Celeste is one of the best video games ever made, full stop.
The game is separated into rooms, much like a dungeon crawler would be. Each screen is a “room” for the most part (although there are larger and longer rooms scattered around). When you get to a new room, there are one or two clearly marked exits to progress to the next room. Each room is filled with unique obstacles, and using a combination of jumping, air dashing, climbing, and wall jumping alongside simple puzzles you progress through the room to the other side. Seems simple. And it is, at first. The game does a great job of letting you learn how it works without telling you.
I’ve been holding out on this last mechanic, because it is the most important piece of the game – every single room is a save point. That’s right, every time you progress through a room the game is saved. Some of you are breathing a sigh of relief right now, while others are pursing their lips wondering where the challenge is. The challenge is that you are intended to die, hundreds, even thousands of times during the course of this game. And you will die. This game is brutally difficult. It has found a very special and difficult line to walk, balancing the constant trial-and-error deaths of Dark Souls with the forgiveness of something like a Kirby game. Your death count isn’t a negative though – the developers treat your death count as a badge of honor. If you died 21 times in a given room, all that means is that you came up with 21 different ways to tackle a problem – and that’s a badge you should wear proudly.
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The impossible task MMG has accomplished here is not making you feel bad when you die, but still making you feel like you genuinely accomplished something when you don’t. I found myself throwing up a fist pump when I finished a particularly hard room, and sometimes even doing a little victory lap in my room. The completion of these rooms requires a healthy mix of mechanical control and intelligence, without leaning too heavily on one. And if you’re not too stoked about “gitting gud” to have to enjoy this title, you’re covered as well. There’s an assist mode where you can specifically set which parts of the game you’d like to be easier, so you can still have a cohesive and fun experience, no stress required. Although I personally request you at least give an honest attempt at the regular game - I beat it, and I can’t get past world 1-4 of Super Mario Bros.
For all you collector nuts out there, don’t worry, you’re covered. There are dozens of secret strawberries hidden in each world, along with a B-Side tape. No matter how thorough you are with your first playthrough, you WILL NOT find them all. But if you’re dead set on hunting down these tasty trophies, they’ll provide you a challenge and add a lot of replayability. I will also throw out a note here, if you can play this on the Switch, do it. It’s worth whatever money you have to pay for it over a cheaper PC version. This game was made to be picked up and put down after 5 minutes. Get through a room, set it down, come back a few hours later and do another room. It’s perfect. Also a quick note about the music – it’s gorgeous. Lena Raine has outdone many a more seasoned composer with this one, and you’ll find yourself humming the main theme while washing the dishes after setting the game down.
So that’s the game. But what about the experience? Celeste is a story of a girl named Madeline trying to climb a mountain. As the story goes on, you’ll find yourself loving the characters (especially Theo) and cheering for Madeline to reach the top, to prove to herself that she can. She is shadowed on her journey by the dark part of herself, representing her anger, her depression, her fears, her failure. You’ll, of course find yourself relating to her struggles, and feel her victories and failures as your own. You’ll understand the dark part of her when it tries to lull her into giving up, because you’ve heard that voice in your own head a thousand times. But the moral of the story, tying in so perfectly with the game mechanics of dying over and over, is this: no matter how many times you fall down the mountain, you can always get back up and climb it again.
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I won’t say more on the story so as not to spoil it, but the ending is not what you imagine, and the penultimate level was maybe the most moving thing I’ve ever experienced in a game. This game helped me push through some rough events in my life, and I remember every day to keep climbing the mountain. It’s not about getting to the top, it’s about continuing to climb. But I will get to the top one day, and maybe when I do, we’ll all sit down and reminisce about the journey over a hot slice of strawberry pie.
Celeste taught me an invaluable lesson about never stopping the fight. No matter how far you fall, you can get back up and climb twice as high. No one is stopping you but yourself. Not to mention the gameplay is challenging while also very forgiving. This a must play, no matter what platform you’re on, though I recommend the Switch version. Celeste is the best indie game I’ve ever played, and my personal Game of the Year for 2018. Let’s see if Matt Makes Games can top themselves in the coming years – they’re certainly going to try, and that’s the important part.
