Analyzing the Messenger's Simple Twist

i didn't end up jiving with the second half of the game but the first half was magical to me

I couldn't stand the metroidvania portions and the teleport locations, but the main story and a good chunk of the game after was fun.

As someone who got this thrpugh epic i didn't see the trailer and when i talked to the shokeeper in the clouds t was hilarious

oh boy ... this was a love n hate relationship ... but once i got into "phase " it all became so clear. ... every room ( mostly ) is designed for speed running - i'll never be speed runner and I never knew such thing even existed , but i begun to see patterns how to breeze across every screen in a very predetermined way ( given by the desing ) . It was much later on , that i found out about speed running. Even though I am too old and unambitious to ever give it a try, i can really appreciate how this thing was able to teach me , how to get into this speedy efficiency mode all in a natural way. Been searching to replicate this feeling with few modern games, Ori being the only coming close to it. I mean , there were some other games too, but the way too steep learning curves were rather off puting. This is a true gem in more than one instances.

The messenger is one of my favorite games ever, I went in COMPLETELY BLIND on a whim. It took me halfway through the cloud ruins to realize the graphics upgraded, i thought I just unlocked a drip upgrade. When I found out about the map and the metroidvania aspects my jaw was on the FLOOR dude

I was quite happy to know absolutely nothing about this game in advance other than "I will like it"

Do one on sea of stars twists

i played the game knowng nothing about it and wen they mention the ''you din't see the game trailer did you'' i actually went and watched it and was surprised as hell

I really didn't like the second half of the game and stopped playing soon after the transition.

User reviews tell me I'm not alone in this.

I loved the game, but it became my favorite side-scroller after they finally completed the "continuation for a joke" thing that they'd set up HOURS prior to it. Absolutely amazing.

I didn't see any promotion materials before playing so I was genuinely surprised by this twist

I like to say that The Messenger basically becomes its own sequel halfway through.

I hope thos reappearing in my recommended because youve finally played sea of stars.

I ended up not a fan of the game’s ending for two reasons: one, what you said about “oh yeah here’s all the lore all at once”, and two… I really don’t like the idea of the final boss being a good guy we have to save.
Brainwashing as a subject in a story is something I have a hard time with, unless handled in a specific way. And “these characters have evil juice in them that makes them behave evil when left alone” is the exact opposite of that specific way to me. If the demons were explicitly possessing people instead, and we were hitting them out of their victims’ bodies so that we can kill them outright I’d appreciate it a lot more than what the lore is instead. And the ‘curse’ not being an explicitly sentient force also didn’t help matters.
Really it all just boils down to free will being a joke and the bad guys as a faction being solely motivated by ‘evil is literally physically in their blood’

The Rivière Turquoise's story twist. It's desolate in the past, but it's said that it became lush because the Monk brought in the Butterfly Matriarch. The Monk however predates the Ninja, and the Ninja is seeing the desolation in the past, but the lushness in his future. He points this out to the Shopkeeper who suggests that it might be a plot hole or time paradox. What's actually happened is that the monster has taken over the Butterfly Matriarch's mind, so she's causing the desolation. The Ninja defeats the monster in the past so the Matriarch can restore the Rivière.

This game sounds remarkably similar in design and lore to legend of zelda tears of the kingdom

Very nice video. I like your style man. Have a Subscribe 😊

I got this game and started playing with no idea of what it was about and it was so fresh and fun all the plot twists were very unexpected, I thought the game was going to end twice! but it just kept going and I really appreciate it for it. Also the music is such a joy to listen

"more people watch movies if they know the plot beforehand".... profound. it's like, books having summaries on the back. incredible.

Okay I guess I'm going to get this game after all, I assumed I wasn't because I'm not great at platformers but I was curious because of how much I enjoyed Sea of Stars. Now I just have to 🤷‍♀️

The messenger is an absolute masterpiece and a hell of a good time. Combining it with Sea of Stars makes both games even better! Sabotage studios are 2/2 on great games for me.

and now we have Sea of Stars to consider too... woag.

Fun fact I don’t think many people noticed: the song for the music box uses the 8 notes you collect in order.
They didn’t have to do this, but damn is it my favorite song for that reason.

