I don’t usually spend a whole post to talk about a single game, since I”m too lazy for that. I also don’t go out of my way to 100% a game because I feel like it’s a waste of time and yet, I’m gonna make an exception for this game because it’s truly a masterpiece.

• Celeste
  

  23 hours playtime

  30 of 30 achievements

I first heard about this game when I was watching SGDQ if you don’t know what SGDQ is, it’s a speedrunning marathon and some guys where speedrunning it.

The controls are simple, but tight and accurate. Exactly what you want in a difficult 2d platformer. A to jump. X to Dash in whatever direction you want and RT to grab on walls. There are more advanced techniques, but you can beat the whole game without using any of them.

The dash is the star of this game and the biggest reason it’s so good. Giving the player this ability since the beginning was a ginus move from the devs. It opened up so many possibilities… Thanks to that, the devs could add new - and completely different - mechanics in each of the 8 chapters. Which makes the game fresh for its entire duration. (Main story is around 10h long) This video goes into details about each different gimmick that the devs used to spice things up.

The game has 3 difficulties, but 2 of them are hidden: A, B and C-side. A-side is the normal level. The main story. It’s hard, but fair. Unless you’re colleting all the strawberries. Then it’s really hard. I’ve died some 100 times just in one room because a damn strawberry. B-side is harder version of the map. C-side is just insane.

The second reason why this game is a masterpiece is Assist Mode. As the name says, it helps people that are not good enough in some levels, but not before it asks you 5 times if you’re sure you wanna use it. It reminds me a lot about the old cheat codes. There are 4 assist option: slower time, extra stamina, extra dash and invincibility.
During the main story, I never felt the need of using any of them. I highly recommend not using Assist Mode during that part Same thing for the first 5 B-sides. However in the last 3 I needed a bit more time to think between tight jumps, so I slowed down the game a bit (20-30%). I found that amazing because, unlike Super Meat Boy, I didn’t had to abandon the game. I could just tailor it according to my abilities. I’m a decent player, but definitely not as good as the person they had in mind, when designing that level and the fact that it’s ok in this game, is beautiful to me. During C-side, for example, I had to use extra stamina (so you don’t fall while grabing walls, i.e. more time to think/plan ahead) and a 30% slow. There were 2 rooms where I had to use the extra dash because I had no idea what to do. xD I never felt the need to use invincibility, but it’s there in case someone needs it. Who am I to judge?! ¯_(ツ)_/¯

This brings me to the last 2 reasons why this game is the first 10/10 I’ve played in years. The story and the soundtrack. I’ll let the soundtrack speak for itself The story is about depression, loneliness and overcoming one’s fears. Madeline decides that she has to confront her fears, so she decides to climb a mountain called Celeste.
I’m can’t go into details or I’d risk spoiling it, but I gotta say that after playing such a hard game for so long you start to embrace the challenge and to feel as exhausted as Madie and that’s the reason it’s so damn satisfying when you finally reach the peak. It really feels like she wasn’t the only one who climbed it. That in a way, you climbed every inch of your mountainskill level as she climbed hers.

TL;DR: Game is a masterpiece. The story is amazing, soundtrack will give you an eargasm, gameplay/design is simply flawless, controls are easy, tight and accurate and you can tailor the experience according to your skill level.

Some pics: