Go Ninja, Go Ninja, Go!

It's been a very long time coming, but it seems that Devolver Digital's The Messenger is finally ready to take a running leap onto Xbox One. According to a Microsoft Store listing spotted by @h0x0d, Sabotage Studios' challenging platform adventure will be made available to p??urchase June?? 25.

Originally released on PC and Nintendo Switch back in 2018, The Messenger starts out as a delightful throwback to the 8-bit platform games of yore, before events conspire to twist the narrative into an intriguing, time-warping story of honour and duty. Released to huge acclaim from both critics and players, The Messenger's challenging old-school gameplay and unique tale of ?sword and sorcery is still being discovered by new fans today.

The Messenger is available now ??on PS4, PC, and Nintendo Switch and will arrive on Xbox One June 25.

The Messenger coming to Xbox One on June 25 [Gematsu]

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'Be always brave'

After a string of duos, the Epic Games Store is back to giving out a single video game this week, but it's one worth nabbing. The next time you're in a classic Ninja Gaiden mood, you'll be glad The Messenger is only a few clicks away. The retro action-?platformer is free on PC until Thursday, November 21.

Aside from an eventual structural shift that can bog down the pacing, for better or worse, The Messenger is what it looks like: old-school precision platforming. It got the Dtoid seal of approval. I know some of you have ??been on the fence, so consider this an easy, relatively hassle-f?ree in.

Epic's next free game will be Bad North, an island-hopping Viking defense game.

The Messenger [Epic Games Store]

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Give me more linearity

I'm a little late to the party with The Messenger.

I don't know why (I actually do, I was playing a ton of games in August 2018), but I never got around to playing more than 30 minutes of The Messenger at launch. But at some point in my recent Family Matters series re-watch marathon (no Stefan yet), after downing three other backlogged Switch games, I popped in The Messenger.

What perfect timing too; since I could breeze through the new recent (and free) Picnic Panic DLC alongside of the main game.

To my surprise, Picnic Panic might be the best single bit of Messenger. Although the core experience was met with rave reviews and unanimous love, something happened roughly halfway into the?? game when it d??rastically shifted from a more than competent old school platformer to a Metroidvania: my interest waned.

The Messenger ??is backed by a killer mechanical base, best exemplified through "cloud-stepping," or, a chance to trigger an unlimited amount of jumps so long as you connect with an enemy or a piece of the environment. This level of freedom allows for some incredible bouts of level design, and perhaps lead to the concept of allowing players to work their way backward through nearly every portion of the game to slot in the surprise Metroidvania conceit.

For me, those exploration bits were just a little too meandering. There are so many objects to hunt for at the end that finding them was a chore, and I longed for the portions of the story where I unlocked a new contained zone. Mostly so I didn't have to wander through levels I had already beaten once for an item that gave me the privilege of repeating yet another level. When I play Messenger I just want to ninja flip? through obstacle courses and fight cool bosses, not pixel-hunt for a fake boulder I missed that leads to a critical new zone.

But since Picnic Panic is very much a linear experience, I took to it instantly. Accessed from the orb in the shop (after you download the DLC for free), it?? serves as a standalone set of missions across three new locales, with new concepts to boot. The big ones are a surfing minigame (that taps one of my favorite parts of the critical path, the dragon rides), a nail-biting race sequence, a few elevator puzzles, and a?? killer final boss encounter that I won't spoil here.

All the while, Picnic Panic requires a mastery of pretty much everything you've picked up from the completed campaign, including lightning fast reflexes in some of the most challenging platforming sequences yet. It feels like a true post-launch campaign and eliminates the chief issue I had with Messenger in the process.

Maybe you're like me and pushed The Messenger to the side after hearing how long it was. Or maybe you put it down after you spent an hour looking for an obscure key item and went in the completely wrong direction (back in the day, this would have warranted a controller against the wall). In any case, I urge you to pick it back up and give Picnic Panic ??a shot: if only for more sassy shopkeep?er dialogue.

_{[These impressions are based on a retail build of the Switch version of the game, purchased by the author.]}

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Available today

The new free DLC for The Messenger called "Picnic Panic" is now available on all platforms. To get yourself in the mood for a tropical ninja getaway, publish?er Devolver Digital has uploaded a launch trailer that sho??ws off some of the locales you'll be traveling to. In addition to being very colorful, there's more of that wonderful music by Rainbowdragoneyes. This crept up on me by surprise, so now I'm all ready to jump back into the game.

