Celeste
Madeline is the player character and the protagonist of Celeste. Seemingly in the hopes of achieving a sense of peace and clarity during a difficult time in her life, she sets her mind on climbing to the top of Mount Celeste. Along the way, she encounters a colorful collection of characters that inadvertently help her understand better the real reason that she's on this journey and the part of herself that she felt like she needed to root out. I was surprised by the direction the story took to unite and resolve those pieces, and it ended up being a far more wholesome conclusion than I had predicted. Celeste starts like it's a game about proving yourself and cutting out unsavory aspects of your personality to become who you want to be, but it morphs into a game about accepting yourself and tuning even the unsavory aspects of your personality to become who you need to be.
I appreciate how the gameplay effectively mirrors Madeline's journey and growth. Every internal hurdle she encounters has a parallel in the platforming, fusing the player experience with Madeline's story even further. This is not at all an easy game, but that's part of the point; each stage introduces a new gimmick to learn and master if you want to make it through, and the challenge can be frustrating at the moment, but the payoff is incredible. I don't think it would be doable without Celeste's forgiveness, though.
In most cases, even the slightest mistake means death, and death means starting over. Thankfully, you restart at the beginning of the room you're in, and there is almost no delay between dying and respawning. This means you just play the same room repeatedly until you understand it well enough to survive. Succeeding in that way always feels good, but it has the additional benefit of teaching you, at least in part, how to handle all of the upcoming challenges. The most exciting moments came when I learned a stage's mechanics so well that I managed to complete a screen or two without a single death. I was thrilled to realize that I was actually getting better at the game, which just encouraged me to play and learn even more.
Celeste is simultaneously one of the most difficult and most forgiving games I've played. It knows you're going to make endless mistakes on your journey to understand the game and its mechanics, but it doesn't punish you for that. In fact, your death count in each stage is proudly displayed like a trophy to keep on the shelf not to show others that you're the best, but to prove to yourself that you are capable, no matter the obstacles. That mentality is mirrored in Madeline and creates a unique connection to the player that I've never experienced in a game before. I was incredibly impressed with how well the narrative and gameplay elements were woven together to create a cohesive whole, and I'm grateful I decided to play Celeste. The difficulty may seem daunting, but I think it's absolutely worth it.
The game is available for Steam here (as of 12/6/23): https://store.steampowered.com/app/504230/Celeste/
The game is available for Switch here (as of 12/6/23): https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/celeste-switch/
The game is available for Switch here (as of 12/6/23): https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/celeste-switch/
The game is available for Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S here (as of 12/6/23): https://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/store/celeste/bwmql2rpwbhb
The game is available for PS4 and PS5 here (as of 12/6/23): https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/UP2120-CUSA11302_00-CELESTEXXCELESTE
