It was a very good year for game aficionados: 2018 saw the release of God of War, Red Dead 2, and Spider-Man. Yet I’m mildly shocked to say that my GOTY may actually be… Celeste.
(I reserve the right to amend this determination once I’ve actually finished RDR2 and had a little time to reflect on them all at a distance.)
In part that may be because it’s the rare brutally-difficult game that is actually feasible for an employed person over 30 to finish. I love the Soulsbournes, but I’ve yet to finish one, because I invariably end up having to leave them alone for a couple weeks halfway through...
…then equally invariably return to find I’ve lost the knack (and forgotten the relevant patterns), while having progressed far enough that I’ve fallen way off any conceivable learning curve.
Celeste is short enough in total length to be realistically polished off in a week or two of moderate play, lends itself very nicely to being played in 30 minute increments, and has simple enough core mechanics that you can get back on the horse pretty quickly after a break.
The level design is incredibly smart and economical, and the sparse but affecting story harmonizes beautifully with the play mechanics. (Do we call that “ludonarrative consonance”?)