As for what you'll find in this DLC, "Picnic Panic" sends the titular main character on a summer vacation to Voodkin Island. The demon Barma'thazel has captured some of the island's creatures and intends to use them in his dark rituals. As only the wisecracking messenger can, he'll travel th??rough the past and present of three new levels and face off against a plethora of new enemies and bosses. Better still, the shopkeeper has more stories to tell that are likely loaded with snark. I can't wait for that.

Devolver Digital [Twitter]

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Ninjacation all I ever wanted

The Messenger is getting a free DLC pack next month.

The vacation themed pack of levels and extra bosses to fight. On top of playable content,? there will be 18 new trac?ks added to the game when the free DLC pack releases on July 11.

The Messenger is ou?t currently for PC, Switch, and PlayStation 4.

The post The Messenger’s free Picnic Panic DLC is coming in July appeared first on Destructoid.

Did you see the pun?

When The Messenger launched on PC and Switch last year, I was pretty intrigued. The art style looked to harken back to classic titles like Ninja Gaiden on the NES, with Dtoid's own Rich Meister giving the game 10/10. I watched Game Attack stream a bit of it and was ready to pounce on a ??Steam sale to grab it. It looked like everyth??ing I would enjoy in a retro platformer, but I somehow missed the boat.

When the opportunity to check out the recently announced PS4 port came up, I jumped at the chance. I wasn't going to miss out on playing this game, even if the hype wouldn't match my lofty expectations. Turns out I didn't have much to worry about because I'm really digging the first few hours of The Messenger. Oh, and this PS4 version is solid as hell.

The Messenger begins in a pretty unassuming way. Figuring this was strictly a serious game like Ninja Gaiden, I was surprised ?when the main character started talking about how frustrated he was with his secret ninja order. From there, the game introduces some evil beings and then starts dropping bits of comedy left and right. It really is the perfect Devolver Digital game ?in that it doesn't take itself very seriously.

That tone never lets up,? either. The main character is constantly saying dumb things to those he encounters such as the in-g??ame shop keeper, who might just be my favorite character in this whole adventure. When I checked his chest in the corner and had him say, "Don't do that" I knew I was in store for something special. The dialogue is very well written and it never ceases to put a smile on my face.

These are the qualities that turn a solid example of retro design into something truly special in the modern era. If The Messenger played its cards exactly like Ninja Gaiden, it wouldn't be nearly as remarkable. It'd still be great but ?feel a bit samey. That it has a kick-ass soundtrack and lots of humor is what makes it truly memorable and something I ca??n't put down.

Thankfully, nothing about this PS4 port is disappointing. Maybe there isn't 4K output for users with PS4 Pro systems, but the game runs flawlessly and controls wonderfully. You only ever really use two buttons and they are Square and Cross. It's perfect for pulling off jumping attacks and stringing together The Messenger's unique "Cloudstep" mechanic??. This is a maneuver that lets you jump in mid-air after striking certain objects or enemy projectiles, which would be impossible if the buttons were spaced out.

Even when tested using Sony's remote play on Vita and PC, the presentation holds up exceptionally well. Everything is sharp, vibrant, and crisply drawn. It's the dream NES aesthetic that Nintendo has only replicated with Super Mario Maker. I wish every retro game could look this good.

As far as options go, there really isn't much else to The Messenger on PS4. You can change the volume of music and sound effects individ??ually, and you can rebind all of the control?s. There is surround sound support, so that's a nice plus. Of course there are trophies, too, with a full platinum available.

There's not a whole lot to really report on. This is a perfectly suitable option for getting The Messenger and one I can recommend without hesitation. If you don't mind not having portability (like with Switch) or 4K (??like on PC), the PS4 port plays just as well as the others and looks sharp.

Now if you'll excuse me, ?I need to ??get back to reliving my NES days.

_{[This impressions piece is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publish??er.]}

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Go Ninja, Go Ninja, Go!

The wait is over. Sony and Devolver Digital have finally announced that Sabotage Studios' excellent retro-styled platformer, The Messenger, will be arriving on PS4 March 19.

