I didn't think I could beat Celeste. I'm not that great with tough platformers, and Celeste is a tough platformer. But here's the thing: Celeste wanted me to beat it. It told me I was good enough, encouraged me to learn from every one of my (thousands of) deaths, and to keep trying. In the end, the game was right. I could do it, and reaching the apex of the mountain made me so happy.

I love these characters. I love the soundtrack. I love that the game lifted me up every time I fell down. In a very meta-way, Celeste the game became my own Celeste mountain to clear, something I did because it was there and I NEEDED to do it. Celeste is one of the best fusions of theme, story, character and game design ever made.