The game is separated into rooms, much like a dungeon crawler would be. Each screen is a “room” for the most part (although there are larger and longer rooms scattered around). When you get to a new room, there are one or two clearly marked exits to progress to the next room. Each room is filled with unique obstacles, and using a combination of jumping, air dashing, climbing, and wall jumping alongside simple puzzles you progress through the room to the other side. Seems simple. And it is, at first. The game does a great job of letting you learn how it works without telling you.
I’ve been holding out on this last mechanic, because it is the most important piece of the game – every single room is a save point. That’s right, every time you progress through a room the game is saved. Some of you are breathing a sigh of relief right now, while others are pursing their lips wondering where the challenge is. The challenge is that you are intended to die, hundreds, even thousands of times during the course of this game. And you will die. This game is brutally difficult. It has found a very special and difficult line to walk, balancing the constant trial-and-error deaths of Dark Souls with the forgiveness of something like a Kirby game. Your death count isn’t a negative though – the developers treat your death count as a badge of honor. If you died 21 times in a given room, all that means is that you came up with 21 different ways to tackle a problem – and that’s a badge you should wear proudly.
image
The impossible task MMG has accomplished here is not making you feel bad when you die, but still making you feel like you genuinely accomplished something when you don’t. I found myself throwing up a fist pump when I finished a particularly hard room, and sometimes even doing a little victory lap in my room. The completion of these rooms requires a healthy mix of mechanical control and intelligence, without leaning too heavily on one. And if you’re not too stoked about “gitting gud” to have to enjoy this title, you’re covered as well. There’s an assist mode where you can specifically set which parts of the game you’d like to be easier, so you can still have a cohesive and fun experience, no stress required. Although I personally request you at least give an honest attempt at the regular game - I beat it, and I can’t get past world 1-4 of Super Mario Bros.
For all you collector nuts out there, don’t worry, you’re covered. There are dozens of secret strawberries hidden in each world, along with a B-Side tape. No matter how thorough you are with your first playthrough, you WILL NOT find them all. But if you’re dead set on hunting down these tasty trophies, they’ll provide you a challenge and add a lot of replayability. I will also throw out a note here, if you can play this on the Switch, do it. It’s worth whatever money you have to pay for it over a cheaper PC version. This game was made to be picked up and put down after 5 minutes. Get through a room, set it down, come back a few hours later and do another room. It’s perfect. Also a quick note about the music – it’s gorgeous. Lena Raine has outdone many a more seasoned composer with this one, and you’ll find yourself humming the main theme while washing the dishes after setting the game down.
So that’s the game. But what about the experience? Celeste is a story of a girl named Madeline trying to climb a mountain. As the story goes on, you’ll find yourself loving the characters (especially Theo) and cheering for Madeline to reach the top, to prove to herself that she can. She is shadowed on her journey by the dark part of herself, representing her anger, her depression, her fears, her failure. You’ll, of course find yourself relating to her struggles, and feel her victories and failures as your own. You’ll understand the dark part of her when it tries to lull her into giving up, because you’ve heard that voice in your own head a thousand times. But the moral of the story, tying in so perfectly with the game mechanics of dying over and over, is this: no matter how many times you fall down the mountain, you can always get back up and climb it again.
image
I won’t say more on the story so as not to spoil it, but the ending is not what you imagine, and the penultimate level was maybe the most moving thing I’ve ever experienced in a game. This game helped me push through some rough events in my life, and I remember every day to keep climbing the mountain. It’s not about getting to the top, it’s about continuing to climb. But I will get to the top one day, and maybe when I do, we’ll all sit down and reminisce about the journey over a hot slice of strawberry pie.
Celeste taught me an invaluable lesson about never stopping the fight. No matter how far you fall, you can get back up and climb twice as high. No one is stopping you but yourself. Not to mention the gameplay is challenging while also very forgiving. This a must play, no matter what platform you’re on, though I recommend the Switch version. Celeste is the best indie game I’ve ever played, and my personal Game of the Year for 2018. Let’s see if Matt Makes Games can top themselves in the coming years – they’re certainly going to try, and that’s the important part.