I wish it was written in literally any other way
This game could literally just be the Shopkeeper's dialogue and I would still really like it
After playing and enjoying Sea of Stars, I wanted to give Sabotage Studios another run. And I gotta say, they have a new fan in me. Where Sea of Stars was influenced by classic RPGs like Chrono Trigger and Illusion of Gaia, The Messenger was similarly influenced by classics. I felt a lot of Castlevania, Metroid, and even Donkey Kong Country in this game. As I get older, it's cool to see people who grew up playing the games I grew up with become developers and make games influenced by the same games we all grew up playing. I hope this studio continues to make games of this style and influence.
The story in this game wasn't its greatest strength (I felt the same about Sea of Stars), but it did have a really good sense of humor and didn't take itself too seriously. The "serious" moments it did have fell a little flat with me; I much more enjoyed when it was kooky and 4th wall breaking.
The gameplay shift after the 1st act was a bold move, and I appreciate bold moves. I enjoy a metroidvania every now and then, but it is a mood thing. I was expecting and in the mood for a straightforward sidescrolling platformer, which is why I plucked this from my backlog. I wasn't exactly in the mood for a metroidvania (I had no idea about the game shift prior), so I almost put the game down when it switched. However, I stuck with it, and I'm glad I did because once I accepted the transition I had fun with it.
The coolest part of the game for me is its stylistic choices (also, again, I feel the same way about Sea of Stars). This seems to be what Sabotage does best. Switching from the past to the present was by far the coolest and most unique mechanic in the game. It's the thing I will take away from this experience the most. I love how it switched from 8-bit to 16-bit. It's really impressive that they designed every location, background, musical theme, and creature for both styles.
The actual platforming gameplay wasn't anything super special. It was well-built, fluid, and had some fun level designs, but it didn't do much that I haven't seen before. The most unique thing was the time-travel portals, which, in addition to switching up the styles, also altered the world around you and gave access to certain locations and puzzles based on which timeline you were in.
I'm excited to see what Sabotage Studios does next!
76/100
The story in this game wasn't its greatest strength (I felt the same about Sea of Stars), but it did have a really good sense of humor and didn't take itself too seriously. The "serious" moments it did have fell a little flat with me; I much more enjoyed when it was kooky and 4th wall breaking.
The gameplay shift after the 1st act was a bold move, and I appreciate bold moves. I enjoy a metroidvania every now and then, but it is a mood thing. I was expecting and in the mood for a straightforward sidescrolling platformer, which is why I plucked this from my backlog. I wasn't exactly in the mood for a metroidvania (I had no idea about the game shift prior), so I almost put the game down when it switched. However, I stuck with it, and I'm glad I did because once I accepted the transition I had fun with it.
The coolest part of the game for me is its stylistic choices (also, again, I feel the same way about Sea of Stars). This seems to be what Sabotage does best. Switching from the past to the present was by far the coolest and most unique mechanic in the game. It's the thing I will take away from this experience the most. I love how it switched from 8-bit to 16-bit. It's really impressive that they designed every location, background, musical theme, and creature for both styles.
The actual platforming gameplay wasn't anything super special. It was well-built, fluid, and had some fun level designs, but it didn't do much that I haven't seen before. The most unique thing was the time-travel portals, which, in addition to switching up the styles, also altered the world around you and gave access to certain locations and puzzles based on which timeline you were in.
I'm excited to see what Sabotage Studios does next!
76/100
Pretty fun Ninja Gaiden-alike (though nowhere near as challenging/infuriating) in the first half and then things switch up to a substandard Metroidvania for what's going to feel like the majority of the game. Total slog. It's cool how it switches over to a 16-bit tribute, it looks great, obviously a lot of work went in, but if it had done that and remained a platformer I'd have liked it a whole lot more. Shame!
The music is decent but I feel like with a lot of this throwback stuff it never manages to match the energy of the games it's trying to ape. There's nothing in here that's as driving and gets you pumped up as NG1's 4-2 theme, for instance. I don't know why it is - music composed without console limitations sounding inherently different? Beats me. I blame the Scott Pilgrim game, personally. Anyway the first half of The Messenger is pretty good!
