Hey everybody, my name is Dave Jackson, and this is Tales from the Backlog, a video games podcast where I bring in guests to talk about the games that I’ve played recently. My guest today is a friend of the show, the duke of education on the Dukes of Gaming podcast, and future Arcane Shopkeeper, Alfredo Takori Today’s game is The Messenger, a 2D action platformer developed by Sabotage Studio and published by Devolver Digital in 2018. Elevator pitch for the messenger is- a new retro version of Ninja Gaiden, like how Shovel Knight brought its many influences into the new retro genre, with more focus on platforming. Before we get into The Messenger, Alfredo what else have you been playing? Ok, let’s get into today’s focus, The Messenger . We will attempt to avoid spoilers until the spoiler wall later in the episode, so if you haven’t played it, fear not, and if you have, we’ll get into that spoilery good stuff later in the episode. Our histories with the game and genre- I never played any Ninja Gaiden games because I heard they’re really hard and I don’t really like older games that much. I don’t quite remember why I picked this up, maybe saw it on a “best Switch games” list or maybe it’s my habit of just picking up any game that looks cool when it goes on sale. I played this game twice, first playthrough took 16 hours and the replay took 11 hours. Basics of how the game works, key mechanics, what makes this game stand out? Art- beautiful beautiful pixel art, visually distinct levels with different color schemes, great backgrounds, check the show’s instagram page for a few of my favorite screenshots. Music- soundtrack by chiptune musician rainbowdragoneyes, fucking fantastic soundtrack, the songs will work their way into your brain.. THis is one soundtrack that I often listen to outside of the game. Standout tracks are Autumn Hills, Bamboo creek, the shop music, and the cloud ruins, but there is not a bad track to be found. Also puts on that cool effect that when you go underwater, the music changes, I love that. Story concept- you are given a scroll and told to take it up to the top of a mountain, that’s basically the story, until the spoiler section. Not that this is a very spoiler heavy game, but yeah Gameplay 2D Ninja gaiden esque combat One attack, a forward sword slash, can do a downward slash while hovering to bounce, a la hollow knight Enemy variety not so great, only about 10 different types of enemies in the whole game. Bosses Very pattern based, each boss has a very learnable number of attacks with patterns, even down to like this attack then that attack patterns. Very good for the most part, something I think 2D games struggle with, these bosses are fun to learn and not terribly difficult for the most part. Helpful checkpoints right before every boss fight too- something I don’t think the actual retro games do Platforming Very platforming heavy- and built around 2 main mechanics Cloudstepping (double jump). You have this ability from the beginning, the ability to do a double jump if you hit something while in the air. An enemy, a lantern a la castlevania, etc. Platforming challenges and even some boss fights are built around this. You can do this infinitely if there are enough things to hit. Grapple hook- you can throw out your grappling hook/hookshot thing, and it will grab onto any enemy/lantern, etc and both give you a forward momentum boost AND give you a cloudstep. This is used for platforming and extremely useful both in combat and in any situation where you need to move really quickly through a level. You also get a slowfall mechanic by spreading out your wingsuit or something, from which you can attack downward to pogo a la shovel knight. Optional Platforming challenges to get power seals 45 total. Collecting all of them allows you to open a treasure chest in the shop for a big upgrade. 8/16 bit switching In the trailer so not a spoiler Introduced a bit later in the game, but you’ll find portals that switch between the 8 bit and 16 bit aesthetics/music, corresponding to the past and the future in the game. This opens up new passageways in levels and is used in some puzzles and collectible hunting. Listen now for an example of the music switching Sense of humor/writing- This game definitely has a sense of humor, mainly coming from the shopkeeper, but also with some of the other characters and the dialogue. Alfredo? Cabinet Controversy- Trans joke- an exchange with the shopkeeper “don’t assume my dialogue” which was promptly removed and devs apologized Jordan peterson as one of the cabinet rants “jordan the wise” DLC- Picnic Panic Free Endgame content Back to the level-based approach of the first half of the game, with a few boss fights and a few sections where you are doing nonstandard gameplay. It opens up with like a waterski minigame, kinda like when you ride the dragon in the main game. Thoughts? I really like it Final thoughts, Do we recommend? I think this game is really good for anyone who values this aesthetic or the retro-style gameplay but without all of the frustrations of actually playing older games, and I’m definitely in that camp. I love the pixel art and basic gameplay of this game, and I think they had an interesting idea for how the second half of the game works, but it kinda sucks in execution. Still, the first half of the game and the DLC are good fun, and the second half is ok. Housekeeping - Alfredo do you want to tell everyone what your podcast is all about? Any other social media or anything you want to share? Thank you for listening! If you want to support the show, please subscribe on your platform of choice, leave us a rating and review if your platform allows it, and spread the good word! Tales from the Backlog is on Twitter at @TFTBLpod and facebook/instagram at @talesfromthebacklog. I also do a podcast called A Top 3 Podcast where each week we pick a topic, pick our top 3s in that topic, and discuss. It’s a good time, so check that out if you want to hear us talk about other subjects. SPOILER WALL The big “spoiler” is that this game opens up into a “metroidvania” game, I say in quotes, about halfway through, you need to go back through most of the levels to collect these music notes. You can check the prophecy on your map or by talking to one of the blue robe dudes to get very cryptic hints. The hints are not very descriptive but do include color coding for which area to look in. Alfredo how do you feel about this switch? I was not able to figure these out on my own, and a few of the quests like needing to travel back in time and bring a sequence of items to different places to unfreeze the dragon, etc, too obtuse for me to figure out. And god help you if you’re colorblind Story talk/boss fights/levels Chase sequence near the end with eldritch monster After you beat the final boss in the temple of time, you successfully deliver the scroll to a future version of the ninja village from the beginning, as you have become the western hero for that village. you are finally able to open the cabinet and it’s a shopkeeper’s outfit, and after you’ve accomplished your mission you are taking over as the shopkeeper. A new messenger takes over but quickly dies and you’re called out of retirement. Collect the music notes to open up this music box and break the cursed cycle. Beat the Demon King, fun boss fight. You find out that at the heart of the music box is a cursed musician named the Phantom, he created the scroll in order to stop the curse. You fight the Phantom and the curse, a very fun fight, and then you destroy the curse with the blue robe dudes. DLC- very fun overall, not much to say, except for the totem boss has one of my big pet peeves- boss fights with insta kill pits. Final DLC boss fight- punch out style boxing match with demon king.