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.