Already available on PC and Nintendo Switch, The Messenger is a throwback to the rock-hard NES platformers of yore, particularly the Ninja Gaiden series. Our titular hero must trave??rse a series of hazard-filled stages in order to deliver a mys?terious scroll. This simple premise soon unfolds into a paradoxical, time-warping adventure.

Released in August 2018 to very high praise from critics and fans, this PS4 release will allow a wider audience to experience this classy old-school tribute to a golden era of platform games. The Messenger launches on PS4 March 19. A new expansion is also expected ??to launch on all platforms this Summer.

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A ninja vacation

Some of you might remember that The Messenger from Sabotage Studios was one of my favorite games this year. Well, good news out of the Kinda Funny Games Showc??ase is more content is coming its way in 2019.

Picnic Panic is a free expansion adding three new levels, and new boss fights as our favorite Ninja takes a t?ropically themed detour. 

The post T?he Messenger is getting thr??ee new levels for free in 2019 appeared first on Destructoid.

Downwell too

If there is one trend I absolutely love with this generation of game, it's the rise of small production publishers that are giving indie games a shot at retail release. Limited Run Games is probably the biggest name in this space, there are other companies doing God's work here. Fangamer produced physical copies of Undertale, Dead Cells reached retailers because of merge, and Owlboy is sitting idly on my shelf between my copy of de Blob and Yoku's Island Express thanks to SOEDESCO.

There's also Special Reserve Games, which announced this week retail releases of indie darlings Downwell, Minit, and The Messenger. All three titles will see physical releases nex??t year for Nintendo Switch while the former two will also have discs printed for PlayStation 4. If you've been holding out for physical releases of these titles, your patience is about to pay off.

Meanwhile, Inti Creates's Dragon Marked for Death is also getting a retail release courtesy of Nighthawk Interactive. The physical edition of this game will include all four playable characters, a point we have to make because of how the developer is choosing to handle the digital release of the game. Dragon Marked for Death will feature two versions on the eShop, one that includes the Empress and Warrior characters known as the "Frontline Fighter??s" pack, while the other includes the Shinobi and Witch characters in the "Advanced Fighters" pack. Each pack will retail for $14.99 each.

Inti Creates also announced a delay on Dragon Marked for Death. The game, originally set to launch on ?December 13, will now release on January 31??. The move was made to shorten the gap between digital and physical releases of the game.

New Dragon Marked for Death Information Revealed at Anime NYC [Inti Creates]
Special Reserve Games [Twitter]

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Don't shoot The Messenger

Maybe you've heard of a little game called The Messenger -- it's getting rave reviews across the internet (including receiving a 10 from Destructoid) and is being heralded as one of the best games for Nintendo Switch. That's one hel??l ?of an accolade!

We've got seven copies eac?h for Switch and Steam to hand out, so you too can try your hand at one of this s??ummer's hottest games. All you have to do is comment below for your chance to get in on the action!

In The Messenger you play as the final surviving ninja of an ancient village after a hideous demon attacks, killing the rest of your clan. You're tasked with delivered an important scroll through this 8-bit platforming adventure. But all is not as it seems as the world around you changes, altering your perspective and opening up re??a?lities outside of your own. Will you be able to survive the demonic onslaught and bring peace back to your once-great village?

To enter for your chance to win, comment below with your platform of ch?oice and a description of your own special ninja ability. Mine is the ability to astound foes with the sheer amount of tears I can generate in a short amount of time. Noah parted the Red Sea with little trouble, but he'd be little match for the flood produced by my prepubescent weeping.

We have seven Steam and seven NA Nintendo Switch keys, so you must have a North American eShop account to play on Switch. Make sure you comment from a Dtoid account that has your current email address on file. If I can't contact you, I can't give you one of this year's highest-rated titles. Winners will be drawn on Friday, Sept??ember 7.

The Messenger is available now on Steam and Nintendo Switch. Be sure to check out our sister sites Nintendo Enthusiast and PC Invasion for more chances to win!

The post Giveaway: Slice?? and dice with The Messenger on Switch and Steam appeared first on Destructoid.

