Recent reviews by A slightly disappointing salad

Used to play the original Half-Life with my dad.

Now my dad left me...
I hoped playing this would get him to come back but it didn't...

Still good game, 9/10

This will be an in-depth review of my experience playing the game, and will be both subjective and objective at parts.

From the makers of Towerfall, Celeste is a 2d indie platformer following Madeline on her journey to climb Mount Celeste. Aside from the climb itself, Madeline must battle her inner demons if she want to make it to the top.
Madeline is suffering from depression, and feels she gives up on things too quickly. This is why she wants to reach the Summit of Celeste, to prove to herself she doesn't have to give up.

Aside from walking and jumping, she can also climb for a limited time, and dash in 8 directions. She can only dash once, before needing to recharge it by langing on the ground, interacting with various objects such as crystals, or moving to the next screen.

The game consists of 8 chapters, a prologue and an epilogue, as well as a bonus chapter. Each of these chapters introduce new mechanics and new level design.

Celeste has many collectibles, the main one being Red Berries. You can find these in the A-Sides of every chapter.
Each of the 8 chapters has an A, B and C side. Initially you can only play the A-Side of each chapter. By collecting the cassette tape in a chapter however, you unlock the B-Side of that respective chapter. These B-Sides are shorter than the A-Side, but also harder.
Each side of each chapter has a crystal heart for you to collect. These are neccesary for progression in the game. After collecting 4 hearts, you can play the A-Side of chapter 8. After collecting every heart in both the A and B Sides of each available chapter, you can play the B-Side of chapter 8.

After you complete this level, you unlock the C-Sides for every chapter, and golden berries.
C-Sides are an even shorter and even harder alternative to the B-Sides. The real challenge of the game however, lies in the Golden Berries.

At the start of each side of each chapter you can now find a golden berry. You need to take this berry to the end of the level to collect this. You must do this *without dying*. You must complete every level in Celeste. Without. Dying.
This would have been hard enough on it's own, if it weren't for one level; Farewell.

Farewell is the bonus chapter of Celeste. Farewell doesn't have a B or C side, which makes it different from every other chapter. However, Farewell is longer and more difficult than any chapter in the game. As of this moment my first playthrough (without golden berries) took me 40 hours, 15 of which I spent on Farewell.
And Farewell also has a Golden Berry.

At this point you are probably wondering: If Celeste is so unreasonably difficult, why would it be such a good game?
During my playthrough I never, not once, had a feeling I died and it wasn't a skill issue. Not once did I feel like the game didn't work as intended, or did I feel like it wasn't fair. Sure, some screens I spent an insane amount of time on, but that was usually just me carving out a path for me to follow. Once you did this, the pure satisfaction of completing the screens makes it all worth it.

Celeste is also a special game when it comes to the plot. The storyline the game follows isn't like other games. Celeste's story isn't about the journey of climbing the mountain, but it's about Madeline overcoming her problems. Cutscenes show her struggles. A good example of this is at the start of Chapter 6. Madeline is sitting at a campfire with Theo, a guy she met while climbing the mountain. They don't talk about things to come, or things they just encounter. They don't talk about lore, they talk about mental problems. Madeline explains to Theo how she is struggling with depression, and Theo gives her advice and weighs in with his on experiences in the matter. Things like this don't make Celeste a game but an experience, and one you must experience yourself.


When I first started playing the game, I didn't expect much. It seemed just like any regular-old platformer. I heard it was hard, but I expected it to be a little tough, but with thight platforming you would be able to finish the levels. Boy, was I wrong. Even in Chapter 1, even in the prologue, you find out this game is incomparable to any other platformer. It didn't take long for me to start enjoying this game. I played through the game, finished the A-Sides of each chapter and got to the end screen. I thought the game was a blast, and I already felt this game was one of the better platformers. It was only after I started collecting everything in the game when I started to realize what this game truly was. Most of the berries are hidden, and sometimes require real detective work to find. Even after finding it though, there is the challenge of collecting them. No 2 berries were the same. Looking for berries never got old. Then I found a tape, and my eyes were opened.
B-Sides aren't *just* a tougher alternative to the A-Sides. B-Sides are a whole new game. If you only played the B-Sides and not the A-Sides, I feel you still wouldn't feel disappointed.

What I believe this game truly excels at is introducing mechanics. This game has a single line of dialogue to explain a single game mechanic: dashing. Everything else, Dream Blocks, Seekers, Zippers, anything, is introduced in a clear way without a single line of text. And there is a lot of mechanics.

Without a doubt Celeste is the greatest platformer I have ever played, maybe the best game I've played in general. There are some things I feel they should have done better, but those are specs of dirt in a game otherwise so clean you could eat from it.

This game is, without a doubt, a 10/10. It's not a perfect game, don't get me wrong, but if this game doesn't deserve a 10/10, no game does.

mazink game recomend it