The Messenger

The Messenger stylishly nails a retro aesthetic, but is extremely modern and refined in it's game design. The platforming feels wonderful, and Sabotage add many elements which give platforming sections more challenge and fit incredibly well together. The boss fights are another strong part of the game, they're well designed and have a good level of challenge, but also reward those with mastery over the platforming mechanics. The writing is often comedic and lands well. I feel that The Messenger is a game that's better if you go in completely blind, and it's quite easy to spoil so I'll leave it there. I highly recommend The Messenger to any fans of platforming games - it's one you'll certainly remember.
Highly Recommended
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Such a good game
8.5/10
Came into it as someone who is really bad at platformers - and I did die a lot, but the game does a good job of easing you into the mechanics of it before adding more.
Has a really good mechanic with the time travel making it really unique. Even though initially in the first half it may feel like a standard platformer game, the second half really is where everything clicks into place and it all makes sense
It also has tons of small details that when you notice you’ll really like

The Messenger is a truly great game. The platforming and combat are the most fluid and satisfying I've experienced in a long time, and the writing is somehow both intriguing and hilarious (though I do feel that the game sometimes undercuts itself by not taking its own plot very seriously). Plus, there is a core twist that players will discover in the middle that completely re-contextualises how the game is played, which only deepened my appreciation for the experience. Anyone looking for a great platformer can't go wrong here.

What an amazing game. WORTH IT.
P.S. Make sure you read all the conversations, most of them are hilarious.

The Messenger starts as an 8-bit ninja game, then flips into a 16-bit time-travel adventure. It's like starting with a doomer and accidentally upgrading your self to zoomer.

Finished the game on the Switch. I'm not a big fan of the NES and the games from that era, but damn this game is a pure masterpiece. Tight controls, rewarding platforming, fun gameplay loop.

Sabotage just makes great games I see. I first came to know about them from Sea of Stars, but I found this game in a past Humble Bundle. It isn't the game you think it is, it is the game that knows what it is and you have to discover it through playing. There's a lot of "oh GTFO with this crap" platforming sections, but if you're able to overcome that and a sore thumb from holding A while pressing X and Y, you too can be one of the rare few who have completed the game up to the 30 percentile (main game) and narrower still to the upper 10 percentile to complete the enjoyable and challenging second act!

Solid game overall, can't think of any bugs I came across. If you see empty vertical slots that make you think you need to do an Axiom Verge style wall-shift move to get through, you're wrong, it'll all be revealed in time...