Celeste: Mirror Temple – Level Design Assessment

The Mirror Temple in Celeste is the fifth chapter of the game, exhibiting a variety of unique mechanics which pop up often in the game’s later levels. The temple itself consists of five sections and each one either introduces a new mechanic or finds creative ways to build off of the existing ones. All the while, players are learning how to use these devices to “solve” the challenges within the Mirror Temple. The level’s overall design is sometimes just as cryptic as the temple’s own aesthetic, forcing players to think outside the box to progress to the next area.

Section One: Start

Almost immediately after starting the level, the player encounters a room with a pretty direct call to action to begin testing out the first new mechanic: dashing platforms (left). These platforms will shoot along a track whenever the Madeline uses her dash. Thanks to the physics system in Celeste, these can be used to jump much higher our launch oneself across a great distance. The bubbles in the Mirror Temple can also help cover great distances when touched, carrying Madeline until it collides with something or she dashes out of it (middle). Colored bright red, they’re easily distinguishable and convey to the player that there is something in the distance which they can travel to. The early stages are not overly complex and give the player a smooth learning curve to better understand these new mechanics, however, they also require the player to think in novel ways to solve seemingly simple rooms (such as dashing through a tight gap, as shown in the rightmost picture).

Section Two: Depths

As you venture deeper into the temple, things get darker and weirder. Comfortable with the bubbles and dash platforms, players are introduced to another device used throughout the level: darkness. Glowing blue crystals can be activated by touch, and tend to visibly guide you to a platform or passageway. This allows players to discover parts of the temple piece by piece rather than all at once, and it feels eerie being unable to see what challenges or creepy statues lurk in the shadows (right). The temple also opens up to a number of side rooms for strawberry collecting during this section, but the main branch continues towards the right, as most platformers are designed. However, players quickly encounter a locked door, which presents them with the goal of finding a key somewhere in the surrounding area. The end of this area is marked by a subtle narrative guide via an interactive cutscene and portrays the behavior of a new enemy which is found in the next three sections.

Section Three: Unraveling

In a cutscene, the player is given control over a horrifying monster in dreamy landscape. It’s not obvious you can move around at first, but eventually it’s the only option to progress the game. Through this short interaction, players discover that monsters can dash into and break certain blocks and they also cannot pass through a barrier of light. Knowing this, the player enters the next area in which puzzle combinations between dash platforms and bubbles are taken up a notch. Eventually Madeline encounters a monster in person, and although it can’t be defeated, jumping on its head stuns it temporarily before releasing a pulse of energy that can propel Madeline in any direction. The monster hazard requires players to constantly be on guard to dodge their attacks and use them to their advantage (by running into a key token hidden behind spikes, for example) to clear the room.

Section Four: Search

Now that all the temple’s main mechanics have been established, the game holds nothing back. With more keys to find in this section, players must navigate darkened tunnels with the help of bubbles and dash platforms, while simultaneously dodging the aggressive monsters. This section used lots of visual cues to guide players. The required keys, for instance, are in plain sight, but unreachable, so other avenues must be explored to reach them. For me this area was the most difficult to navigate due to its low visibility and non-linearity, but even shadowy passages or fake walls were subtly distinguished from their surroundings. Furthermore, there were still constraints and limitations to where I could go, and although many offshoots exist solely for strawberry hunting, the main level’s path is generally quite clear (albeit once you discern it after lighting all the torches).

Section Five: Rescue

The final section of the Mirror Temple incorporates one last mechanic in the form of Theo’s crystal ball. Through narrative and explicit hints the player knows to carry him using the grab button. From now on, Theo is needed to complete any room and the game conveys this further by adding additional doors to the exits which only open when Theo is nearby. The rooms are fairly straightforward at first, and it’s established early on how Theo can be used to hit switches and tokens from a distance. He can even be used as defense against charging monsters. During this section, the bubbles are never really used, but dash platforms continue to appear and can help send Theo to a distant platform with very little effort. This last stretch is very linear compared to the rest of the temple, but each room presents a serious challenge of getting through alive while simultaneously carrying Theo’s crystal.