The Messenger (2018 video game)

The Messenger
Developer(s) Sabotage Studio
Publisher(s) Devolver Digital
Director(s) Thierry Boulanger
Producer(s) Martin Brouard
Designer(s) Thierry Boulanger
Phillippe Dionne
Programmer(s) Sylvain Cloutier
Thierry Boulanger
Artist(s) Michael Lavoie
Jean-Luc Savard
Savannah Perron
Writer(s) Thierry Boulanger
Composer(s) Eric W. "Rainbowdragoneyes" Brown
Engine Unity
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch
Release August 30, 2018
Genre(s) Action, platformer
Mode(s) Single-player

The Messenger is an action-platform game developed by the independent Quebec-based studio Sabotage Studio[1] and published by Devolver Digital.[2] It was released on Microsoft Windows and Nintendo Switch on August 30, 2018.

Plot

One day, a ninja village is attacked by an evil Demon King. It is then that a supposed "Western Hero" appears and gives a scroll to one of the surviving ninjas, appointing him as "The Messenger" and telling him to deliver it to the top of a mountain. During his journey, the Messenger is aided by a mysterious blue-robed shopkeeper who provides him with upgrades and a demon named Quarble who helps to save him from death. After travelling through various areas and meeting a variety of foes turned friend, the Messenger arrives at the Tower of Time and encounters more blue-robed mages, who send him 500 years into the future to defeat the Demon King's general, Barma'thazël. Upon doing so, the Messenger loops around the world to the ninja village, where he, having reached the point of a cycle where he becomes the Western Hero himself, passes the scroll onto a new Messenger and takes up the role of a shopkeeper providing him with upgrades.

When this new hero ends up dying, however, the mages aim to break the cursed cycle, tasking the Messenger with collecting the notes of a mysterious music box in the Tower of Time. After the Messenger succeeds in this task, defeating the Demon King in the process, it is revealed that the music box is the prison of a man known as the Phantom who had become inflicted with a curse and created the time-travelling scroll in an attempt to stop it. This resulted in a 500 year old mission passed down to several Messengers from various eras. Venturing inside the music box, the Messenger finds the Phantom, defeats the curse possessing him, and rescues him. The curse breaks loose, but the Messenger and the mages team up together to destroy it, putting an end to the curse.

Gameplay

The Messenger is a side-scrolling action-platformer, inspired by the classic Ninja Gaiden series. Players control a ninja known as "The Messenger" as he goes on a quest to deliver a scroll. The Messenger initially possesses a technique called "Cloudstepping", which allows him to perform an extra jump after attack an enemy, object, or projectile in mid-air. As the game progresses, the Messenger gains new abilities such as climbing walls, gliding in the air, long range shuriken attacks, and using a grappling hook to propel himself through obstacles and enemies. By collecting Time Shards earned by defeating enemies or hitting lamps, the player can purchase additional upgrades such as health bonuses or extra attack moves. If the player dies, however, a demon named Quarble will appear and automatically claim any Time Shards the player collects as payment for a short amount of time.

The game initially presents itself as a linear level-based adventure split across two eras; the past, which is presented with 8-bit graphics and audio, and the future, which uses 16-bit presentation. Later on, however, the game becomes a Metroidvania-style game, in which the player revisits past eras in any order and direction in order to find key items. In this section of the game, the player can use special warps to instantly move between the past and present, allowing them to access new and areas. Hidden in some areas are green medallions, earned by completing a challenging platforming section, with a bonus unlocked for collecting all 45.[1]

Development

Sabotage Studio is an indie development studio based in Quebec City founded by Thierry Boulanger and Martin Brouard in 2016.[3] The Messenger will be their first game to come out but the team is made up of video game veterans that all worked together for several years and came together to create this project that brew in Thierry Boulanger's mind since he was a child.[1] The music is composed by Eric Brown, better known as Rainbowdragoneyes. Each track was made in both 8-bit and 16-bit styles.[1] The soundtrack release also featured bonus tracks by Keiji Yamagishi.[4]

Reception

The game won several awards before its release. It won the Start-Up Numix in 2016.[5] It also won Best Music and Best Gameplay during the Montreal Indie Game Festival of 2017.[6] Jeremy Parish (Polygon) wrote a feature article on the website saying “The Messenger stands apart from decades of Ninja Gaiden wannabes by presenting players with the tightest controls I've ever encountered in a game of this style".[1] The game was presented to PAX South 2018 where several outlets praised the game as their best of show including Techraptor and Frank Howley.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Parish, Jeremy (2018-01-04). "The Messenger takes Ninja Gaiden on a cross-generational journey". Polygon. Retrieved 2018-01-18.
  2. ↑ LeClair, Kyle (March 20, 2018). "Devolver Brings Two Different Nintendo Eras to Switch With The Messenger". Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved April 22, 2018.
  3. ↑ "Sabotage Studio". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2018-01-18.
  4. ↑ https://twitter.com/MoreYamasan/status/1037177505243791360
  5. ↑ "Numix 2016 Palamares". Numix Awards.
  6. ↑ MIGF. "MIGF - Montreal Independent Games Festival - Awards". migf.ca. Retrieved 2018-01-18.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.