic feel which is nice. 2:14 Thunder cooked with the ship part, feels a bit overkill with the flurry of explosions but it adds a nice feel to the part overall. 2:33 not much to say, bit generic but looks alright. Aftermath: 3:17 the whole eye theme doesn't really fit in to a hell level. I suppose satanic eye but it doesn't really make sense IMO. 3:31 The only critique is the bg could be a bit distracting while playing, but that's a player thing, not a creator thing. 3:46 it could be a bit hard to tell what is a spike and what is decoration with the skull. 4:07 the endscreen not having music is weird. Now, that is my review of APT. I cannot tell you about GP, I haven't played the level lmao. It is a shame from what FNM said about "It not being playtested properly and it wasn't merged with care." I was personally excited for this level, but I feel the comparison with Avernus is valid. APTTeam put some care in but I feel like they wanted this level out so they stopped caring which is super upsetting. They might not have but from face value they have. Sorry about the bomb of an essay but I needed to say something since this level was one of my top 3 favorites.
@@willacheson5682 it would help greatly is my point, the amount of tweets and videos ive seen about "well look at that, another hell level." This level had the chance to reform hell levels but it failed to do that.
@@Ripperin0 maybe help ever so slightly but it wouldn’t change the fact that this level still just isn’t great in terms of decoration regardless and would ultimately receive the same criticism
THANK YOU! I completely agree with every point you made, and I have been saying the EXACT same for so long (talking about deco cuz obviously I cant actually play it). Cata simply doesnt look good (except for the piano part, the rest is eh or bad), and the last cata wave just isnt the same anymore. Bloodbath looks better, but still has issues and the theming is completely wrong. Imagen if the lava pools were blood pools instead, that would be sick as hell. Michi, havok's wave and giron were all ruined atmosphere wise and while havok's wave and giron look good, michi is one of the weakest parts, and the ball before michi is even worse. Aftermath is the only level that I can say is mostly good all through out, there are exceptions but yeah. Oh and the parts which originally have blue pads that are replaced with art are meh imo, I dont like it. Removes the intensity. Bloodlust is miles better in every aspect (imo also in deco, idk what it is I just love it and overall its my favorite level of all times). I almost cant believe it that APT and bloodlust are remaking the same level. As you said, APT feels like a ripoff, not a remake.
For anyone that doesn't know even after the pinned comment watch wavix newest vid it's tricks fault its this bad. This isn't the actual level. This is a super buffed version of the actual level Still don't send hate to trick or anyone involved in the controversy this whole thing is silly tbh.
I agree with the description to be honest. I think it could have been worded a bit better because obviously this level is well made and does look good. But I always saw this level as pointless. And beyond that, some of the gameplay changes are just strange. Like why does michi’s part have that blue orb pad click? That’s so unnecessary. The level is good in the sense that it is well made. But I feel like instead of going the direction it went in, it could have focused on being themed. Maybe try to do what bloodlust did with the bloodlust monster but do it better? Idk. Either way, I fully agree.
this level had the chance to be bloodlust up to modern standards but instead they took 6 years to finish it and botched the level the team was founded to make. obviously all the deco is really far above average, but i feel if the decorators were given more direction in terms of what they should have built, this level would look so much better
Changing the structuring of the cataclysm wave is an actual crime that should be jailed. Why not use the deco that’s here with the original structure maze, it’s so iconic and the new structuring feels completely out of place.
This level feels like a slap in the face for the original levels. Replaces the original parts with generic doom eternal and minecraft nether ideas of hell
I actually love how you explained everything in your description, I completely agree. I wish all people talked so much about what they think of a level when making a video about it, I think it would be really beneficial towards anyone who stops and reads it.
I think the level looks really good. The original, unbuffed version's gameplay was actually very good as well. This superbuffed version, sadly, will never live up to that.
Honestly, I don't think it really matters to the casual part of the community, but if you are a top player, enjoyability is the main factor that makes you go for a level. Look at Avernus, it was abandoned for 7 entire months since its verification. I feel like the same think will happen to APT, which is unfortunate since I really liked this level since it was first teased.
i think the main reason avernus didnt have any victors is that most people thought acheron was still harder after avernus was moved up and tidal wave was verified even if it wasnt rated
I 100% agree with you in the description. As a creator myself it really saddens me how much they have ruined the overall aesthetic of all 3 levels. I would much rather prefer old APT then this version. Also the whole realistic lava trend needs to fucking go man, it looks like soup if anything. Honestly the realism style in general urks me
Nobody agrees with me but i think the hell level concept shouldn't be made with realstic lava, bricks or even dragons. Thats more of a volcano/mythological themed level. I much, MUCH prefer what greafer does. Hell should be something mysterious, scary, creepy and dark. Greafer's decoration indeed looks pretty creepy and interesting, while APT just feels like riot's demise with cooler decoration.
