The Messenger has great gameplay, funny writing and an interesting twist where it switches from a traditional platformer to a metroidvania. My main issue with the game comes after the switch takes place. The game uses the metroidvania structure but after the first impression of openness, the game seems to have pretty set paths of progression. Along with this, the fun of collecting new abilities as you go to help in opening areas isn't utilized very well in the metroidvania portion of the game. Amazing platformer, mediocre metroidvania.