'Celeste' Game Review
According to the game trailer, Celeste is “a game about climbing a mountain.” More specifically, it involves a young woman named Madeline climbing the titular mountain. Despite what appears to be a simple premise, the game digs progressively deeper into Madeline’s psyche as she meets new people along the way and overcomes various obstacles, including her own self-doubts and fears. Madeline is forced to literally confront her inner self in order to succeed in her quest to scale the summit of the mysterious and mystical Celeste Mountain. As one of the characters puts it to Madeline at one point, “The mountain can’t bring out anything that isn’t already in you.”
Gameplay
Celeste is a retro-style 2-D platformer released by indie game developer Extremely OK Games. The player controls the character of Madeline as she climbs the titular Celeste Mountain. Players must learn a progressively more difficult combination of moves in order to maneuver through various obstacles and enemies, such as jumping, climbing, and dashing. The game also forces you to put your thinking cap on in order to solve various puzzles and unlock special items in each level. At the endpoint of every level, Madeline collects a heart. There are also strawberries scattered throughout each level which requires the player to maneuver Madeline around the screen to pick them up. They are not required to move forward in the game but present a special challenge for players. The number of strawberries collected also affected the final ending of the game.
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The controls can take a while to get used to. However, the game works on a learning curve, so you are never expected to know more than what you need to clear each level. On that note, the game is very challenging, and you WILL die a lot while trying to figure some levels out. There is a death counter to keep track of how many times you die. I myself am currently standing at thousands of recorded deaths since I started playing the game in 2020. The game does provide various built-in “assists” such as unlimited jumps and invincibility to help you get through.
The game offers two additional “sides,” a “B-Side” and a “C-Side,” which are unlocked by finding cassette tapes hidden in each level. The B-Sides and C-Sides are basically “remixed” (more difficult) versions of the levels. Successfully completing all levels on every difficulty setting will also unlock the bonus “Farewell” level.
Graphics
The graphics in Celeste are 8-bit retro-style, very reminiscent of early Nintendo games such as Super Mario Brothers. Despite the simple graphics, the game is visually interesting and has gorgeous levels and backgrounds. The game begins in an abandoned cityscape (“Forsaken City”) and moves on to other more visually interesting levels such as a castle (“Old Site”), a spooky Japanese-style hotel (“Celestial Resort”), a dark and mysterious temple (“Mirror Temple”), and the very core of the mountain (“Heart of the Mountain”), which requires some brainpower and quick reflexes to activate the ice and fire levers necessary to advance.
Story
The game is centered around a young girl named Madeline, who is determined to climb Celeste Mountain. Along the way, she struggles with her fears and insecurities about her goal of climbing the mountain. Her inner self even tries to discourage her from her goal. Madeline initially runs from this “inner self,” known colloquially among many players as “Badeline,” but later she is forced to confront and embrace that part of herself, as she rushes towards the summit of the mountain. Along the way, she meets a fellow climber named Theo who helps her deal with a panic attack during the journey and encourages her in her goal of climbing Celeste Mountain. There is also Mr. Oshiro, a nervous hotel manager who operates a rundown mountainside hotel and may or may not be a ghost. The journey to the summit of the mountain and, later, into the very “heart of the mountain,” is as much an emotional journey for Madeline, as it is a physical one. She struggles with anxiety, depression, and fear of failure. A nightmare sequence will even set her back on her journey. However, she finally manages to overcome those obstacles and accomplishes her goal of climbing the mountain.
Pros And Cons
Celeste is a very charming and fun game with interesting characters, challenging and well-thought-out level design, and a phenomenal electronica soundtrack composed by Lena Reine. The soundtrack is available for streaming and download. You can also purchase it on a cassette tape for novelty’s sake.
The game is quite addictive. It kept me occupied throughout much of the pandemic lockdown in 2020. The only downside for most players would be the time, practice, and energy to advance through some areas, especially the game’s more difficult harder B- and C-sides.
You will die a lot, so much so that you might eventually get too frustrated to continue. Of course, you can adjust the game settings to make it easier to play through. After all, games are supposed to be fun, right? Conversely, players craving a challenge can play with fewer assists (or none).
Verdict
Highly recommended. Despite some aforementioned challenges and difficulties, the game is very well done in terms of its graphics, gameplay, story, and music.
Rating: 9.5/10
Developer: Maddy Thorson Noel Berry; Publisher: Extremely OK Games; Players: 1; Released: January 25, 2018; ESRB: Everyone 10+; MSRP: $19.99
Review played on Nintendo Switch
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