greafers style is so overrated, yeah it looks cool but its not like he came up with general relativity, its just edgy slaughterhouse type deco if it was more interesting, it really isnt that deep. also its a 4 minute long level, greafers style is just basically the same throughout all of his levels, and having essentially the same invariant style throughout would make it so much more boring. also in my opinion it wouldnt have fit well with the song
A long time ago the leader of APTeam said that he didn’t have a favorite creator because no one met his standards. I’m glad to see that he still hasn’t been able to back up that claim 💀
If there's one thing I've always felt about this level, it's that they really should've taken the Bloodlust route of buffing the parts, where they should've been willing to completely overhaul parts that couldn't be buffed in a fun way. Like, Bloodlust changed Weo's iconic straight fly into a wave, overhauled Vermilion's ball part, replaced Crack's ship with Namtar's ship, completely replaced Asonicmen's ball with entirely different gameplay, and overhauled Havok's ufo. And, throughout the level, there were a bunch of other little changes that weren't just pure buffs. Bloodlust isn't trying to be 100% true to Bloodbath, and that's okay. And yeah, the decoration also definitely needed a rethink. The part I feel honestly suffered the worst is Cataclym's 52% ball with the structures that pulse with the music. The original part was beautiful, especially for its time. The structures glow brightly against the dark background, and it really feels like they're lighting up the area. But, in this level, that same part just feels dark. It doesn't feel like the structures are lighting up, it just feels like they're popping into existence, which from what it looks like they literally are as it seems like they're using alpha triggers instead of pulse or color triggers. I do think a lot of this level is beautiful, I just agree that it doesn't really fit the vibe and atmosphere of the original levels at all. It was called Bloodbath, after all, not Lavabath.
I agree with your opinion but I think I know why it was made top 1 and it’s because the community just doesn’t remember any levels that aren’t the hardest thing. Even the best levels get overshadowed by hard levels made for the sake of being hard and not good. I also think this level has been in production for way too long
i agree, forcing it to be top 1 is a bad decison, taking levels with already questionable gameplay (except bloodbath imo) and buffing the heck out of them doesn’t seem fun also, they shouldve put the bloodlust ship in between cata and bloodbath
man i would respect this level so much more if nothing was buffed and the gameplay was exact to the OG levels. all i want from a level like this is just a graphical overhaul
@@liminall it lis hell theme, just done poorly for what its trying to be. It's not that the deco itself is bad, its just that for a level as significant as this, it doesn't meet standards.
Even if it's not top 1, this level would still be very very popular because it's the god damn apocalyptic trilogy, the most iconic user levels in GD history, so I'd much rather it was made to be a fun time than a really hard one
love this level (i love lots of top 1's), but there are lots of clicks that just look out of place making it look somewhat unbalanced, but good luck to trick with verifying the level! Edit: Well i guess a whole ass controversy started bc of trick "leaking" a superbuffed top 1 to fnm.
i really want there to be a top 1 aftercatabath level, since the trilogy is considered to be the original extreme demons (excluding aftermath) and it would feel like a fitting tribute to the ones that started it all. bloodlust was perfect but it’s solely a bloodbath sequel, and there is still no rated aftercatabath variant in the game. however this level does have a lot of obvious flaws so it’s still frustrating
Cant believe they managed to turn it into a worse Avernus, longer with a bunch of choke points and without any satisfying gameplay like even Avernus has.
i read the description and I also think that The Lightning Rod is a really good depiction of a solo level that meets all the requirements, if you havent seen it id check it out
It does really suck to see this level turn this way. My friend really loved this level and saw the three levels as they came, and he is very disappointed with the level. These buffs are so forced. There are other top 1s with really hard gameplay like Tidal Wave, Adramalech, Flamewall, Ascension to Heaven, but this one is just painful as shit
@@rolandfilip2780 preview 1 is the old version, preview 2 is the new one (completely revamped and extended to full song), final preview is heavily nerfed from preview 2 + some gameplay changes. I'm talking about the preview 2 + final one
I really appreciate the thought you put into the criticism here. It's clear you come from a place of love, and wanting the level to be as good as possible.
Crazy how old hell levels were seen as generic, then the community broke away from it, discovered new hell deco, and now we're full circle of the new hell deco being seen as generic and old being seen as fresh. Also a level as monumental as Bloodbath being compared to Avernus is just sad
Why are people saying the deco is bad? First of all this wasn’t made in 2.2 and it looks incredible and also statistically 90% of people talking about the deco on this level know nothing about deco
I’ve never really cared for this level or SWI, and I’m not saying I could do better, but I agree with a lot of what you said. What really killed it for me just now is the fact that the last BB wave is basically decorated in Core Style. This is a 2024 megacollab remake of one of the most influential level trilogies in this game, and there’s a core part. Core works sometimes, but absolutely not in this.
Thanks APT for killing this project: there was no atmosphere, no charm, no originality, no legacy is in there, It feels like a big disrespect to everyone who created cataclysm, bloodbath and aftermath (bloodlust also included), to Michigun, to Riot, to 1.9 at all! Yes, some parts are good, but only few, as it shouldn't be in remake of legendary level trilogy. APTeam is no longer relevant for me. Rest in pieces.
I think my biggest complaint with the deco in particular has to be that it just feels too static. Aside from a few minor color pulses and movements, nothing really happens. There's not enough intensity for it to match the gameplay and song.