The Switch's best indie yet

Sabotage Studio's The Messenger is a visually striking game that at a quick glance you might shrug off as yet another quick grab at our nostalgia. While my nostalgia heartstrings were tugged at significantly during my playthrough, it's safe to?? say this is a cut above t?he rest.

The Messenger pulls from the legacy of Ninja Gaiden as well as the? classic metroidvanias of Nintendo's golden age, and it's one of the best experiences I've had on my Switch to date.

The Messenger: (PC, Switch [reviewed])
Developer: Sabotage Studio
Publisher: Devolver Digital 
Release: August 30, 2018
MSRP: $19.99

The Messenger doesn't waste time with too much exposition before getting you into the action. An ancient demon comes to d?estroy your peaceful ninja village, and as the only survivor, you're tasked with traveling east to deliver an ancient scroll.

From that point the plot is straightforward: you travel across a few linear levels upgrading equipment and exchangin?g banter with a mysterious shopkeeper while fight?ing off some baddies who want you dead so they can take the aforementioned scroll.

It isn't until about two or three hours in (depending on how much trouble those baddies give you) that something doesn't seem right. It looks like you're on the final level, but it was almost too easy. It's here The Messenger offers its big surprise. Your ??protagonist is sent forward in time, and the shift ??comes with a graphical update.

The future landscape has a stunning 16-bit style as opposed to the previous 8-bit aesthetic. Along with this com?es a new look for our hero and changes both related to time and graphical capability for the levels you just completed. You can even hear new 16-bit versions of the fantastic soundtrack.

After exploring the future for a bit, our hero discovers he's had a map this whole damn time. It's now clear The Messenger isn't a linear game, but an exploration-focused metroidvania in disguise. You'll have to travel through rifts that have opened up, swapping between 8-bit and 16-bit eras to s?olve ?puzzles and unlock new areas to explore on the map all in an effort to break the demon's curse.

On your journey, you'll be able to spend shards you collect in the environment to upgrade your abilities. You can add health, and magic power, or enhance existing abil??ities like cloud step, the skill that allows the player character to get a second jump by striking certain objects with his sword. You'll automatically pick up abilities like the rope dart and squirrel suit along the way as these are necessary to proceed.

The controls feel tight and re?sponsive, even in handheld mode on the Switch's tiny Joy-Con. I was able to make my ninja leap from plat?form to platform with ease. The speed with which you can move through the levels cutting down enemies once you have a good handle on using all your upgrades in tandem is incredibly satisfying.

While The Messenger is for sure an homage to those old Nintendo games, it cuts out some of the stuff that sucked about them. There's plenty of room to breathe, for one. I never felt entirely overwhelmed with enemies or projectiles. The platformi??ng also feels great -- it's precision-based, but you won't be gambling on things like blind jumps.

If you're looking for strong writing, all of the character interactions are reasonably clever and self-aware. Most of the bosses end ??up looking like complete fools lik??e a pint-sized sorcerer and a confused rock monster. The bulk of the witty chatting comes from the shopkeeper, and if you're willing to hang around, he has plenty to say.

The Messenger trades in the idea of an antiquated life system for a demon who charges for saving your ass. He can bring you back from the brink indefinitely, but he'll stick around to steal any shards you grab for a while afterward. He also isn't above making fun of you for dying an absurd amount of tim??es.

You might want to get used to seeing that little guy as there is plenty of dying to be had here. Thankfully, I never had a controller-throwing moment. Whenever I was taken out, it was due to a poor snap judgment ??on my e?nd, or just losing out to one of the more acrobatically focused boss fights.

The Messenger is without a doubt one of the best indies available on the S?witch right now. It has a lot of competition with the sudden sea of metroidvania g??ames available, but its stunning look, fantastic soundtrack, and clever writing coupled with the amazing gameplay put it a step above the rest. When I walk away from a game every night only wanting to play more, there's little to complain about.

_{[This review is based on a pre-release build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Review: The Messenger appeared first on Destructoid.

What IS the secret behind the transitions?

It's immediately obvious at first glance that Sabotage Studios' retro-inspired platformer The Messenger owes a debt of gratitude to the classic Ninja Gaiden titles of the late '80s/early '90s. But what would those original 8-bit developers think of th??e homage to their work?

