Author Topic: Celeste (Read 10512 times)

Shay Chaise · « **on:** January 26, 2018, 07:00:33 AM »

A pixelated retro platformer, inspired by Super Meat Boy? Yawn?

Best game of the year so far. The controls are fantastic, the level design is brilliant, challenging but never infuriating (yet), soundtrack is an instant classic for me. It's gorgeous, feels extremely responsive and fun to manoeuvre your way around the screens through a combination of air dash, wall hang/climbing, wall jumps and physics boosts. Lovely little story so far, some funny bits. It's an absolute belter.

Madhair, surely this will be up your street.

brat-sampson · « **Reply #1 on:** January 26, 2018, 07:38:01 AM »

Lazy paste from the Switch thread: The platforming is tight as hell, there's a good level of challenge and a lot of optional secrets/'remixed' ultra-hard stages, the writing's good and the music's excellent.

But yeah, it reminds me a lot right off the bat of both IWBTG fangames (with the occasional routing and jump/dash reset pellets) and The End is Nigh, McMillan's Meatboy followup that also focused on single screen stages and even showcased some similar mechanics. The directional dash and the climbing make the game a whole new beast though. There's also elements of N++ at times and some other aspects that are entirely new. Easily one of the 2D platforming greats, and I'm only on Chapter 3.

Thursday · « **Reply #2 on:** January 26, 2018, 10:29:32 AM »

Didn't really get along with Meat Boy, but this has a nice tone to it, mysterious with a light humour, and the assist mode means i'm not going to have to completely give up because i'm not great at these types of games.

buntyman · « **Reply #3 on:** January 26, 2018, 02:11:44 PM »

It's getting some high review scores. From the videos I've watched it looks very similar to Super Meat Boy but not as appealing, especially visually. I haven't tried Cuphead yet so might go for that one first.

Shay Chaise · « **Reply #4 on:** January 26, 2018, 02:39:06 PM »

10/10 from IGN and Destructiod is no joke, certainly, and especially for an indie game. Compared to Meat Boy, it's far prettier and more varied, aesthetically, mechanically and in terms of level design. I didn't absolutely adore Meat Boy but I think it's a defining moment for the genre. This arguably doesn't have and won't have the same impact, not least because the Meat Boy characters are so iconic, but in terms of pure gameplay, music and graphics, it's better.

Cuphead is something completely different, to be honest. It's a muscle memory twitchy kind of thing but it's more like a bullet hell shmup than a platformer. Admittedly, it's probably one of the best games ever from an artistic direction point of view.

Thursday · « **Reply #5 on:** January 26, 2018, 03:17:52 PM »

Hmm I've enjoyed what i've played so far but multiple 10/10's seems a bit odd.

Thursday · « **Reply #6 on:** January 27, 2018, 01:53:03 PM »

Was stuck and confused on chapter 4 until I looked up a playthrough and realised you could manipulate the direction of the blocks somewhat. Absolutely nothing in the game gave me a hint towards that. There were a couple of mechanics where I've only worked things out by accident. Like momentum jumps and what the green gems do. Not a massive deal, but just little things that knock it down a bit for me.

brat-sampson · « **Reply #7 on:** January 28, 2018, 10:41:06 AM »

God, I fucking love this. It's not typically my genre, but the difficulty level, quality of gameplay, music and writing are *all* stunning. I don't mind dealing with mysterious new mechanics like flying strawberries or yellow pips. It's part of the fun to work that stuff out, and anything super-obscure tends to get pointed out by the crow (e.g. the Chapter 2 B-side boost-jump mechanic)

Shay Chaise · « **Reply #8 on:** January 28, 2018, 12:24:22 PM »

I'm not massively into this kind of thing, either. I would take Isaac over Meat Boy every single time but this is probably the best platformer of this kind I've ever played. I got really into N+ for a good while but it's very bare bones (albeit deliberately). I like SMB quite a lot. I quite like TEIN. None of them has this combination of art, music and mechanical depth. I've been playing a bit of Bleed on the Switch over the last week or so. It's a superb twin stick platforming shooter with witch time and triple dash and it's a corking little game, basically. Movement feels excellent - or rather, it felt excellent until I went back after playing Celeste and it feels quite cheap and clunky.

