Celeste

I'm trans, of course I love this game.

such an insanely satisfying and gorgeous experience. i tend to dislike the general "platformer" genre but found myself deeply in love with Celeste. i personally really enjoyed the story (fit right into the weird little depression nook of my brain), but i can see how it might be annoying to some. doesn't really matter, anyway, as the focus should definitely be on the gameplay, which is all around really great. each mechanic is nicely developed and never too annoying, and despite the 5 stages of grief i go through in every room, persevering through feels so rewarding. the pixel art and music are also both really lovely!!!

Celeste is a challenging platforming game that will draw some comparisons to Super Meat Boy, which was a very well received game but I wasn't a fan; the slippery movement, the unfair level design, and several bugs I encountered was a source of massive frustration. In contrast, I had heard good things about the control in this game and it is clear the developers have put much thought into all the parameters. It's important to have great movement in platformers and this feels spot on. Madeline seems the perfect speed, can abruptly stop, have fine control in the air, and a short but predictable jump height.

Celeste is the name of the mountain that Madeline aims to climb. She can jump, cling to walls, and air-dash once (the final chapter gives you two dashes). This dash limit resets when you touch the ground, collect a gem or land on an interactable object. You often have to perform a sequence of jumps without touching the ground so could have a sequence of gems or bubbles that hold you before shooting you out. Each challenge can be several screens long, so you need to master the full sequence. Death places you back to the start of the room.

Climbing has a stamina mechanic which is illustrated with animation and colour change to Madeline. Holding onto a wall uses little stamina, but climbing drains it; so wall jumps can be preferable. Draining the stamina means she can no longer hold, and will fall.

Each chapter has varied areas with different ideas: crumbling platforms, springs, wind, platforms that move when you dash, platforms that move when you touch them. There's loads of branching paths which can sometimes be unclear where to go. Sometimes it can feel like a Metroidvania though and requires some backtracking or work out the order to navigate the rooms. This can be very frustrating when each room can be challenging to navigate. Some rooms can require thought about how to navigate, acting like a puzzle. I could imagine some players could easily get stuck if they don't realise the sequence of moves they are attempting will never reach the exit.

I felt the game generally did well with its design and a lot of rooms could be completed on your first try with great skill. There are rooms that definitely require trial-and-error, especially when you don’t get a good view of the room. There are some rooms that have binoculars that allow you to pan the camera to analyse the upcoming challenge; so it seems the developers were aware of such a problem.

Sometimes the game uses alternate paths and secret rooms as optional, and even more difficult challenges. The objective for extra challenges is to grab a strawberry, but that is not fully collected until you reach the ground. So sometimes you have to navigate a room without touching the ground, grab the strawberry and then find your way safely back to fully register it.

You can generally pause to think about what you are doing, but in some areas, you get chased by an enemy. The first one follows your movement so you just need to move at a constant speed. Other enemies can move straight towards you and have a floaty manoeuvre. One boss section keeps firing at you and seems relentless; once you dodge and recover, the next attack is coming. That one also overstays its welcome as it feels like it lasts for a crazy sequence of rooms, and when you think it is over, you are actually only half way through the section.

The game uses pixel graphics but then the UI is modern. The graphics are fine for the most part but there were definitely sections where I had trouble discerning the background from the foreground.

In between chapters, and some moments here and there, there will be some dialogue and seems to be centred around mental health themes.

The main game took me around 7 hours to complete, but you can replay to attempt to collect all strawberries and secrets. There are bonus levels, and a epilogue section. It is also popular for speed-running.

so i am legally required to give this a 10 now

maybe the best 2d-platformer i've ever played, taking an incredibly versatile, minimal concept—and near-perfect storyline—to a brilliantly choreographed conclusion; remarkably potent, despite difficulty hikes

I can agree that the design, music, storyline, characters, and mechanics are insanely well done for the right person. However, for me personally, I didn't like the story as much as the majority. I also don't typically like games that center around you dying a million times because I don't like to feel angry when I play games. I like to feel a sense of wonder and happiness. I'm usually a very calm and patient videogamer but there were just a few points where I genuinely yelled at the screen and I don't like that.