Celeste

Celeste is a 2018 platformer video game developed and published by indie studio Maddy Makes Games. It stars the player character Madeline, a young woman with anxiety and depression who endeavors to climb Celeste Mountain. During her climb, she encounters several characters, including a personification of her self-doubt, which the community has named Badeline, who attempts to stop her from reaching the mountain’s summit. Celeste takes place on a fictional version of Celeste Mountain containing several areas. It is seemingly haunted, housing many strange occurrences. The protagonist, a young woman named Madeline, decides to climb the mountain to challenge her anxiety, stubbornly persisting until she reaches its summit. 

Upon arriving at the mountain’s base, she meets an elderly woman called Granny, who warns her against climbing it. After ignoring her advice, Madeline encounters an abandoned city wherein she meets Theo, a social media-obsessed traveler from Seattle. In the next area, Madeline experiences a nightmare in which she encounters a part of herself in the mirror, a personification of her anxiety and depression called “Badeline”, who chases her out of the area. Badeline doubts Madeline’s ability to successfully reach the summit, and says she will stop Madeline from continuing to save her from climbing unprepared, describing herself as Madeline’s “pragmatic part”.

Madeline then enters the Celestial Resort and meets Oshiro. Oshiro, a ghost who owns the abandoned resort, struggles to leave his past behind and lives in denial. He tries to convince Madeline to stay and improve the resort’s poor condition. After she agrees, Badeline appears and taunts Oshiro, saying that Madeline only helped him to fuel her own ego. Believing Badeline, he becomes enraged and chases Madeline out of the resort. After navigating a windy area, Madeline reaches Theo at a gondola lift. Badeline halts the gondola’s motion, causing Madeline to have a panic attack; Theo helps to calm her down. The two arrive at an ancient temple, where Theo gets trapped inside a crystal until Madeline frees him. After speaking to Theo, Madeline gains the confidence to confront Badeline and says she wants to abandon her.

In retaliation, Badeline throws her down the mountain. Madeline then finds Granny, who suggests that she seek resolution instead of abandonment. Madeline then searches for Badeline, and after a chase, Madeline apologizes to her. The two reconcile and vow to climb together. After reaching the summit, they enjoy a strawberry pie with Granny, Theo, and Oshiro. Celeste is a two-dimensional platform game. The player controls Madeline, who has the ability to run, jump, climb walls for a limited time, wall jump, and dash in mid-air in one of eight directions. Certain objects grant Madeline additional abilities. Green gems refill her dash ability without the need to land on the ground. 

Other objects include “dream blocks” that transport her from one side to another when dashed into, moving blocks that can transfer their momentum to Madeline when jumped off of, bubbles that move her when touched, and platforms that move after she dashes. The difficulty can be lowered through the use of an “Assist Mode”, a setting that provides accessibility options including a lowered game speed, unlimited use of the dash ability, or the option to grant Madeline invincibility. The base game consists of eight chapters and a free DLC that are all divided into multiple single-screen challenges, with checkpoints in between screens. Chapters contain branching paths that lead to optional challenges and hidden collectibles, including strawberries, cassette tapes, and crystal hearts that unlock gates in levels. 

Some chapters contain a boss character. Each of the eight chapters has a “B-side” level that reuses mechanics from the main level to create a more difficult experience. B-side levels can be unlocked by locating the hidden cassette tape in its corresponding level. After completing all eight B-sides, “C-side” levels are unlocked that are shorter in length but with increased difficulty. The Farewell expansion adds a ninth chapter with no B-side or C-side and no ordinary strawberries, and adds grabbable jellyfish that function as parachutes, exploding pufferfish that can launch Madeline, and “double-dash” gems that give Madeline two dashes when collected.