I wouldn't give it a 10 because I'm not that into this kind of intense 2D platforming but it's as perfect as the genre has ever been.

madhair60 · « **Reply #9 on:** January 29, 2018, 11:08:07 PM »

Quote from: Shay Chaise on January 26, 2018, 07:00:33 AM

Madhair, surely this will be up your street.

Yeah, I've been hammering this cunt's games since Jumper. Picked this up an hour ago, quality as you like so far. Controls are perfect. Main character is cute. Level design is as good as I've come to expect from Matt Thorson.

Edit: Bleed is one of my favourite games of its type, ever. Go back and stick it on Very Hard mode. You will fall completely under its spell.

madhair60 · « **Reply #10 on:** February 02, 2018, 08:47:55 AM »

Hmm, the third stage was a bit on the annoying side but stage 4 was close to being shit. Swore at the screen loads. Finicky gimmicks like the bubbles and clouds don't really mix well with this sort of masocore platforming.

brat-sampson · « **Reply #11 on:** February 03, 2018, 12:21:59 AM »

Nah, they do, they mix things up whilst being entirely predictable. Swearing at the screen is obviously a standard in this kind of thing, but I don't think there's anything in this game you could accuse of being unfair.

P.S. all of the mechanics get abused a whole ton more in the optional content, which the main game does nothing but essentially prepare you for...

Moribunderast · « **Reply #12 on:** February 03, 2018, 03:04:45 AM »

I don’t know why I always get sucked into these games as I can never complete them (which the OCD side of me fucking hates) but while I can progress I tend to have a very good time. Decided to pick this up due to the ludicrously positive reviews and am enjoying it so far. Still very early on (Chapter 2) and feel stuck. I don’t mind the “work it out for yourself” element of introducing new aspects with no explanation but there are a few things I find hard to grasp, like the dash jump seems inconsistent (I’m probably mistaken but I feel like I’ve had scenarios where I can dash jump whilst climbing and yet other times I can’t).

Still, this is clearly very good within it’s genre. Like Cuphead, I’ll no doubt love getting through it until I reach the inevitable wall. I wish I could be better at these twitchy games. Point-n-click adventures are more my speed though.

Shay Chaise · « **Reply #13 on:** February 03, 2018, 03:26:49 AM »

Pay attention to your hair colour if you can't dash.

madhair60 · « **Reply #14 on:** February 03, 2018, 04:58:00 PM »

Quote from: brat-sampson on February 03, 2018, 12:21:59 AM

Nah, they do, they mix things up whilst being entirely predictable. Swearing at the screen is obviously a standard in this kind of thing, but I don't think there's anything in this game you could accuse of being unfair.

I had to switch to the (awkward Xbox 360 for windows, not the game's fault) D-pad to make the bubbles so much as look in the right direction. I think throwing those, the clouds and the wind into one chapter was a big misfire - too many finicky, frustrating mechanics at once.

I'm amazing at platform games so don't ever challenge my opinion again yeah cheers

brat-sampson · « **Reply #15 on:** February 03, 2018, 06:05:14 PM »

Finished the main game this morning. Lovely. There's still a huge amount to find and do if I feel like it, but the difficulty definitely shoots up when it comes to these B-Side levels, more awkward strawberries and finding hearts? Which are apparently in the game even though I only ever saw one and it was gated behind other stuff I never found... This game goes deep.

madhair60 · « **Reply #16 on:** February 03, 2018, 08:09:15 PM »

I found something on the first stage that was Fez-esque in its puzzling.

Bhazor · « **Reply #17 on:** February 04, 2018, 12:55:07 AM »

Do you mean the satelite dish?

madhair60 · « **Reply #18 on:** February 04, 2018, 11:19:15 PM »

Moribunderast · « **Reply #19 on:** February 06, 2018, 12:54:15 PM »

Just finished Chapter 5. Still really enjoying this - finding it extremely addictive. It's mostly very responsive so when you fuck up you do feel like the blame is on you. I'm also enjoying the little story that's being parceled out and the complimentary way the game goes about encouraging you despite being occasionally difficult.

