Celeste. Game review

Mount Celeste is located in British Columbia, Canada. The height above sea level is 2041 meters, the climb itself from the foot to the top will take 589 meters. Despite its low altitude, it is one of the top 10 highest mountain points on Vancouver Island. The most remarkable thing about this mountain can be found in Google reviews. Mountain rating – 4.8 out of 5. People note the beautiful view, which is not surprising, but also the catchy soundtrack, brag about how many strawberries they picked and say that the climb to the peak changed them, helped them cope with depression and reconsider their outlook on life. Apparently, after reading these reviews, Madeleine also wanted to go there, not knowing for what purpose. For now.

The original Celeste was developed in four days as part of a game jam, an event where games are developed for a limited time. The platformer was inspired by games from the Super Nintendo era, and therefore looked like it was from the era of sixteen bits. Although it looks more like some of the warp zones from Super Meat Boy, which were designed for slot machines. However, the heroine could bounce off walls, dash in the air in any direction and die in one hit. Additionally, it was possible to collect strawberries, which gave additional points. People liked the game, so Noel Berry and Matt Thornson, the creators of the game, decided to develop a full-fledged work. And perhaps no one expected such a result. Because there are simply no analogues to be found.

Madeline evokes Katie from “Chances” by Brian Lee O’Malley. Twenty-something, insecure, depressed, red-haired girl. We don’t know where she works, lives, or what her character is like. All we know from the beginning is her goal. Peak of the mountain. Rumor has it that when you travel, the mountain somehow reflects who you really are, and many people have been changed by what they see. From what they constantly hid in the depths of their souls. And it’s safer than going to Silent Hill, because there’s less chance of going crazy and dying here. Yes, Celeste is not just a platformer, but an analysis of people’s psychological problems, including depression and self-doubt. The heroine has to accept and outgrow her unpleasant second essence, which both hinders her and protects her from the girl’s nightmares. And it’s not even entirely clear whether it’s unfortunately or fortunately, but you get imbued with this story because you understand that you’ve encountered the same thing as the heroine. These are not strained worries about friendship, success in your personal life, or any other teenage bullshit that is now very popular not only in the gaming industry, but also in literature and cinema. Here there is more study of the hidden source of depression and uncertainty, the suppression of emotions and those qualities that we do not like, but that make us who we are. The game does not load you with cutscenes or unnecessary dialogues; mostly communication with other characters occurs at the beginning and end of each of the eight levels. And along the way we will meet very different people. Here you have an ordinary tourist who cannot spend a minute without taking a selfie, or an old woman who has lived on the mountain for a long time, always giggling at the main character. The dialogues do not seem dry, each character is expressed in a special way depending on age, outlook on life and character, so a small number of characters works ideally in contrast. There are virtually no notes, so you won’t miss anything important to the story and characters.

At the beginning of the game, a bridge collapses, and the heroine would have fallen into the abyss… If not for the raven.

However, all this would not work if not for… Competent directing. Let me give you an example. The story itself is continuous from level to level, but during a visit to the hotel we are told a short story of Mr. Oshiro – the manager of an apparently abandoned hotel. Due to the lack of guests, he is ready to do anything to ensure that Madeline stays overnight. But she doesn’t need this, because the path lies to the peak of the mountain, and there is no need to stop and there is no time. Because of this, Oshiro feels fear, uncertainty and anger, constantly talking to himself, although later it becomes clear that there are two personalities hidden within him, constantly in conflict with each other, and the one that feels anger and injustice is ready to break out. The music is calm, unhurried, but with each new open door it acquires new colors, almost at the same moment as the unbalanced gentleman becomes more and more powerless. And even when the heroine agrees to visit the best hotel room and then leave it, the manager goes crazy and begins to pursue the innocent girl in the form of a monster, destroying everything in his path. It gets to the point where both characters almost die, and as soon as they come to their senses after a dangerous fall from a height, Oshiro comes to his senses and goes back to the hotel. As if nothing ever happened. And this is just one level. The game constantly surprises with its approach to storytelling using the environment, music, or obstacles.

The heroine also treats selfies with disapproval at first.

Just don’t forget that this is not https://casino-love.net/mobile-app/ a psychological drama, but a platformer. Our heroine can jump, grab walls and climb them until she gets tired, and make a dash in the air. This is the entire arsenal of techniques from the beginning to the end of the game. Unlike most other platformers that try to come up with new enemies or one-shot surfaces, the game constantly presents certain objects that reveal a meager arsenal of abilities closer to VVVVVV. Thus, a yellow-green crystal hanging in the air allows you to make an additional jerk; certain types of platforms are activated when the heroine, again, makes a dash; a feather that allows you to fly for a short time in the form of a small light source and much, much more. The game itself is moderately difficult. Yes, the heroine controls perfectly and there is a certain heaviness felt, and not as if we were playing for a feather, but you expect this from a platformer – responsive controls. Like the feeling of a flow of movement, jumping from wall to wall, stopping at nothing.The important thing is that the player is not required to move pixel to pixel without room for error. There is always the opportunity to grab a hold a little earlier, jump onto the platform to restore the dash. That is why there is no situation where you will be stuck for a long time, because, you see, there are so many thorns, and the free space can barely fit the character. And in special areas there are binoculars, with which you can fully see the location and plan all your movements. But you can’t relax. Having introduced new mechanics, you will then have to use all your skills to get to the end of the level. Although, if you just run through the levels without being distracted by anything, no serious difficulties should arise. You just need to play exclusively on a gamepad, because on the keyboard, jumping, grabbing surfaces and dashing are located on the Z, X, C keys. Because of this, you constantly get confused and fall into the abyss by pressing a normal jump instead of a dash.

