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Game Name: Celeste Platform: PC Xbox One PlayStation 4 Nintendo Switch Time Spent: (A rough estimate is fine if the game doesn't track it) 35 hours and counting Do you recommend? Yes What you rate the game: (1 to 10) 9 Initial Thoughts: I've been messing around with this game since sometime around December/January. I initially became interested in the game when my older brother was playing and I happened to be walking through the room. I have been, since time immemorial, a huge fan of platform games, beautiful soundtracks and art. This game really hits each of those check boxes three times over, I really cannot express how much fun this game is for me. Gameplay and Story: Note: Controllers with joysticks are recommended, as there are sections in the game that are just easier using the joysticks over a keyboard due to the keyboard's inability to move in certain directions. Celeste was built with speed running in mind. That being said, there are definitely shortcuts, and you know that there are going to be movement mechanics. Dashing - Your character is capable of what is known as "dashing." Which, as you might be able to guess, is just increasing your velocity in whichever direction you choose (up, down, left, right, and every diagonal). There are plenty of ways to change up your dash, and to some degree you can control the height and speed of each one. I won't go in depth on how each type of dash works, just the main idea. Every way possible to change your dash is explained in the video following the final thoughts. Climbing - There are times when your only choice it to go up, and sometimes your dash just won't make the cut. Off the top of my head, there are three ways you can go about climbing in this game; jumping between two walls (does not deplete stamina), holding your grab button and jumping repeatedly, or just holding grab and up. You can only climb on vertical surfaces, so no, you can't climb on the ceiling. Stamina - Your character has a finite amount of stamina, that being said you can't just cheese your way through every single screen just by climbing straight up the walls. Crystal Hearts - One of each can be obtained in every chapter, along with two additional crystal hearts for completing every B and C-side of the main chapter. These are the only collectibles that are required to get to certain sections of the game (chapter 7 crystal heart, entirety of chapter 8, and the sub-sections of chapter 9). B-side Cassette Tapes and C-Sides - Each A-side, which is the main section of the chapter has a corresponding cassette tape that unlocks the B-side. B-sides and C-Sides follow the same theme as the A-side but are significantly more challenging. C-sides are unlocked by completing the B-side for that chapter. Berries - There are varying amounts of these placed throughout the chapter, but some are rather difficult to obtain. Winged strawberries force you to abandon your dash until you're close enough to grab the strawberry, if you do dash it will fly off of the screen and you will have to reset the screen (not the entire chapter). Golden strawberries are obtained by going through a chapter without dying once, but you have to complete the chapter eight B-side before this is available. Winged Golden Strawberry is obtained by completing chapter one without dashing once unless you die before leaving the screen you dashed on, forcing you to do what is known as "spike-jumping," which is a wall jump, just very, very precise. There is one other type of berry, the moon berry, which is available in a sub-section of chapter nine, but is extremely difficult to obtain. Backstory: "Help Madeline survive her inner demons on her journey to the top of Celeste Mountain in this super-tight platformer... Brave hundreds of hand-crafted challenges, uncover devious secrets, and piece together the mystery of the mountain." - straight from the steam description The game is no longer going to be getting new chapters, as the game was concluded with the very recent addition of chapter nine titled "Farewell." Although I assume there will be bug fixes and such being rolled through every once in a while. Pros: (At least 2 reasons) Amazing soundtrack by Lena Raine, even if you don't want to play the game you should listen to it. Caters both to those who would like to relax and those who would rather have a bit of a challenge. Includes an in-game completion timer, so you can keep track of that sort of thing and work towards a PB for a chapter. Cons: (At least 2 reasons) Serious difficulty spikes The game doesn't teach you any of the special dash movements until what seems like the very end Final Thoughts: This game, in my mind, is a masterpiece. Through the collaboration of the developers, artists, and sound team I think you'll be hooked almost immediately. It's a great game to throw down $20.00 (USD) on, definitely worth the price and is on sale fairly often. If you ever see it on sale, don't hesitate to buy it.