Well, you can find out in the video below, as publisher Devolver Digital sat down Ninja Gaiden director Hideo Yoshizawa and composer Keiji Yamagishi and gave them the opportunity to try out the spike-leaping ??adventure for themselves. Allowing the developers to see how the hard work they perf??ormed decades ago is still inspiring game creators today.

It's a very upbeat video, as both Yoshizawa and Yamagishi play through The Messenger's early stages, dodging obstacles and taking on a slew of enemies. We also hear a couple of interesting stories, such as how Nintendo demanded an underwater level for Ninja Gaiden, and how Yoshizama and Yamagishi attended BitSummit 2018, and were instantly recognised by Sabotage Studios whilst watching footage of The Messenger.

The Messenger launches August 30 on PC and Nintendo Switch. Our own Rich Meister reviewed the game just yesterday, awarding it a stunning score of 10 out of 10.

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The last great game of August?

Thierry Boulanger wears a lot of hats at Sabotage Studio. He’s the co-founder, creative lead, writer, designer, team cheerleader; basically, he’s “the guy.” He’s the guy that’s there to make sure the developer’s first title, The Messenger, is everything Sabotage Studio expects it to be. It needs to be as good as it can be. It needs to be smooth, inviting, and polished. It needs to be able to stand out in the sea of weekly Switch releases. It needs to be something Boulanger ??is satisfied with because this isn’t just a game to him. It’s the last 25 years of his life.

The Messenger, slated for a worldwide release on August 30 on Switch and Steam, is a metroidvania/platformer mash-up inspired by the ninja games of the NES era. It debuted at PAX earlier this year to rave reviews. Our own Rich Meister is so in love with it I’m sure he’d marry the game if he could. All year, it’s been in the ever-growing conversation about indie metroidvanias, usually at the tail end of it. This year has given us some of the greatest the genre has ever seen with titles like Yoku’s Island Express and Dead Cells establishing themselves as legitimate game of the year contenders. From my short time with the game, I think The Messenger has a chance at standing side-by-side w?ith those titles as some of the best ga??mes of 2018.

E?verythi??ng I’ve heard about the game up to this point is true. The graphics? An almost historical representation of the third and fourth generations of console gaming. The music? Criminally catchy. The controls? Tighter than a nun’s anus. Boulanger brought a Switch build for me to try out with stages from the game spliced together with dialogue written specifically for the demo. Extremely self-aware dialogue I should say. The shopkeeper -- gunning for the role of "2018’s Best New Character" -- is a riot who continually breaks the fourth wall for a solid joke.

The writing is indicative of the rest of the game. It’s absolutely solid all around. Traversal puzzles are organically implemented into the 8-bit/16-bit graphics switch mechanic. Cloud stepping, which gives me the ability to double jump if I hit an enemy or object with my sword, will make this game a speedrunner’s wet dream. I’ve haven’t been this impressed with a throwback title since I first downloaded Shovel Knight four years ago. That title?’s been a bell cow for indie platformers over the years and its success gave Boulanger the validation to chase this two-decade-old dream.

“I’ve been wanting to make this game since I was eight years old,” he says. “I’ve been thinking about the stories and the characters since I was a kid. It&rs??quo;s been a long time coming. 25 years of my life.”

Boulanger created his first demo of the title in 2015. At the be??ginning of 2017, he and his team at Sabotage Studio entered full production, a dream come true for a guy who just loved playing ninja games growing up.

“I’ve always had a thing for ninjas,” Boulanger tells me. “Ninja Gaiden obviously rocked my world when I was young. It’s just – and this is going to sound silly – but I had a thing for what I called jumping into a ball. I just like games where you did front flips when you jumped. I kept looking for these games. If your game has a front flip in it I would play it even if it were terrible. Ninja Gaiden had the coolest front flip when? y??ou jumped so I was just all over that.”

Ninja Gaiden comes up a lot in our discussion and how can it not. The 8-bit portions of The Messenger feel like levels taken from a never-released Ninja Gaiden IV or a Ninja Gaiden…gaiden. The details I find show a true appreciation for the era, with enemies that respawn if I backtrack to the music that’s a more infectious earworm than a Carly Rae Jepsen hit. The soundtrack is being produced by Rainbowdragoneyes who, as?? you’re about to find out, takes what he does quite seriously.

