[Challenge] [Hard/Very Hard] [Medium] [KS+] Reduction

(This is, to be clear, an actual level, and not just memery. DonDoli played it and recommended it.)


You all raved about the incredible ncrecc - The Machine April Fools Level 2022 that released two days ago, as the epic sequel to The Machine, But Every Room Has Ambi 22 and The Machine! Here's some of the gleaming reviews it received:

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And you'll all be overjoyed to hear that TMAFL2k22, the level that (as previously stated) very definitely released and did not get held off due to 1. time constraints and 2. being incredibly pretentious and badly attempting to deal with themes that it didn't actually want to address, has received a smaller extra-challenge-oriented version in the form of ncrecc - Reduction! It ultimately ends up being a remix of a remix of The Machine, which is probably meta enough to warrant a Pulitzer (Pulknyttzer).

The areas in TMAFL2k22 were already twisted versions of corresponding areas in The Machine, and this level takes that even deeper. Reduction takes 6 of the actually completed area themes and area gimmicks used in TMAFL2k22, gives them new music, then turns them on their head in an entirely new set of small areas designed to test your skill and endurance (and occasionally to annoy you), while still being sorta pretentious, much sillier, and containing some of the better parts of what defined TMAFL2k22. Think of it as like a B-side in Celeste, or a remix EP for an album that got shelved. Which TMAFL2k22 wasn't. And as a bonus... the aesthetics probably aren't half bad, either.



And now I'm about to pass out from oh-my-god-I'm-really-about-to-finally-post-this syndrome, so, yay.

(v2 fixes a wallswim ancient warrior Dondo Li found with one of the shifts.)

I had to cheat-save at the beginning of x1007y1005 and cheat my way through the quiz.

Hello ncrecc! It's a pleasure to be back again, back again, bbbbb back again.
I enjoyed the whole "evil ncrecc corporation needs to be shut down by our intrepid hero because its KS levels are too pretentious to exist" plot. That was meta.
Even the random scattered "people" literally make a harsh review of the level themselves (and they are also all employees of the evil company, I suppose? That would make them twice as meta).
Is that "black widow" their boss? I expected the pink ghost to show up somewhere.
"Dr. Trope" was going to be a character in a level of mine. Guess I'll call him "Dr. Herring" or something then.
When I went to that area and met the "rude birthday cake SCP thingy", I thought the thing on the right was another "people" as well, and I turned the whole "grid dimension" to black, not knowing what to do. When I finally realized it's just a blank canvas I did this:

There's a lot of references in this level. One of the people looks like SCP-999 in its fan depictions (according to the author, the original has no face). There's also Ash from The End is Nigh, and the maggot from Isaac.
The purple ghost looks like Clutch, and there's Baby Plum in the credits (both from Isaac. I can't find her anywhere in-game though). There's also a weird variant of Baby Plum with black limbs, no eyes, and a "grin".
The giant "spider" looks like Triachnid (from Isaac) if he was called "Pentachnid".
The guy that looks like a blend of Delirium (from Isaac) and Dr. Fetus (Super Meat Boy), also slightly looks like a stylized Mr. Eldritch (from Corrupt-a-Wish, and that's definitely a coincidence).
I can't recognize the other employees.
I liked the Nectar-esque warp and the Garden reference. The name of the VG temple made me wheeze.
The laser switch was interesting but (as GrayFace pointed out) I too had to cheat-save in x1007y1005. The other screens after y1006 were nice.
When I first got to Trope's Lab I literally said, "Wait... SMG4??? In a KS level? This can't be real."
I lost it at the Mario 64 oof in the Machine ending.
I liked the fact the final quiz is a reference to 9 Boring Levels and all, but... geez. I went to count spiders and they were 5. Then I counted "people" and they were 3, and I couldn't find anything related to the third question. By sheer bruteforce, turns out the "black widow" counts as a spider, every single thing you could talk to also counts as "people", and the weird flying crystal eventually stops "morsing" if you switch lasers...
My goodness... Have some mercy.
Some screens in the VG temple were also a bit frustrating, but anyway...
♪ You you, must, learn! You you you you, must, learn!

I enjoyed the whole "evil ncrecc corporation needs to be shut down by our intrepid hero because its KS levels are too pretentious to exist" plot. That was meta.

