Celeste Game Review: A Game That Tests Your Patience

Celeste is more than just a tough platformer, it’s one of those games that feels perfectly tuned, where every jump, dash, and wall climb clicks just right. The difficulty ramps up fast, but the instant restarts and tight controls make each challenge feel fair, even when it’s throwing everything at you.

There’s a story running underneath all the precision and spikes, something a little more personal that unfolds as you go but it never gets in the way of the gameplay. It’s the kind of game that’s hard, rewarding, and quietly thoughtful all at once.

If you’re into platformers that test your skills and leave you thinking afterward, Celeste is a climb worth taking.

Story 

Madeline’s journey up the mountain mirrors her struggle with anxiety, self-doubt, and the pressure we put on ourselves. It’s not spelled out with long cutscenes or heavy exposition. Instead, the story unfolds naturally through small moments, conversations, setbacks, and quiet reflection.

What makes it hit harder is how much it respects the player. It never talks down to you or over explains what you’re supposed to feel. It just puts you in this space where the challenge is the emotion. You feel the frustration, the triumph, and everything in between right through the gameplay.

And trust me, despite my exhaustive efforts to remain calm, the game got the best of me on more than a few occasions. Luckily my Steam Deck survived my first playthrough of Celeste.

Gameplay

At its core, Celeste is a tough-as-nails platformer that’s all about movement. You get a jump, a dash, and a climb, three simple tools but the game squeezes every bit of challenge and creativity out of them. It’s tight, responsive, and every stage feels like a handcrafted obstacle course where the only way out is through.

You’ll fail a lot but that’s part of the game. Instant respawns make it feel like a learning loop instead of a punishment cycle. The difficulty ramps up steadily, introducing new mechanics at just the right pace, so it always feels fair, even when it’s brutal. When I manage to pass a stage with under 100 deaths, I look at it as an achievement.

There are also optional challenges like strawberries, B-Sides, and C-Sides if you really want to test yourself. But even if you just stick to the main path, it’s a game that respects your time and your patience, rewarding precision and persistence more than perfection.

And yeah, there’s a thing implemented in the game called “Assist mode”, which  in nutshell is a cheat mode. Once you activate it, you can become invincible, increase speed of the game, or even get “infinite” dashes. All of it sounds very fun, doesn’t it? Wrong, if you use it, you’ll beat the game very fast without struggle. Which ultimately leads to the game being boring. 

Conclusion

Even though Celeste is challenging and difficulty might be higher than most games, it’s also rewarding at the same time. Nothing beats the feeling when you pass the stage that you were stuck at. I highly recommend sticking to it and seeing it through. You’ll thank me later. And yeah, it’s a great game if you’re into speedrunning. If you decide to play it, all I can do is wish you good luck.