celeste saved my life. so did dark souls but this isn't about them. celeste made me love myself and made me realize how wonderful life would be if I would embrace the part of me I was suppressing, I played this game in quarantine, I was talking to nobody, constantly suicidal but still I played videogames. it seemed like the only consistent thing in my life. when I started Celeste I loved the snappy controls and neat art style but quickly got frustrated with the challenge, and while I won't go into my experience with every level (although I definitely could) I ended up appreciating the challenge, enjoying my anger and accepting it. and in the end, I turned out to be a girl (lol) no but seriously I went on a mental journey with Madeline, and it helped me realize how happy I could be if I just truly embraced myself

i am so mixed on this game, on one hand it tells in my opinion one of the greatest stories in gaming history, and on the other it plays like it was made in 2010. the outdated level design that will fail you if you try to do anything, the same exact shoot guys, ride horse for 5 min, shoot more guys and rinse and repeat for the entire game is exhausting, the shooting mechanics which haven't been changed since the original game that came out on Xbox 360. i love this game because it created characters I think about constantly and a story that still makes me shed a tear this many years later, but I will never play it again, ever.