itch.io

Celeste became one of my all time favorite games when I picked it up on the switch earlier this year. I'll preface this by saying that I struggle with a fairly severe anxiety disorder that plagues me day by day. With that being said, Celeste is the first video game that actually helped my anxiety in a genuine way. Not helped like how most video games are a form of escapism, but truly helped me overcome and process my anxiety while going through the game. Celeste beautifully weaves a story of the protagonist overcoming her fears and insecurities with small text based story tidbits, but really cements the theme with the brilliant use of metaphor.  As Celeste fights to conquer her anxiety she is literally fighting to climb the mountain. This really resonated with me. I was conquering my fears and scaling my own mountain while persistently battling the mountain in the game.  The execution of this theme was so well done, and tie that together with super solid game play mechanics and controls as stated above and to me you have a masterpiece.  I'll never forget my playthrough of Celeste and what it has taught me!