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Chapter 8: Core

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Chapter 8: Core is the eighth chapter of Celeste. This chapter introduces various new features, most notably: the inability to recharge dashes (without using a Diamond, or going through a screen transition), and the Crystal Heart Gate. The Crystal Heart Gate blocks the player from accessing the majority of Chapter 8: Core, until certain conditions are met (see below).

Gameplay[]

Unlocking[]

This chapter is unlocked after completing Chapter 7: The Summit/Epilogue. However, a Crystal Heart Gate blocks off the player from most of the chapter's content. The player must collect a certain number of Crystal Hearts to unlock a given side of the chapter, as detailed below:

  • To access the A-Side of this chapter, the player must have obtained at least 4 Crystal Hearts.
  • To unlock the B-Side, the player must have 15 Crystal Hearts, requiring the player to obtain all blue Crystal Hearts and all red Crystal Hearts (minus the one from Chapter 8's B-Side).
  • To access the C-Side, the player must have unlocked all 23 Crystal Hearts (excluding the one from this chapter's C-Side).

Change in Dashing[]

Chapter 8 features the double dash ability also seen in Chapter 7. However, unlike all previous chapters, landing on the ground restores stamina but no longer restores dashing, requiring the player to change screens or use a Diamond to restore all dashes.

Objects[]

Start[]

Into the Core[]

Hot and Cold[]

  • Dash Crystals
  • Springs
  • Shattering Blocks
  • Spikes
  • Ice Walls
  • Hot/Cold Switches
  • Conveyor Walls
  • Launching Blocks
  • Ice/Magma Barriers
  • Fire Balls
  • Ice Balls
  • Bumpers
  • Crystals
  • Hot Bumpers

Heart of the Mountain[]

The B-Side Cassette Tape for the chapter is located here.

Crystal Heart[]

Main article: Crystal Hearts Guide

Alternate Sides[]

The B-Side features similar, yet more difficult gimmicks compared to the original chapter. It has more cycle-based parts, harder timings and more tight momentum management. The player needs to collect 15 Crystal Hearts in order to access this B-Side. Beating it will unlock C-Sides and Golden Strawberries. The C-Side features main core gimmicks, however the last section also has a lot of objects from other chapters, such as Traffic Light Blocks, Space Blocks, Swap Blocks, and Pink Clouds. It's also the first and only stage that introduces the Hyper Dashing mechanic. In order to access this C-Side, the player needs to collect 23 Crystal Hearts. Beating it will unlock Variant Mode.

Start[]

No objects are found in this subchapter.

Into the Core[]

Burning or Freezing[]

Heartbeat[]

Core C-Side[]

  • Crystals
  • Disappearing Platforms
  • Dash Crystals
  • Skull Binoculars
  • Launching Blocks
  • Spikes
  • Hot/Cold Switches
  • Hot Bumpers
  • Bumpers
  • Ice/Magma Barriers
  • Ice/Magma Corridors
  • Traffic Light Blocks
  • Falling Platforms
  • Space Blocks
  • Pink Clouds
  • Swap Blocks
  • Angry Platforms
  • Springs
  • Shattering Blocks

Plot[]

Old Woman Left

I tried to warn you.

This section contains spoilers for Chapter 8: Core. Do not read the following section if you wish to avoid spoilers for Chapter 8: Core.


Madeline returns to the mountain about a year later to explore the mountain's secrets, told to her by the Old Woman on the phone. Madeline is told that the center of the mountain has extreme power, and will affect her abilities. She understands it when she can’t use her second dash, and can’t talk with Badeline either. When the player hasn’t collected at least 4 crystal hearts, the old woman will tell Madeline that she may not be ready to enter the core. If the player has at least 4 crystal hearts, Madeline will enter the Core in order to search for the heart of the mountain. After a tough challenge, Madeline will enter a dark room that she thinks feels nostalgic. At the end, the Crystal Heart of this level will appear and is collectible.
Show/Hide Content


Quotes[]

  • Old Woman: Here's the cave I told you about on the phone. Follow me.
  • Madeline: What is this place?
  • Madeline's inner thoughts: ... this is it? This is what's at the center of all this? It's so empty... and vast... Yet it feels nostalgic somehow. And peaceful.

Speedrunning Record Progression[]

At the time of writing, the longest running Celeste record ever was Core A 4:07 by Glackum, set on 16 April 2018, which stood for 193 days before being slain by Aurora Dash with Core A 4:04.

Clear (8A):

Name Time Date Days Standing
Glackum 4:26.832 6/3/2018 41
Glackum 4:07.707 16/4/2018 193
Aurora Dash 4:04.953 26/10/2018 12
TGH 3:54.294 7/11/2018 37
Buhbai 3:48.157 14/12/2018 23
Nero_x2 3:47.630 6/1/2019 42
Aurora Dash 3:42.275 17/2/2019 3
Aurora Dash 3:38.008 20/2/2019 283
Problemstrol 3:35.611 30/11/2019 16
Bob Dole 3:35.050 15/12/2019 6
Zkad 3:26.067 21/12/2019 59+

B-Side (8B):

