CELESTE

CLIMB EV’RY MOUNTAAAAIN... From $29.95 | PC, PS4, XO, Switch | celestegame.com

Celeste is a pixel-art platformer that teeters on the edge of compulsion and frustration. It’s obvious from the outset, when protagonist Madeline tells an old woman of her ambition to climb the titular peak, and the woman’s mocking laughter follows her into the next screen. This makes us all the more keen to prove her wrong. At times, however, you’ll question whether you really are going to make it, since Celeste’s challenge is as vertiginous as its peaks. Yet while it does occasionally tease that there’s much worse to come, it knows when to give you an encouraging pat on the back, too. As your death counter rises, a postcard reminds you to be proud of it: these mistakes are part of the learning process. This is a place of treacherous caverns and windswept cliffs, but you’ll also visit a hotel with a spectral concierge, a labyrinthine temple and a cave of waterfalls and crystalline formations. Madeline’s precarious mental state becomes a mystery in itself: the altitude might be playing a part, but the mountain seems to be bringing the demons in her head to life, and you’ll be rooting for her to overcome them. She must conquer these challenges without pitons, crampons, or any kind of hiking gear. All she has is a jump, a dash and the ability to scuttle up vertical surfaces as long as her grip holds. Some platforms can be steered as she rides them, others shift across or up as you land or grip on to them, while floating bubbles shoot her in a direction of your choosing before popping. For the most part, these are single-screen challenges, beginning and ending with a patch of safe ground. Some surfaces bristle with thin, red tendrils that expand into a deadly mass shortly after contact, forcing you to jump away. There are set-piece chases, too. There are even puzzle sections that require careful exploration and collectables. The controls are exquisitely calibrated, usually affording you some leeway when your timing isn’t quite perfect. Conquering this game’s most knuckle-whitening tests is a cause for relief and celebration.