Celeste is a game about Madeline. A girl trying to tackle her anxiety and depression by climbing a literal, and, figurative mountain that stands in her way in the form of the insurmountable obstacles that stand not only in her way right in front of her but the battles that she has to fight inside of her own head. In a way, Celeste makes sure to make you understand this by being an extremely hard platformer that will have you dying a lot, but, learning a lot from it along the way and not wanting to give up.

Each time you complete a chapter or complete a hard section of this game, it not only feels deserved but it feels rewarding. Despite being bad at platformers myself (2000 deaths, I didn't do any of the side content) I never felt like giving up because Celeste isn't a game about that. You can take a break and step away and then come back at a time when it's better for you, when it's better for Madeline and for her state of mind.

The game isn't unfair by any means. It doesn't try to pull any gotchas on you or put you into situations where the platforming is nigh impossible or only for veterans of the genre. Yet, it's still challenging in a way to represent that not only are you trying to overcome this hurdle, but, this hurdle itself is synonymous with Madeline's own internal struggles.

Yet, I'm not gonna try to make this review a spoiler-laden one. Celeste as a game is very important. The issues it tackles are given the importance they deserve and are handled in a way that I never thought I would see in a video game. In a way, I'm so very happy that something from my favorite medium was able to not only speak up on these topics but speak up on them in a way that is so very right. Sometimes even jarringly so. Though, don't let that discourage you! This is all praise so far because of the fact that the message it did give me was one that I'm so glad I was able to take away.

Of course, the message Celeste gives to people is always a different one dependent on your situation or who you are as a person. The only thing I can really say is that you should go in and play it yourself! Whether you are bad at platformers or not, this game is a must play for anyone.

Top 3 Ys game and the best of the classic 2D games.

In Memories of Celceta you learn more about Adol, but in this you get to learn more about Adol's travel companion Dogi. It was cool coming to his homeland, seeing the town he grew up in and learning his backstory.

I really loved the story of Chester and Elena and it's one I won't be forgetting any time soon. It definitely pulled at my heartstrings at times and Chester was a really relatable antagonist with a good backstory that I can't elaborate on because of spoilers.

The art design and graphics are really charming and have a very 90s anime style to them. Much like all of Falcom's games from that era.

Combat is the same as Ys: Origin due to being on the same engine, it's a lot more simplistic than newer Ys games where you get skills and can combo and stuff, but simple isn't always a bad thing and it's still a fun system, especially the magic part of it.

Bosses in this game are VERY difficult, some people might not enjoy it, but I'm a masochist so I really enjoyed it. I'll just say tfw your action J-RPG becomes a bullet hell.

Level design was great. Your typical Ys. Lava level, ice level, underground waterway, forest, cave, etc, but even though I've seen these levels many times they're designed well with good platforming sections and secrets to find and are always fun to explore so I never mind the formula.

The MUSIC. Peak Falcom. Among one of my faves of all their games. Incredible. Super catchy melodies, shredding guitars and keyboards that sound like they came straight out of an 80s Yngwie Malmsteen album, beautiful violin pieces as well.

I really don't have any complaints, for a simplistic, old-school low budget J-RPG from the early 2000s, this game is pretty damn great and close to perfection.