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