I've played a decent amount of precision platformers: namely N++, Dustforce, VVVVV, and some others.
While I don't have as much experience as dedicated fans of the genre, I do know what I like in terms of movement and gamefeel; I grew up on Source Engine movement which is known for offering massive amounts of depth. When I play games that involve movement, I usually know why and how they do or don't feel good.

Celeste is astoundingly responsive. Madeline, the protagonist, has satisfying movement that manages to feel extremely tight without feeling fake and lifeless, partly due to the animation. She's the most fun platformer character I've ever interacted with. Despite only having jumping and dashing for vertical movement options, with the amount of intended and unintended special tech[celeste.ink] in the game (some of which the game teaches you about!), her movement options almost feel unlimited once you learn a solid portion of the tech.
Additionally, all the external factors (except like one or two mechanics) feel great. They're responsive and have great depth to them, appearing multiple times throughout the game to teach the player new ways to interact with them. Even beyond that, there are more ways that you can interact with all of these mechanics that the game doesn't teach you about.

Celeste is a masterclass in good gamefeel and gameplay. I think this video by GMTK does a really good job at explaining why the game feels so good to play.

While mostly pretty simple and straightforward, Celeste's story remains one that I find incredibly empowering and emotional. I won't say too much to avoid spoilers, but it's just really solid. I won't say it's groundbreaking by any means, but it's gripping enough that it enhances the game.

While definitely a challenge, Celeste remains easy to pick up and play. It definitely turned me from someone who sucked at platformers to someone who was doing deathless runs of the chapters. There are plenty of hazards to watch out for, but Celeste makes everything feel like it's your fault, not the game's. Hazards are designed to have a smaller hitbox than they appear but still be enough of a threat to make playing extremely satisfying without the game taking it too easy on you. It goes a long way in reducing frustration in an otherwise difficult game.

Tech is shorthand for techniques; In Celeste, there exists "tech" based on Madeline's moveset. There is some tech that is intended and even taught to the player at certain points in the game, while other tech is unintended but still adds to the skill ceiling of the game without upping the skill floor. These new techniques get added to your ever growing arsenal, allowing for even faster completions or more skillful expressions of movement.

The music is just absolutely gorgeous from start to finish. Each track is perfect for the area it plays in and adds to the themes of that level, enhancing it. Lena Raine is insanely talented and deserves all of the fame she has and more.
On sound design, I'd say it's just overall really good. Most sounds are super cute (especially dialogue) but have the ability to be recontextualized and given a different appearance. For example, even though the dialogue sounds are super cute, in other moments, it can be heartwrenching or even stressing. Also, all sounds for the various mechanics remain distinct while remaining cohesive (except for Kevins/thwomps).

The game mostly uses pixel art, which while overused in the industry, I find still looks absolutely stunning. Instead of using more pixel art for the menu, it actually combines multiple other artstyles, which ends up working extremely well. The animators' use of animation techniques breathe new life into the pixel art and make it far more interesting and satisfying.

Celeste has a wide variety of accessibility and customization that allows for granular control on how the game plays. GMTK does a really great video on why Celeste's assist mode is so special, so I'll let him tell you why. The options allow for multiple types of bindings and the ability to turn off or on various features of the game, like screenshake.
There's also a large modding community that still is going strong to this day. There are ton of mods for all kinds of players, and even entire custom campaigns that take 30+ hours to finish easily, all with their own custom music and assets. It's really astounding.
Also, if you are interested in or are a speedrunner or TASer, this game is a perfect game to speedrun and also to start with. It's very based around user skill and features next to no randomness, and the game has many built in features for speedrunners to make it easy to try and speedrun.

• Getting a better boost on the bumper (something that the game expects you to understand) is not easily understandable compared to the other mechanics; however, this is different for each person on whether or not which ones you're able to grasp the deeper meaning of it through experimentation and gameplay. I definitely didn't on my first playthrough
  
• Kevin's sound effects feel mildly out of place compared to the rest of the mechanics in the game
  
• One block in Farewell results in confusion (the kevin coin room) where you assume the rest of the blocks of the same texture next to it aren't breakable even though they are
  
• Some strawberries are extremely poorly placed and offer no challenge to get to them. They don't teach you anything either
  
• The "point of no returns" that Celeste puts you through are really stupid 99% of the time; Sometimes it's not 100% clear if there will be a point of no return at certain parts and you're just stuck with it instead of being able to go back (often you would want to go back to explore for collectibles or to check other pathways)

This review does not do Celeste justice. The game is just truly a masterpiece. The level of quality and polish present in Celeste is astounding, and along with easy to install mods and custom levels, you could easily never stop playing it.

On a personal note, I'd like to share my journey with Celeste. The game helped me a lot with growing emotionally and mentally, as well as treating others and myself kinder, so I'd like to share how far I went with the game that Steam achievements don't really track.

