Celeste

 

Copywrite 2018 Matt Makes Games

Moral: All your feelings are necessary. 

Before writing this post, I thought it would be difficult to discuss Celeste, since games often have limited dialogue in between cutscenes. However, while preparing this post, I realized how clear Celeste's storytelling is and how deep this game goes into its characters. It is an extremely precise story. This is one of the best examples of how a game can tell a story, even in such a short timeframe. Not only is it well written, but the entire game is a metaphor. 

Anxiety is like climbing a mountain, but a part of you is actively fighting against yourself.

The game begins with the main character (who we will call Madeline) arriving at the mountain Celeste. We learn Madeline suffers from anxiety, or at least is struggling and wants to get away from everything. 

Very early on we see a personification of her anxiety. A part of Madeline breaks free. “Badeline” begins trying to sabotage her quest to summit the mountain. Immediately, the two have a conversation where Badeline doubts Madeline’s ability to climb the mountain. This is, of course, Madeline’s own anxious thoughts that she has inside her.

One thing that makes this game so great, is the way it shows internal conflicts in an external way. I will dive more into this below, but for now we can already see the main character’s internal struggle take a physical form (literally).

This begins act two, which involves Madeline’s struggle to conquer the mountain, but more importantly her struggle to fight her anxiety. The further up the mountain she goes, the more her anxiety drags her down.

In this act, we clearly see the differences between the two parts of Madeline. In the hotel, Madeline tries to help Oshiro. Badeline tries to leave as fast as possible, hurting Oshiro’s feelings in the process. Of course, Badeline thinks it's a good thing, asking “where would you be without me?” But the real Madeline was just trying to help.

The game might seem a little strange up to this point, but the old lady explains the purpose: “The mountain shows who you really are.” Celeste brings out what is inside you. The internal becomes physical.

Mr. Oshiro has a monster inside him. 

Madeline has an evil version of herself inside.

It's all a personification of internal issues and it is done really well. Few stories are able to take advantage of poetic devices this way, but that is one of the benefits of video games. You are able to create anything.

A little side note: Oshiro, Theo, and the old lady are all clones for Madeline. They are all on the mountain and all suffer from some sort of internal struggle. In the old lady’s case, it appears she has already overcome her struggle and proves to Madeline that peace of mind can be earned if she conquers the mountain. 

As we continue, Theo gets trapped in his issues. Feeling stress from social media, he is stuck in a glass box with eyeballs staring at him (I love how the game externalizes Theo’s internal struggle). He asks for Madeline’s help, saying “I believe in you.” To which Madeline replies “I hope that’s not a mistake.” I like this interaction because it comes when both Madeline and Theo’s issues are clearly visible. Madeline’s self doubt is obvious from her words and Theo is trapped.

After saving Theo, Madeline thinks she's figured it out. She says that Badeline is all the things she needs to leave behind. Badeline is “cruel, paranoid, and controlling.” She thinks she needs to let it go. But that backfires, and her anxiety gets the better of her. She falls off the mountain. And not just down the mountain, but into a cave below it. This is literally hitting rock bottom (which again, is a phenomenal externalization). Trying to let go of these feelings only made her situation worse.

Madeline thought she figured it out, but ended up stuck. Only at rock bottom was Madeline able to realize that she cannot get rid of those feelings.

After struggling to escape this cave, Madeline learns (with the help of the old lady) she can only move forward together with Badeline. The “bad” parts of her are necessary.

Once Madeline cooperates with her “other” self, then the story is practically over. The rest of the story shows Madeline getting along with herself and successfully reaching the top of the mountain. In fact, we could not summit the mountain without the “bad” parts of Madeline at all. Without that double jump skill we would have been doomed. 

Making peace with herself was the real challenge. Summiting the mountain is just a metaphor of overcoming adversity.

This metaphor cannot be overlooked. While Madeline is on a journey of personal growth, we, the players, are not. While Madeline has an internal struggle, all we can do is move and jump. All we can do is try to climb a mountain. And we summit the mountain only once the internal struggle is completed. It is a fantastic way to display an internal conflict in a physical way, and involve players in a character's emotional journey.

I think this game is a phenomenal example of drama, as all the characters internal struggles are externalized. And it does it all with purpose.

So for everyone out there struggling right now, look within and know that everything your feeling you are feeling for a reason. And for all the writers out there who are struggling, Celeste has proven that externalizing internal struggles is extremely effective. If you want a good example of personification, metaphors, and clone characters, take notes from Celeste.

All parts of you have a purpose.