Celeste

Overview

Celeste is a platformer developed by Maddy Thorson and Noel Berry at the studio Maddy Makes Games, released on 25 January 2018 on PC, PS4, Nintendo Switch and Xbox One. It began as a PICO-8 prototype made over a weekend game jam in 2015. You control Madeline, a young woman determined to reach the summit of Celeste Mountain even though she does not fully understand why she needs to.

OtaHub's take

The controls are just a jump, an air dash and a wall climb, but they are tuned so finely that every screen is a short execution puzzle, with death and retry almost instant. Strawberries hidden across the levels reward players who want extra challenge, while B-side and C-side levels push the difficulty very high. Assist Mode lets you slow the game down, add dashes or turn on invincibility, so almost anyone can reach the ending.

What makes Celeste memorable is its story: the mountain becomes a metaphor for anxiety and depression, with a character reflecting a part of Madeline she has to learn to face. Lena Raine's score and the pixel art of Pedro Medeiros and Amora Bettany carry much of that emotion. In 2019 a ninth chapter, Farewell, was released for free. The game won Best Independent Game and Games for Impact at The Game Awards 2018.

Verdict

Celeste suits players who like execution challenges but do not want harsh punishment for failure, and anyone looking for a short story that lingers. Thanks to Assist Mode, it is also a rare hard platformer that less experienced players can still finish, while skilled players have the B-sides, C-sides and Farewell to test themselves.