Journey Across Bits And Pixels In The Messenger – Review (PC)

Following in the footsteps of the recent explosion of 8-bit and 16-bit retro throwbacks, The Messenger aims to lure players in with its nostalgia and keep them around with versatile platforming and fast paced action. As the first game from new developer Sabotage Studio, The Messenger does a good job of making you feel like a badass and a lightning quick ninja, and adds a unique twist in combining both 8 bit and 16 bit art styles. The focus here is on rapid and frantic movement as you dodge, glide, leap, and rappel your way through levels. There’s not a whole lot here that is new, but it is fun and invigorating nonetheless.

Humanity has lost in its battle against the evil demon hordes. All that’s left are undead armies, the remaining enslaved humans, and a small group of exiled ninja warriors tucked far away in their village hideout. Legend tells of a Hero from the West bringing with him knowledge and power that will save all of humanity. In The Messenger, you play as one of these ninjas in hiding. More specifically, a young and brash soldier in training who’s growing impatient of his regimented life without adventure. Tucked away with his brothers in hiding, our protagonist has grown tired of training day in and day out while listening to the same preachings of his elders about fate, magic, and a seemingly imaginary Hero from the West. The story kicks off just as the demon horde tracks down and attacks the hidden clan of ninjas. The Hero from the West, a mystical and almost god like figure riding atop a Phoenix and robed in white, arrives just in time to deliver on the prophecy. However, all that the Hero brings with him is a task for our young ninja – to deliver a mysterious scroll to the top of a mountain to three mystical sages.

As was the case with side scrolling adventures on the consoles we grew up on, story isn’t really a focal point – rather it’s more of a set dressing. This is very much the same with The Messenger. However, what the lore sets up well is the ninja’s journey through his world to the summit of the mountain. Each stage is appropriately themed for your approach to the mountain. While enemy types don’t change much with the environment, it greatly effects platforming. You’ll start on level ground in forests and jungles. Before long you’ll plunge down into a chasm find yourself traversing through caves and grottos’. As the gap closes to the climax at the summit, levels will get much colder and resemble that of a mountain top (it’s in these areas where you’ll wish you never took for granted the sure footed and non ice covered grounds that came before. Ninjas and slippery surfaces do not mix well).

The player will begin the game with a simple slash attack with their katana. This is more than enough as most enemies are dispatched with a single hit. Early in the game, a ranged shuriken attack can be unlocked that is especially useful in stunning or eliminating enemies from a distance. Later, a rope dart is awarded to The Messenger that works at shorter range, but is mainly used for traversal. As far as attacks go, that’s really all that is at play. But this is okay, as offense isn’t really the focal point of The Messenger.

In order to successfully clear a level, the player’s most useful tools are their traversal abilities. In true ninja form, the easiest way to progress is moving at lightning quick speeds. Along with your katana, you also begin the game with a cloud jump. This is essentially a double jump, but can only be triggered with a successful mid air strike on an enemy, projectile, or fixed object like a lantern. It takes skill and some getting used to. A small plume of vapor appears under the ninja when the cloud jump is available, but this queue is only evident for a second.

The remaining platforming abilities are uncovered as your clear levels. Claws allow our ninja to scale and effortlessly cling to walls. This proves essential as you won’t want to keep your feet on the ground for long. But the climb ability is not triggered with any sort of button press. Instead, you grab onto a wall just by touching it. This can become an annoyance as on more than a few occasions I missed a jump as a result of inadvertently latching onto a wall. It’s a minor inconvenience, but still got in the way enough times to notice.

A wing suit allows the player to glide over large chasms and gaps, or even use wind chutes to propel up to higher ledges. A rope dart acts as a grapple hook and offers the ability to latch onto fixed objects and enemies and launch to otherwise inaccessible areas.

