Celeste – Games of the Decade

Celeste is a game as beautiful as the view from its in-game mountain peak. It is adorable, heartfelt and challenging, all in equal measure, and its story is one I believe will truly resonate with anyone who picks it up. If you have not already, you must beat this game. It was my ‘Game of the Year’ in 2018 and, given that it stills plays on my mind a year later, is absolutely my ‘Game of the Decade’.

“You can do this.” These four words begin every playthrough and are the driving force behind both your own and protagonist Madeline’s adventure. Madeleine has come to Celeste mountain to conquer both its summit and parts of herself she thinks she would be better off without. She struggles with depression and anxiety, being beset with panic attacks along the climb, but with the help of the friends, she makes along the way she starts to hate herself a bit less and finds the journey easier as a result.

Even if we do fail, we never fall that far

Though Celeste is brilliant not just for its portrayal of mental health through its story but through its mechanics and gameplay. Celeste is a difficult puzzle-platformer, and much like Madeline, players will find themselves wanting to give up at various stages. But, as with all of life’s challenges, even if we do fail, we never fall that far. Each new screen in Celeste is also a new checkpoint, so dying will rarely reset you back a long way. Even when it does these are often in the game’s bonus, extra difficult sections which are not required in order to beat the game. Though you do always have the option to save and come back later if you need a break. 

On the topic of Celeste’s optional challenges, they are all delightful. The most prevalent are the strawberries scattered around the levels. They will require you to complete special challenge rooms or beat levels in entirely new ways in order to fetch them and they are a lot of fun to gather. You also have hidden Crystal Hearts, cassette tapes (which unlock B-side remixes of stages) and even C-sides to unlock and beat. Perhaps one of the most difficult ‘mainline’ challenges is Celeste’s only DLC stage, ‘Chapter 9: Farewell’. This free final chapter offers some additional post-game story, alongside the reminder that whilst Madeline is healing she still has a long way to go, that mental health does not just fix itself overnight but is an ongoing struggle that can be made harder by what life throws at us. Though our friends are always there to help us out when we need them.

Lena Raine’s music is fantastic

Then finally Celeste’s strawberry on top is its art direction and music. Celeste predominantly uses a 16-bit art style to depict its characters and levels, with some higher resolution portraits appearing alongside dialogue to show off character’s features and expressions. When dialogue appears it is also accompanied by some sounds that ‘speak’ the words as they appear. You cannot make out any actual words but the tone is perfectly put across by the weird beeps and inflexions (my favourite is always sarcastic Madeline). Furthermore, Lena Raine’s music is fantastic! Unless you are the most elite of elite gamers you will likely be hearing the same tracks on repeat for quite some time, but they never get old. They always capture the tone of the level and the remixes in the B-sides all maintain the original’s feel whilst providing these levels with appropriate additional hype to accentuate their extra difficulty.

Celeste is by far and away the best game I have ever played. Matt Makes Games, now Extremely OK Games, have produced a masterpiece that everyone should check out. If you are put off by the challenge do not worry, you always have the option to turn on accessibility features which make the game less challenging. I would recommend this if you want to experience the game’s plot and are not the biggest gamer but do also try and play the game as intended if you can. Celeste is the peak of what games can and should be, it is a beautiful experience and completely deserving of ‘Game of the Decade’.