S4: Complexity Plateau
Celeste features numerous mechanisms, but does so in a constrained way that prevents cognitive overload.
"Path to the Plateau, by cactus, scrub bushes, La Purisma volcanic cone, what a great land sculpture to enjoy, West Coastal, Baja California Sur, Mexico" by Wonderlane is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Celeste, released 2018, developed by Maddy Makes Games + Extremely Ok Games, available on PC, Switch, Xbox, PlayStation, and Mac. This is a 2D game that features no combat. In it, you are using simple traversal mechanisms such as jump, dash, and climb, to navigate highly challenging environments.
I bounce off the parallel platforms to quickly ascend to the next lump of solid ground. It requires careful timing as there are dangerous obstacles moving along my path. When I say it requires careful timing, I really mean it requires perfect timing. These core skills have become routine. Jumping, bouncing, and climbing are well within my wheelhouse. These are my go to tools to climb this mountain.
But, ahead is something new. It’s an oddly shaped, glowing object. The penalty for failure is merely a few seconds delay, so I leap from my safe place and aim my feet for the center of the new object. BOING! I launch into the air and slam into another one. It seems I am now a pinball of sorts. I immediately begin to see how this ties into jumping, bouncing, and climbing, but as with all things on this mountain, I never know fully what the next part of my ascent will entail.
I’m reminded of another game, Ori and the Will of the Wisp, which I think has too many mechanisms. Yes, you got me, I’m cherry picking for the sake of my argument. You jump, double jump, dash, heal, bash the ground, grapple, burrow through sand, launch yourself using a slingshot-like mechanism, dash in the water, and more. Yes, the game gradually incorporates them and does a fine job of instruction. As I drown in the weeds, I begin to lose sight of how cool so many of the individual mechanisms - like the slingshot launch - truly are.
In the previous post I wrote about the importance of Tools, not Power. But, your author has recently acquired the slide ability, which I’m using to traverse a slippery slope. I’m making an amendment: You can have too many tools.
Alas, that is also a bit broad. The brilliant creators of Celeste challenge my assertion by offering an additional wrinkle. You can have as many tools as you want in total, you must simply limit the number you employ at once. More succinctly, they advocate a Complexity Plateau.
Celeste features many of the hallmark capabilities of excellent platform experiences like Super Mario, or standout Metroidvania experiences, like Hollow Knight. But, instead of slowly occupying every button on your controller, they add passive entities to each environment to mimic the experience. You more or less never change or add to the controls after the first minutes of the game. Jump, bounce, and climb are your core tools.
Each chapter introduces one or two new ways to traverse and navigate the environment, while also removing the new methods introduced in the previous chapter. As a result, the player never has to grapple with more than their 3 core tools and 1-2 variations. Some examples include additional jumps, launchers, shifting dimensions, and more.
Each level presents a new wrinkle, and only that wrinkle. Obviously, this is good for accessibility. Players of Celeste - as in Ori - might otherwise reach a point of cognitive overload. At the extreme, this might lead to them quitting and leaving a game entirely. At the other, they may continue, but fall back on the tools they fully understand. In some complex action games (like God of War, Astral Chain), I often find myself using the same 2-3 move combo because it is what I can remember. I know there is more, I want to do more, but my brain is crying uncle.
But, beyond the obvious, is how a cap on complexity paired with the persistent desire for variety leads to constant, delightful surprise. In Celeste, you quickly realize that every chapter will feature an entirely new suite of mechanisms and experiences. New puzzles and new challenges to delight your curiosity but not push your brain beyond the limits.
It is such a perfect balancing act, which is maybe the best description I can apply to such an outstanding platforming game.
The One Cool Thing
Every video game must straddle the line between using what they have, and introducing cool, new stuff. New shiny, or in the case of 2D platforming, new bouncy, is difficult to resist. Both developers and players seem to struggle saying no. Celeste managed to combine both focus and variety and it is such a clever trick.
Ori and the Will of the Wisp is a sushi boat buffet, and it’s quite tasty. But, after a few boats you might be facing rough and overwhelming seas. Celeste is an omakase delight. Every piece of sushi is crafted, delightful, and surprising. You will not experience the same bite again, and you have no idea what is coming next.
At the front end, the Complexity Plateau is a delicious bite of accessibility and respecting a player’s cognitive limits. But, when executed in the manner of Celeste, it is a constant source of surprise, which is a bite of magic.
Preview for Next Time
I hope you’re ready for adventure because we are responding to the Call of the Sea. This beautiful, brief narrative puzzle game contains many mysteries, some of which we will dig into in the next blog post.
Edited by Joshua Buergel