this is my favorite game of all time. i grew up with mario so naturally im a big fan of platformers. ive called multiple games masterpieces, but this is the only one where i TRULY think that its a masterpiece. theres nothing i dont like about it. the music is goated and the reason why lena raine is my favorite composer. the gameplay is extremely simple but it has an incredibly high skill ceiling. the story is about mental struggles the main character is faced with, which includes anxiety and depression, with you, climbing a mountain, being a metaphor of getting past those struggles. all of this brilliantly woven into a challenging platformer.

i originally bought and beat this in jan 2019, and came back to it in jan 2021. this game changed my life. i dont mean this in the way you think. most games i played before 2020, including this one, i would either complete, or i would get stuck somewhere/the game was too hard, which made me never play it again. this was a common occurrence. theres a LOT of games where this happened to me. celeste is the first one that i came back to and immediately wanted to 100%, which i did and was very proud of. ever since then, i have challenged myself in other games where i wouldnt have otherwise if celeste didnt 'cure' me of this issue i had when i was younger.

when i replayed it in jan 2021, i didnt hold this same passion i do now. when i 100% the game i liked it more. once i played modded maps i liked it more. after a plethora of replays, i liked it more. this and a couple of other games are the only games where i replay it multiple times to a point where everytime i even think about the game it makes me want to replay it. writing this review makes me want to replay it. if i look at this review in the future and rewrite it for the 6th time, i will probably replay it. every replay makes me like the game so much more even though i have already seen everything the game has to offer.

i can say a lot about celeste but i cant put what i really think about it into words because i just love it that much. theres a reason its been my favorite game for multiple years. multiple games have got close, but celeste is still a step above.