Celeste

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

This was the first real videogame I ever played and to this day is one of my all time favorites. The platforming seems straight forward. walk, jump, climb and a dash. this last one is the reason this game is a 10/10. the concept is of course nothing revolutionary but it's exact implementation, while initially seeming unremarkable allows for so much complexity I can't even list all the interactions and quirks it has to offer: superdash, hyperdash, wavedash, all of those can be reversed, creating reversed super, -hyper and wavedash. there are wallbounces, ultras, chained ultras, grounded ultras, dreamhypers/-supers, moonboosts, hyper-bunnyhop and the list goes ON. Granted, most of these you won't need to just beat the base game but the potential this game has for growth beyond it's limits is absurd. and that doesn't mean that the base game is easy! Each level has a B and C-side which are dramatically harder, there are collectibles in almost all levels with extra challanges, and the DLC is just easily the best level in the game, ramping up the difficulty even more and actually requiring some of the more advanced tech. for the most part these levels simply use the basic movement options, which feel polished and incredibly responsive, keeping it fresh mainly through every levels gimmicks, like moving platforms, wind, launching pads, bumpers etc. In general all areas have different defining gameplay features which really make the game feel fresh and interesting even in the last chapters. there's also an assist mode if you need it but really I found beating the most difficult sections sufficiently rewarding even if it took hundreds or even thousands of attempts. Given I was a COMPLETE novice to any kind of actual games (meaning more than mobile games) I don't think there is a person who could **** at this game more than I did when I started without having an actual health issue. I found it to be very rewarding fighting through the game even if I did die more than a dozen times on the literal tutorial that's only about three rooms long, teaching you waling, climbing and jumping. what I'm trying to say: a healthy human being probably doesn't need it, which is not meant to stigmatize using it. Anyway, 10/10 gameplay and movement system. The Story is a cute but deeply serious massage about depression, mental health and overcoming self-doubt. I bet you'll find someone else in these reviews who has a better insight on it than the surface level interaction I had with it, which was still great. 9.5/10 Music is peak. nothing more to say. 9-9.5/10 The pixel art works well and from a gameplay standpoint always unambiguously communicating hitboxes, which are very generous in every instance I could think of. the colors are beautiful and the areas are visually very unique. I couldn't even imagine this game to have a different aesthetic because it never feels restricted by it's visuals. 10/10 in conclusion: this is THE 2D platformer. it has rewarding and snappy controls, difficult challanges, amazing music, is unrestricted by it's visuals and ties everything together with a beautiful story.