I’m not a particularly eclectic gamer. Until about 2017 I played a lot of Dota 2. Before that it was Starcraft 2 and Starcraft. There are a few franchises where I’ll generally pick up a new release, particulary Zelda. About 2 years ago I picked up Celeste, and it’s been my main game since. I feel like my time with Celeste is coming to a close, so I wanted to put together some reflections on this magnificent game.
As I’ve previously written, I’ve had some really positive experiences with hard video games. But this has mostly been about “problem solving”. Moments where execution became challenging were singularly unenjoyable. The infamous Rohta Chigah shrine in Breath of the Wild took me nearly an hour to complete and basically brought me to tears. I just did not understand the appeal of struggling like that with something in a game. What’s the point of figuring out a puzzle, but just being punished for failing to execute?
Given this background, it’s mad that I even bought Celeste. I understood that it was part of a genre of punishing platformers. But I suppose I was just in a (rare) moment where I wanted to try something new. And besides, I could always cheat and just play for the story.
The prologue pep talk
It was in those first couple of minutes where Celeste gave me something truly memorable. At the end of the prologue, as Madeline recovers from a near-death experience, the game offers you the following.
I found this really affecting. What a truly wonderful thing to say to someone playing your video game. “You can do this”. It’s everything you need when you set out with a game like this. It’s a promise that this is within your powers. It’s a challenge to really try your hardest. And it’s a vote of confidence in your emotional strength. Even years later I just think it’s so powerful.
I took a poke around in the settings and found “assist mode”, which promises take the edge off the game’s difficulty. But again, gently, the game invites you to contemplate this option:
This is, again, absolutely pitch perfect. Assist mode is about making the challenging but rewarding experience of this game accessible for everyone. But the game is supposed to be challenging, and that’s what makes it rewarding.
These two screens are incredibly effective at communicating their intended meaning. I came into this game fully expecting to find it unpleasantly hard, and to use assist mode extensively. But in 3 sentences of punchy, clear and friendly language, the author has brought me around to their way of thinking. And they’ve given me a 4 word pep talk that ended up carrying me through 2 years of gameplay: “you can do this”.
Levelling up in Celeste
In Celeste, Madeline doesn’t level up. You do.
There aren’t any skill points that get allocated to particular abilities. You don’t pick up better weapons. There’s no golden armour that makes a previously impossible game area manageable. Sure, Madeline “levels up” at one point in the game. But the thing that scales is you.
When you start out, some screens feel impossible. This screen in Old Site, where you’re chased by Madeline’s alter-ego “Badeline” around the screen would have taken me an hour or more on my first try.
But the grinding challenge of these screens, the reward of finishing them, and the little pep talk after the prologue keep you going. Somehow, over hours and years, you gain the ability to pull off maddeningly hard manoeuvres. And it becomes so fun. Here I am finally completing the infamous spike-comb room. Not included: 2 hours of attempts leading up to this one!
Going fast
In a previous life (before full-time work) I spent a lot of time watching speedruns. But I never really tried to do it myself before I got Celeste. The Any% category is achievable in a single sitting without a huge amount of practise. Eventually I got my run down to under and hour and even submitted it to speedruns.com where it was briefly in the top 2000 runs!
Obviously since it’s a speedrun, you skip the cutscenes. But as you set out on yet another attempt to complete the game, there’s one little screen you can’t skip. One message this wonderful game will give you every time you set out to get better. “You can do this”.