The music is decent but I feel like with a lot of this throwback stuff it never manages to match the energy of the games it's trying to ape. There's nothing in here that's as driving and gets you pumped up as NG1's 4-2 theme, for instance. I don't know why it is - music composed without console limitations sounding inherently different? Beats me. I blame the Scott Pilgrim game, personally. Anyway the first half of The Messenger is pretty good!
This review contains spoilers
Eu pensei que The Messenger era uma paródia afetuosa de Ninja Gaiden. Após 12 horas de jogatina, descubro que estou errado. A apatia coletiva por trás de todos os personagens, que parecem a todo momento não levar nada a sério e não perderem a oportunidade de fazer trocadilhos e piadinhas não importa a situação, é um mecanismo de defesa. O mundo de The Messenger não é o mundo de u desenho animado que sempre tem tempo para tirar sarro da aparente falta de lógica de vários de seus tropos: é um mundo de horror cósmico em que os poucos sobreviventes de um holocausto que transcende o tempo e espaço fazem o que podem para manter seus resquícios de sanidade e esperança. Que isso tenho sido tão bem camuflado por boa parte do jogo e, quando revelado, se demonstre perfeitamente coerente com narrativa, é um testemunho do quão bem escrito é o game e como ele sabe escolher a hora certa para se revelar como mais profundo do que parece.
Eu diria que, na base, é esse senso de ritmo o segredo de The Messenger, a grande característica que o torna especial. Veja, por exemplo, a maneira como a aventura é dividida em duas partes: o que é a princípio um action-platformer 8-bits linear depois se revela como um quasi-metroidvania com viagem no tempo e gráficos 16-bits. Essa estrutura permite que todas as principais mecânicas do jogo sejam introduzidas uma a uma, de forma isolada, com os desafios se complexificando de forma progressiva antes do jogo te deixar "livre" para usar tudo o que aprendeu. Tecnicamente, as seis primeiras horas do jogo são apenas um longo tutorial — mas está tudo inserido de forma tão coesa na narrativa e o ritmo em que novas coisas vão aparecendo é tão bom que você nunca fica com a sensação de que é um tutorial.
Minha maior crítica para o game fica mais pelo potencial desperdiçado em certas partes. O jogo adora subverter tropos do gênero, usando isso como sua principal fonte de humor, mas a subversão nunca sai do campo narrativo. No momento que pensei que ele quebraria todas minhas expectativas, virando um shopping simulator, ele logo fez uma correção de curso e voltou a ser um action-platformer tradicional (ainda que com um temperinho de metroidvania). Talvez seria pós-modernista demais fazer algo desse tipo, mas, hey, um homem pode sonhar.
Eu diria que, na base, é esse senso de ritmo o segredo de The Messenger, a grande característica que o torna especial. Veja, por exemplo, a maneira como a aventura é dividida em duas partes: o que é a princípio um action-platformer 8-bits linear depois se revela como um quasi-metroidvania com viagem no tempo e gráficos 16-bits. Essa estrutura permite que todas as principais mecânicas do jogo sejam introduzidas uma a uma, de forma isolada, com os desafios se complexificando de forma progressiva antes do jogo te deixar "livre" para usar tudo o que aprendeu. Tecnicamente, as seis primeiras horas do jogo são apenas um longo tutorial — mas está tudo inserido de forma tão coesa na narrativa e o ritmo em que novas coisas vão aparecendo é tão bom que você nunca fica com a sensação de que é um tutorial.
Minha maior crítica para o game fica mais pelo potencial desperdiçado em certas partes. O jogo adora subverter tropos do gênero, usando isso como sua principal fonte de humor, mas a subversão nunca sai do campo narrativo. No momento que pensei que ele quebraria todas minhas expectativas, virando um shopping simulator, ele logo fez uma correção de curso e voltou a ser um action-platformer tradicional (ainda que com um temperinho de metroidvania). Talvez seria pós-modernista demais fazer algo desse tipo, mas, hey, um homem pode sonhar.