It will take a couple of hours before all of the tools are at the ninja’s disposal, but when it all comes together is when The Messenger really shines. Successfully cloud jumping, rappelling, and gliding through areas on a first or second attempt gives a true sense of accomplishment and you’ll be dazzled at how quickly all of these skills allow you to move. It comes to a point where you don’t even bother with your attacks and instead dance and float past enemies’ projectiles to move to the next screen. Don’t get me wrong, it still takes a lot of skill to pull this off but, when you do, it’s truly satisfying.

The game starts off fairly simple and straight forward but there is a noticeable difficulty spike mid way through The Messenger. Throughout the game you’ll rarely die due to a relentless onslaught of enemy attacks. Rather, you’ll die as a result of your own mistakes. Poorly timed jumps or slow to react button presses are usually the culprits. There are no lives to be lost and checkpoints are frequent enough that missing a jump or hitting some spikes only means repeating two or three screens at most. Many of the bosses are also lacking any real challenge. A checkpoint and health replenishment is always placed just before a boss room and I was able to conquer most on my second attempt as all of their patterns can be memorized after only seeing them once.

A twist midway through the game will see the player transforming the world from 8-bit to 16-bit – music and all This change is pretty drastic and gives the game a total makeover. It’s like switching from Super Mario Bros 3 to Super Mario World, but in an instant.  It’s not entirely new levels, but changes are made that will keep you on your toes. With this new change also comes new mechanics. Switching between worlds is now possible through various types of portals that often act as puzzles.  Overall, these portals add a interesting layer to the game that can really change up the flow.

As you move through levels in The Messenger, you will collect time shards. These are obtained by killing enemies or smashing lanterns and are used to purchase upgrades in a shop. These upgrades include increased health or damage resistances, shuriken upgrades, and even a lowered penalty for death. Hidden areas in levels can also be uncovered and house larger time shard caches and mystical trinkets called Power Seals. These areas are never obvious and require skillful use of traversal abilities to reach.  There are 45 total Power Seals in the game, and collecting all of them will unlock a cherished prize, locked away in a merchants chest.

Potentially the most surprising aspect of the game is how it changes its format after numerous hours into the game, going from a linear to a non-linear game.  This includes backtracking through previously completed levels with the new time swapping mechanic. While going through levels in a new way can be interesting, at points it can be tedious. It’s not always clear where you’re supposed to go, or even if you’re looking in the right area.  This get compiled with what timeline you need to be in to find what you’re looking for and can be frustrating at times.

In spite of not much depth in the story, The Messenger does have surprisingly humorous and bubbly characters that you’ll interact with on the journey. The mysterious cloaked merchant, who sells wares from his shop, has a particularly endearing way about breaking the third wall. He pokes fun at the game’s obvious influences by eluding to “Joe Gaiden” and even loosely references one of the game’s own pre launch trailers. A small flying minion named Quarble is tasked with saving you from death by rewinding time to the moment just before you perished. However the penalty for having to do this is following you around right after respawn and taking all of your time shards for a small period of time. Quarble provides constant reminders of how many times you’ve died and how much money he’s made off of your mistakes. Each level culminates with a boss and they bring with them their own personality and flair. One of the best examples was a pair of cyclops who have a fondness for working out and being in their best shape. You won’t want to skip through their text dialogue as they perfectly exude the common macho man meat head stereotypes.

Recommendation:

For those who spent hours playing the original Ninja Gaiden or Castlevania on NES and are looking for a bit of nostalgia, The Messenger will be a near perfect fit. While it doesn’t have the same level of challenge as those titles, or the depth in longevity, it does award you for mastering its technique. The Messenger is unfortunately going up against the likes of Guacamelee! 2 and Dead Cells – both similar titles boasting superior experiences. But this is an enjoyable game with a true retro style and a lot of personality. The Messenger should not be missed.

The Messenger releases on Steam & Nintendo Switch on August 30^th, 2018.

The Messenger was provided to the reviewer by the publishing company but this fact did not alter the reviewer’s opinion

Check out our Review Guide to see what we criteria we use to score games.