Well, it's been a while. The new decade is here, and the world looks very different to how it did when we last spoke... or even how it did last week. Having just completed my first professional gig in the television industry, I was preparing to bring my career into full swing, but it looks like that's going to have to wait for now. But what am I going to do in the meantime?
Well, there's always Netflix.
While I continue to work on Cleo, I thought I'd bring you a guide to some of the media I've been exploring while I try to keep myself sane. If you're cut off from the rest of the world, what better time could there be to broaden your horizons and experiment with what you watch, read, listen to or play? Until this horrible crisis has passed, I will be using these pages to write a few short passages about the content that's been keeping me busy.
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1. Celeste
Celeste found me towards the start of the outbreak when we weren't in total isolation, but my anxiety at the difficulty of the coming days was already beginning to grow - which turned out to work very much in my favour.
This charming 2D Metroidvania employs all the charm in both its visuals and its mechanics that would feel right at home on your old GameBoy Colour, but with one very human component. You play as Madeline, a modern day millennial who is embarking on a trip up the infamous Celeste Mountain, just to prove to herself that she can. Along the way, you as the player will enter combat with puzzles, machines, monsters - and your own mind. The game challenges you to approach each new obstacle as many times as you'd like, swapping experience points for a death toll as it teaches you to learn from your mistakes. In the characters you meet along the way, you'll meet reflections of yourself (sometimes literally) that will teach you how to manage your own anxiety and self-doubt until you can approach any adversary you are faced with in a new light.
To some, this will simply be a tough-as-nails platformer that you can beat in a day. However, others will find one of the most deeply understanding games of the current generation. In a time where many of us find ourselves facing our growing anxieties, Madeline's journey may be one that a lot of people could benefit from. It's not only the beautiful story that proves how valuable video games are as a modern art form, but also the ingenious game design from lead programmer Matt Thorson (see their incredibly insightful Twitter thread on some of the hidden mechanics here) that is designed to help you as the player in subtle ways and make you realise, in the end, that there is somebody on your side.
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Stay strong everybody. We will reach the top of this mountain if we all help each other! In the meantime, we must continue the climb. Stay at home. Call your friends. Remember you are loved.
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