My Celeste Spreadsheet[docs.google.com]

[h1]Celeste is probably the best platformer ever.[/h1] [h3]Background[/h3] I've played a decent amount of precision platformers: namely N++, Dustforce, VVVVV, and some others. While I don't have as much experience as dedicated fans of the genre, I do know what I like in terms of movement and gamefeel; I grew up on Source Engine movement which is known for offering massive amounts of depth. When I play games that involve movement, I usually know why and how they do or don't feel good. [h2]Gameplay and Gamefeel[/h2] Celeste is [b]astoundingly responsive[/b]. Madeline, the protagonist, has satisfying movement that manages to feel extremely tight without feeling fake and lifeless, partly due to the animation. She's the most fun platformer character I've ever interacted with. Despite only having jumping and dashing for vertical movement options, with the [url=https://celeste.ink/wiki/Techniques]amount of intended and unintended special tech[/url] in the game (some of which the game teaches you about!), her movement options almost feel unlimited once you learn a solid portion of the tech. Additionally, all the external factors (except like one or two mechanics) feel great. They're responsive and have great depth to them, appearing multiple times throughout the game to teach the player new ways to interact with them. Even beyond that, there are more ways that you can interact with all of these mechanics that the game [i]doesn't[/i] teach you about. Celeste is a masterclass in good gamefeel and gameplay. I think [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yorTG9at90g]this video by GMTK[/url] does a really good job at explaining why the game feels so good to play. [h2]Story[/h2] While mostly pretty simple and straightforward, Celeste's story remains one that I find incredibly empowering and emotional. I won't say too much to avoid spoilers, but it's just really solid. I won't say it's groundbreaking by any means, but it's gripping enough that it enhances the game. [h2]Difficulty and Tech[/h2] While definitely a challenge, Celeste remains easy to pick up and play. It definitely turned me from someone who sucked at platformers to someone who was doing deathless runs of the chapters. There are plenty of hazards to watch out for, but Celeste makes everything feel like it's your fault, not the game's. Hazards are designed to have a smaller hitbox than they appear but still be enough of a threat to make playing extremely satisfying without the game taking it too easy on you. It goes a long way in reducing frustration in an otherwise difficult game. Tech is shorthand for techniques; In Celeste, there exists "tech" based on Madeline's moveset. There is some tech that is intended and even taught to the player at certain points in the game, while other tech is unintended but still adds to the skill ceiling of the game without upping the skill floor. These new techniques get added to your ever growing arsenal, allowing for even faster completions or more skillful expressions of movement. [h2]Music & Sound Design[/h2] The music is just absolutely gorgeous from start to finish. Each track is perfect for the area it plays in and adds to the themes of that level, enhancing it. Lena Raine is insanely talented and deserves all of the fame she has and more. On sound design, I'd say it's just overall really good. Most sounds are super cute (especially dialogue) but have the ability to be recontextualized and given a different appearance. For example, even though the dialogue sounds are super cute, in other moments, it can be heartwrenching or even stressing. Also, all sounds for the various mechanics remain distinct while remaining cohesive (except for Kevins/thwomps). [h2]Visuals[/h2] The game mostly uses pixel art, which while overused in the industry, I find still looks absolutely stunning. Instead of using more pixel art for the menu, it actually combines multiple other artstyles, which ends up working extremely well. The animators' use of animation techniques breathe new life into the pixel art and make it far more interesting and satisfying. [h2]Accessibility, Options, and Misc[/h2] Celeste has a wide variety of accessibility and customization that allows for granular control on how the game plays. [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NInNVEHj_G4]GMTK does a really great video on why Celeste's assist mode is so special[/url], so I'll let him tell you why. The options allow for multiple types of bindings and the ability to turn off or on various features of the game, like screenshake. There's also a large modding community that still is going strong to this day. There are ton of mods for all kinds of players, and even entire custom campaigns that take 30+ hours to finish easily, all with their own custom music and assets. It's really astounding. Also, if you are interested in or are a speedrunner or TASer, this game is a perfect game to speedrun and also to start with. It's very based around user skill and features next to no randomness, and the game has many built in features for speedrunners to make it easy to try and speedrun. [h2]Cons[/h2] [list] [*] Getting a better boost on the bumper (something that the game expects you to understand) is not easily understandable compared to the other mechanics; however, this is different for each person on whether or not which ones you're able to grasp the deeper meaning of it through experimentation and gameplay. I definitely didn't on my first playthrough [*] Kevin's sound effects feel mildly out of place compared to the rest of the mechanics in the game [*] One block in Farewell results in confusion (the kevin coin room) where you assume the rest of the blocks of the same texture next to it aren't breakable even though they are [*] Some strawberries are extremely poorly placed and offer no challenge to get to them. They don't teach you anything either [*] The "point of no returns" that Celeste puts you through are really stupid 99% of the time; Sometimes it's not 100% clear if there will be a point of no return at certain parts and you're just stuck with it instead of being able to go back (often you would want to go back to explore for collectibles or to check other pathways) [/list] [h3]Conclusion[/h3] This review does not do Celeste justice. The game is just truly a masterpiece. The level of quality and polish present in Celeste is astounding, and along with easy to install mods and custom levels, you could easily never stop playing it. [h2]My Own Journey[/h2] On a personal note, I'd like to share my journey with Celeste. The game helped me a lot with growing emotionally and mentally, as well as treating others and myself kinder, so I'd like to share how far I went with the game that Steam achievements don't really track. [url=https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14mS5_LSbL-bCF7kGHXVvfIn_w3sWQbGcVYtQPxawaDM/edit?usp=sharing]My Celeste Spreadsheet[/url]