A review of every level in celeste.

Forsaken City is Celeste's first real level, and also the easiest one of the bunch.

It does a pretty good job of easing a new player into the game's mechanics with a decent level of challenge, while still being fun for a skilled player to speed through. The music's good, has some solid "journey's beginning" feeling to it.

Every A-side has 3 types of optional collectables: Strawberries, Casettes, and Hearts.

Strawberries

A berry just out of the way on the main path.

A berry in its own separate challenge room.

Most berries are normal, but some have wings. Winged berries will fly up off of the screen if you dash.

Strawberries are the most plentiful collectable, and you'll typically have to do a small challenge to get one. Some are just to the side on the main path, and some are tucked away in completely optional side rooms. Snag one and then stand still on safe ground for a moment, and it'll pop into points. And what do those points do? Absolutely nothing! That's right, collecting berries is purely for fun.

Additionally, once unlocked, every level will have a golden Strawberry at its starting point. Once touched, a golden berry will start following you, and force you to restart the whole level if you die. If you manage to reach the end of a level with a golden berry in tow, you'll properly collect it.

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Every level has a cassette tape that unlocks its B-side, and a crystal heart hidden in it. The cassettes are always just off in side rooms with beat-block challenges in them, but the hearts usually have some kind of puzzle hiding them. Forsaken City's is a cute little puzzle about some colored birds and a screen that flashes colors in a specific order.

The cassette room. The blue and pink blocks alternate which ones are solid.

The heart room. The colored birds and flashing screen tell you which directions to dash in.

Also, Theo makes his first appearance here. Theo's fun. I like Theo.