Thanks! TMAFL2k22 (the original unfinished level this is based on) featured NCR Inc. similarly as the designers of the level in a meta sense, but they weren't referred to as such until the very end (or even given the name "NCR Inc.", which was coined during Reduction development), and treated by the knytts in the level as something closer to myths and alleged sightings.
I'd talk more about what NCR Inc. actually means, but it's a personal topic where bringing it up is a lot like the prisoner's dilemma, where the worst outcome is if you cooperate and the other party doesn't. :)

Even the random scattered "people" literally make a harsh review of the level themselves (and they are also all employees of the evil company, I suppose? That would make them twice as meta).

They are.

Is that "black widow" their boss? I expected the pink ghost to show up somewhere.

The "black widow" shows up in that area partly to mirror a part of TMAFL2k22, where a knytt NPC blocks your path because he thinks they're a monster, and requires you to solve a cheesy quiz to prove you're brave and mighty enough to pass. This time, it's the "black widow" giving the quiz. They're not really the "boss" of NCR Inc, they just happen to be there.
The pink ghost doesn't show up because NCR Inc. is meant to fill the role of the "author avatar" here. In Reduction lore, the pink ghost would be more like a company mascot or something.

When I went to that area and met the "rude birthday cake SCP thingy", I thought the thing on the right was another "people" as well, and I turned the whole "grid dimension" to black, not knowing what to do. When I finally realized it's just a blank canvas I did this:

Congratulations! You have completed the art challenge. Most players simply pass without creating true art, oblivious to its meaning and its idiosyncrasies, but you have truly exemplified the nature of art itself. Good job.

The purple ghost looks like Clutch, and there's Baby Plum in the credits (both from Isaac. I can't find her anywhere in-game though).

Try passing x1010y998 without using the shift arrows (possible by double-jumping into the very top of one of the walls, then using coyote time to do a normal jump higher up in the air than you should be able to). You'll get a congratulatory easter egg.

The laser switch was interesting but (as GrayFace pointed out) I too had to cheat-save in x1007y1005. The other screens after y1006 were nice.

Hence the dialogue in x1017y1005 ("frame-precise laser trick with no savespot"). :P

When I first got to Trope's Lab I literally said, "Wait... SMG4??? In a KS level? This can't be real."

I'm not sure what you mean by SMG4. As to how it got in Reduction, Nurykabe happened to link to The Sound of a Game on his main site (under "The sound of a game cover"), and, you know, one click lead to another.

I liked the fact the final quiz is a reference to 9 Boring Levels and all, but... geez. I went to count spiders and they were 5. Then I counted "people" and they were 3, and I couldn't find anything related to the third question. By sheer bruteforce, turns out the "black widow" counts as a spider, every single thing you could talk to also counts as "people", and the weird flying crystal eventually stops "morsing" if you switch lasers...
My goodness... Have some mercy. X-P

Yeah, the last quiz was a bit rough. It does require you to make some unintuitive interesting observations, though, which was the point. (Just be glad you didn't have to decode the "flying crystal" (the bat)'s speech to hear about the Alignment Chart, like was originally planned. :P)

I'd talk more about what NCR Inc. actually means, but it's a personal topic where bringing it up is a lot like the prisoner's dilemma, where the worst outcome is if you cooperate and the other party doesn't.

Huh. That sounds interesting (and confusing). But don't feel obligated.

The pink ghost doesn't show up because NCR Inc. is meant to fill the role of the "author avatar" here.

Ohh, I thought they worked for her or something. I miss her.

Congratulations! You have completed the art challenge. Most players simply pass without creating true art, oblivious to its meaning and its idiosyncrasies, but you have truly exemplified the nature of art itself. Good job.

Thanks! I drew egomassive before Juni, but I forgot to take a screenshot.

Try passing x1010y998 without using the shift arrows (possible by double-jumping into the very top of one of the walls, then using coyote time to do a normal jump higher up in the air than you should be able to). You'll get a congratulatory easter egg.

“Oh no, it's the Gliperal jump! We're all gonna die!” Jokes aside, after 40 attempts I cheated.
So that's why the credits mention the “Nice” from Wii Sports Resort. Ultigonio's Nice CO was… nice (Strangely enough, I haven't played Deep Freeze yet).

I'm not sure what you mean by SMG4.

It's a Youtube channel. Mostly meme-filled SFM animations with Nintendo characters. They use a remix of the Super Mario Land theme as their outro.

(Just be glad you didn't have to decode the "flying crystal" (the bat)'s speech to hear about the Alignment Chart, like was originally planned. )

That reminds me of a crazy puzzle platformer I played 5 years ago. I think It was called “Fez”.

Let me know if I left out any actual secret (I didn't put the "cut content" in it).