Let me tell you, the biggest twist for me is starting to watch this video, being hooked on your story telling , wishlisting the game on the steam for future play and in the end, finding out the twist is as lame as it gets. lol. Went through the motions here.

Many games in the past have been noted for not cohesively blending their genres together, and it’s never a compliment.

Fun fact:"The shopkeeper is actually female."

Me an hour or two into The Messenger: This is a really good retro tribute game!
Me at the end of The Messenger: This may be my favorite game of all time, holy crap!

Loved this game, you should do sea of stars next!

This channel's logo is one K short from a harsh banned 😂 Amazing video, you got yourself a new subscriber

I think I watched this a few years ago, but maybe I didn't listen well enough back then. I'd mostly written The Messenger off because the footage I'd seen made me think, "this is too Castlevania NES to be a Metroidvania, it looks like you don't even backtrack."

But, after playing through Sea of Stars and watching a few parts of a The Messenger LP, and this video, I think I'll finally pick it up, add it near the top of my To Play list.

I enjoyed the Messenger but I didn't finish it. I'm not great at platforming so I was worn out before the twist. I did enjoy the plot twist but I think I only got a musical note or two. Great game, just didn't want to finish it.

Oh gosh… has me wanting to play this again!… Maybe once I finish Sea of Stars!

Can confirm that playing this one blind is a wild ride. I hope the attention Sabotage is surely receiving from Sea of Stars gives The Messenger more appreciation. It is a very, very cleverly designed game.

"Every boss you fight is relevant later in some way... besides, the first one."
HOH HOH HOH HOH YOU HAVE NO FUCKING IDEA

lmao

i didn't even know it changed the art style. I thought you just got a new hat.

Messengers story is canon and not just story but happened in alternative universe of many thousand as battle between Fleshmancer and Resh'an keeps on as explained in Sea Of Stars. Also you actually meet some characters who are in Messenger as they are not so twisted form yet.

I love this game so much. I played it for the 1st time this year, it really is great fun!

My favorite genre is metroidvanias. It was one of the first games that unlocked in the Epic Store and I knew literally nothing about it except what the synopsis said and that it had amazing pixel art. I've lamented the lack of blindness in so many games that I am so very glad the universe conspired to make this the game I was able to go fully blind into.

i just saw it in steam one day, it looked like an old nes game, which i love, i thought nice, i could just complete it fast to feel nostalgia about old nes games, why not. and then when i actually tried to i was speechless, this game could really surprise me in so many ways, its a masterpiece for sure

I didn’t see the trailers, it changing literally blew my mind being unaware of what was bout to happen

Loved the Messenger and I'm playing Sea of Stars now which just makes me love the Messenger even more. Sabotage is so good.

I just got the platinum this weekend. Going deathless through quillshroom was almost as frustrating as doing the cave without the power of true sight. But loved it enough to power through on my second playthrough to listen to the rants I missed 👍👍

This video spoiled the game for me but now I want to try it out.

Just stumbled on this game after finishing Sea of Stars and looking for deeper connections. I can already see some of the surface level connections and plan on running through this now! Hope you plan a review on this!

GAME IS HUMOROUS WITTY AND MUSIC AND STYLE IS COOL. SOMETIMES I THINK THE NINJA GAIDEN SIMULARITIES HOLD THIS GAME BACK FROM EVEN GREATER POTENTIAL. HOPE THEY MAKE SEQUELS WITH DIFFERENT STYLES OF PROTAGONISTS OR GAME AESTHETICS WHILE KEEPING THE HUMOR ORIGINALITY AND FUN HIGH QUALITY DESIGN AND WRITING.

Every single one of the random fables the shopkeeper tells has a physical Easter egg referencing it somewhere on the map.

Never played The Messenger, but am playing Sea of Stars and there are a ton of throwbacks and references to The Messenger, that I might just have to check it out now.

Haha Sea of Stars answers so many questions about The Messenger.

Thank you for my saving time from playing this game, i love ninja gaiden from nes, but not Castlevania because i never played them, level design of this game is kinda tedious to play