The Messenger is cool. Playing around with the idea of the passage of time, The Messenger blends genres in a way that feels really novel and fun to play.

The main gameplay transitions from a platformer to a metroidvania. The first half focuses on platforming, learning the map and the layout of the world, while the second half is a metroidvania which uses your prior knowledge of the map layout to play around with exploration across time periods and making variations to the world you already knew. On paper, this is genius, and in many ways the execution is extremely cool. The only issue is that fast travel in The Messenger is extremely limited which can REALLY hold the game back at times, since the player will need to do a fair amount of long walks to backtrack to certain areas because there isn’t a way to quickly get there. That’s not to say the metroidvania aspects don’t work, because they absolutely do and the evolution from a platformer to a metroidvania is a brilliant way to tie in the idea of time shifts to the gameplay itself, but the gameplay is majorly held back due to being so restricted with fast travel.

The main way the metroidvania half plays with exploration is with portals that shift you between the past and the future. These are really cool and add a whole new dimension to exploration! Room layouts will sometimes change, either opening up new directions or closing off old ones, and they make for some really cool puzzles. It’ll usually be obvious if you need to be in a different time period for a puzzle or area, but being in the wrong time period for a certain point can be punishing, especially due to the limited fast travel system. The Messenger’s other mechanical additions, such as cloud-stepping and the hookshot (look, I don’t remember the actual term, but even the game admitted it’ll probably be called the hookshot by people) are REALLY fun and lead to really fun movement.

The art style is a balance of an 8-bit style and a 16-bit style (as well as matching music) which alternates depending on the time period you’re currently in. Both of these styles are beautiful, using the strengths of each medium well. The 8-bit style has a retro and almost nostalgic feeling (especially once reaching the second half of the game), while the 16-bit style feels stunning after transitioning to being in it. The setting itself will also visually change as time passes, showing that the world itself is developing and changing across time, not just the visual style. The writing is also genuinely hilarious, having a meta sense of humor that isn’t afraid to poke fun at itself and at the player.

If you like platformers or metroidvanias, The Messenger is a great time that brings something unique and novel to the table. While definitely flawed, The Messenger is a really enjoyable game that brings a really unique experience.

Now, I’m no pinball expert or anything, in fact I’m pretty bad at pinball, but Pokemon transfers shockingly well into a pinball game. I kinda see why there’s three Pokemon Pinball games (the Pokemon Mini had a rendition of Pokemon Pinball), the formula genuinely works.

Pokemon Pinball’s mechanics are easy to figure out, so it's easy to get into if you’re not familiar with pinball (I wish mechanics were explained in-game, but that’s a trend I’ve noticed with pinball games anyway). Pokedex completion feels genuinely achievable as well, with the RNG components being a little more controllable by the player (which feels like a godsend after playing Pokemon Shock Tetris). You can control what pool of encounters you can find, you can control if you want to catch, evolve, or hatch a Pokemon, and if you’re struggling to find a certain Pokemon you can trigger the mode to catch/hatch/evolve another Pokemon so long as you can aim your shots. And the sprites in this game are really adorable and dynamic (albeit slightly awkward at times, the immediate examples I think of are Zubat being colored incorrectly and Plusle’s pose just looking off for some reason).

I think the maps are… fine? Again, I’m no pinball expert, and I’m pretty bad at it, but the maps don’t feel incredible or anything. Ruby’s bumper mechanic is so genuinely annoying, and Sapphire’s shop is INCREDIBLY awkward to reach (the shop buttons are so small, it sucks). The Kecleon minigame isn’t really my thing, the Spheal minigame is just annoying with how you can accidentally trigger it and get stuck doing it when you don’t want to, and Dusclops... Dusclops is easy but fine enough. Groudon I also like because it feels like there’s ways to get around its attacks, but Kyogre is annoying, especially due to there not being any counterplay to Sheer Cold (I never got to Rayquaza’s minigame).

I don’t personally think Pokemon Pinball is anything special, but I think it’s fun. It’s worth trying out if you’re a Pokemon fan or a pinball fan.