Celeste

Celeste is like a jigsaw puzzle. That may seem obvious because Celeste is a puzzle-platformer but that is the best way I can think of that summarizes the entire game. Half of the battle is finding out how to fit pieces together, and the other is to actually fit them together. In real puzzles, these parts aren’t really that difficult, you grab a piece, see where it fits maybe by looking at the picture on the box, and attach it to the other pieces. In Celeste, both of these parts are more complex.

Not only does Celeste have more complex pieces: jumping, moving left and right, dashing in eight directions, climbing walls, and many level gimmicks; fitting them together requires precise timing and execution.

 While I think anyone who is interested in platformers should give Celeste a try, there are some things that could prevent some from enjoying it. The base moveset that the player has could possibly be too simple to keep your attention for the game’s whole runtime. I think that the level gimmicks make up for this but you may think the opposite. The game is difficult, especially towards the endgame. It is guaranteed that you will die over and over again, maybe even on the same screen. The story is one that I wouldn’t call stellar and I don’t think you should play Celeste just for the story. And the game doesn’t really have a reward for finishing its most difficult tasks, it rewards you with more challenges.

Though the biggest problem I have with Celeste, and the only reason I can’t recommend it to everyone is that it doesn't teach some mechanics to the player, and when it does teach you mechanics through its level design, it is not always clear. Continuing with the puzzle analogy, it's like someone taking some of the pieces when you weren't looking, you’d probably have to try out every piece to see if it fits before you realize that one piece is missing. Since Celeste requires careful execution to do this, it could lead to frustrating times for some players.

But when all of the pieces are laid out, Celeste becomes very rewarding, it does so not by giving the player more abilities or skills to play with but with even more challenges to overcome. It gets extremely difficult, but it is still a game that wants you to beat it. Celeste’s best moments really come from beating what at first seemed like insurmountable tasks. If you like that sort of thing in video games and are into platformers, then I highly recommend giving Celeste a shot.