Of course, there were stages with a constantly changing wind flow.

What’s even more impressive is the openness of the locations. Usually platformers are either completely linear or have a small branch with a collectable or some other crap. Here, almost always, an obstacle course awaits the player in order to get the coveted strawberry – the only collectible item. Well, almost. There are also cassettes, but we’ll talk about them a little later. Moreover, you can’t just get to the strawberry, you still have to get to the next screen for it to be credited. And the berry also comes with wings, in which case you will have to get to it without using a dash, otherwise it will fly far, far off the screen.
And such additional rooms are darkness. It happens that you go downstairs, and there is a huge hall with six passages. Some are locked so you need to open one by one. And along the way there will be several forks, and there may be another one… Fortunately, there are not too many of them and in the end they are all connected to each other.
If you want more of a challenge, collect cassettes, one hidden on each. No secrets or forks, just a series of sections so difficult that you will have to die 10 times more than in normal stages. This is where you will master all the nuances of the mechanics so much that the main levels will seem like a cakewalk. The original game is especially characteristic in this regard, because it can be found and played from start to finish. Even there, although there is no need for it, you will try to pick all the strawberries, although there is no need to do this.

You’ll have to die a couple of times.

And what fascinating surroundings! Water streams under which the music is drowned out, dark temples with constantly lit torches, dreams with starry spaces, an abandoned city and a hotel filled with books… When the heroine uses the dash, her bright red hair turns turquoise, and when tired, she actively lets out steam from her mouth. What kind of music! The soundtrack is more melodic and calm, working to intensify the feeling of solitude, silence and the supernatural than in other representatives of the genre.

In the end, Celeste is not just a good platformer. Combining a fair difficulty during the main campaign and a real challenge in the tapes, a story that you follow and feel deeply, but does not distract from the gameplay, a narrative through the environment and music, an abundance of secrets, constantly changing rules of the game that you do not want to spoil, Celeste is one of the main events in the platform genre of the twenty-first century. This is a very personal adventure on a par with Journey, which you seem to want to tell your friends, although the point is, because without context and without direct passage it is impossible to convey all the emotions that arise not only in the player, but also in Madeline. But if story is not a factor for you… This is a great platformer. Moreover, it is such that over time you will probably return to the game. Therefore, I really hope that I was able to interest you, the reader, in purchasing the game. And who knows, maybe you too will want to go on a long journey up the mountain? Well, or in Silent Hill, since everything is really bad for you.

Best comments

That awkward feeling when someone once again collects their feelings about the game into the text of a review, and you are still sitting with scraps in a draft and for six months could not collect them into something presentable, either because of circumstances, or because of bouts of stupidity, or because of banal forgetfulness and uncertainty, although in principle you know what you want to write about:\\ But one way or another, about the question that I would like to raise, you are not I mentioned it, so your review was an excellent excuse for me not to try to do anything for a while, without abandoning this matter :3 Well, in principle, the more various mentions of the game in a positive way on the site, the better, maybe then the editors will take a closer look at it, because this game deserves to fight for the title of game of the year.
But in general there are complaints about the review. As for me, you devoted too much of the text to a direct retelling of the plot, which is not good. And in principle, throughout the review it feels like you are often retelling what is in the game, too often giving direct examples + sometimes something happens with the wording, ala

You just need to play exclusively on the keyboard, because on the keyboard, jumping, grabbing surfaces and dashing are located on the Z, X, C keys. Because of this, you constantly get confused and fall into the abyss by pressing a normal jump instead of a dash.

That is, you have to play the keyboard to constantly get confused, yes? 😀
In short, it seems to me that you wrote the review while being emotional, although it would be nice to calm down, polish what can be polished and, perhaps, let the thought go a little deeper.

Thanks for the comment, it’s always nice to see that people read you and don’t silently put pros/cons on the topic!

Yes, I wrote more out of emotion, because I haven’t been so happy with video games for a long time. Yes, and reviews for me are more likely to improve my skills: to make fewer syntactic and punctuation errors, get rid of tautologies and learn to express thoughts in such a way that everyone can understand. I plan to write longer topics on various topics, but without practice it’s hard to write them just like that.

Don’t be lazy, otherwise you’ll end up abandoning this matter, and at least I’ll get your opinion =)

The error has been fixed, thanks!

I’ll try to kick myself more often 🙂 By the way, I beat the game (well, I “passed” it, rather I crawled through the main plot and the bonus level (for which I overcame four red hearts)) on the keyboard. And I’m ready to say that, despite the fact that at the beginning you feel out of place, you quickly get used to the controls on it – you can no longer say something like “uuuuuuuuuuuuu, I can’t get through this stage because of the keyboard, and not because I’m crooked” 🙂 So I can’t attribute my number of deaths to the keyboard, especially since one guy from a local smoking room went through and collected EVERYTHING on the keyboard keyboard and at the same time, it seems, in total he died even less than I did in the above screenshot at one stage 🙂