I look back throughout the years to remember the many games that have come and gone. Several days pass on by, and slowly those individual days begin to transform into weeks. Hundreds of titles are being released each month, and it’s hard to keep track of what is worth your time. What is actually enjoyable to play and worth your money, and what is not enjoyable to play and should be passed off. Sure you can probably look up new updates from big media outlets like IGN or Gamespot who will point you towards what is popular at the moment, but this leads to gamers missing out on smaller lesser known titles. Stuff that doesn’t get advertised as well and nobody truly takes the time to notice the brilliance they may bring. I’m not just talking about independently developed games, even though I respect the creators of these beloved pieces of art. There are times when even a big budget Triple A release can be published at the wrong time and never get the attention it deserves. It’s either due to poor marketing mainly at fault with the publisher, releasing these games at the wrong time or before another heavily hyped up release, or that these games usually aim towards a small niche of people and almost anyone who doesn’t fall into this niche will avoid the game.
2018 was one of the years of gaming that I believed received many underrated games. Some of which have broader and more imaginative ideas than some of the most expensive games of the year. While bid budget releases like Red Dead Redemption 2, Assassins Creed: Odyssey, Monster Hunter World, and God of War were easily ruling the gaming landscape at the time, many smaller titles were slowly making their way behind the curtains. Here are a couple of examples. The Messenger was an old school side scroller that offered a unique twist which changed up the pacing of the game and told an intriguing narrative near the end. Prey: Mooncrash helped elevate the base game’s ideas, not only transforming it into a confident roguelike but also taking the immersive-sim genre to new heights. Return of the Obra Dinn was an innovative detective game that used deductive reasoning and respected the player’s knowledge to provide a satisfying experience. Subnautica was a survival game with a deep beautiful world to explore and stood out from being your average survival game by having an actual plot to follow with clear signal marking each act. And the two major titles I played that year were Octopath Traveler, a JRPG that made me fall in love with RPGs and became my personal Game of The Year. Then there is Hollow Knight, while not having been released in 2018 it is one of the best metroidvanias I have played and possibly one of the best games I have played. What I’m trying to tell you is that it’s often you come across a game that is a smashing success at launch without having to rely on a big publisher or mass amounts of advertising to get it’s ideas across. However, one indie game came out that year and it took the world by storm for its fun factor and the way it told it’s narrative through subtle moments. Celeste, a colorful pixelated side scrolling adventure developed by an indie studio Matt Makes Games, founded by Matt Thorson.
When I originally saw this game it drew my attention. The colors, platforming, music, and how for such a small game it was gaining a ton of praise. It was good enough to gain a couple of 10/10s from the biggest review outlets. I always wanted to try Celeste just to see why it was being considered a masterpiece, but whenever I wanted to buy the game something else gained my attention. I had to push Celeste back further until the time was right. During the fall I finally had the time to purchase and playthrough Celeste, and for the most part my time with it was well spent. It was a charming platformer that got all it’s ideas across, and it kept my interest enough to make me explore some of the side content. Went through and replayed the game recently, and I finally decided to give it the special treatment of an analytical essay. Something you guys may not see that often on this review site.
Would I say Celeste still holds up one year later? Yeah, I say it does. Do I think it’s a masterpiece though? Well that’s an interesting question reader. I really love this game and I can understand why Celeste is being given all the praise. All those perfect review scores and award nominations. I do think it is a masterpiece, but just because it’s a masterpiece doesn’t mean it’s immune to criticism. My job as a reviewer is to take a close look at video games and try to find problems to talk about. It can be a difficult job at times, because sometimes I just flat-out enjoy a video game and just want to appreciate it for what it stands for. This then leads to me nitpicking and noticing there are more problems than expected. However, we must realize that no video game is perfect and what it really all comes down to is preference. God of War is a masterpiece, but it’s not my number one favorite game of all time. You get the idea. Celeste is great, but I do want to take a close look into what makes it so special. Today we'll be talking about why Celeste is Amazing, what are the areas that the game succeeds at, and what other games can learn from Matt Thorson and his team. So with the introduction out of the way let’s take a deep dive into Celeste.