Top 5-10 at least, not too much, i don't want another controversy, still a legendary level, i'm still in love with this level but i do respect your points
(The following are a reflection of my feelings about Apocalyptic Trilogy and nothing else. I have lots of respect for APTeam and Trick and other prominent hell-style creators, I just think this level isn't their best work.) I'm honestly tired of the hell style overall. ICDX and Red World kinda pioneered it at first, and Gboy and Riot really did a good job at leveling it up in 1.9. But I feel like it's just been completely utterly milked to death for years now. I like Bloodbath, Bloodlust, Yatagarasu- the levels that really added to it. I feel like newer stuff like Tartarus, Acheron (to an extent) and Aeternus are just the old 1.9 style with extra fluff and I don't personally like this style whatsoever. I love Tidal Wave not because it's like an outstanding level, but because it was a total breath of fresh air. Top 1s could be so much more, but no. They're just hell levels, a completely overused style I (and many others I've spoken to) have a strong dislike for. That being said, I don't think Apocalyptic Trilogy is particularly bad (in terms of deco- the gameplay is among the worst I've seen in any modern top 1). It's generic hell style with some modernization, but it's also completely untrue to the original levels- it feels like just putting red and lava and monsters on a VERY poorly buffed AfterCataBath. I agree with many of fnm04's points. But I feel like APTeam is capable of so much better. I'm excited for the future of Apocalyptic Trilogy, as it seems like APTeam and Trick are taking the criticism well, and I'm ESPECIALLY excited to see what the future holds for them. APTeam are some of the most amazing creators in the game, and Trick is among its best players. I just think it's a shame that Apocalyptic Trilogy ended up like this, but I kinda saw it coming from the start. I think Apocalyptic Trilogy was just some poorly-made design and gameplay choices layered on top of a dead style and 9-year-old gameplay. That being said, I also appreciate fnm04's transparency and using his outreach to try to bring better outcomes for the GD community's extreme scene. If you read this whole rant, thanks for hearing me out!
I agree with the rant in the description. Just imagine this level but the gameplay is exactly the same as the original three levels and the deco is changed so it keeps the vibe and atmosphere of the originals. This level could be revolutionary and accessible to a larger portion of the community.
0:01 Cataclysm 0:15 Bloodbath 0:21 TAT 0:24 Bloodbath 0:33 Death Corridor 0:40 TAT 0:51 Bloodbath 0:57 Phobos or Cataclysm 1:11 Tidal Wave 1:14 TAT 1:22 Bloodbath 3:16 Bloodlust 4:02 the end
This level feels like a modern day version of The Hell Origin, the decoration doesnt standout compared to other hell levels and the decoration switches way to much. And while the decoration switching a lot isnt always a bad thing, it certainly doesnt help here. Also a lot of parts feel like theyve done the original dirty, like the flashing ball part and the iconic wave at the end of Cataclysm, and especially Evasiums part in bloodbath.
I agree with most of the criticism except for the first one about forced difficulty. I feel like every top 1 is gonna fall under this nowadays. Tidal Wave was buffed to be a top 1, Avernus was infamously buffed to top 1 with fixed hitboxes. I feel like if you want to make a top 1 now you need to buff it forcefully or make an impossible level that was never meant to be verified anyways (Tartarus, Aeturnus)
first off, tidal wave was already top 1 in its original state. i dont know where people get that it was not a top 1. second, the problem is that APT is composed of 3 different levels which were in a completely different generation of difficulty. that gameplay was meant for that specific time and trying to buff it into a modern top 1 makes it awful because it was never meant to be that hard. it makes everything awkward and creates unnecessary chokepoints. not every top 1 is going to fall under this. the reason it might feel like it's true is because creators just want a quick top 1 impossible level so they make a level under a minute and a half and just compress the difficulty too much so it makes it a top 1. there are levels like flamewall, grief, anathema and ascension to heaven that are not forced in any way.
@@WasyIu Very good point actually, top 1s have been so bad that they all feel forced. I feel like levels like Flamewall and AtH don't really count though since they are very long levels where we never really had long top 1s except for Zodiac and Bloodlust.
People always thought its such a hot take from me to say the deco isnt that great, and it is a hot take, but you put perfectly into words my issue with it. Its just thrown together glowy fire/lava with rocks and basically no resemblance of the original. But my biggest issue is that most of the time it has zero intensity or activity, just basic pulses maybe, nothing feels like hell, just sits there and looks pretty. Greafer does way better, his deco, its chilling, mysterious, dark, unsettling, and most of all it resembles the original hell theme which somehow makes it even creepier. All that executed perfectly, and the intensity to match. Exactly how this level should have turned out if it was GOOD..
Flamewall clear this by miles lol, heck even Bloodlust looks better also damn Djoxy part which never been updated since like 2018 felt so off, so much less glow and actually better than newer parts lol
trick is unfortunately given a hard time here having to deal with a pretty much abandoned project and having to balance it on his own. it really feels extremely homogenous and like apteam forced their glow style into it when it isn't really fitting. good that it's getting nerfed cuz it's a cool level but just not worth a top 1
