The Messenger

Hour 1: pretty decent Ninja Gaiden clone
Hour 2: music is sick! love the humor
Hour 3: ok I died a lot
Hour 4: well that's a pretty short game
Hour 5+: wtf?! This game is amazing and hilarious!

Feel like a kid again! Go 1990s!
These are the kind of games we need it.

I saw a bit of The Messenger in a GDQ run of all places. It looked neat. I added it to my wishlist and promptly forgot about it. But now that I've played The Messenger, I'm here to warn you all: don't make that mistake and wait like I did. Play The Messenger immediately. I'm racking my brain, but I don't think I've played a game I've enjoyed more in 2020.
In fairness, The Messenger is building off of some pretty solid foundations, including oldies like Ninja Gaiden and trendy retraux games like Shovel Knight. But the NES feeling is a tricky tightrope to walk, where you need to balance authenticity with thirty five years of game design innovation—the best ones, like The Messenger, feel like the games you remember playing, without the clunkiness or tedium your dumb child brain forgot about.
But sure, there are a lot of great retro indie games out there. But The Messenger isn't an amazing retro indie game—it's an amazing game, full stop. The level design is perfect, pulling off that World 1-1 "the level is the tutorial" design magic. You start with simple rolling hills, letting you practice the "cloud step", a move that lets you make a double jump as long as your sword connects with something between jumps. Pretty soon you're flying through levels, slashing and cloud stepping over bottomless chasms effortlessly. There's also plenty of incredible escalating set-pieces—the best way for a game to win me over—and phenomenal bosses. To delve more into how good the level design is would kind of be a spoiler (though the trailer itself shows off the "twist") so I'll just say the devs nail the tricky balancing act they built for themselves.
The Messenger is also genuinely laugh out loud hilarious, mostly thanks to the Shopkeeper. Normally 4th wall breaks and reference humour gets the side-eye from me, but for some reason the script in The Messenger has just the right amount of wit and cynicism (more Deadpool than Family Guy, if that makes sense). And despite being a snarky, 4th wall breaking platformer, the story even manages to pull off some interesting twists and surprise moments, enough that I'm very invested in what comes next in the series.
And the soundtrack? Every single track is an absolute banger. Every. Single. One.
There are a lot of indie platforming games out there, I know, but The Messenger easily deserves to be at the top of that pile. If you enjoy the genre at all, you definitely need to try this underrated gem.

This game is a loveletter to 2d platformers.

Got any stories to tell?
Introduction
The Messenger, developed by Sabotage Studio is an interesting experience, to say the least, as it’s a combination of two subgenres; an action platformer for the first half, a Metroidvania in the second, and it’s done very well. The reason I enjoyed it is because it started at 2D platformer and then, half way through the game, it changed to a Metroidvania. It felt like the game had changed, which was awesome and differnt. The game takes inspiration from the classic Ninja Gaiden games, as well as other retro games. There are wonderfully crafted characters that are interesting to interact with, as they have moments that make them funny and unique. My favorite character was Quarble, as he does not want to help the Ninja but he has to because he’s only in it for the money.
Pros and Cons
Pros
A very interesting story with well crafted characters.
Fun retro style gameplay elements.
Unlocking new items evolve how you navigate the game.
Catchy 8-bit and 16-bit graphics and soundtracks.
Cons
The game has a lot of backtracking that can ruin the experience of the game.
Some of the hints I was given were confusing.
Time Shards become pointless, as soon as you get all the upgrades.
Story
In a cursed world, there is a village called Ninja Village; it holds the last few survivors of humanity. Legends have stated that a demon army is fated to attack so they can wipe out humanity for good; however, it is also stated that the village is to be saved by the Western Hero. You play as Ninja, who is eager to leave The Village. The The Western Hero appeared and drove away the Demon Army, he then tasks the Ninja with a scroll and gives him the title The Messenger, who then must deliver it to a mountain called Glacial Peak.

The story of The Messenger is crafted very well. It’s full of humor and charm that I loved. The characters are the bread and butter that make up the story. You have the oddly-named Ninja who hates learning history, yet asks about the history in the surrounding areas that he visits. He usually asks the Shopkeeper, who is my favorite, as she always has a story to tell in every new area you visit. The story is quite interesting and will keep the player invested with the many characters that are crafted wonderfully. Qurable is a character that is only with the Ninja for the money and had a lot of messages to say to you when you die. They are interesting to read and makes him deveolpe as a unique character.
Gameplay
Now, the The Messenger has some really interesting gameplay mechanics. It’s a 2D platformer for the first half, and in the second half, it’s a Metroidvania. You have the basic abilities, like sword slashing or jumping. However, you also have a unique ability called Cloudstep. As long as you slash an object like an enemy or a lantern, you can jump in midair. This can be very useful for platforming and such, it may be a little hard to do at first but after some time you should get the hang of it, without problems.
You will also get access to some Climbing Claws, which allow you to climb walls, a Wingsuit to help you glide in the air, and a Rope Dart (or Grappling Hook) that will allow you to climb certain objects. You can also get optional upgrades with the Time Shards, like increased health or damage. I had a lot of fun going through all the areas, as they offer enjoyable platforming, supported by creative level design.
At the end of each level, you fight a boss, the first few are easy, however, the later ones can get a little challenging. They are really fun to fight and I like how they were used. The Messenger is not a hard game, but it will have its difficult moments. If you die, you will be brought back to life at certain checkpoints, thanks to Quarble, however, he hangs around you and consume some Time Shards as a fee.

Halfway through the game, you will be transported through time. The graphics will turn from 8-bit to 16-bit, with updated music and levels. The game will turn into a Metroidvania. All the levels you visited will be put together, and you will be tasked to find these music notes to unlock a music box. Some areas will now have accessible rooms that you could not get to previously. If you get stuck, you can get a hint from the Shop Keeper who can point you in the right direction.