Madeline’s Journey
I forgot to mention that certain sections of this essay will contain spoilers for the story of Celeste, so if you haven't played it yet please do so before continuing. It has moments that are best when you witness them without any prior knowledge. Are we ready? Good. One of many themes that plays throughout Celeste’s story is anxiety or what I like to call it by “self-doubt”. It’s not that I think the word “anxiety” is a ridiculous term, both words are completely fine and both terms are used often when it comes to psychology, but I like to trace it down to “self-doubt” because that’s what anxiety can be related most closely to. It’s a person trying to deal with personal pressure when placed against problems or spaces they don’t feel comfortable with and they have no way of escaping. It’s like the world is enclosing in on them and slowly sucking out their last breath. Most people are annoyed by games that try to overcome anxiety because the writers may be trying too hard to relate to a modern audience, but I think the true problem is that some writers don’t know how to approach this topic. Going over anxiety and the problems it may bring, especially in the gaming industry where developers are afraid whether their products will perform well or not.
Celeste is a game that knows how to handle self-doubt and make the player triumph over their fears. We are put into the boots of a young woman named Madeline. Nothing much is known about her from the start, but through the first few minutes of the game we know that her goal is to climb a mysterious mountain simply named Mount Celeste. Just as the title of the game states. Not even the first area and we’re already given some context of the game. To climb the tall and dangerous Mount Celeste. In a majority of video game plots these days it takes some time to understand what is going on because writers have to set up the basics for what the player is about to do. The recent Red Dead Redemption 2 has an introduction sequence which lasts around two hours long and afterwards you are dumped into the open world to explore freely. Not a fair comparison to link Red Dead Redemption 2’s introduction to Celeste’s intro, but it shows how developers take their time rather than immediately toss players into the fray. This can be a problem since some mechanics don’t need explanation at all and can just be figured on their own. Like how Dark Souls tells you the attack and dodge button, but let’s you figure out the flow of combat on your own. The long intro sequences can also kill the replayability of a game, or make a section that should have taken a few minutes drag out longer than it should. Here they immediately say you are a girl who wants to climb a mountain and that is it.
Another thing we can learn through the writing is that Madeline never directly says that she has anxiety. Well thought out, because by describing traits that hints she has anxiety through future events it doesn't come out so blatantly average. The player has the brain, knowledge, and eyes to put the pieces all together. Plus it really shouldn't be that hard or easy. In the second area, the dream sequence, we encounter the bad part of Madeline. A dark floating version of her that is a recurring character throughout the game known as Badeline. She scolds Madeline and tells her that she can’t climb the mountain and that she should just give up. Badeline is a living representation of Madeline’s inner thoughts and shows the doubt she has for herself. This is what a consciousness can mean to a person. A voice or several voices constantly yelling at you and judging every action you make. There isn't another physical person there to judge, sometimes the greatest enemy can just be your own self. Madeline’s goal is to climb the mountain and nothing else. The mountain represents Madeline’s triumph over her consciousness, and if she can prove to herself that she can achieve her number one goal then her consciousness may be able to accept her for who she is. What Madeline believes herself to be currently is a weak and feeble person who can’t do all that much or help out anyone. That is why she wants to climb the mountain. To prove herself, not others, but her own self to herself.
Near the end of area 2, Madeline gets a phone call from what appears to be her mother. One of the many questions her mother asks is if she is having another panic attack. That’s another clear hint as panic attacks are frequent among people who are diagnosed with anxiety or a mental disorder. The person calling Madeline isn’t even her real mother. It’s another one of her own thoughts calling her out for her weaknesses. Another character worth mentioning is Theo, another mountain climber who provides Madeline with advice and helps her out in her time of need. He’s the opposite of Madeline. He knows how to take care of himself and is reminded of the people who care about him. Theo is important and doesn’t just serve as another side character. He reminds Madeline that there are people who do care for her and that she’s not alone. That she has the support needed to succeed.
