A positively remarkable experience.

I know I'm probably a bit late to the party here, reviewing it a good three years after release, but it boggles the mind how such an unassuming game could be so incredibly good.

The plot itself was touching, and in my opinion, very well written. In all honesty, I found myself in tears during the final sequence, but maybe that's just because on some level I relate to Madeline's plight. Moreover, all of the characters along the way served to tie it all together, even if some of their encounters were only in passing (without revealing too much).

The gameplay was spectacular, even if at times I wanted to smash my head against a brick wall out of frustration. The difficulty tag is no joke, the game is properly brutal at times, but not unfairly so. The movement was pretty fun to get used to, and super intuitive when you get the hang of it, and god was it satisfying to finally get through a stage I'd been struggling on, most probably due to the excellent level design.

The real highlight however came from the stylistic choices that accentuated the entire game. Whether you look at the gorgeous backdrops and levels, the adorable sprites, and most of all, the incredible soundtrack. Lena Raine is a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ genius. The soundtrack makes it all worth it. Don't get me wrong, the sound design in itself was pretty good too, but the soundtrack just elevates it to another level. I don't really know what to say in regard to the soundtrack, nothing I could think up would do it justice.

Overall, Celeste is a brilliant game, and easily one of the best games I've played full stop.

A positively remarkable experience. I know I'm probably a bit late to the party here, reviewing it a good three years after release, but it boggles the mind how such an unassuming game could be so incredibly good. The plot itself was touching, and in my opinion, very well written. In all honesty, I found myself in tears during the final sequence, but maybe that's just because on some level I relate to Madeline's plight. Moreover, all of the characters along the way served to tie it all together, even if some of their encounters were only in passing (without revealing too much). The gameplay was spectacular, even if at times I wanted to smash my head against a brick wall out of frustration. The difficulty tag is no joke, the game is properly brutal at times, but not unfairly so. The movement was pretty fun to get used to, and super intuitive when you get the hang of it, and god was it satisfying to finally get through a stage I'd been struggling on, most probably due to the excellent level design. The real highlight however came from the stylistic choices that accentuated the entire game. Whether you look at the gorgeous backdrops and levels, the adorable sprites, and most of all, the incredible soundtrack. Lena Raine is a goddamn genius. The soundtrack makes it all worth it. Don't get me wrong, the sound design in itself was pretty good too, but the soundtrack just elevates it to another level. I don't really know what to say in regard to the soundtrack, nothing I could think up would do it justice. Overall, Celeste is a brilliant game, and easily one of the best games I've played full stop.