This review contains spoilers
Straightforward platformer levels were the strongest part but the switch to metroidvania stuff gets in the games way since it doesn't really have the normal/fun part of that kind of games progression. To be clear I still liked it and it does have some excellent sections in that part but the way the new structure messes with pacing while missing out on the best parts of metroidvanias like gaining abilities because you're given most in the first part makes me feel like that twist wasn't needed/well executed. Its what keeps this from crossing into Amazing territory rather then "just" very good for me.
¿QUIÉN ES EL MENSAJERO DEL MENSAJERO DE DIOS?
It's nice but didn't find funny enough to keep me going, art style is on the spot though
This review contains spoilers
This is a great love letter to the 8bit and 16bit eras of platforming. Exploring and movement feels great. Imagine playing Ninja Gaiden on the NES, only the controls aren't horrible. To add to it, there is a twist halfway through that helps keep the game feeling fresh. That said, there are a few parts that they should have spent some more time on.
The bosses feel horribly unbalanced. The Demon General was so frustratingly hard that I nearly dropped the game right then and there. But after pushing through him, the rest of the bosses took me at most three attempts, many of them one. Clockwork Concierge and the Demon King were far too easy and only took me one attempt on each. It was harder getting to the Demon King than it was killing him. Having the hardest boss in the middle of the game was a poor decision. That said, I still love this game and am looking forward to playing the DLC in the near future.
The bosses feel horribly unbalanced. The Demon General was so frustratingly hard that I nearly dropped the game right then and there. But after pushing through him, the rest of the bosses took me at most three attempts, many of them one. Clockwork Concierge and the Demon King were far too easy and only took me one attempt on each. It was harder getting to the Demon King than it was killing him. Having the hardest boss in the middle of the game was a poor decision. That said, I still love this game and am looking forward to playing the DLC in the near future.
One of the best soundtracks of all time. The metroidvania twist midway through still blows my mind and in my opinion, stuck the landing quite well. I only wish there was more effective methods of backtracking in the endgame.
Just beat the Picnic Panic DLC so I’ve now played all of it.
The Messenger is a great game — a really good platformer with top notch boss fights and funny writing.
It succeeds in the same places Shovel Knight does — killer music, authentic look, great difficulty, and characters you get attached to. Unfortunately, it also falters in the same place Shovel Knight did (post SK DLC): there is too much of it.
The Messenger starts out as a linear, left to right action platformer a bit like Ninja Gaiden. When it is doing this, it is at its strongest. After the halfway mark when it adds on Metroid-style elements, it damn near falls apart. The game is great, but the pacing takes a nosedive and an excellent retro action game is chased with a below average Metroidvania. It pushes the mechanics of the game to their breaking point, and while there are many good things to find, it’s a 10 hour game that should have been 7.
It’s hard to complain too much because the foundation is rock solid, and for $20 (I paid $3 on a key site and you can probably get it for $8 on a sale), it’s an extremely generous package of high quality content. With that pretty good DLC, I spent 13 hours on this.
I recommend The Messenger despite its flaws. Even when it annoys you, it does something cute or clever and makes you go “ahhh this game is all right.”
The Messenger is a great game — a really good platformer with top notch boss fights and funny writing.
It succeeds in the same places Shovel Knight does — killer music, authentic look, great difficulty, and characters you get attached to. Unfortunately, it also falters in the same place Shovel Knight did (post SK DLC): there is too much of it.
The Messenger starts out as a linear, left to right action platformer a bit like Ninja Gaiden. When it is doing this, it is at its strongest. After the halfway mark when it adds on Metroid-style elements, it damn near falls apart. The game is great, but the pacing takes a nosedive and an excellent retro action game is chased with a below average Metroidvania. It pushes the mechanics of the game to their breaking point, and while there are many good things to find, it’s a 10 hour game that should have been 7.
