I've been meaning to play this for a while after being very pleasantly surprised by my love for Sea of Stars. I'm glad I've played The Messenger now because it is fantastic. As a platformer, it has a really good pace and the level design has a really great flow to it. Getting a mid-air jump whenever you hit something feels really great. The soundtrack is downright mystifying and it has a great look with good level variety. Eventually, you get a time travel ability that allows you to switch between 8-bit and 16-bit graphics. This is an idea so good, I don't know how it hasn't been used before.

That's not the only twist that this game has to offer though. When you get to what feels like the end of the game, it turns into a Metroidvania. Of course, platformers and Metroidvanias can often go hand in hand but it is impressive that these levels that had a fast pace to them initially suddenly invite you to slow down and be mindful of navigation and how the levels connect. The level design works really well for both types of gameplay. The new items and abilities aren't the most exciting but they do offer a satisfying progression of movement. The bosses are all great and don't really repeat mechanics much. The writing in the game can get a bit tiring with the overly self aware humour but the story can be fun as it coincides with the gameplay twists. I guess I need to pay attention to Sabotage Studio now because both of their games have been winners now.