There is a scene later on in the game where they're both stuck on a gondola hanging wildly high in the air and Madeline begins to have another panic attack. She has the thought that the gondola broke down and no one knows they are up there. They may be abandoned there for days, or the rope the gondola is holding onto will snap and they plummet to the earth below. She is not only afraid her journey will be over, but that death is coming to them at a rapid speed. Theo then comforts her and offers her a way to calm down. To imagine a feather floating in the air, and that by controlling her breathing the feather will remain in the air longer. Theo is using a strategy to calm down Madeline. A visual imagination to distract Madeline from the current situation and get her down to a reasonable level. If he were to just scream to her to calm down then things would just escalate. She would panic further and have more pressure forced down onto her shoulders for an action she cannot do simply and instantaneously.
Near the end of the game Madeline finally confronts the bad part of her, Baseline. In most games when there is an antagonist the hero would either dispose of them, or the most “logical” option is to kill them. Here Madeline befriends her bad part and soon they work together to reach the summit. Her own consciousness forgives Madeline and tries to offer the support it should have had since the beginning. Isn’t that what we need in life? To accept who we are and not worry about what we should become. Celeste has a clear message here, one that doesn't need to be overexplained or dragged out to an unreasonable extent. Using good representations of the mind and in the most creative manner possible. Celeste’s story didn’t need overly long cutscenes or cinematics to get it’s themes across. What it needed was creativity and understanding.
Expansion Through Linearity
The main aspect that’s mentioned a lot in reviews for Celeste is the game’s superb level design. Almost every obstacle and piece of terrain in Celeste is laid out in a way that is both challenging yet fair. One bit to mention is that a majority of these levels are designed to be navigated in a linear fashion. There are rewards for entering areas you normally shouldn’t go to or straying off the designated path, but you'll mostly just be progressing. The one argument I always hear from people is that linear designed games aren’t as replayable as games with open ended spaces or multiple branching paths. How do you find replayability? The answer is through how you set it up. A linear designed game can have some elements of replayability depending on how you set up each challenge going forward. Do it the right way and the player will look back and see if they can do it again but better. It’s not in a sense that the game is motivating you to replay the entire level, but it’s more like encouragement created by the player. Another factor that can add towards the level design and their replayability are the mechanics and how they are unrolled onto the player.
Whenever you discover a new mechanic it’s shown off in a room specifically designed to showcase what it can do. Afterwards it is used in rooms designed to see if you understood how the mechanic worked and if it can be applied in multiple scenarios designed to kill you. Soo or later another mechanic will be introduced in the same sense, but afterwards it’ll be thrown into the mix with previously introduced mechanics. These mechanics not only show the player how they will have to navigate the rest of the stage, but do a great job at building complexity from simplicity. Expanding your horizons through a simple formula. Let’s take the first level for example. One of the first level mechanics you encounter is a spring which is pretty simple to explain. They not only launch you into the air, but they can also propelle you across long distances. Another thing the game teaches you is that the springs can replenish your dash. The dash is an ability Madeline can perform along the ground and in the air, but it has a one time use and replenishes when you touch the ground. The game signals whether you have dash energy by switching Madeline’s hair color from red to blue to show it’s empty. The spring can refill the dash even without having to touch the ground, meaning you can change direction in between a spring launch. Later in the stage you encounter a mechanical block, if you stand or grab onto it then it will quickly move you towards the direction it’s rails are going towards. You soon learn that if you time your jumps just right you can gain momentum and launch yourself across gaps.
These two mechanics come together to form a section where you have to use both the launch of the spring and mechanical launch to climb up a vertical path. They even throw in some crystals which replenish your dash upon touching them and they are a recurring mechanism throughout the rest of your journey. Area 4 does something with momentum and trajectory as well. There are clouds where if you time your jump press just right you are launched even higher into the air, and there are sections where the wind may either force you back or make you move faster. The clouds and wind combine to form either speedy challenges where you have to think fast, or vertical where the force of the wind will press you against a wall allowing you to climb up it easily without having to grab on. Celeste’s levels remind me of finding a good well thought out Super Mario Maker level. The game, or what it is really a creation engine, allowed players to make their own levels with any limitations. Letting them experiment with past mechanics and show off their work by uploading it online. Unfortunately, finding a good level online is very hard since uploaded levels are arranged from popularity, and searching for what type of level you want is also difficult. For the sake of this critique though, I believe the best player created levels in Super Mario Maker are the ones that make use of it’s mechanics and carefully take the time to build them up.
