What a tremendous little Game
I don't even know what to talk about when it comes to Celeste. The game is a incredible Platformer that tells the story of Madeline, as she has to deal with anxiety and some other problems that you see throughout the game. The main thing I can say is: Just go play this game, unless you don't like platformers, just do yourself a favor and pick this up.
The controls are some of the thigest that I've ever seen, the level design is perfect, the pace is great, you'll die a bunch, because the game is really hard. But you respawn right there in a second, keeping you going all the time, learning the level and improving your chances each time. The game has some amazing writing, what's kind of surprising for an Indie Platformer, not that I expected to be bad, but usually it becomes a second fiddle to the gameplay. And the dialogues ended up being some of the best of the whole year (which is an amazing year when it comes to that).
The art style is pretty unique, a pixelated look, with the characters being kind of small on the screen, without the face details. But when they're talking, it shows up a portrait of them, with some amazing hand drawn art that looks awesome! And each character has their unique personality, with some defining moments. Despite the cast being small, they really were a big part of the game. Plus, I loved how they have just a rumbling/gibberish talking sound instead of voice acting or full mute, that changes depending of the humor/expression of the character when he's saying that line. Really well done.
I loved the soundtrack, that's one of the only negatives I have with 2018, despite being (maybe) the best year of all time when it comes to quality of Games, I couldn't find a soundtrack that grabbed me, outside of a couple of songs, but this score might be my favorite so far. The game has a great amount of content, with fantastic challenge variety and level design. It really keeps you on your toes, it's one of the thoughest platformers I've ever beat, but it's really fair. When you die it's always your fault. And you'll die maybe a thousand times (the game has a death counter, so you'll know).
The game does a great job of transmitting a message through the story, about the pressures of life and the psychological trouble some people have to deal with. It's truly remarkable to play through the whole game.
