At first glance, The Messenger appears to
be the latest game attempting an 8-bit homage revival. Much like Shovel Knight, it takes the formula
laid out years ago and combines it with modern technology to create something new and engaging,
but this time in the style of Ninja Gaiden. The end result seems to have it all - tight
movement, brutal difficulty and a kickin’ soundtrack, but after spending several hours
with the game, you realize this is all a facade - a guise to draw you in before it
slaps you across the face with what The Messenger is really all about. It’s got twists, it’s got turns, and it
even has those little bamboo hats that Raiden wears. Let's-...let’s talk about it. I haven’t played the Ninja Gaiden games
extensively but I’m certainly aware of their influence: climbing streetsigns, throwing
shurikens and jumprolling through tons and tons of enemies. Right off the bat, The Messenger seems to
nail the original’s game feel, but add even more fluidness to the movement - instead of
stopping when you attack on the ground, now you keep trucking along; you don’t just
cling to walls here, you can scale them with ease. You start the game with the cloudstep maneuver,
granting you a second jump after slashing your sword on an object or enemy, which by
itself allows for much more freedom in platforming, but it quickly ups the ante by giving you
a wingsuit to float through the air and the rope dart so you can grapple hooks to fling
across gaps and hazards. These build on each other in satisfying ways,
and add in upgrades from the shop so you can attack vertically while floating or even cloudstep
off projectiles and you get - WOO I MEAN LOOK AT THIS It kept some of the attributes from its inspiration,
like enemies respawning if you move offscreen then come back, but without the annoying hardware
limitations causing sprites to glitch out all over the place. They even fixed the archaic lives system of
the NES days, not by going the typical Dark Souls or Shovel Knight route of losing currency,
but instead introducing Quarble who will swallow some of the future gems you collect as payment
for bringing you back to life. It’s sort of a 6 in 1, half dozen in the
other type of situation, but it never felt like an overly-punishing system, especially
once you buy the upgrade to lower his compensation by half. He says some hilariously condescending remarks
when you die too. In fact, the whole game has outstanding humor,
the shopkeeper is one of the most refreshingly written characters I’ve seen in awhile. It goes beyond simple 4th wall breaking jokes
and into real meta-narrative type dialogue which kept on delivering well into the major
twist. He warns you that the catacombs are an uninspired
stage but to not worry because the game gets more memorable later on, he jokes that there
isn’t a boss fight in Bamboo Creek because it’s a beautiful vacation spot, but then
there actually isn’t a boss fight just to psych you out and keep you on your toes, and
he’ll even berate you for trying to open his closet over and over until eventually
he punishes you with a super long story that you can’t skip. In fact, if you try to sneak in when he’s
not there, he’ll pop in and say AHA GOTCHA PUNK! The bosses catch you by surprise as well - some
aren’t as menacing as you would expect, some befriend you after beating them, and
some aren’t actually violent at all - your battle was just a simple misunderstanding. I will say I was a little bit let down by
the enemy placement at first though, the stages weren’t something to write home about. I mean I was having a good time, but thought
it was nearing the end without really taking off or doing anything groundbreaking. Little did I know that all of this is carefully
designed on purpose to make you think this is all there is - a shiny new coat of paint
on an old format, wrapped up in a clever bow and improved gameplay. That is, until you mention to the shopkeeper
that your adventure is almost over, and he reminds you that the trailer says something
different. This is when it hit me, oh yeah I saw that
trailer, there’s supposed to be time-changing portals or something. And right then the first of several big reveals
takes place - as you defeat the tower of time’s final challenge, you take a leap of faith
into the future - complete with an entire overhaul to the graphics: that’s right,
everything is 16-bit now! And it’s much more than just visuals, all
the background music and sound effects are entirely different as well - it manages to
feel like a totally new experience even though all the mechanics are virtually the same. Now, they DID actually show this off in the
trailer, I just didn’t pay close enough attention to notice. But this is just the tip of the iceberg, they
left the real spoilers out of it entirely. After defeating the demon king’s underling,
the story gets hit with several big twists and it’s done in a tastefully entertaining
way. Just like you were asked to take a sacred
scroll to the top of a mountain by The Western Hero, now you realize that this same process
loops with a new messenger every 500 years, and you become the shopkeeper guiding them
on their journey. Except, they left out an important detail
- you’re supposed to make sure to send Quarble to revive them when they die, otherwise there’s
no more adventurer. After a short panic when your new protege
is a no show, the sages call upon you to finish the job, and this is where the game truly
becomes an entirely new behemoth. Instead of a challenging level-based platformer,
it goes full-blown metroidvania. The scroll you have been carrying this whole
time is actually a map of the various levels, and you need to collect the magical music
notes to break the curse and save the world. From this moment on, two major changes happen
from a gameplay perspective - it lets go of any linearity or handholding and releases
