What is Celeste?

Released at the start of 2018, Celeste was developed by Maddy Makes Games (now Extremely OK Games). It's a simple-on-the-surface platformer, with only 3 main movement options (jump, dash, and climb) for hundreds of increasingly complex screens to progress though. Check out its Steam and Itch.io pages below!



What's it about?

In Celeste, you play as Madeline, a budding mountain climber who aims for the peak. Throughout the story, the game touches on various themes and topics that aren't typically seen in platformers, such as self-doubt and mental health, yet they meld together with the gameplay in such a way that I believe provides an elevated experience to the player.

That is to say, there is a heavy emphasis on personal growth present throughout; if you think you can do something, you can: the game challenges you to think not in "ifs", but "whens".



The Modding Scene

Celeste's seemingly limitless difficulty ceiling opened the door for the most batshit and creative people in the world to get into game development. Even in 2024, 6 years after the game's original release, the community's modding scene is still going strong.


With collabs like Strawberry Jam, it becomes more than viable to view Celeste as a sandbox for creative potential. There is an immense amount of content out there (on Gamebanana and the Celeste Discord, at least) for players of all skill levels, so if you play on PC, I highly recommend giving the Everest mod loader a download, and seeing what experiences are on offer. Good luck!

Recommendations:

• Strawberry Jam Collab [x] • Monika's D-Sides [x] • Expert Contest [x] • Anarchy Collab • [x]

• Madeline Votes In The US Presidential Election [x] • Endgame Contest [x]




The Music

Celeste is home to one of my favourite video game soundtracks of all time, led by Lena Raine. I'm not going to spend ages gushing about her music, but I thought I'd at least mention the ost, since it was the reason I managed to get into the game in the first place. Despite the scope of the game, the soundtrack manages to go incredibly far with what it accomplishes.


Favourites:

• Farewell • Beyond the Heart • Starjump • Confronting Myself •

• Forsaken City (Sever the Skyline Mix) • Area 1 Demo (Bonus Track) •


playstation + steam stats

[all completed maps]


page est dec 26 2022 - last updated june 3rd 2024