Celeste

[b]Celeste is a game that makes boys question their gender identity, and makes men question their gamer cred.[/b] [h1]tl;dr - Conditional recommendation[/h1] If you like ball-bustingly difficult precision platformers where the main emotion you feel is catharsis instead of fun, or you want to experience a story about overcoming depression & anxiety weaved seamlessly into its mechanics, get Celeste. If you don't like, or are not in the right mindset for, games that demand your full focus and attention and are sorely lacking in the instant gratification department, don't get Celeste. [h1]The actual review[/h1] I'm almost 30 now, and I remember when hard games were different. When the first internet rage games hit the scene, stuff like [i]I Wanna Be the Guy[/i] or [i]The Impossible Game[/i], with their unexpected cheap shots mocking the player for daring to make a mistake. When YouTube personalities, emulation, and online storefronts brought a revival of the impossibly hard NES platformer, where hours and hours of progress would go down the drain if you died enough times. And when you couldn't beat something you either used cheat codes, or you turned the difficulty down to something inevitably called "wimpy baby who sucks at videogames mode". In that regard, [i]Celeste[/i] hits you like a sack of bricks or lack thereof. You're introduced to Assist Mode with a completely inoffensive message before the first couple of easy stages lull you into a false sense of security. Then it gets harder. And you die. Again and again, your death count per stage entering the triple digits, your clear times crawling up into the hour mark. But Celeste doesn't judge. There's no popup asking if you want some help after dying a dozen times to the same ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ obstacle. If you want to Assist Mode your way past an obstacle, you have to do it yourself. There's no ranking or subjective evaluation of your end-of-level stats - I [i]still[/i] remember the horrendously out-of-tune victory fanfare that [i]Sonic Unleashed[/i] would play whenever you were ♥♥♥♥ enough at a stage, or the [i]hell yeah[/i] moment of [i]Super Meat Boy[/i] showing you a replay of all your attempts at a stage once you've cleared it. Celeste just shows you the numbers and move on. Why isn't it judging me? Do I suck? Am I washed? Judge me, damnit! And it goes on and on. The game is frustrating, each level feels a little bit too long, each obstacle demands just a bit too much reaction time, each new mechanic feels slightly too harsh, and each checkpoint is slightly too far away. The art is beautiful, the story is surprisingly touching despite how unlikable Madeline initially is, and the controls are as slick as they should be - my only complaint there is not having toggle grab as default or as a separate button, my index finger was suffering for the first few chapters. Yet as the game goes on, the feeling of dread sinks in further and further. My gamer honour struggles under the temptation to turn on Assist Mode [i]just this once[/i], but I know I won't ever feel satisfied if I do - I know I can beat this. But then, Reflections. Madeline reaches her rock bottom and so do I. But once we get back on track, ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ this is awesome. As the final summit push begins I'm feeling it. It's still too hard. It's still ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. I die. It's so close yet so far. I clear another obstacle. I die again. Five checkpoints left. Four. Three. Two. One. And the moment Madeline reaches the summit, I too let out a sigh of relief as a single thought crosses my mind. Unc still has it in him. [i]No, I have not cleared the B-Sides or any of the masochistic torture tools that this game calls a post-game. Maybe later.[/i]

This is the best feeling game I have ever played. No other game has come close to matching the snappy responsive controls that this game has. It's not too floaty, it's not too heavy. You accelerate to your max speed very quickly, while still easily being able to pull off short adjustments and movements. Good midair control, tons of leniency, and insanely polished tech make it so that every death feels like your fault, with almost zero exceptions. This game is an absolute masterpiece when it comes to pure game design. It is the GOAT, and I'm not sure it will ever be surpassed. The game has a fairly serviceable story, it's not for everyone but it's easy to resonate with, and the soundtrack is fantastic. There are a few difficulty spikes/friction points (especially chapter 3), but I beg you to not stop there and keep pushing through. It is so worth it in the end. After beating the game, there are so many layers of challenge and difficulty, and it truly lets you keep playing to your heart's content. There's collectibles, harder versions of levels, deathless challenges, etc. I spent 600+ hours just doing everything I wanted to do in vanilla, and that's not even touching speedrunning yet. And this game has possibly the most extensive modding scene out of any mainstream platformer to ever exist, with tons of community resources. I cannot overstate how incredible this game is.

Trans people can double jump..... Lena Raine is my GOAT. Fantastic game, I don't think I've ever played a game that conveys emotion through music as well as Celeste does (Also, how the game rewards continuous struggle and pain with relief and accomplishment is very akin to gender dysphoria in my eyes 👀). An all-time favorite for me!