It’s hard to complain too much because the foundation is rock solid, and for $20 (I paid $3 on a key site and you can probably get it for $8 on a sale), it’s an extremely generous package of high quality content. With that pretty good DLC, I spent 13 hours on this.
I recommend The Messenger despite its flaws. Even when it annoys you, it does something cute or clever and makes you go “ahhh this game is all right.”
oyun metroidvania mapi şeklinde tasarlanmamış bi anda öyle olunca aşırı kötü bir oyunla karşı karşıya kalıyoruz ve yeni aldğımız özellikler sadece bölge ve bir kere falan bir odada kullanıyorsunuz rezillik yani
Fun ideas at play, but I suck at platformers so I know I will never complete it.
A good game hidden behind bad design choices. The base gameplay here is great, the upgrades are typically fun, the main gimmick is super cool and impressively implemented, and the music is fantastic (although the 16 bit tracks tend to be downgrades from the 8 bit tracks, somehow), but most everything else about this game left me severely disappointed. The level design leaves a lot to be desired (THE AMOUNT OF INSTAKILL PIT ROOMS IS ACTUALLY UNBELIEVABLE), the enemy variety is lacking (you will be seeing the same 5 enemies until the very end, with only 2-3 unique enemies per level, and that's being generous), both halves of the game go on for way too long, and the story is never allowed to reach its full potential due to probably my least favorite part of the game: the writing. For a script so dependent on humor it is PAINFULLY unfunny. past the first couple hours my eyes rolled at nearly every attempt at a joke. THERE IS LITERALLY A MOMENT WHERE A CHARACTER SAYS "WELL, THAT JUST HAPPENED" I SHIT YOU NOT. the further the game went on the more and more fed up with this games shit I got. I will most likely still end up playing Sea of Stars at some point, but my experience with this game has made me a lot more wary of it, which really sucks because I was pretty excited for that game.
This is an incredibly well-designed platformer with a delightful story and some phenomenal humor. And oh man the soundtrack is INCREDIBLE. If you like platformers, play this.
Eu honestamente esperava mais.
A primeira metade é bem chatinha e muito arrastada, com quase nenhum sentimento de progressão.
A segunda parte metroidvania é BEM melhor, mas ainda é podada por alguns erros da primeira, como a quantidade baixíssima de inimigos diferentes e possibilidades de combate, além de um backtracking um tanto cansativo
Mas eu gosto das boss fights. Se o jogo fosse no estil oda segunda metade desde sempre, eu acharia bem melhor
A primeira metade é bem chatinha e muito arrastada, com quase nenhum sentimento de progressão.
A segunda parte metroidvania é BEM melhor, mas ainda é podada por alguns erros da primeira, como a quantidade baixíssima de inimigos diferentes e possibilidades de combate, além de um backtracking um tanto cansativo
Mas eu gosto das boss fights. Se o jogo fosse no estil oda segunda metade desde sempre, eu acharia bem melhor
you guys ever find it weird that there's no n in message but there is one in messenger?
im only rating the first half of the game
fuck jordan peterson
I'm not a big fan of platform games, but I'm fairly satisfied with what I just finished.
The Messenger has an amazing OST, the jump hit jump mechanic is cool, and the levels are varied enough to not become repetitive.
However, the "biggest" point of the game is also its downfall. After the twist, the game loses a lot of its shine for me. Perhaps my lack of familiarity with the genre is the problem here.
Overall, it's a cool game, and if you enjoy platformers, you'll have a good time playing it. And don't forget to do the thing!
The Messenger has an amazing OST, the jump hit jump mechanic is cool, and the levels are varied enough to not become repetitive.
However, the "biggest" point of the game is also its downfall. After the twist, the game loses a lot of its shine for me. Perhaps my lack of familiarity with the genre is the problem here.
Overall, it's a cool game, and if you enjoy platformers, you'll have a good time playing it. And don't forget to do the thing!
underrated gem if I'm being honest
um jogo que voce começa a jogar não esperando mto e derrepente vc esta impressionado com a qualidade absurda do joguinho bom demais
اللعبة كانت ماشية صح الى ما قررت تطبق نظام الميترويدفينيا فجأة في النص
A primeira metade do jogo é 10/10, a segunda metade é 8/10.
