Switch It Up: The Messenger

Title: The Messenger

Release Date: August 30th, 2018

Developer: Sabotage Studio

Publisher: Devolver Digital

*Spoilers to follow*

One thing I like about this style of blog is that it gives me the opportunity to gush about games rather than knit-pick and focus on the faults. The Messenger is equal parts a send-up and homage to the 8-Bit and 16-bit action platformers such as Ninja Gaiden, and more than just a copy-cat of those games, it does enough to innovate to really standout. Some youtubers, game journalists, and those "in the know" even went as far to say that this was their favorite games of 2018, which is saying quite a lot! Let's jump in and find out for ourselves.

Background

Quoting heavily from wikipedia, the game is developed by a Canadian studio known as Sabotage Studio, run by two gaming veterans known as Thierry Boulanger and Martin Brouard. What I find really neat about The Messenger is that it is a game that has been in Mr. Boulanger's mind since he was a kid, and that passion translates into the game very, very well. You can tell that this was a project that is infused with a nostalgic warmth towards the video games from the 80's and 90's; it is one of those rare games where the designers, you can tell, just love video games.

 

The story of the game is delightful nonsense, and mainly serves as a pretext for the gameplay that unfolds throughout the game. It takes place in a world where demons have decimated most of the population, and the only humans left reside on the tiny corner of an island. The humans here train, as ninja, to fight the demons, and wait for the day a "hero from the west" will arrive to save them from the demons. The game begins with an attack from the demons, and the "hero" arrives to give your character, a ninja, a scroll that must be delivered to an ancient temple. And there you have it! Simple goal, simple protagonist, simple story.

The world of the game is really quite well designed. Each area is visually distinct from the others, and the bosses are really imposing and filled with character. The only place I would knock this game is on the enemy design and variety. The enemies never really stand out and they are used over and over again throughout the game.

 

The music, as well, is a very lovingly crafted. The main conceit of the game is that you skip between an 8-bit and 16-bit world via time traveling, and the score of the game reflects this shift in technology as well. Obviously the people who developed this game were in camp Nintendo growing up, as the score is very much a NES/SNES sound chip composed score; it is very reminiscent of the thumping pulse of Ninja Gaiden, or the rock-opera stylings of Castlevania.

Finally there is the gameplay. The other half the the hook for this game is that not only does this game flit between the 8 and 16 bit worlds, it also changes the style of game it is as well. The game goes from a straight action-platformer, with the standard loop of "make it to the end of the stage and beat the boss," and shifts dramatically to a mostly open-exploration Metroidvania (already getting sick of that term), where your character is hunting down lost relics. The main focus of the game is on platforming, and that action is incredibly tight. Your character moves responsively, has a ton of tricks at his disposal, and can easily flit about the room if you can master the basics. The main gameplay gimmick is that if you can hit an enemy or an object, you are allowed a second "air jump." This means that you spend a good portion of each level jumping around in the air. Boss fights can literally go with you buzzing around your enemy as if you are a pesky hornet.

High Points

• While this game certainly hearkens back to the age of NES thumb-busters and difficult games, it is a much more forgiving affair. The game has no real penalty for death other than a "try again" from a checkpoint, a taxing of future currency, and some delightful ribbing from a character named Quarble. The game is challenging, but you are given so many chances to just try to repeat and learn that it never feels punitive. The game is littered with checkpoints too, so you are usually only taxed, at most, 3-5 screens of progress when you die. The bosses are mainly patterned based, but there are really fun and intuitive strategies available that you can use to just tear through them if you are skilled enough to try. Finally, in the open portion of the game, the game is willing to offer very direct hints and locations of key items for a very small price. Bottom-line, this game is very accessible, even to those who are neophytes to these "retro" style games. 

• The game's writing is top-knotch and honestly one of the funniest games, based purely on writing, that I have played. Some examples include the shopkeeper and Quarble. The shopkeeper is where you buy your upgrades, and he will also give hints about the areas and bosses you will face. He has a very wry wit, and they do some very interesting stuff with this character as far as the narrative is concerned. Most of the fourth-wall breaks, as well, come from this character, but they do a good job explaining this characters seeming omniscience. Always, if given the chance, ask the shopkeeper for a story, and keep trying to open up his cabinet. Quarble is a "greed" demon who will continually save you from what would be fatal mishap, but at the cost of about 50 gems that you collect in the future. Each time he comes to "collect" though, he roasts you for your stupidity and poor playing skills. There are a good many responses that generate, and it seemed like a good half the game before they started to repeat.
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Low Points

• Most reviewers have seemed to favor the second half of the game over the first half, enjoying the Metroidvania elements over the straight platforming. I actually disagree: I feel the game loses a lot of its momentum at this point, and the well paced and written script seems to all but evaporate. It reminds me a lot of the inverted castle from Symphony of the Night: conceptually, it is really neat, as you get to explore the world in a new and exciting way. Execution-wise, though, it is very sparse on content: some very simple and easy boss fights (even the last boss is rather simple), and a bunch of errands across the map with some really annoying backtracking. The 8-bit to 16-bit mechanic doesn't change up the game-play in any truly meaningful way, either, as you are pretty much the same ninja just with a different skin. The first half of the game, though, is hyper-focused, the writing is super strong, and I think a much more enjoyable journey. 
• The Temple of Time (or whatever its called), is really tough. It is built to be a test of your skills up until that point of the game, and it is arguably the toughest area, even the Hell area. This was the one part of the game I almost rage-quit. 

Verdict

This game is really good! I would highly recommend it, especially with DLC coming down the pipeline this summer.