Celeste
Celeste really surprised me. Having played the PICO-8 original first, I thought I knew what I was getting into, but there is so much more to this full-fledged release. Of course, the precision-platforming challenges were carried over, they've just undergone some impressive growth and are no longer the sole focus of the game. I'm not usually a fan of punishing difficulty in games, but Celeste never held back and I ate it up. The whole experience felt incredibly rewarding, both in terms of my personal growth as a player and in regards to Madeline's growth through the surprisingly emotional narrative. 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 jour