The Messenger did not really have many negative aspects when I first started playing it, but as soon as the second half started, the issues started to arise. The biggest concern I had was the amount of backtracking you do. I don’t mind backtracking in games, but The Messenger has a ton of it, and it can ruin the experience of the game. The only thing new, with the previous areas you visit, are new rooms to get something to advance to another room you could not get to. To make matters worse, some of the hints I got were a bit confusing, and figuring them out was a bit tricky. The reason they were confusing is because the map was difficult to understand. What I found frustrating was they did not tell you which room to go in on the map which made it difficult to understand. The Time Shards also start to become useless as soon as you get all the upgrades, getting Quarble to collect them and actually serve a purpose when you die.
Graphics, Soundtrack, and Performance
Now, I typically don’t put all three of these subjects in the same paragraph, but for The Messenger it’s warranted. The graphics are done very well and have a nice retro aspect to them, both 8-bit and 16-bit. The soundtrack also changes when you switch time periods, and the music sounds different. It’s different in quality but still feels the same, more like a remix. There are a lot of examples I would like to show, however, Steam only allows three links to be shown. My favorite song is The Frozen Light-past, it's very catchy because you are going up a frozen mountain. I tested the game with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB, AMD Ryzen 5 1500X Quad-Core Processor 3.50, and 16 GB of RAM storage. The game runs really well at 60 FPS, and I came across no problems at any point when playing.
Final Verdict
The Messenger is an amazing game that combines the two subgenres in one. If you are looking for a good experience with some humor and interesting characters, then you can’t go wrong with this game. It has interesting gameplay mechanics that are nice to use, with some useful upgrades on the side. There may be some backtracking that can be heavy at times with some confusing hints, and useless Time Shards, however, if you can look past those issues then you will have a hell of a good time.

The Messenger is fun as a retro (both 8- 16-bit) 2D platformer but fails miserably as a metroidvania. The first half of the game, which is linear for the most part, is absolutely brilliant, whereas the second part, where you are forced to backtrack continuously, felt like a chore. It honestly seems as if the two halves of the game were designed by different people.
Thankfully, the ever-entertaining shopkeeper and great free DLC makes up for the miserable experience that is the second half of the game.
Played with PlayStation 4 controller
✔️Positive:
What makes the first half so good? Glad you asked:
The progression of the first half feels great. The platforming is centered around the Cloudstep mechanic, where your jump resets if you hit something with your katana. As you get more familiar with the Cloudstep and acquire other abilities on the way, the game follows with increased difficulty. With some practice, the movement becomes second nature and extremely satisfying to execute. Level design and pace are also spot on.
The shopkeeper is the highlight of the game. The shopkeeper essentially guides you on your journey, provides you with additional upgrades, and is just an excellent conversationalist. Sometimes quirky, sometimes motivational, the witty dialogue and stories really impressed me. Every visit to the shop felt like a mini-holiday from the game and was rarely unsatisfying. Perhaps it is just my impression but it felt like the developer really poured himself into creating the shopkeeper. *Don’t touch the cabinet!*
Bosses who end up being entertaining NPCs. Although I appreciate the well balanced difficulty of the boss fights, what I really enjoyed were their personalities. Often the boss fights took place due to misunderstandings and the bosses are just nice dudes, so you end up with plenty of memorable encounters and inside jokes. Ogre brothers, you rock!
Sabotage (developers) released an excellent free DLC: Picnic Panic, that follows the tone of the first half of the game by providing more humorous encounters, entertaining dialogue, and most importantly, difficulty. Where the second half of the game lacks in difficulty (both for platforming and boss fights), the DLC more than provides. If it weren’t for this DLC, I likely would not have recommended this game.
DO THE THING
➖Neutral:
This is probably just a matter of taste but I was not a big fan of the soundtrack. I found the music either annoying or forgettable.
❌Negative:
The second part of the game, however, extends the game by another ~6 hours but feels rushed, poorly thought out, and quite frankly, boring:
Now armed with the ability to warp, you are expected to backtrack to every map to search for hidden collectables and follow vague prophecies. The pace of the game suddenly slows down to a crawl. At this point you have already obtained all the abilities, which means that you have to walk through early-game levels in an end-game state. There is no real sense of difficulty or challenge, just a series of fetch quests.What’s worse is that the warps are few and often very inconveniently located, making the boring task of backtracking even longer. I contemplated stopping many times.
Little to no dialogue with the shopkeeper. Given how much I enjoyed these interactions, not having any dialogue felt like a punch to the liver.
Difficulty plateaued after the first half. None of the new areas or bosses really put you to the test, despite being the end-game. The fabled Demon King, for example, was a disappointing mess that could be killed by abusing invincibility frames. It’s only a shame that you have to play through this to get to the good DLC.
The ending felt rushed and left me dissatisfied. After the chore of collecting all music notes, you are suddenly bombarded with backstory information that is completely irrelevant to the rest of the game, followed by yet another mediocre boss.

🏅Verdict:
★★★☆☆ Half great, half terrible
The Messenger had the makings of a great modern retro-feel platformer: tight controls, spot on humor, and the magnificent shopkeeper. Unfortunately, the disappointingly tedious second half drained most of my enthusiasm for the game. Without the DLC, which focuses on all the things that make The Messenger great, the game would have been a lost cause. The only real downside is that you need to finish the game in order to start the DLC. In the end, I chose to recommend this game because the enjoyable moments are more memorable than the disappointing ones. Buy at your own discretion.
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Easily one of the best retro action platformer, a must play
Great soundtrack
Very funny
Well timed progression
Scratches your NES Ninja Gaiden itch completely
And just fun to play
10/10