you to explore the world. The only thing you have to go off of are hints
from the elder sage. And 2, you can now warp between time periods
through the aforementioned rifts throughout the stages. These not only switch things graphically,
but also reconfigure the level layouts so new pathways become available and harder enemy
patterns are present in the future. This blew my freaking mind! I’ve seen games modify their visual style
before, but often it simply upgrades as you play and never goes back, like in Evoland. The closest I’ve seen to this is Adventures
of Pip but that’s only the main character switching back and forth to use different
abilities, not every asset! It made me realize the true scope of pulling
this off since they essentially had to make two versions of the entire game, and the fact
that it all happens so seamlessly and can swap on a dime makes this something I really
haven’t seen before. Huge props have to be given to sound designer
RainbowDragonEyes for his accomplishments with this game, it’s honestly the best soundtrack
I’ve heard in years and each tune having their own dedicated 8-bit and 16-bit versions
that switch constantly is a huge undertaking. Basically this reinvention after pulling the
wool over your eyes is a triple use of a mechanic. Not only does it keep the old stages interesting
by adding new hazards and puzzle elements to the layout, but it’s used as a story
beat to travel back and forth to the past and future to accomplish tasks that would
be impossible in one timeline, AND it also is a nod to real life since 16-bit came after
8-bit graphics, making it easily recognizable as the different time periods. I don’t think The Messenger could have succeeded
with this unique idea if it wasn’t so well-designed in the first place. Once the game opens up it introduces a bunch
of totally new locations that utilize the time portals in special ways and even add
in new mechanics all the time, like rockets shooting into the air, bouncing flower pads
that remind me of the monkeys from the Lion King for some reason, and even a new powerup
that lets you walk on water as long as you keep moving. You’ll travel to all of the old and new
places to unlock helpful items, fight extra bosses and turn enemies into friends to help
people in both timelines. Sometimes you'll see characters in the future
and be like, ‘oh yeah of course, they're dead!' But then turn back time to interact with them. I love that for the most part, the future
versions of stages are harder, except for The Cloud Ruins because when you go back to
the past, it's a bustling electric temple brimming with danger! All the little details that you may not even
notice your first time through really bring the whole experience together - like how the
fungi in Quillshroom Marsh will sing along to parts of the melody, or how the new messenger
emulates the same movements when YOU entered the shop for the first time; jumping around,
looking at all the knick knacks. The last gauntlet is possibly my favorite
area, as you enter a music box and the platforms react to the beat of the song - it's a perfect
final test of everything you've learned. There’s even bonus collectibles called Power
Seals scattered throughout the world that teach you the most advanced moves in your
arsenal to collect them - you essentially become a master of traversal just by completing
the game. If I had one complaint, it’s that I wish
you could teleport to any shop location instead of the select few teleporters that are accessible
from the temple headquarters. It did get a little old traveling from the
same spot so many times, but remember how I said the stages had a relatively basic enemy
layout? This makes so much more sense when you take
into account that you have to navigate them several times to progress the story. The first 2-3 hours of the game are essentially
a tutorial for the rest of the experience, and once you unlock all your movement abilities,
it becomes quick and super gratifying to just sail around the locals and see what’s changed
since the last time you came through. Overall, The Messenger not only nails the
juice of what made games like this so satisfying from back in the day, but introduces a new
twist in a surprising way, pulling a fast one on everyone's expectations of a genre. It’s impressive to create a modernized homage
to a classic franchise, but it’s almost impossible to keep such a mindblowing secret
under wraps in today’s day and age - and I think the way it was marketed played a big
role in that. I kept seeing so many people saying they were
enjoying The Messenger so far, and really liked the movement or bosses and I kept thinking,
'oh just you wait and see my friend.' It’s easily a Game of the Year contender
for me, and will hold a special place in my heart simply because of how much it came out
of nowhere and blew every assumption I had out of the water. I’m curious - can you think of another game
that wasn’t what you were expecting going in, but became one of your favorites because
of how it defied those expectations? What was the x-factor that made it so memorable
for you? Tell me in the comments below and let’s
talk about it. If you haven't played The Messenger yet, you
absolutely need to give it a try. Sometimes a game looks like it'll be enjoyable
for one thing, but you might be surprised at what you actually find underneath. Thanks for watching another episode of Good
Game Design, I’ll see you guys next time. Stay frosty my friends! Hey there! Just wanted to remind you that you can get
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I recommend the “Pls No Tank Tops” tank top personally, but there is a ton to choose
from. If you enjoy my content and wanna rep your
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by sharing around your favorite videos. Alright I’m outta here, later!
