Despite my love for video games, more often than not I’m completely awful at them. A few years back this lack of skill was made overly apparent to me as I struggled to make my way through the archery combat platformer, TowerFall Ascension. Today the TowerFall developer, Matt Makes Games, released their next tenacious platformer, Celeste. A game which I had already written-off, knowing my skill would force me to only be able to appreciate from afar. At least that’s what I thought until I caught word of a new feature making the experience slightly more accessible.

Celeste's "Assist Mode" is such a clever way of making a difficult game accessible to a wider audience. It's framed perfectly too – not insulting, not condescending, just accepting. pic.twitter.com/errjcE5TcQ

— Matt Rolycoly (@matt_roly) January 25, 2018

Understanding the various levels of gamers, Celeste developers included an “Assist Mode” allowing players to alter the experience precisely to their skill level. When activated, “Assist Mode” gives players access to changing the game speed, toggling infinite stamina, and even full-blown invincibility.

Prior to adjusting the settings, players are greeted with a message warning players that the “difficulty is essential to the experience,” as well as that developers “recommend playing without ‘Assist Mode’ your first time.”

So far I’ve only spent a handful of time with Celeste, but even in the early stages, I can feel the pressure of the game’s difficulty. As someone who has refused to even look at a controller if games like Super Meat Boy were on the screen in the past. The inclusion of an “Assist Mode” is a feature I would love to see more games include, in an effort to avoid alienating potential players.

Celeste was released today on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Throughout the day the game has received raving reviews, even gaining a perfect masterpiece score from the popular gaming news site IGN.

Source: Reset Era