The Messenger

This game is so frustrating because it switches between really good and pretty bad fairly frequently. I will say that overall I enjoyed my time, and considering the state of current indie games, this was fairly refreshing to play since there's no real top tier platformers releasing, at least not in this style.
I bought this game back in 2019, got to Cloud Ruins, and just stopped. I've recently decided to work through my backlog and was in the mood for a platformer, so I finally gave this game another shot. It scratched the itch, but it could’ve been so much better.
Genre
There are a couple of reasons why I feel that way. If you want to avoid spoilers at all costs, stop reading here. But honestly, I think it’s important to be aware of this going in, otherwise you might have the wrong expectations. This game is a platformer for the first half, but halfway through it turns into a metroidvania. I hate metroidvanias. That’s not to say it’s bad, but I just dislike them. It’s a personal thing. Especially in this game, you spend so much time backtracking, and teleport points are few and far between. The reason I was still able to 100% it is that the game is very short overall, and thankfully it has in-game upgrades that help you track collectibles. That removed a big chunk of what usually makes metroidvanias annoying for me.
Gameplay
The gameplay itself is tight, except when it isn't. It's hard to describe, but some rooms are really well designed and incredibly fun, while others are just boring or flat-out annoying. It doesn't always correlate with difficulty either. When you have to clearly differentiate between simple cloudsteps and gliding, which share the same button, it can become a pain. That’s mostly what I meant at the beginning about this game being frustrating. The potential is clearly there, but it rarely comes together as well as it could. Most of the time the rooms are just average, but sometimes they’re really good or really bad.
Difficulty
I don’t think the game is that difficult, but it’s not easy either. I’ve seen reviews saying it's one of the hardest games of all time, and I think that’s a huge stretch. I think the bigger issue is that, unlike something like Celeste, if you're unlucky, checkpoints can be far apart and that’s frustrating. Some rooms definitely can be challenging, but it depends on your tolerance for these kinds of games. If this is your first time playing something like this, it'll probably feel very difficult. If it’s not, then it really shouldn’t be too bad. If you wan't to go for 100% then there's only like 2-3 achievements that are challenging, except for that it's mostly just an extra time sink.
OST
Not much to say, the soundtrack is great. Classic chiptune. There are a couple of really standout tracks that I genuinely enjoyed.
Story and Writing
Now, finally, I don’t think writing is all that important in games like this, but man, the writing here is so inconsistent. Maybe it’s just not for me. Plenty of people seem to love it, so your mileage may vary. But for me, the humor wears thin really fast. Once you get used to it, it becomes very unfunny, very quickly. Then, after not taking itself seriously for the entire game, it hits you with a massive lore dump toward the end. And I’m just like... either commit fully to being a parody or take the story seriously from the start. I wish it had gone with the more serious tone. Moments like the end of the Sunken Shrine had such a strong vibe, and they made me realize I would’ve much preferred that tone overall. That level, for me, was the peak of the game. Everything came together really nicely there.
I have no clue how the writing in Sea of Stars compares to this, but if it's at all similar it would make it unplayable for me. I would hope they improved though I heard conflicting informations about that game, too.
Verdict
Despite the issues, I’m still glad I went back to it. There’s enough here to enjoy if you’re willing to put up with the frustrating parts. I'd say if you're in the mood for something like this and can deal with the genre shift or the writing really hooks you then it's an 8/10 otherwise:
7/10

Just a great game. The controls are tight and the checkpoint/save system is frequent enough that you can pick the game up for only 10-15 mins and still make meaningful progress, which I appreciate. The writing is also genuinely hilarious. I'm playing it exclusively on the Steam Deck and I'm having a blast.

I liked this game a lot. The 1st part hit astronomically well, everything felt great and cohesive. The 2nd half was kinda weak, the backtracking was annoying, the direction was vague and annoying to navigate and just kinda fell flat for me, but it was still an overall great experience.
This was another one and done game for me. I played it to death once, greatly enjoyed it, but don't plan on ever touching it again despite how great it was. I watched The Completionist's review of it years ago which inspired me to add it to my wishlist. By the time I finally bought and played this game, The Completionist's career fell apart after he was exposed for engaging in financial fraud. That was one hell of a timeskip

A tribute to old-school games that gets the job done. Everything is enjoyable (with a few minor inaccuracies here and there). Be warned, the backtracking can get intense.

The artwork, the humor, the bonkers soundtrack, the gameplay, the swaps between 8 and 16 bit - I loved every minute of it. So much love and creativity. Clearly a masterpiece!

Ok, so - I finished it. And... it's complicated. The messenger is an overall good game with fun and innovative gameplay ideas. It's a bit of a raw diamond, that could do with a bit more refinement. I taught level design and balancing in a course for game design, and here are some points that I would pic up with my students:
- Gameplay mechanics: The game uses a series of well tested traversal and combat mechanics for metroidvania games and tweaks them in a way that doesn't make them feel outdated while giving you options, depending on playstile. On the other hand they are not implemented in a way that requires a very precise application or timing, meaning "mashing" works most of the time. Press three buttons at the same time and most likely one of them is going to get you somewhere....
- Balancing.: ... until it doesn't. There are passages that suddenly require the very precise application of mechanics with perfect timing. When you're used to rather easily breezing through 90% of the sections, these skill-gates can seem rather frustrating and can seriously interrupt the pace of the gameplay. Enemies and bosses however feel well designed and balanced - some are a bit challenging but never to a degree where it get's frustrating. Overall the game is rather forgiving (except for certain sections) unlike many of the old 8/16-Bit Platformers it pays homeage to (e.g. ninja gaiden or megaman). However, this makes single sections that really test your patience seem even more out of place.
- Pacing 2.: The overall pacing of the game is unfortunately rather unbalanced and feels... lenghty. I believe the game would have profited from 2-3 fewer areas, alternatively reducing the lenght of each area by about 1/5. This becomes even more apparent when shifting from the linear section of the game to the metroidvania part. The third part of the game also drags out slightly too long.
- Story and Setting: I did really like the story arc, the characters and the dialogue. I loved the shopkeeper and his consorts. There's a lot of humour but also heart in there, with some fun plot twists as well.
- Visuals: Trying not to give too much away, the graphics distinction for the different game-settings was really cool and a great idea, that followed through to the end. Visually the game is also lovingly crafted with well though through design choices. This becomes even more evident in the 16-Bit sections, where it feels developers made an effort to put as much detail into the surrounding environment as they could, making up for the limitations they faced in the 8-Bit parts.
I think summing it up, I really did enjoy the game for the most part. I took my time with it, didn't necessarily follow the hints in the second part of the game and chose to explore by myself. That may have also played into the game dragging on a bit. However, all in all a good game that I can recommend.

Both Artstyles are absolutely fantastic, great level design, and OSTs of a great quality.
For this it is worth it, plus the game has very funny dialogues.

BUT, the game Bosses go from being killed in under a minute to multiple hours. I only found 2 bosses to be "hard" the others where average.
There is also a free (post-game) dlc, I can't speak about it because it's first boss is honestly one of the worst things I've fought against. (2 ways of one-shoting you, no heals, will shrink the arena, etc).


Do play the base game, and only go for the DLC if you REALLY enjoy this kind of platformers.