The Messenger tem um texto muito engraçado (de verdade, e isso é difícil) e uma gameplay excelente!
The Messenger tem um texto muito engraçado (de verdade, e isso é difícil) e uma gameplay excelente!
O jogo tava muito divertido, mas a revelação/reviravolta é sensacional e a meta narrativa sobre a evolução do gênero ação/plataforma é bem boa. Quanto a termos técnicos, a trilha sonora e arte são fenomenais, sobretudo quando interagem com a mecânica principal do jogo.
At first glance, the game seems to be just a good looking clone of the classic Ninja Gaiden games with funny dialogues, good humor, and a pretty standard arsenal of abilities. However, in the middle of the game, it makes several plot and gameplay twists and surprises quite a bit.
I still like the first part and DLC more, as the metroidvania part was a bit boring, but I do appreciate the diversity of gameplay over the entire game.
Even though it looks a bit retro visually, the controls are surprisingly smooth and precise. It requires quick and accurate actions from the player, but it doesn't feel unfairly difficult, so it was a blast to play it.
8.5/10
I still like the first part and DLC more, as the metroidvania part was a bit boring, but I do appreciate the diversity of gameplay over the entire game.
Even though it looks a bit retro visually, the controls are surprisingly smooth and precise. It requires quick and accurate actions from the player, but it doesn't feel unfairly difficult, so it was a blast to play it.
8.5/10
At this point, almost anything devolver give to us are gold and the messenger follow this rule, that game is a gift for old school ninja gaiden fans and a fantastic game for anyone who likes plataform and adventure games.
A very polished Ninja Gaiden inspired metroidvania indie game that combines clean pixel art with fantastic chiptune music, a fast paced and responsive move set and witty (yet philosophical at times) dialogue. Maybe its conclusion could have been better.
So this was a game that for a while was on my "world famous" spite list, but thanks to my buddy Poot for gifting me Sea of Stars (which I loved) and motivation to listen to the episode on his wonderful podcast (Why You Should Play, check it out people) I decided to finally give this a shot, and for the most part, I'm certainly glad I did. While I didn't enjoy it quite as much as Sea of Stars, there was a lot to like about this game.
First of all, without delving into spoilers, let me say the first half of this game is definitely stronger in my opinion. If I was to rate this game, the first half would be a rock solid 4/5, while the back half would be a 3/5. It's certainly not bad, but I really like the vibes, and how simple but fun the opening half of this game is. It really does feel like an old school Ninja Gaiden throwback and it's a joy to play.
Some of the mechanics in the second half bother me, which I'll save talking about cause I find it a spoiler, but overall, you do get a pretty satisfying conclusion.
The writing in the game is great, it's very funny, and well written. The music is great too, a nice retro throwback that's hard not to jam out too.
Overall glad I played it. Really cool to see this studio make (three) really totally different type of games. Wonder what they will do next.
First of all, without delving into spoilers, let me say the first half of this game is definitely stronger in my opinion. If I was to rate this game, the first half would be a rock solid 4/5, while the back half would be a 3/5. It's certainly not bad, but I really like the vibes, and how simple but fun the opening half of this game is. It really does feel like an old school Ninja Gaiden throwback and it's a joy to play.
Some of the mechanics in the second half bother me, which I'll save talking about cause I find it a spoiler, but overall, you do get a pretty satisfying conclusion.
The writing in the game is great, it's very funny, and well written. The music is great too, a nice retro throwback that's hard not to jam out too.
Overall glad I played it. Really cool to see this studio make (three) really totally different type of games. Wonder what they will do next.
Loved this game so much until the world opened up at a certain point, and it goes from being a side-scroller to a more open world metroidvania that becomes impossible to navigate. Stopped me in my tracks completely and ruined all forward momentum I had felt up to that point.