The plot here begins with a classic setup: you are a young ninja whose village is attacked by a demon army, and a legendary hero hands you a scroll that must be delivered to the other side of the island to save the world. Everything follows the standard scenario until you get about halfway through the game — and then the first twist hits: you don't fight the Demon King, but instead end up in the Tower of Time and are transported 500 years into the future.
The graphics shift from 8-bit to 16-bit, and the game transforms from a linear action game into a full-fledged Metroidvania, where you run through familiar locations, but now with new abilities and access to previously hidden areas. The funniest part is that the story constantly breaks the fourth wall: the shopkeeper discusses game mechanics with you, characters can't remember your name, calling you "Courier" or "Postman," and in the finale it turns out that the scroll you were carrying is just a map hinting that you're playing one game from a whole series of nonexistent games.
The gameplay is built on one of the coolest mechanics in the genre — "Cloud Step." You don't have a double jump as such, but you can perform a second jump if you hit an enemy, a projectile, or even a lantern in mid-air. This turns platforming into a dance: you combine strikes, rolls, a glider, and a grappling hook to overcome obstacles, and when everything clicks, you feel like a true ninja.
The game starts as a linear 8-bit platformer, and in the middle turns into a 16-bit open-world Metroidvania, and yes, there are time travels between two eras that change the graphics and music in real time. The enemies and bosses here are also memorable: from a giant praying mantis to a dragon, and even the Picnic Panic DLC added new insane opponents.
The spice is the humor that permeates the game from start to finish. The shopkeeper tells you philosophical parables and jokes about how he's essentially just a text box for info. And the messages on the death screen are sometimes just as funny as the dialogue. But there's a catch: the second half of the game, when you start running through old levels searching for items, can get tiresome.
Some players complain that the backtracking is drawn out, and the rewards for it aren't worth the time spent. However, this is redeemed by the fact that the controls here are so responsive that even repeated playthroughs are enjoyable, and in New Game+ you can choose which upgrades to keep to play through the game in a new way.
VERDICT
The Messenger is a game that breaks expectations. It starts as a nostalgic trip into the past, turns into something completely different, and ends in a way that makes you want to replay it again. It's not perfect — the second half can be tedious, and the backtracking can be annoying, but when you're wall-jumping, combining strikes and the glider, and one of the best chiptune soundtracks in indie games is playing over it, you understand why 8 out of 10 critics give it 80+ scores.
Release date: Aug 30, 2018
Developer: Sabotage
Interface: Russian
Voice-over: None
v 2.0.2.4 + DLC
You can unpack the multi-volume RAR archive (consisting of several parts) using the WinRAR program or online services. It is important that all volumes (files) are in the same folder. If at least one volume is missing, full unpacking is not possible.
In Windows
Using WinRAR:
Open WinRAR and go to the directory where the split RAR volumes are located.
Right-click on the first volume and select "WinRAR" → "Extract here".
WinRAR will automatically detect the remaining volumes and merge the split RAR files into the source file.
Important: it is wrong not to unpack each part of the archive separately.
