Another evening, another metroidvania to try! Tonight I decided to play The Messenger! You play a ninja that has to carry a scroll to its destination, while slaying demons along the way. In some ways the controls are pretty basic, and the boss battles aren’t over the top hard, but still leave room for error if you die. What I like most about it though is the writing. It has a brilliant sense of humor that ties it all together.
On the surface this game looks like a typical old school platformer from pixel art all the way to music, but then you read the dialogue provided by the characters and it takes you by surprise. From the shop keeper to boss battles – The Messenger shows its sense of humor.
Throughout your adventures you can pass through a portal to the shopkeeper, where you can not only purchase upgrades, but listen to some odd stories as well. The shopkeeper can also give you (not so) valuable advice on boss battles. So far I’ve destroyed two, and only died during the first boss battle. Oh yeah! That’s another thing…
When you die you’ll meet this tiny demon by the name of Quarble who saves your soul, for a price. They save your life in exchange for however many points they decide to steal from you, they’ll even follow you around with a notepad until they’re either satisfied or bored.
I’m pretty happy with it so far. In fact I might continue the party on Steam Deck before calling it a night. There’s just something relaxing about curling up in a blanket with some tea to slaughter a few demons, or at the very least convince them to be less evil.