Some moments in gaming are just so amazing or terrifying or shocking that we just can’t forget about them.  Others are accompanied by such fitting music that the whole scene is elevated to a new level.  It shouldn’t be surprising then that, sometimes, both of these things coincide for the very peak of gaming moments.  Pun intended.  Celeste is a game about mountain climbing and overcoming our inner demons, and the main story culminates in Madeline ascending to the summit of Celeste Mountain.  It’s brutally difficult, yet oh, so satisfying.  Not only was this a truly memorable moment, but the music really completed this level in a way that a lesser tune never could.  If you haven’t completed Celeste, you might want to avoid the next paragraph, as it contains spoilers.

In chapter 6, Madeline’s battle against her other half, Badeline, sends her tumbling back down the mountain.  After an exhausting fight, the two finally make up and agree to work together.  But in order for Madeline to reach the summit, she’s going to have to climb the whole mountain all over again!  Now, having a final stage that revisits all the levels that came before it is nothing new.  But the way this game handles it is brilliant.  Not only does it fit well into the story, as you are literally climbing back up the mountain due to your tumble, but prevailing over tougher iterations of every previous chapter really drives home how much you’ve grown over the course of the game!

Chapter 7 is difficult.  Really difficult.  And by the time I got to the final section, exhaustion and the increasing challenges I was facing caused my resolve to falter.  “I can’t do this,” I thought.  “I came all this way…and I don’t think I can do this.”  This level was really stretching my patience thin.  I had overcome a lot over the course of this game.  But the final stretch to the summit was proving to be a bit too much for me.  It was shameful.  It was disappointing.  I couldn’t quit now…but I couldn’t go on, either.

I did ultimately complete the game.  I did ultimately reach the summit.  (In fact, I have since done it again!)  But do you know what kept me going during that first strenuous climb?  The music.  Yes, this song below:

There’s just something so inspiring about this song that it almost brings tears to my eyes.  Music from past levels pops in to accompany the base song, with 8:00 being the moment where you’ve reached that final stretch.  It’s time to do this.  It’s time to make this count.  Listening to that song playing in the background made me rethink quitting.  It made me not want to give up.  Sure, I might need to take a break every now and then when the mountain gets the best of me.  But I kept coming back.  I kept trying again and again.  Just a bit farther.  Let’s at least try to reach the next marker.  Only 7 more to go.  6 more.  5…4…3…

I made it.  I finally reached that summit, so high in the sky that the view is dizzying.  I’m so far up, in fact, that the sun itself sits below me, so close to drifting below the horizon, as if it had paused in setting to eagerly watch my ascent.

Even so, the view isn’t really the reward.  What really matters to me is the sheer fact that I finished the game.  I climbed the mountain, which gave me so much trouble.  I considered calling it quits so many times, especially after reaching the Celestial Resort, where my journey started to really wear on my nerves.  It’s been difficult.  It’s been aggravating.  But above all else, it’s been…

Exhilarating.  I did it.  I didn’t give up…and I did it.  There’s no satisfaction to be had in something easy.  It’s only in overcoming something you never thought you could accomplish that you realize that you’re stronger than you ever thought you were.  Sure, I know that I’m not really the one who climbed the mountain.  Madeline did.  But I was with her every step of the way.  And I grew.  Maybe as much as she did.  Almost as much.

When I first played Celeste, I was still in the middle of a decades-long struggle in my life.  When I returned to the game to collect all the strawberries and reach that summit a second time, I had just begun an arduous, and long-overdue, process that took just over a year to complete.  I can’t get into details, but…that process finished just a few months ago.  It was so difficult and long that it often felt impossible.  I thought it would never be over.  I thought I would just have to give up.

I can’t do this.  I’m not strong enough.  Unlike Madeline, I am no mountain climber.  I can’t even do this, something that should be so much easier than climbing a mountain.  Physically, anyway.  Oh, but it was like climbing a mountain.  Sometimes the challenge was so overwhelming that I just wanted to throw in the towel.  Tell the other side, “Fine, you win.  You’re stronger than me.  More determined than me.  More stubborn than me.”

And then, it’s like you get this second wind.  And the next thing you know, the thing you thought was impossible is over.  Finished.  It’s one of the greatest accomplishments of your life.  I climbed that mountain with Madeline.  And then, when it was my turn, I climbed my own mountain.  And I reached that summit.  I am victorious.

To the one who tried ever so hard to stop me: You couldn’t keep me down.  You tried.  But you failed.  I ultimately prevailed over you.  You sat there before me like a huge, immovable mountain.  And I’ve scaled you, though you threw everything you had into stopping me.  For the first time in my life, I.  Win.

Dear readers, if there’s a mountain in your life that you don’t think you’ll ever be able to scale, don’t give up.  You might need breaks.  It’s okay to rest when you get tired.  It’s okay to cry.  Just don’t give up.  You’ll overcome it one day, no matter how big and how difficult your mountain is.  Celeste taught me this, and now, I’m just passing the message on to you.  Be strong, my friends.  Be courageous.

It may surprise you, but we ALL have what it takes to be mountain climbers.