Developed by the studio “Maddy Makes Games” and released in 2018, Celeste is a game that has reached a large amount of success with it selling 500 thousand copies in the year it released. Celeste is a platformer game that I really enjoyed and I would love to share the reasons for why I and many other players loved this game.

The strongest point of Celeste that made many players love it is undoubtedly it’s smooth and engaging gameplay. Celeste is a 2-D platformer where you move a character between points in a setting. The gameplay of Celeste is superb. The controls of the character is extremely smooth and responsive which makes controlling her very entertaining.

The level design is also spectacular as it requires the player precisely control the character through demanding platforming sections , forcing them to utilize their problem solving skills and pushing their reflexes to the limits. In Celeste, captivating and challenging levels are a joy to play.  Although the levels of the game are difficult, it makes them much more thrilling to play through and makes completing them a lot more rewarding.  After clearing every level, I was sure that my skills had improved significantly. The game contains a variety of levels and some of them have unique aspects that impacts the gameplay in exciting ways. This also increases the replayability of the game.

The breathtaking visuals and music makes the game even better.  Because Celeste is an 8-bit pixel style game, one would expect it to have very poor graphics. However, by embracing it’s pixelated look and making it a part of it’s artstyle, the game creates beautiful environments and stunning scenes. The music is also excellent as it reflects the tone of each level and makes them much more immersive and captivating.

The story of the game is also nice. Unlike many popular titles that I like, it does not contain much violence  and conflict. Instead it is a more personal story that explores the main characters journey to defeat her anxiety by climbing a mountain. Normally, I would find this kind of story boring and uninteresting but I believe that it fits nicely to this game along with it’s visuals and music. Also, as someone who is studying psychology it was interesting to see the depictions of anxiety and depression in this game. A more violent story might have been a bad combination with it’s difficult level design making it similar to games like Dark Souls that are not pleasant experiences most of the time.

Finally, the low system requirements makes the game much more accessible which is another major strength. Since the game is 8-bit, it does not require any strong hardware and can work with old and weak hardwares. It can even work in a potato computer. I believe that this was a major factor that increased the sales of the game.

In conclusion, I believe that Celeste is an excellent platforming game that is very entertaining. It’s remarkable level design, precise gameplay, stunning visuals and music as well as low system requirements makes it a great platformer.

Doom (2016) is a game that I have enjoyed playing very much. After completing the game I was certain that it was an excellent and extremely entertaining game. There are several reasons for this which I will explore in this blog post.

To begin with, the fast paced gameplay of the game is very addicting. The game has a fast paced action that requires you to be constantly on the move and dodge the enemy attacks. I found this type of gameplay in a first person shooter very fun and was glad that they went with this decision instead of making the game realistic and slow paced.

In addition, the enemy types and the boss fights elevates the quality of the gameplay. Using different types of tactics for different types of enemies forces the player to think which makes the game much more engaging. The variety of enemies prevents the game from becoming boring and repetitive. Also, the enemy designs were excellent as they looked repulsive which made killing them very satisfying. The boss fights of the game was were I had the most fun. The bosses of the game were much stronger and difficult to beat compared to the regular enemies and forced me to generate new tactics.  Because of this, defeating the bosses felt extremely rewarding.

Furthermore, I found the soundtrack of the game incredible as well. It is one of the best video game soundtracks of all time!  I think that the heavy metal of soundtrack of the game suited the fast paced action where you slaughtered demons. The music changing for each area as well as boss fight also made the game even better for me and was an excellent method to set the tone.

Moreover, I also think that the setting of the game is excellent. The game is set in a base in Mars that has been overrun by demons. There is also a brief section where you enter hell to kill some demons. I believe that the setting was also great as exploring the abandoned base and hell was a very interesting concept. Normally, the game would feel like a horror game with this setting although the powerful character you play the game with makes it the opposite.

In conclusion, I personally loved playing Doom 2016 because of it’s fast paced action, different enemy types and boss fights, amazing heavy metal soundtrack and setting. Even though the game was somewhat weak in certain areas such as it’s story compared to other games, it’s strong points more than made up for that.

Hades is a video game developed by Supergiant Games and released in September 2020.  After its release, the game became a huge success with many of the players loving it, including me. There are various reasons for why I believe that this was the case.  In this blog, I will explain what factors make Hades a phenomenal game.

The game being set in the Greek mythology makes it very compelling. In the game, you play as the character “Zagreus” who is the son of Hades with the aim of escaping the underworld. During this Journey, you interact with various characters from the greek mythology such as Sisyphus or Hades himself. Interacting with these characters and seeing how the developers at Supergiant games envisioned these characters makes the game much more captivating.

The dynamic, fast paced and fluid gameplay of Hades is extremely entertaining and addicting.  The game is a “Roguelike” which means  that you start from the beginning every time you die. You might think that this would make the game feel very repetitive and boring after a while. However, by gaining different types of abilities every run the game manages to feel fresh and diverse without making the player feel dull. In addition, the game allows you to unlock different weapons such as a bow or a spear. The more you play, the more you unlock and the more you unlock, the more you play (I still usually stick to the original sword as I find it the most entertaining). Furthermore, the game features amazing boss fights were you fight creatures or characters from the Greek mythology such as Hydra, Minotour or Hades himself. These boss fights are indubitably the parts were the game peaks as they force the players to analyze the moves of the bosses, keep their reflexes sharp and learn from their previous runs where they died to the same boss.

The stunning visuals also severely boosts the enjoyability game. Because of the lack of a high budget, Hades does not have detailed graphics. However, it more than makes up for this by utilizing a beautiful 2-D artstyle that immerses the player. This makes the game very pleasant to look at. The artsyle also suits the game by making it seem like fantasy tale since it is set in the Greek mythology. Moreover, the 2-D artsyle also adds to the setting (the underworld) by making it seem more mysterious and dangerous.

In conclusion, I listed the reasons for why I think Hades is a phenomenal game which are the amazing gameplay, visuals and the greek mythology setting.