Celeste is a mastery of the platformer genre. It is tight, fast-paced and extremely challenging at times, but never feels impossible.

Firstly, the gameplay is immaculate, as I've already said. The game feels so tight and polished, and you always feel in control. The game's controls are fundamentally quite simple:

Jump, movement, wall grab, and dash.

But hides complexities with techniques such as wavedashing, hypers and many more that the game itself does not even specify for those who really want to push the boundaries of the game. Complexities also come in the mechanics of the levels themselves, and by making every level feel different and unique, the gameplay loop never feels stale. The game also has many unseen quality of life features that most players wont know about, like the generous coyote time that the game actually gives you. You always feel in complete control playing this game.

As for the story, I honestly didn't care much about the story of celeste. It's not bad, and does have some really cool moments, but other than in farewell, it's nothing that special.

The music in this game, however, is spectacular, even incorporates dynamic elements into the game itself. My personal favorite being the hotel level, which gradually rises in intensity as you clear up the hotel more and more until it finally reaches it's breaking point, at which point the gameplay and the music both break loose. My overall favorite song has to be farewell though. It's simply amazing.

Done with the game? The modding community of this game is one of the most committed (and batshit insane), and you will never ever ever run out of mods to play. They go way beyond the scope of the game, introducing new mechanics and some even being borderline impossible.

Celeste was a complete delight to play, and in my opinion, the single best uncontested platforming game on the market. No other platforming game comes close to feeling as tight and polished as Celeste.

Reviewed on Dec 14, 2023


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