Review: The Messenger (PlayStation 4)

As a demon army besieges his village, a young ninja venture through a cursed world, to deliver a scroll paramount to his clan’s survival. What begins as a classic action platformer soon unravels into an expansive time-traveling adventure full of thrills, surprises, and humor.

The Messenger Review Pros:

• Graphics are a combination of 8 and 16 Bit.
• 352.7MB Download size (PlayStation 4) and 447.7MB download size (PlayStation 5).
• Platinum trophy for each version so you can potentially earn two Platinum trophies.
• Free PlayStation 5 version upgrade.
• Three save slots.
• Volume sliders for sound fx, and music.
• Classic Chiptune soundtrack that gets more modern in the second half of the game.
• Tight responsive controls which is good because the game would be hard to play otherwise.
• You can remap the controls.
• Fast-paced action platformer for the first half and then second half of the game is more Metroidvania gameplay.
• Cutscenes are handled in-game and done in a retro style.
• Crystals- Collect them to upgrade your moves and attacks.
• Shop- Appears in the game and here you spend your crystals on the upgrade tree. The actual location itself is a thing of beauty.
• Humour and fourth wall breaking interactions throughout and keeps you entertained.
• Power seals- Hidden collectibles and if you find them all you get a special upgrade.
• Seriously clever level design.
• Ki- Charge it by collecting Ki and allows you to use special moves and items.
• Save points throughout the levels.
• Quarble- Little devil/gargoyle looking guy who appears after you die. He then takes all crystals collected afterward as payment for bringing you back, You never know how much it will ultimately cost.
• Big boss battle sequences.
• New game plus can be unlocked after a playthrough adding to the replayability.
• Jukebox mode so you can listen to the music.
• Lush landscapes and locations.
• Health bar system, Pick up health in the game.
• Short intro animations for entering a level.
• Upgrade tree where you can cash in gems to use the skill tree for new abilities and upgrades.
• Keep any collected crystals upon death.
• Colorful characters.
• Run over save points that also act as respawn checkpoints.
• Envokes memories of classic gamers like Ninja Gaiden, Castlevania on the N.E.S.
• Surprisingly easy to get into.
• Frustrating game in places but has so much charm you keep coming back.
• The game starts off as a straight platformer but then completely mixes it up with time changing mechanics that brings in more Metroidvania mechanics.
• Cloud stepping is the art of when you hit something (anything) you get your jump back so you can scale huge buildings or stay off the ground for long periods of time using this mechanic.
• Includes everything from the new game plus update.

The Messenger Review Cons:

• The Messenger is a very Difficult game so be warned.
• You cannot import your save to the PlayStation 5 version from what I saw.
• Can get very reflex heavy.
• Little attack/combo options.
• No blood effects in anyway.
• Cannot save when you want which can be annoying.
• The game doesn’t offer any accessibility options like text size, Colourblind or even game modifiers.
• A few cutscenes can go on for far too long and cannot be skipped.
• Underwhelming last boss encounter left a nasty taste in my mouth.