Celeste (2018)

Celeste doesn't pull it's punches or ideas. It's constantly and relentlessly challenging you and the mechanics. It's stacking mechanics at an ever increasing level of complexity. By the end of the game you will feel like Mario on Meth zooming across the screen and plunging to your death over and over again like Sisyphus. The challenge is further reinforced thematically with a deeply personal story about depression and anxiety as a metaphor for the mountain. This metaphor isn't anything deep or complex, but it comes from an earnest and passionate place. The passion in conjunction to the wonderful art direction and music make for a very endearing and fun, albeit extremely frustrating, experience. You are meant to die and you will die a shit ton. All as part of the metaphor for depression. Which is pretty similar to themes you find in Dark Souls. Bonfires replaced with each screen. Though death isn't directly tied to narrative like it is for Dark Souls.

My only main issue is locking the biggest challenges behind collectibles. It does have a point. Only allowing you to take on these extreme challenges if you have earned the right to do so, but it does still feel like kind of a bummer. It's very tedious going through all the levels again and again scouring for collectibles. Still, it's not a bad design decision. I'm just feeling lazy but still want to give the hardest levels a shot. Sucks I have to dedicate an additional 10+ hours to give them a try. Let me fail on my own terms!

I think what's most surprising about this game is how your controls are limited and simple, yet the game still feels extremely complex because of the plethora of obstacles the game gives you to interact with. You can only jump, dash and grab. But how you do those and in what combination you use them leads to seemingly infinite possibilities. I did find myself getting frustrated with the controls around diagonal vs straight air dashing. The game input is precise, but the downside to that is how close diagonal movement is to straight movement. So often I would die repeatedly moving straight instead of diagonal and vice versa. It is technically user input error, but it's an input error that most people are likely to do over and over again. Which can feel a bit frustrating. Still, after besting a challenge presented by Celeste, it is always cathartic and rewarding.

It is rare to see this level of innovation in a genre that is so old. It's awesome to see and I think they incorporated a strong and heart felt narrative to boot which is rarely seen in the genre (Prince of Persia Sands of Time does come to mind as another good example). Definitely worth playing, though I doubt I'm going to 100% the game. The way the base game ends is very satisfying so I won't hold it against the game to have so much more additional challenging content that is completely optional, even if it is tedious to unlock.

Video games come in many varieties and there's always something for everyone to enjoy. I perhaps should have known that precision platformers aren't for me, given my poor hand eye coordination. I do appreciate that this game gives you accessibility options so I could overcome any challenge that was simply too difficult. The only option I made regular use of was two air dashes instead of one, though I did turn on the others are plenty of times throughout the game.

Still, the challenge of constantly trying and retrying stages was not overall a pleasant experience. Made worse by the fact that the story fell flat for me. I appreciate the metaphor the game is going for but it did not resonate with me.

Aside from some ass controls at times, there's nothing exactly wrong with this game but booooy is it overhyped.

Also when did platformers - such as this and They Bleed Pixels - go from being simply about traversing to progress plot to plot with impossible gameplay? That isn't a platformer. That's just a developer being an asshole.

Anyway, I'm gonna keep going and see if it gets any better but as of right now I stand at my assessment: wildly overhyped.

i started playing celeste finally. it's been in my backlog of "high priority" since it came out, and I've mostly avoided all information about it (as i do with most media i already plan to experience). and all i can say is, while i was a little weary in the first level that its tone didn't suit my current tastes, now 2 hours into it I'm already feeling like... why did it take me this long to play this...? this sorta feels made for me, lol. i haven't felt this pull to play a game (for when im not playing it) in a long time. it's weird how it's meeting my high expectations -- deep down i was expecting to be let down

i absolutely love the portrait art and voices btw

Playing Celeste is like learning a skill. It's something that can deteriorate over time. So I had to start back from square one because I couldn't even remember the controls and god knows I don't want to start right from Chapter 9

I still like how much control I have over Madeline, it's still my fav platformer in terms of "I have absolute minute control", and I like how there's some leeway in terms of both jumping off of platforms and the traffic light speed. That being said, don't be me and go straight to the B-sides right when you unlock them. The progression still feels like it's all A-Sides BEFORE all B-sides, otherwise it punches you in the throat. There was one slide in 1-B that you have to go super fast to then crouch, dash into a jumpy thingy, and then dash again, and I wasn't ready. Still got through because I REFUSE TO LET THIS GAME BEAT ME.

Music still rocks. GOD I love Lena Raine, everything she touches is gold.

All right, I think I have to throw in the towel. I was getting frustrated even playing through the ending. I kind of wish they had stopped introducing new mechanics a level or two from the end, and just let us really master the ones we had and use them in fun ways throughout different landscapes. What held this game back from a knockout banger, to me, is the constant need to learn new mechanics instead of being able to celebrate what I already have learned.

