WARNING I always try to keep my reviews spoiler free but I will be talking about what is the main twist of the game - I believe most people reading this will be aware of it but I’m giving those sensitive a chance to bail.
There was a later level that I really enjoyed that was very fun and well designed but had the extra fun of feeling like an homage to Sea of Stars. Funny because at the time this game was released Sea of Stars didn’t exist. Whilst I don’t think everything you should aim to be the MCU things like this do show why having connected universes between very different stories can be a whole lot of fun.
Playing The Messenger second weirdly felt less wrong than I worried it might due to the shared DNA. The Messenger also has some time travel elements so it almost felt correct, going back to the future as it were.
Just as Sea of Stars (SoS) is Sabotage Studio’s love letter to SNES era JRPGs, The Messenger is their love letter to 8 bit side scrollers and specifically Ninja Gaiden.
In the same way SoS does, The Messenger feels like you remember games being, while actually being far more precise and much more forgiving.
Some tight controls and very generous check-pointing make running around and occasionally failing as a Ninja an enjoyable lesson like many of the top modern platformers do.
The Messenger’s interesting take on the double jump, the cloud step, also does heavy lifting. Rather than simply jumping a second time, if after a jump the protagonist hits an enemy or object a small cloud appears which allows for another jump and yes, these can be chained into more attacks followed by jumps.
Whilst being 8 bit doesn’t allow for the acrobatics a 3D environment or higher detail could, cloud step helps create the illusion. It can bring speed when it wants and make a screen feel like an obstacle course for things such as the interesting selection of bosses.
Your man also gets a few upgrades to help with his movement which is pretty standard affair, none of them are mind-blowing but they are game changing and enhance the experience.
Sadly at the same time this is where one of the game’s biggest issues lie but we have to take a little jump and an explanation to get there.
Before we take the leap into that I will finish speaking on upgrades by mentioning the shop and the shopkeeper themselves.
First of all the shop is simple and I like that, too many games want to give you piles and piles of upgrades, tiny percentage changes and other RPG elements that do not need to be in every genre of game. This keeps things simple and clean, you’re never stressing about what to spend your money on either because you know it will never take too long to get the other thing you were looking at.
The shopkeeper however isn’t as straightforward, unfortunately one of SoS’s weakest elements rears its ugly head here and, in this linear timeline of The Messenger actually coming out first I think it shows an even younger, less experienced writer stinking up the place even worse.
I don’t want to brush over it to ignore it, but I will mostly brush past because even looking into it my knowledge of the situation isn’t great but it seems that, once upon a time, the writer liked Jordan Peterson and sadly that explains a lot. Now I will note it doesn’t sound as if they still do but the warning from me to you is here.
Even with that aside, much like the pirates of Sea of Stars, Sabotage aren’t happy with the game showing you it’s meta but having to tell you it is and much like Sea of Stars the writing goes on for too long past any point a joke may have been funny.
It’s a shame because the game’s plot is far better than it needs to be but because it’s held together by completely annoying and unlikeable characters you don’t take as much of it in.
If you’re a fan of the writing, or much less likely are one of the people involved with the writing in this game then I am sorry, but it stinks and you’ve just read 700+ words of my horseshit.
Now we’re at the bottom of the pit, let's take that leap we mentioned because as Yazz mentioned the only way is up. Right?
The Messenger is an 8 bit style Ninja-Gaiden like, but The Messenger is also a 16 bit style Metroidvania.
I mentioned time-travel elements but that is not simply kept to plot and it is where the twist and genius of this game is.
In the simplest terms, when the protagonist finds themselves at “the end” of their quest as The Messenger they are shown that to break the time loop that will forever be they must pop back and forth to previous (and new) areas to collect some certain things.
The game now ceases being linear and via some portals and discovering that each area you fought through is truly connected the game becomes a Metroidvania, retreading old ground using abilities gained later in earlier areas and finding alternate routes.
This switch of genre is a great mechanical twist that ties in beautifully with the plot and the idea of time travel but The Messenger doesn’t stop just at that.
Revisiting earlier levels you are now a 16-bit style sprite, with 16-bit style music around you, these two styles represent two eras within the game and they are not gated as one of the other as within the levels themselves are gates that switch you between the modes seamlessly.
This is truly where the wonder of the game lies, retreading “old” ground to find new directions then treading new ground to “old” directions all while the game switches its sounds and feel due to pixel art and palette without the game ever feeling like it’s halting you to do so.
Now this leap I spoke of seems amazing, we’ve taken this game to a new height. It’s sitting at a top tier some might say - but unfortunately there’s a few things to trip us and it’s that bloody shop again.
The writing in “the future” doesn’t get any better or worse, but what does is the shop and purchasing upgrades itself.
I didn’t lie when I said it was simple and clean, but unfortunately what that does mean is all the interesting upgrades you get on your 8-bit adventure are really it - the rest are mostly stat boosts and when you’re in a metroidvania that is not what is going to excite you.
Sadly with the ninja adventure you have and the skills you learn there once you hit what is “the halfway point” of the game all you’re left to get is the time-jump gimmick.
This makes the second half of the game feel sadly a lot worse. While I think the highs such as the newer levels and bosses are better than the first half, the retreading can become quite boring especially as what you’re rewarded with for doing so is essentially a tick in a box, no new abilities, no weapons, nothing just a “great now go find more”.
Again it is a shame because while hunting down these items you do come across stuff that link the areas and the use of time-travel in cool and interesting ways.
I do enjoy going back to games of developers I have more recently enjoyed, I just wish that Sabotage Studios had the same ability as The Messenger and maybe they could have gone back to shorten the second half and re-write the dialogue because if they could it would be one the easiest recommendations I’d make whereas now - if you have nostalgia for Ninja Gaiden or it’s on sale is where I would maybe give it the nod.
