Secret Level is an excellent gaming anthology series in the style of Love Death Robots that aired on Prime Video. The first eight episodes were released on December 10, 2024, and the next batch of eight episodes was released on December 17, 2024. The second half of the show seemed to be more about emotional themes than action, but it was still excellent.
7. Spelunky: Tally
Again, there aren’t any bad episodes, but this one lacked in its ability to grab my attention. The game it's based off of is a Roguelike mining game in which you essentially do everything the characters do in the episode. Die, over and over. Like all the episodes, there was a solid theme: each time you die, you still learn something on the adventure. It simply was not very entertaining.
6. Concord: Tale of the Implacable
Maybe it’s because the game was an incredible failure, but this one simply didn’t stick with me. It was a fine tale of betrayal that isn’t really betrayal that actually is betrayal but it benefits everyone, but it felt like a chore to get through. The animation was solid, and the voice acting was good, but this one just bored me.
5. Playtime: Fulfillment
I thought about putting this one at the bottom. It was very cool to see Helldivers in something other than the game, but this was the episode that had Kratos. I was so excited to see Kratos do something cool, but it was a huge let down. He essentially does nothing other than grunt and do a recognizable move from the game. He doesn’t even have any lines. I don't know if I misinterpreted the trailer, but it seemed to me that the God of War would have a bigger role. Maybe I'm being overly critical, but you're telling me Kratos just gave up after O jumped over him?
4. Mega Man: Start
This episode, like the rest on this list starting now, was great. It was the first time I’ve seen Mega Man in decades and really brought me back to my GameBoy days. The problem with this episode, like many others, was its runtime. Not including the intro and the credits, the episode has barely five and a half minutes of content. It was just really short. I get that’s part of this show’s whole thing, but that doesn’t mean it can’t work against it. This happened a few times during the show, but it seemed like right when the action was picking up, it ended.
3. Exodus: Odyssey
Like just about every episode, the animation for this episode was phenomenal. The concept of chasing a loved on through space with the added challenge of time dilation is reminiscent of Interstellar, one of my favorite movies of all time. The episode also executes its themes of parental sacrifice going unappreciated by children until they're old enough to understand perfectly. It's a great tale and one of the longer episodes of the anthology series.
2. The Outer Worlds: The Company We Keep
This episode had one of the best focused themes in the whole series. The main character continuously sacrifices pieces of himself, literally, for perceived love. It’s a very serious story, but it starts with a fun, playful vibe. Sacrificing pieces of yourself for love is something many people can relate to as well, which is likely why this episode resonated with so many viewers. It’s also one of the longer episodes and, in an anthology series of this style, the longer the episode the better.
1. Honor of Kings: The Way of All Things
This episode was a mind bender for sure. I have never played Honor of Kings, and I don’t know how much this episode played into the lore of the game, but the whole time I was watching it, I kept thinking, “Man, I wish I thought of this first.” The concept of a living city controlled by an AI that people can then challenge to take the role of controlling the city is innovative to say the least. Adding themes of revenge, responsibility, and destiny, only serve to improve the story. I love stories in which someone is clairvoyant, and a character has to supersede their ability. This episode executed everything it wanted to expertly.
What did you think of the second half of Secret Level? Are there any egregious choices on this list? Let me know!