There's no way I could bring myself to complete the C-sides when I'm already feeling quite frustrated.

This was a solid single play through for me. Maybe I'll revisit one day, and maybe not.

I'm still playing now and then trying to get all the strawberries and, crucially, at least 4 hearts so I can play the 8th and 9th chapters.

That decision of locking content behind collectibles might be the one single thing I don't like about this game. The game is all like "chill, collecting berries is totally optional and just a challenge for yourself 😌" and "hey, each one is on their own climb, don't be shy on using assist mode if you need it 🤗" and then BLAM, "if you want to experience this part of the game, you better have located and solved all these obscure puzzles; git gut, you bitch😈".

There've been some difficulty spikes, but I'm surprised how balanced the game feels. Yes, it can be hard, but between the infinite lives, the bite-sized challenges, and instant respawn, it is also immensely forgiving.

Most importantly, the difficulty curve is smooth as slick. I can feel getting better at the game and quickly solving areas with the techniques I learn in previous levels.

...But such a word certainly wouldn't be far off. Celeste is a tightly designed game with a perfect scope, it completes what it sets out to do with amazing capability. Celeste is a game about challenges, and on a narrative level it doesn't waste a single stage developing and building that narrative, and by the end it delivers in a satisfying, insightful and fulfilling way.

And on a gameplay level? Hoo boy, challenge is certainly the theme there. Completing the game is tough, perhaps some seasoned veterans won't have such a tough time, but for the average gamer the precise platforming and varied mechanics is more than enough to keep you busy. However, if completing the game isn't quite hard enough, the game offers an honestly silly number of additional collectables to ensure even the hardest core of gamers can find their mountain to climb.

There really isn't much more to say, the game is an absolute gem. It's, like, ten bucks on sale, will take you about ~6 hours to beat, and Madeline says Trans Rights. Buy this game

A feel good retro styled 2D platformer with a message.

Celeste is a pretty good game. While visually it does get a little to noisy from time to time and the low resolution art style might have not been the best choice it's still a pretty looking game.

The story is about a girl that takes on the task to climb mount Celeste. The mountain is not an ordinary one and on her way she'll get to face her own self if she means to reach the top. And that's the story to convey the message of accepting and loving yourself and some other meta stuff I didn't really care about.

What's most important is the platforming is tight. The levels are varied, well designed and interesting. The mechanics are introduced gradually and keep the game interesting the whole time. On top of that it's challenging even if you don't try to be a completionist.

So apart of the main path you take to climb the mountain you also can collect strawberries spread all over the place. The action is completely optional but I could not resist when I saw one. And some of them are really challenging to pick. On top of that each level comes with a B side which is even more challenging. And if that's not enough there's also an 8 bit version of the game with different levels which are way more difficult than the original one.

Overall a great game that you definitely should pick if you like platforming action.

This game is amazing. I absolutely love it.

Gorgeous artstyle, very challenging but insanely creative gameplay and a surprisingly emotional story. Man, the story. I don't wanna spoil anything because this comes out of nowhere and isn't something I've ever seen in a game before - but there's a certain scene which catapulted this game to an instant all-time favourite of mine. I was lying in bed when I played that...afterwards I turned the Switch off and tried to sleep, but I couldn't. I had thoughts of what just happened racing through my head for an hour before I finally fell asleep. And towards the ending of the game there's this fantastic conversation which marks the third time I ever cried while playing a video game, Ori and the Blind Forest and What Remains of Edith Finch being the other two. Yeah this little, cute tough-as-nails 2D platformer made me cry. A great game that tackles topics like Celeste has was something I've been waiting for.

Well, let's not forget the great game underneath the story. It's hard, but it feels so good to overcome these challenges. I've been playing The End is Nigh recently which has kind of similar gameplay, but is nowhere near as interesting as Celeste. In contrast to the former, Celeste is throwing new mechanics at you with every level, which keep the gameplay fresh and make you itch for more. Those levels not only feel different because of these mechanics, but also because of how they're built and how they look. Looks, mechanics, level design and story are perfectly connected.

I've not 100%-ed the game yet, but I can tell you that there's lots of replayability and post-game. Collectibles with and without practical usage (like unlocking new levels). There's quite a lot to do if you want to get the most out of the game.

If there's one thing I don't like about the game it's how the Hotel level, which is around the middle of the game, towers above the rest in difficulty. But maybe that's just me, I always have a hard time with platforming challenges involving small moving hazards that make me wait for "the right moment" to overcome them (I'm terribly inpatient).

I strongly recommend this to anyone who likes 2D platformers or challenging games in general, and anyone who appreciates heart warming stories and characters (geez, I haven't even mentioned the characters) and a beautiful art style.