There was a later level that I really enjoyed that was very fun and well designed but had the extra fun of feeling like an homage to Sea of Stars. Funny because at the time this game was released Sea of Stars didn’t exist. Whilst I don’t think everything you should aim to be the MCU things like this do show why having connected universes between very different stories can be a whole lot of fun.
Playing The Messenger second weirdly felt less wrong than I worried it might due to the shared DNA. The Messenger also has some time travel elements so it almost felt correct, going back to the future as it were.
Just as Sea of Stars (SoS) is Sabotage Studio’s love letter to SNES era JRPGs, The Messenger is their love letter to 8 bit side scrollers and specifically Ninja Gaiden.
In the same way SoS does, The Messenger feels like you remember games being, while actually being far more precise and much more forgiving.
Some tight controls and very generous check-pointing make running around and occasionally failing as a Ninja an enjoyable lesson like many of the top modern platformers do.
The Messenger’s interesting take on the double jump, the cloud step, also does heavy lifting. Rather than simply jumping a second time, if after a jump the protagonist hits an enemy or object a small cloud appears which allows for another jump and yes, these can be chained into more attacks followed by jumps.
Whilst being 8 bit doesn’t allow for the acrobatics a 3D environment or higher detail could, cloud step helps create the illusion. It can bring speed when it wants and make a screen feel like an obstacle course for things such as the interesting selection of bosses.
Your man also gets a few upgrades to help with his movement which is pretty standard affair, none of them are mind-blowing but they are game changing and enhance the experience.
Sadly at the same time this is where one of the game’s biggest issues lie but we have to take a little jump and an explanation to get there.
Before we take the leap into that I will finish speaking on upgrades by mentioning the shop and the shopkeeper themselves.
First of all the shop is simple and I like that, too many games want to give you piles and piles of upgrades, tiny percentage changes and other RPG elements that do not need to be in every genre of game. This keeps things simple and clean, you’re never stressing about what to spend your money on either because you know it will never take too long to get the other thing you were looking at.
The shopkeeper however isn’t as straightforward, unfortunately one of SoS’s weakest elements rears its ugly head here and, in this linear timeline of The Messenger actually coming out first I think it shows an even younger, less experienced writer stinking up the place even worse.
I don’t want to brush over it to ignore it, but I will mostly brush past because even looking into it my knowledge of the situation isn’t great but it seems that, once upon a time, the writer liked Jordan Peterson and sadly that explains a lot. Now I will note it doesn’t sound as if they still do but the warning from me to you is here.
Even with that aside, much like the pirates of Sea of Stars, Sabotage aren’t happy with the game showing you it’s meta but having to tell you it is and much like Sea of Stars the writing goes on for too long past any point a joke may have been funny.
It’s a shame because the game’s plot is far better than it needs to be but because it’s held together by completely annoying and unlikeable characters you don’t take as much of it in.
If you’re a fan of the writing, or much less likely are one of the people involved with the writing in this game then I am sorry, but it stinks and you’ve just read 700+ words of my horseshit.
Now we’re at the bottom of the pit, let's take that leap we mentioned because as Yazz mentioned the only way is up. Right?
The Messenger is an 8 bit style Ninja-Gaiden like, but The Messenger is also a 16 bit style Metroidvania.
I mentioned time-travel elements but that is not simply kept to plot and it is where the twist and genius of this game is.
In the simplest terms, when the protagonist finds themselves at “the end” of their quest as The Messenger they are shown that to break the time loop that will forever be they must pop back and forth to previous (and new) areas to collect some certain things.
The game now ceases being linear and via some portals and discovering that each area you fought through is truly connected the game becomes a Metroidvania, retreading old ground using abilities gained later in earlier areas and finding alternate routes.
This switch of genre is a great mechanical twist that ties in beautifully with the plot and the idea of time travel but The Messenger doesn’t stop just at that.
Revisiting earlier levels you are now a 16-bit style sprite, with 16-bit style music around you, these two styles represent two eras within the game and they are not gated as one of the other as within the levels themselves are gates that switch you between the modes seamlessly.
This is truly where the wonder of the game lies, retreading “old” ground to find new directions then treading new ground to “old” directions all while the game switches its sounds and feel due to pixel art and palette without the game ever feeling like it’s halting you to do so.
Now this leap I spoke of seems amazing, we’ve taken this game to a new height. It’s sitting at a top tier some might say - but unfortunately there’s a few things to trip us and it’s that bloody shop again.
The writing in “the future” doesn’t get any better or worse, but what does is the shop and purchasing upgrades itself.
I didn’t lie when I said it was simple and clean, but unfortunately what that does mean is all the interesting upgrades you get on your 8-bit adventure are really it - the rest are mostly stat boosts and when you’re in a metroidvania that is not what is going to excite you.
Sadly with the ninja adventure you have and the skills you learn there once you hit what is “the halfway point” of the game all you’re left to get is the time-jump gimmick.
This makes the second half of the game feel sadly a lot worse. While I think the highs such as the newer levels and bosses are better than the first half, the retreading can become quite boring especially as what you’re rewarded with for doing so is essentially a tick in a box, no new abilities, no weapons, nothing just a “great now go find more”.
Again it is a shame because while hunting down these items you do come across stuff that link the areas and the use of time-travel in cool and interesting ways.
I do enjoy going back to games of developers I have more recently enjoyed, I just wish that Sabotage Studios had the same ability as The Messenger and maybe they could have gone back to shorten the second half and re-write the dialogue because if they could it would be one the easiest recommendations I’d make whereas now - if you have nostalgia for Ninja Gaiden or it’s on sale is where I would maybe give it the nod.