The creators start off with one type of mechanic, then later into the level they introduce another one. Finally near the end they stack them on top of each other, hopefully making it the hardest section of the level. They aren’t placing anything that isn’t necessary or doesn’t fit the levels themes or main mechanics. You don’t want to have a section that isn’t understandable or too hard to predict, because the feeling of trial and error begins to blur during a section where you just have to grind your teeth against. Celeste does none of that. It clearly shows the player what is in the room and how they can get around it. If they die they start at the beginning of the room, but luckily each room is a screen or two long. There are also strawberries scattered throughout each stage which are the main collectibles of the game. They are usually hidden in secret areas or placed in hard to reach spots. The player can choose not to collect them, but taking the time to collect them feels rewarding. It may even expose the player to the mechanics more and give a better understanding of how to solve future problems.
Not only that, but secret areas in the game or the B-side levels can teach the players a new way of moving around. Mechanics the developers obviously didn’t intend to be used by casuals, but are there for those who want more experimentation or see how fast they can jet through the game. Celeste’s level design is good. It’s consistent, it’s fair, and most important of all it is imaginative. What about the controls? Well, here’s where some of my criticism towards Celeste starts to come into play.
The Controls Are Great... Mostly
If I were to rate Celeste’s control between one to five, a rating of five being absolutely tight and responsive while a rating of one is unresponsive or too slippery, then I would say Celeste is a solid four. They're Responsive most of the time, but certain sections feel a bit clumsy when the game is struggling to figure out what specific direction you intended on dashing towards. As any platformer goes, holding down on the left joystick in either direction makes Madeline move left and right and when you let go she immediately stops. In some platformers, when you let go of the joystick in the move the character won’t stop immediately. They’ll slow down their traction speed before coming to a complete stop. This can be a problem, not a major problem but a problem nonetheless, because sometimes they move further than you intended them to and walk off a cliff because the game failed to detect when the player let go of the movement stick, but here Madeline grinds to a steady halt. Celeste isn’t the first platformer to do this though as other side scrollers like Shovel Knight have handled sturdy controls pretty well. Seeing how Celeste is a game where you have to react fast once you're thrown into a situation, the responsive stops and goes are useful.
Next you have the ability to jump and dash. Madeline’s jump is quite short for a platformer heroine and she immediately gravitates towards the ground once performing it, but it’s her dash that plays a key role throughout the game. Madeline is carrying a backpack full of climbing equipment throughout the journey and she’s just an ordinary person like us, so it helps give the player a realistic sense of what is weighing Madeline down. Madeline’s dash is the signature mechanic much like Shovel Knight’s pogo or The Messenger’s cloudstep, and it allows her to move across gaps and small crevices that would usually be hard to get around using basic abilities. You can only use this once while you're in midair, but by touching the ground or crystals that replenish your dash you can perform it again while in midair. This is another well thought out design choice, because you're limiting the move that makes the game easier if you were to give the player unlimited uses. Sure there is an accessibility option that allows you to have an unlimited amount of dashes, but I think sticking to the normal mode is the most balanced experience. Plus you go through levels that were designed around the one dash maneuver, and by conquering the grueling platforming challenges you get a better understanding of the main theme, personal triumph.
There is one thing I hate about the dash though. By tilting the analog stick in a diagonal direction you can dash northwest, southeast, and the other two. However, it feels like even the slightest tilt towards a diagonal direction will lead to the game detecting it as a diagonal dash. The programmers of Celeste obviously programmed eight directions, but what they probably didn’t realize is that on a joystick you have a full three hundred and sixty degrees to work with. Now programming all directions of the joystick is difficult, but at the same time it must be responsive to those directions. I can be holding the joystick to move right, but if it were slightly up I could accidently launch myself northeast into a group of spikes. This becomes frustrating, especially during cluttered sections where I have to angle my dashes perfectly. Unpopular opinion coming in about the game’s design, “I think the difficulty setting that gives the player infinite dashes makes the game harder.” The player will have the thought that by having infinite dashes the game will be a cake walk, so they start abusing this ability. Spamming it and launching themselves into obstacles at jet speed. What else…..
