Who Kidnaps The Knytts?
I disagree with your evaluation of it's fairness and/or difficulty level. I had to quit part way through (I'm guessing a bit more than halfway?) due to a precise platforming area, but even before that, locations of some keys and code pieces didn't seem reasonably possible without consulting the editor. And in addition, those same challenges involved extremely precise platforming if you could even conceive of their locations on your own.
You're absolutely right. Let me first say that my evaluation of
Who Kidnaps the Knytts was based on a playthrough of hitting one ending (not the best ending, but still somewhat satisfying) and finding no keys. Secondly, with this critique, you've already openned up two problems with trying to boil down "Difficulty" to a single number.
The first is: how to address "bonus" content, such as secrets or optional endings. (This isn't limited to Knytt Stories, even a AAA title like
Borderlands 3 or
Diablo 2 varies wildly in difficulty between the The Main Story(tm) and the optional end-game content). What do we even decide is "bonus" content vs. The Main Story(tm), when the best ending is hidden behind layers of secrets and hidden keys? This isn't relegated to poorly designed stories, either,
Fubaka's Cosmic Meltdown has nearly 60% of the level hidden behind secrets and keys; there's an entire separate set of secret challenges to reach the "good" ending, and layers of secrets beyond that to reach the "final" ending. So in the end, I think it's a personal decision on what to include. I included
Fubaka's bonus content because (1) I had never played through it before and this was as good an excuse as any and (2) I think the level's true enjoyability doesn't really come out until you play through it in that fashion. For
Who Kidnaps the Knytts and most of these other levels, I played through them one time, found a (proper) ending, and based my review on that. For what it's worth,
Who Kidnaps the Knytts at least allows the player to go back and find the keys without replaying 80% of the level, unlike
Cosmic Meltdown, where the player does have to start from scratch to get the "good" ending.
The second problem is: how do we assess non-platformer difficulty? The purpose of my reviews has been to emphasize the platformer challenges: namely, those portions that rely on player skill to complete
("How much player skill is necessary to complete all challenges?") Things like traditional mazes, invisible mazes, water-pouring puzzles, hidden rooms, hidden keys, shift puzzles, or even math puzzles simply aren't things I'm assessing here. Maybe I should, but my reasoning is that anyone CAN solve these. Finding hidden rooms is generally more about player diligence than player skill. I'm also pretty bad at finding secrets and I usually need to consult the editor to find 50% of a given level's secrets.
When you say: (Reading my old review, I seemed to have found it much more difficult. I guess I've improved with age.) I would hope you evaluate difficulty in the place of an average or the majority of KS players as much as possible as opposed to your personal experience as an adept. Though, to be honest, I haven't had many opportunities to exercise such Platonic contemplation and restraint myself, so I'm not sure how difficult it actually is.
I am trying to be objective, but I think player skill is mostly "muscle memory" and practice, and its difficult to tell whether something is objectively hard or it's just something I'm particularly bad at. For one, I have a LOT of trouble with close-the-umbrella-mid-jump-then-open-it-again manuevers. Some people may be better at it. I've watched Don Doli struggle with some challenges I found to be a piece of cake, but he makes those umbrella jumps look super easy.
I've also gone back and looked at my first reviews and I sort of want to tweak them... Part of the problem is that I was originally gauging this 100% based on
Lunatic and anything less than Lunatic was under 5, but now that I'm out of Lunatic Levels and going into Very Hard and Hard levels, I kind of want more granularity. I've got a lot of 4s (Very Hard) but I do think that encompasses a wide range of difficulty and doesn't accurately do them justice.
Juni's Nightmare
Just wanted to mention I ascribe to a 'one drop' definition of difficulty. If in a giant easy level, there is one lunatic challenge that cannot be bypassed in order to achieve a normal ending, it's a lunatic level in my eyes.
That's absolutely valid. And I -generally- feel the same way. In fact, one of
Sergio Cornaga's other levels,
This is not 30 Levels gets a Lunatic mark for one single jump. I think though, there are screens like the laser trap in
Juni's Nightmare that appear Lunatic at first glance, and maybe they can be overcome by sheer platforming skill, but after learning "the trick" they become much easier, especially with practice. For instance, I've found that in this laser screen, it CAN be beaten through sheer speed by running back and forth over all 6 buttons. However, it becomes MUCH easier, if you run back and forth over the left 3 buttons first, then run back and forth over the right three buttons, to the point where when I played it last, I beat it on the second try.
Silver Lining
I knew this might make me appear foolish when I recommended it. I know I just need to be more creative or more patient, but I've spent hours trying to figure out the correct sequence of shift progression and exploration required to get a good ending to no avail. I think difficulty encompasses more than just platforming and enemy dodging precision. I wish someone would stream this so I can figure it out.
This gets back up to the second point above: how do we assess non-platformer difficulty?
Silver Lining is difficult to complete, there is no doubt, but it's just as difficult for a seasoned Lunatic veteran, as it is for someone brand new to the game. Platformer skill has nothing to do with it. To illustrate that point further, take a look at my attached screenshot. This is a screen from one of my own unreleased levels. It's literally a math puzzle in KS. You might be a math professor with arthritis and this is piece of cake for you, but you can barely finish
Tutorial. Or you might be an 11 year old
Mario Maker champ and find
Dark Sea II a piece of cake, but this math puzzle is super difficult. My point is, there is simply no comparison to other KS levels and how easy or difficult it is; it's just its own mental puzzle.
Silver Lining is the same way. What MAY give someone an edge here, is being a KS level designer, and knowing how SHIFTS work. I don't remember exactly how to complete the level, but I think it requires starting several actions but not completing them. Remember that every SHIFT teleports Juni to a brand new screen, that may or may not be linked to other brand new screens.
The Tower
You might know this, but although there is no ending scene, there is a reachable win tile with a default "You Win" screen.
Gotcha. I did not reach it. I didn't even see it in the level editor, but I may go back and play it to find it.
This level has haunted me. It's satisfaction can be most understood not through it's gameplay nor by the supporting narrative or lived-in world, but by the experience you go through ascending into increasing bewilderment and ultimately madness. The experience feels similar to that elicited by internet golden-age horror copypastas or ARGs. As the creator of The Five Minute Hallway (neat level), I'm surprised you may not have noticed a similar possible inspiration.
It remains, in my mind, one of the hidden, unsung important levels of KS. I think everyone should play this once they know they enjoy the game, have developed decent skill at it and have a good knowledge of how to view the editor. I have no shame in using the editor or otherwise cheating past some parts. I don't think it diminished the experience for me.
That's fair, and I'm very glad that you were able to get some real enjoyment out of that level. I did, too, but I guess I was too focused on the challenges to appreciate the storytelling. I did love getting the eye, though. This whole level would be an EXCELLENT candidate to polish, fix, and re-release, for sure.