"Inauthentic music in a self-proclaimed authentic retro game is the nail in the coffin of authenticity,” he explains in a statement made after my hands-on. “One of them. There’s a few nails actually. The music nail is in particular, a rather large nail. Which is why I thought it important to NAIL the music on the first try, and use tracker programs that are built around the limitations of the NES and Genesis sound chips to create The Messenger’s soundtrack as true to form as possible. It’s not as simple as slapping a 16-bit skin on an “EiGhT bIt MiDi lol” track, nay, each song was programmed in hexadecimal from the ground up, twice. Before you ask me why I like torturing myself, quite honestly the only challenge comes with composing something ??I’m happy with, which is a struggle no matter what program I use, so if I already wrote it once it’s only a matter of a few (hundred? thousand?) keystrokes to create a second version in a different program. No sweat."

It’s clearly a lot of effort but the end result is amazing. Switching from 8-bit to 16-bit graphics means a change in music and sound effects as well. The seamless transition is spectacular, even more so when I dive underwater and the music becomes distorted. That’s been a favorite feature of mine since I first heard it in a Mario ti??tle ?and it’s something that will immediately enamor me to a game, much like Boulanger and his love of front flips.

My demo of The Messenger ends with a brief but clever boss battle against a short skeleton sorcerer who, like the shopkeeper, manages to elicit a few chuckles before our big bout. It takes me two tries, but I’m able to finish him off and get a quick glimpse at the many levels that await me in the final product. After 25 years of planning and roughly 18 months of development, The Messenger is closer than it’s ev??er been to? finally becoming a reality for Boulanger.

“I don’t really know how to feel right now,” he says. “I have to shift to a point of view whe??re I owe it to the team to see it through. I’m looking at the game and I’m in this fortunate position where I’m happy with it. I’m? not sitting here wishing we had a bigger budget or anything. I’m one-hundred percent satisfied with what every single team member did. I’m playing the game and it’s genuinely the best we can do. So at this point, we just need to put it out and let the public decide if it’s good enough to let us work on our next game, which obviously would be a second dream come true.”

Sabotage isn’t alone in its effort to spread The Messenger to as many fans as possible. After a favorable showing at PAX earlier this year, the game got on the radar of bespoke indie publisher Devolver Digital. With its help, thi??s retro ninja is going global.

“They’r?e amazing,” Boulanger says. “They’re taking us worldwide. We knew we could launch the game in North America and some parts of Europe, but with Devolver, you’re talking Japan, Russia, and other areas where we don’t really understand the markets. They have the means we’re looking for a??nd they really respect us. Devolver has been happy with everything we’ve done and they just want to see what we come up with next.”

That next will only come to fruition if The Messenger finds an audience. In my conversation with Boulanger, he explains to me the game that launches a?t the end of the month is the “leanest” version of the game. The past year and a half has been spent perfecting the campaign and that’s what players will get when it hits digital storefronts. That’s eight to ten hours of game??, a solid chunk for the genre.

I ask about additional modes, such as time attack?? or boss rush, as well as the possibility of a physical edition. Boulanger says he’d like all of those to become a reality, but it’ll all depend on how the game is received. For many games, success is a matter of timing and on Switch, it can be difficult to predict when is the correct time to launch given the average week sees roughly two dozen titles hit the platform. I ask Boulanger if he’s at all worried about competition on the eShop.

“Worried? A bit. It’s not like we won’t do it, but it’s certainly a lot more crowded than it used to be. When we put out the trailer we were fortunate enough to get a lot of views on it and basically, every second comment was ‘Can we get this on Switch?’ It’s a meme now, but the demand is there. We think it feels right. It’s what they want to see, what they want to play on Switch. From my dim point of view, you always have people asking ‘Do zombie games do well? Do mobile games do well? Do AAA games do well?‘ I think the only thing that c?onsistent?ly does well is a game with high polish. That’s what we’re shooting for.”

Polish this game has in spades. It’s one of the more sophisticated and fine-tuned experiences I’ve had the pleasure of previewing. As a semi-professional games blogger, I can’t wait to see the public reaction to it. As a 20-year fan of the genre, I can’t wait to explore every nook and cranny of The Messenger. Metroidvania??s may be ubiquitous among indie developers, but there’s a reason for that; a reason that will change depending on whom you ask.??

