The Messenger [Devolver Digital]

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Item Condition Sealed: the original seal is intact. Any flaw in the seal is noted here and shown in the photos, which are of this exact item. It ships in a collector's bag or a har d plastic case. Item DescriptionThe Messenger begins as a lean, punishing 8-bit ninja platformer in the mold of Ninja Gaiden, and for a few hours that is all it seems to be. Then a portal opens, the screen shifts into rich 16-bit color, the soundtrack reshapes itself to match, and the whole game folds into a time-traveling Metroidvania. That reveal is one of the cleverest tricks of the indie era, and Sabotage Studio built an entire game around making it land.The movement is what keeps you hooked from the first screen. Strike an enemy, a lantern or a projectile in midair and you earn another jump, a technique the game calls Cloudstep, so skilled players can chain hits into long, flowing routes over pits that would swallow a lesser ninja. The rope dart and wingsuit expand your options as the journey goes on, and the later game asks you to hop between the 8-bit past and the 16-bit future of the same locations to open paths that do not exist in the other era.It is also surprisingly funny. The Shopkeeper, a cloaked figure who sells upgrades and tells meandering stories, has some of the best deadpan writing on the platform, and death is handled by Quarble, a small demon who saves your life and then helps himself to the time shards you collect until he gets bored and leaves. The soundtrack by Rainbowdragoneyes is a standout, with every track composed in both an 8-bit and a 16-bit version that swap seamlessly as you cross between eras.Published by Devolver Digital in 2018, The Messenger became a breakout indie hit on Switch, and Sabotage later returned to the same world with Sea of Stars. A physical Switch copy is the way to own the game that put the studio on the map, and its precise, bite-sized levels suit the console's play-anywhere design. Show more