What Celeste Fails At
There are a few sections where Celeste falters in. It’s not too much to brag about and my overall enjoyment isn’t ruined by these features, but it’s stuff worth mentioning in a critique. First there are the B-Side versions of each level. I know the B-Side stages were clearly designed for people who wanted to test their skills or learn the abilities the developers intended for speedrunners, but this is when Celeste transitions away from being challenging but fair. These levels are trial and error not in the sense that you will improve upon each failure, but more on how many times you can throw yourself at them. It’s monotonous and repetitive. These stages are long, tedious, and more frustrating than the normal stages. Plus you get no benefits from completing them. No cool power ups, cheat codes, or special abilities that can be used of future levels. What’s the point of offering these optional and extremely difficult levels when the award at the end isn’t worth it. They're there to make the player angry rather than have more fun. Okay, so while writing this critique I figured out that you do earn an item at the end of these B-Side stages, but the reward still seems worthless in my opinion.
Second, there are the crystal hearts you can collect in the normal stages, but they are hidden in the most absurd locations or the puzzles to unlock them may take some time. The strawberries I liked as a collectible because they were put in areas that required skill to get to. Skill that taught the player more about the level and how to get better as it went on. The crystal hearts are the exact opposite. They don’t really teach you anything and the reward for figuring them out is pointless. What makes it worse is that you need the crystal hearts to unlock a secret endgame epilogue. I hate it when a game requires you to do what should be optional content just so you can witness the rest of the story. For example in the first Dark Souls once you beat the Bell Gargoyles you have to find a way to get to Blighttown. They state the way to get there is by going down. Deeper into the world. Problem is due to the game’s maze-like design you don’t know how to directly get to Blighttown. Turns out you have to find a specific key near the Bell Gargoyle’s chapel, use it on a specific door in the Undead Burg, beat the Capra Demon, go through The Depths, and eventually you’ll get there. You can also use the Master Key if you choose it as your starting gift, which allows you to skip The Depths and Lower Undead Burg altogether, but I may lack the souls and experience needed to grow stronger and face later challenges. I can continue in the story without having to do the intended path, but at the same time I may miss out on experience points needed to grow stronger. Celeste has these optional challenges, but it fails to make proper use of them or encourage the player to put time towards them. Those are my only real complaints. Most of them are nitpicks, but in the end I still really love Celeste.
Reaching The Summit
I really hope Celeste can be a game that stands out after five years. It’s colorful, fun to play, and has a huge amount of love put into it. It may not be my favorite indie platformer ever made, but it’s certainly a title worth playing. Every idea is continuously built upon, and the narrative while not complex is deep and worthy of caring about. You want to see Madeline succeed. You want to see her overcome her fears. You keep pushing through each challenge not only because it’s fun, but because you hope the goal at the end will be enough for Madeline to be proud of herself. To finally be happy and accept herself for who she is. Celeste is not a perfect game, but it is a masterpiece for all that it strives for. It is true that a 10/10 scored game or a game that is deemed a masterpiece isn’t immune to criticism, and I do have to agree. Nothing is immune to criticism, and when we praise games as the second coming of Christ it shows that we have specific biases and beliefs. However, it still all comes down to preference and whether this game is a favorite of yours depends all on you. I would like to thank Matt Thorson and his team for making such a great game and I wish him the best of luck .
Seeing how it’s Celeste’s 2nd Anniversary I hope many gamers can come and enjoy this work of art. Madeline is a character I absolutely adore. She is funny at times and cute to watch. Reminds me a lot of one of my friends who is actually named Madeline. She's the nicest person I ever met, she’s always willing to try no matter what, and even when she falls down she gets back up. Soft, compelling, smart, honest, the types of things you want in a person. She helped me out during stressful times, and offered me good advice on my mental health. Anyways, Celeste is a great game and is one of the few best platformers I have played. This essay may not have been in depth like my last one, but I promise to make the next one better. So that’s why I think Celeste is Amazing.
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