“I don’t know if it’ll make sense, but my personal take on it is there is a drive to set the world straight. With metroidvanias, it’s not just traversing areas and killing monsters. It’s really about restoring balance. There’s trouble here so I ??set it straight and now I can go back to this other area where there was trouble and fix it. It think it’s like by playing the game, you intrinsically feel like you’re doing something right, something good, something tha?t has an impact and is rewarding. You’re not just yourself surviving but you’re fixing something that’s bigger than you.”

The Messenger will launch worldwide on August 30. Pre-loading is available right now in North America and will become an option for European Switch owners next week. The game will retail for $19.99. For a more detailed hands-on, check out Rich Meister’s recent preview of the game.

The post We talk ninja f?lips, metroidvanias, and the 25-year journey of The Messenger with creator Thierry Boulanger appeared first on Destructoid.

'Still no sign of this so-called Western Hero'

The Messenger is the game I walked away from PAX East this year swooning over. The NES-style platformer takes clear inspiration from Ninja Gaiden. Thierry Boulanger, the lead programmer and designer, has been upfront about that from the start, but The Messenger is a hell of a lot more than a simple tribute to ??a great NES ti??tle.

While our protagonist may have a lot in common visually with Ryu Hayabusa, his adventure is decidedly more complicated, and his skill set far larger. Along with that the fantastic soundtrack and quirky writing do wonders to differentiate The Messenger from its inspiration.

The Messenger (PC [previewed], Nintendo Switch)
Developer: Sabotage Studios
Publisher: Devolver Digital
Release: Summer 2018 

The story hook is straight out of an old NES game. A prophesied demon comes to destroy the world, and our protagonist, a young ninja, is tasked with traveling east and delivering an ancient scroll. You'll move across a few linear but well-designed levels gathering gadgets like a squirrel suit and rope dart to help you traverse the landscape, but the most exciting thing about The Messenger happens about halfway through.  

After a few levels, the story propels our ninja into the future, ditching the 8-bit design for?? a flashier Super Nintendo-era 16-bit one. Backgrounds become more extravagant, your character model changes, and new 16-bit tracks even drop into the already amazing music.  

It isn't just visuals that change here, either. It's revealed that our hero had a map this whole time. He never bothered to check it, but in his defense, this is the first it has come up. This quickly opens up into exploring metroidvania-style gameplay. Specific points on the map even allow you to shift between the past and the future to solve puzzles. For example, a tree that's withered a??way in the future might have branches strong enough to climb on in the past, or a pile of rubble in the past may have been cleared away in the future. 

The Messenger's nameless hero controls like a dream. Every jump feels deliberate, and his cloud step ability that allows him to perform an extra jump by striking certain objects with his sword makes moving quickly across these levels feel amazing. Thank?fully, this game is a bit more forgiving in certain spots than its NES predecessor. Namely, it gives you a little more breathing room when?? getting spammed with enemy projectiles to get out of harm's way and back in the action. I still got my ass handed to me more than a few times during my playthrough, but it was always my own shortcomings. 

There's no life s??ystem to speak of. If you eat it, a small demon rescues you and brings you to the last checkpoint. As a tax, he'll take any currency you pick up for a while, b?ut it's a small price to pay. The little guy isn't above making fun of you for dying multiple times at the same spot though. 

As you progress, you'll gather crystals you can spend at the shop to purchase and?? upgr??ade abilities. You can get more shuriken to throw or improve the damage of your sword attack. One of the first unlocks I'd recommend investing in lets you perform a cloud step off of enemy projectiles. You'll also get a few upgrades like the squirrel suit and climbing claws narratively, and new upgrade paths present themselves as you progress in the story. 

Speaking of the shop, some of The Messenger's best writing comes from the shopkeeper. This game is self-aware in an entertaining way at every turn, but the hooded shopkeeper seems to never run out of things to say. You can sit there probing him for quite a while before you'l??l get a repeated line. 

I also can't stress how brilliant this soundtrack is. If you aren't playing The Messenger with headphon?es, y??ou're doing yourself a disservice. 