But fuck those fish things from Chapter 5. Fuck them in their stupid faces.

Bhazor · « **Reply #20 on:** February 06, 2018, 03:54:18 PM »

Just finished this and I loved it. Especially how it made failure and perseverance into a plot point.

That said it did go from enjoyable to bullshit in a couple places. Mostly to do with the wind sections which are quickly replacing ice levels for my most hated type of level. I hated them when Mario Bros 2 did it. I hated them when Meat Boy did it. I also think the jump from normal to B side is a bit much. I think that Super Meat Boy handled its dark world difficulty progression much better.

madhair60 · « **Reply #21 on:** February 07, 2018, 08:24:47 AM »

Introducing the clouds, bubbles, wind and moving blocks on the same chapter was a huge misfire.

Finished this now, done the first four B-sides.

Moribunderast · « **Reply #22 on:** February 08, 2018, 06:29:05 AM »

Well, even though bits had me frustrated (the wind and fish fuckers, mainly) the game is clearly very well-designed and fair because I, who is shit at platformers, managed to complete the thing. Really lovely game. Not sure I see it as a 10/10 thing, though I'm guessing that rating comes from people who adore platforming games and/or were emotionally nourished by the story. It does feel like a personal endeavour from the creator/s and the game is very inclusive and encouraging despite being quite difficult. I never used the Assist Mode but I'm glad it's there for people who get stuck and want to experience the full thing.

Has to be said (or repeated) that the soundtrack is perfect, as well. The last year or so we've had some really amazing video game soundtracks and this is the latest example.

I'll take a break from this now but I am tempted to go back and try to get more of the strawberries or sample the b-sides, even though they sound like a nightmare.

madhair60 · « **Reply #23 on:** February 08, 2018, 08:42:41 AM »

The story sort of fucked me off a bit. Just felt like Indie Game 101. Theo pissed me off, tedious wank.

Kelvin · « **Reply #24 on:** February 08, 2018, 04:32:15 PM »

Bought this. Played though the first proper level.

Very impressed so far. Controls are very tight, which is a must for me. Music and atmosphere are great. Could do without the banjo kazooie voices, but whatever.

brat-sampson · « **Reply #25 on:** February 08, 2018, 04:47:19 PM »

Working my way back through mopping up strawberries. I feel like they're all a lot easier than the fucking b-sides, of which I've managed to find three and finish one. Rough.

Kelvin · « **Reply #26 on:** February 10, 2018, 03:39:18 PM »

Hoo dawgy! The music in this game is fantastic! The way it added layers to the theme of the hotel as you progressed was just wonderful.

Absolutely loving this game so far.

Kelvin · « **Reply #27 on:** February 10, 2018, 11:36:39 PM »

Quote from: madhair60 on February 02, 2018, 08:47:55 AM

Finicky gimmicks like the bubbles and clouds don't really mix well with this sort of masocore platforming.

Totally agree. Been playing level 4 for a while tonight, and the cloud timing and bubbles do indeed feel needlessly fiddly and imprecise. The former reminds me of the worst, most annoying mechanic in 2D mario:

brat-sampson · « **Reply #28 on:** February 11, 2018, 12:20:38 AM »

In the main game the only time you're really in trouble in with the pink clouds, the white ones you can mess up the timing as much as you want because they're not going anywhere. Bubbles I think are fine, you just point in the right direction and get a boost. Done..

Kelvin · « **Reply #29 on:** February 11, 2018, 12:22:47 AM »

Quote from: brat-sampson on February 11, 2018, 12:20:38 AM

In the main game the only time you're really in trouble in with the pink clouds, the white ones you can mess up the timing as much as you want because they're not going anywhere.

It's the clouds that are the real ballache, in fairness.

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Author Topic: Celeste (Read 10512 times)