Tjenare! This is part II in my quest to play and rate every KS level before the heat death of the universe [impossible]. Here are my personal letter grade reviews for levels submitted by authors D-H corresponding to pages 6-12 on knyttlevels.com.
Disclaimer: I don't consider myself an authority on what makes a "good" level. It's a lot easier for me to fill in a single letter on a spreadsheet than spend hours making these levels so if a particular grade seems unfair I am more than happy to give more in-depth thoughts on any particular level.
What each grade corresponds to: OUTDATED Obsolete versions of levels (see newer version for review)
N/A Tileset showcases, demos, etc. that can't be judged for gameplay
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F Broken / flawed to the point of unplayable
D Severe issues (see criteria below) that makes completing the level unenjoyable / will not replay
C Average levels / no strong feelings one way or the other / good aspects counteracted by flaws
B Great levels that are replayable, or great level concepts
A Must-play levels
Things that may negatively impact grade (-) : Broken levels
Random tile or enemy spam
Excessive "hallway screens" that pad-out level with no challenge or noteworthy visuals
Unnessesarily long walking period before recieving run powerup (unrelated to challenge)
Arbitrary hidden spikes / invisible death tiles
Wall clipping on screen transitions / void pits
Poor distinction between foreground / background tiles
Poor save point placement (e.g. save point > multple hallway screens > challenge)
Surprise death by environment/enemy immediately on screen transition
While playing each level, I've considered its gameplay (challenge, platforming, puzzle) , art (quality of assets/tileset), worldbuilding (unique lore, worlds that feel "alive"), atmosphere (mood), music, and storytelling. My ratings are gameplay-forward, meaning, for example, that a "fun to play" level with average graphics typically will be rated higher than a tedious level with great graphics.
I'm biased in favor of (+):
challenge level: hard / very hard
genre: puzzles
art style: simple and stylized (e.g. Hostile Landscape) can score just as well as 'realistic / heavily detailed' art
mechanic: use of minimap
I'm biased against (-):
genre: mazes
genre: massive exploration levels
Without further to do...
SHEETS link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16EkmumEwA1tVzA4MEnim-VG1MTARIGG7hDvJLNwyFOE/edit#gid=1086492532If you are unable to sort/edit due to the permission settings, feel free to make a copy of the sheet.
IMGUR stats: https://imgur.com/a/Vw9KJ0E IMGUR sorted by grade: https://imgur.com/a/HJbgINg IMGUR sorted by author: https://imgur.com/a/KAjzXCi