The Messenger remains one of the games I'm most excited about this year even after having played through it on PC. I can't remember being this excited about an indie platformer since Shovel Knight. I may just have to double dip on tha???t Switch version later this summer.

 _{[This preview is based on a pre-release build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Preview: The Messenger appeared first on Destructoid.

Footage from E3

Usually when you hear ab??out a cool looking indie joint it's at least five years away. AT?? LEAST! And maybe it just hit its Kickstarter goal.

Not so for The Messenger, which was announced in January of this year and is still set for a 2018 window on PC and Switch. It looks a hell of a lot like the Ninja Gaiden NES series, which is a-ok with me, but it a?lso includes a mechanic that swaps from 8 to 16-bit -- which is even ??more okay. Oh and at that point it changes from a platformer into a Metroidvania. I need it!

Catch 12 minutes of gameplay straight from the develo??per below.

The post Ninja Gaiden lookin’ The Messenger is still fire appeared first on Destructoid.

Are you the messenger?

At PAX East this year I got the chance to sit down with the developers of The Messenger, Sabotage Studio's new game that follows a young ninja on a simple mission: delive??r a mysterious scroll with the hopes of saving his clan from some less-than-friend?ly demons. 

It's apparent from a glance that Ninja Gaiden is the main source of inspiration, but The Messenger is hiding so much more under the surface.  ??;

I'd looked into The Messenger after getting my first glimpse at it during the recent Nindie showcase, but having fina??lly gotten some play time I can say it subverted my expectations in surprising ways.

According to Thierry Boulanger, one of the title's co-creators, The Messenger is all ab?out subverting the player's expectations. Changing the layouts of levels in both 16-bit and 8-bit versions encourages the player to explore each stage multiple times. 

The ability to jump between both versions of the level via portals may ev??en open up areas that were? previously inaccessible, giving you a reason to explore each from top to bottom. A metroidvania-style map will also help you keep track of where you're going and where you've been. 

The change from 8-bit to 16-bit is incredibly striking, with environments adding m?ore to the background and foreground and new tracks dropping into the phenomenal soundtrack. 

The Messenger isn't the first game to try and emulate the original Ninja Gaiden, but it stands out in how smooth it feels. It took no more than two minutes for me to feel fully comfortable with the c??ontrols. I was performing air jumps and slicing up baddies in no time. 

The goofy over-the-top writing is way up my alley with most of the dialogue coming from the game's myste??rious shopkeeper, who has a ton to say if you're willing just to hang around and chat. One quip about how your climbing claws had been invented by "John?? Gaiden" got a smirk out of me after a long day on the show floor.

The Messenger is coming to Switch and PC sometime in 2018 and I can't wait to see more of it. I'll also be holding out for the release of ?its soundtrack which has been stuck in my head all evening.

The post The Messenger is the Ninj??a Gaiden succ?essor we deserve appeared first on Destructoid.

8-bit inspired platform fun

Sabotage Studios' The Messenger, which was previously announced for PC, will also be seeing release on Nintendo Switch.

The retro-styled actioner, which has more than just a little air of Ninja Gaiden about it, features tricky platform ne??gotiation and a variety of comical boss battles, all backed by a wistfully nostalgic chip-tune score.

You can check out the trailer below. The Messenger is expected to land on Switch this Summer.

The post Sabotage Studios’ The Messenger slices and dices on Switch this Summer appeared first on Destructoid.

Coming to PC and 'consoles'

This was a great thing to wake up to.

Although Team Ninja's modern Ninja Gaiden series has become wildly popular in recent years, and along with Devil May Cry set the gold standard for action, it all started with Tecmo's original trilogy on the NES (which would later be immortalized with an SNES collectio?n).

Sabotage Studio seems to be tapping into that legacy with The Messenger, a new project that's hitting PC and "consoles??" in 2018. It already has a Stea??m page and a trailer, and the concept involves a mix of an 8-bit platformer and a 16-bit Metroidvania style of play, with "silly" villains and bosses.

Yep, this thing is right up my alley. The whole comedic boss fight thing really reminds me of the unparalleled NES classic Monster Party.

The post The Messenger is a rad looking Ninja Gaid?en-es??que platformer that swaps from 8 to 16-bit appeared first on Destructoid.