Name Time Date Days Standing
Roofon 25:31.768 22/4/2018 11
Roofon 16:42.371 3/5/2018 2
Doroco 4:58.928 5/5/2018 79
Aurora Dash 4:18.689 23/7/2018 42
Kyle Simpson 4:16.870 3/9/2018 2
Kyle Simpson 3:54.532 5/9/2018 2
Aurora Dash 3:49.653 7/9/2018 7
Kyle Simpson 3:45.981 14/9/2018 13
Aurora Dash 3:42.887 27/9/2018 1
Kyle Simpson 3:38.263 28/9/2018 0
Aurora Dash 3:37.974 28/9/2018 2
Aurora Dash 3:30.715 30/9/2018 53
Aurora Dash 3:26.703 22/11/2018 8
Aurora Dash 3:23.099 30/11/2018 3
Aurora Dash 3:19.835 3/12/2018 354
Aurora Dash 3:13.460 23/11/2019 1
Aurora Dash 3:06.524 24/11/2019 86+

C-Side (8C):

Name Time Date Days Standing
BarkingDoggy 1:17.129 29/1/2018 9
Freshmaniac 1:03.563 7/2/2018 76
Lvl19 1:01.013 24/4/2018 5
DemoJameson 58.531 29/4/2018 67
Lvl19 57.800 5/7/2018 44
Lvl19 56.950 18/8/2018 55
Spirialis* 55.471 2/9/2018 3
Lvl19 54.893 15/10/2018 78
Spirialis 51.935 1/1/2019 212
Spirialis 54.519 1/8/2019 48
Zkad 54.128 18/9/2019 8
Spirialis 53.856 26/9/2019 1
Zkad 53.312 27/9/2019 1
Zkad 53.006 28/9/2019 2
Zkad 52.887 30/9/2019 96
Aurora Dash* 51.255 4/1/2020 -1
Spirialis 51.187 3/1/2020 1
Zkad 50.762 4/1/2020 1
Spirialis 49.878 5/1/2020 8
Zkad 49.589 13/1/2020 36+

Note: Spirialis' Core C 55 was retracted on 5 September 2018, despite the fact that its legitimacy was not in question. This caused the world record to revert back to Lvl19's Core C 56. On 1 August 2019, he then retracted his first Core C 51 and replaced it with a weaker run. Due to time zone differences, Aurora's 51 occurred earlier in real time than Spirialis' second 51 despite being on the following day, meaning that it did in fact stand as the world record, albeit only for a few hours.

Full Clear:

Name Time Date Days Standing
Roofon 14:01.772 22/4/2018 25
Buhbai 5:29.698 17/5/2018 24
Buhbai 5:16.948 10/6/2018 53
Buhbai 5:03.246 2/8/2018 92
Buhbai 4:23.058 2/11/2018 66
Buhbai 4:22.752 7/1/2019 60
Buhbai 4:16.938 8/3/2019 33
Nero_x2 4:16.071 10/4/2019 12
Buhbai 4:11.498 22/4/2019 0
Buhbai 4:09.101 22/4/2019 116
Buhbai 4:08.081 16/8/2019 186+

Major Strategies[]

8A contains "fireskip", a major skip where a significant section of the level can be bypassed by moving between two counter-rotating strings of fireballs while still in red (hot) mode instead of changing to blue (cold) mode, which makes this particular obstacle much easier. This can be extended to "iceskip", which is used to obtain a berry in a way that also skips that section in full clear runs. This trick, in addition to the fact that 8A contains only five berries (the second fewest behind Reflection) and all other collectibles are mandatory, means that the time difference between 8A clear and full clear runs is much smaller than for any other level.

In both 8A and 8B, there are instances where one has a choice of completing levels in either red mode or blue mode, but usually one path is clearly intended. In 8B, breaking from the intended path saves time in at least two places. Playing the first two rooms of the fourth checkpoint in blue mode instead of red mode, known as "heartskip", saves about 5 seconds, although it has a number of variants which can alter this number. Playing the last two rooms of the level in blue mode is a more aggressive strategy called "blueskip", which saves about 1 second. This causes the level to end in blue mode, which affects the tape room's appearance, although it functions the same as it always does.

In 8C, the heart gate that halts progress unless the player has 23 hearts is in the first room, instead of the third or second rooms in 8A and 8B. While one normally needs to wait for the gate to open, in 8C, one can open the gate, then fall offscreen, killing herself. Because Madeline has not yet left the first room, the timer resets when she respawns. This trick allows one to start with the gate open, saving roughly 5.5 seconds. 8C also has the mythical "TAS strat" in which one obtains great speed at the beginning of the extremely long fourth and final room, maintaining this speed through a large proportion of the screen. This has never been done without slowing the game down or using TAS tools, but is believed that this strategy will eventually become viable in such speedruns.

8C TAS Strat


Trivia[]

  • While 7A and 7B are the longest A- and B-Sides, 8C is the longest C-Side. Even so, it is still slightly shorter than the shortest non-C-Side, which is 1A.

Gallery[]

Chapters and Subchapters in Celeste
Story Moments
Chapter 1: Forsaken City
Chapter 2: Old Site
Chapter 3: Celestial Resort
Chapter 4: Golden Ridge
Chapter 5: Mirror Temple
Chapter 6: Reflection
Chapter 7: The Summit
Chapter 8: Core
Chapter 9: Farewell
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