Just wanted to vouche for this game, its an amazing retro style indie.

[iGGTheEnd]

So I saw this game is sub 200 players on both NA and EU and I think this game easily deserves more it is in my opinion an amazing game.  The humour is top notch and takes jabs at older games as well as gamers themselves,  the retro music is great and changes up a lot throughout the game,  the movement in the game is very satisfying comparable to Celeste, Deadcells and HK.  Its not just straight up platforming there are plenty of upgrades and items that change up the game as you play.  

 

But my favorite part of the whole game is the level design and boss design,  the level design is something older retro games would never be able to achieve and always feels new and fresh as you progress through the game while also giving new challenges that can be hard but also fair once you figure them out.

 

The devs did a great job on this one and I just thought I would vouch for it,  this game isn't another shovelware its actually an amazing game.

[iGGTheEnd]

6 minutes ago, NekoRave said:

I got it day one

Nice you enjoy it as well?  I was gonna get it day one but Sekiro came out later in the week so I decided to wait until I was finished with Sekiro.  Absolutely loved it.

[Dr_Mayus]

56 minutes ago, iGGTheEnd said:

The humour is top notch and takes jabs at older games as well as gamers themselves, 

So it is like every other "retro indie game"? 
 

I am not a huge fan of the 'reference" humour as it is rarely done well. It is more like "hey I remember that also" and that (to me) gets old quickly. 

[realm722]

On 4/14/2019 at 3:18 PM, iGGTheEnd said:

So I saw this game is sub 200 players on both NA and EU and I think this game easily deserves more it is in my opinion an amazing game.  The humour is top notch and takes jabs at older games as well as gamers themselves,  the retro music is great and changes up a lot throughout the game,  the movement in the game is very satisfying comparable to Celeste, Deadcells and HK.  Its not just straight up platforming there are plenty of upgrades and items that change up the game as you play.  

 

But my favorite part of the whole game is the level design and boss design,  the level design is something older retro games would never be able to achieve and always feels new and fresh as you progress through the game while also giving new challenges that can be hard but also fair once you figure them out.

 

The devs did a great job on this one and I just thought I would vouch for it,  this game isn't another shovelware its actually an amazing game.

 

How long is the game and how difficult would you say the platinum is? Not much information out on it, but if it's on sale I'll consider snagging it. 

[iGGTheEnd]

On ‎8‎/‎8‎/‎2019 at 9:01 PM, realm722 said:

 

How long is the game and how difficult would you say the platinum is? Not much information out on it, but if it's on sale I'll consider snagging it. 

About 10-15 hours to plat.  I would give it a 3.5 out of 10 difficulty.  Theres one trophy that was kind of a bitch where you have to navigate a dark room without a flashlight but there are youtube videos that can help with that one.

[AJ_Radio]

How did I NOT see this?

 

Definitely going on my Wish List.

[JaneAusten69]

The developer just dropped a trailer for their next game "Sea of Stars".  Looks pretty cool, I might consider getting this game in the meantime.

[sword_of_omens]

looks like the old NES Ninja Gaiden... is it comparable to that, play-wise?

[AJ_Radio]

On 3/19/2020 at 10:25 AM, sword_of_omens said:

looks like the old NES Ninja Gaiden... is it comparable to that, play-wise?

 

Ninja Gaiden was a prime example of how brutal, frustrating and utterly unfair NES games could be back in the day. One of the hardest games according to most polls and countdowns I've seen on NES games.

 

The Angry Video Game Nerd made a great episode on this game. One of the best and most entertaining episodes he's ever done.

 

As far as The Messenger goes, I don't think it's that hard. It's a pretty good 8-bit style indie platformer. If you enjoyed Shovel Knight, Axiom Verge, Celeste and other indie gems, you owe it to yourself to try out this game. I've only played a little bit on my alt account, but so far it's pretty good.

[Gone Fishing]

.

 

Edited September 14, 2020 by Fragtaster

[zorba-da-greek]

Wow.. ? I own Celeste, Dead Cells and Shovel Knight and I, like a lot of people, completely overlooked The Messenger.

When it came out I did have a look at it but I didn't think anything of it. Now to see quite a few people vouch for The Messenger makes me definitely want to play it! ??

 

Thanks guys ?

Edited March 23, 2020 by zorba-da-greek

[Cynicgods]

41 minutes ago, Fragtaster said:

 

This game needs no introductions to me: no surprises of it's greatness here!

 

I played this game through on launch week way back in late-summer 2018, and I fell in love with it from the moment I took on that first boss. I purchased it at the time on Steam (because it launched early there)... and then later on switch.... and then AGAIN last year on PSN. Incredibly I just recently got it for free on Epic Store... so I have FOUR copies of this game!

 

It was my Game of the Year 2018.

 

But sadly the vast majority of people overlooked it, and those working in the industry at the time decided to completely overlook it during the over-hyping process of Dead Cells. I'll never quite get over that.

 

If you like The Messenger than you will probably fall head over heels in love with Cyber Shadow (PSN/XBL/Steam) coming later this year.

 

 

 

 

You. I like you. Nice taste in viddygames, bud.

 

Everyone interested in this (and Cyber Shadow) should give Odallus: The Dark Call, Oniken and Blazing Chrome a go. 

 

@NekoRave you get everything on day 1. ?

[AJ_Radio]

19 hours ago, Fragtaster said:

 

This game needs no introductions to me: no surprises of it's greatness here!

 

I played this game through on launch week way back in late-summer 2018, and I fell in love with it from the moment I took on that first boss. I purchased it at the time on Steam (because it launched early there)... and then later on switch.... and then AGAIN last year on PSN. Incredibly I just recently got it for free on Epic Store... so I have FOUR copies of this game!

 

It was my Game of the Year 2018.

 

But sadly the vast majority of people overlooked it, and those working in the industry at the time decided to completely overlook it during the over-hyping process of Dead Cells. I'll never quite get over that.

 

If you like The Messenger than you will probably fall head over heels in love with Cyber Shadow (PSN/XBL/Steam) coming later this year.

 

The thing people need to understand is these 8 - bit, 16 - bit retro style indie games aren't going to attract a lot of customers. Out of everything I've seen in the past 5 - 6 years, Shovel Knight has been the most popular and praised indie gem with a retro aesthetic. It garnered a big playerbase on Steam when it released back in 2014.

 

Other games I can recommend include Volgarr the Viking, hardly anybody knows about it apart from Steam but it's a very good retro style game. Slain: Back From Hell is also pretty good. Valfaris was released not too long ago on PSN and it's basically from the guys who did Slain. But understandably, most of the people who get these games have a specified interest.

 

Me personally, I grew up on this kind of stuff back in the 1990s. So The Messenger is pretty much a steal.

[Gone Fishing]

.

Edited September 14, 2020 by Fragtaster

[AJ_Radio]

6 hours ago, Fragtaster said:

 

I respectfully STRONGLY disagree with you're post.

 

Just in 2018 alone: both Dead Cells and Celest beat out many modern titles to win GOTY in several different credible outlets (same year The Messenger released)... and they went on to sell bookoo copies in their respective spaces, and were sold on just about every major platform with glowing praise from both the general public and professional reviewers.

 

I'm perfectly aware of these games. They generally garner a player base on Steam long before they're released on any other platform.

 

Part of the problem nowadays is there are indie gems that may never make it to the Sony platforms. Cuphead has been requested for ages but it doesn't look like it's coming to a Sony platform anytime soon.

 

Some games I've done on my list were on Steam years before they were released on PS4. Super Meat Boy and Volgarr the Viking are two I can think of. Part of why it took them years was because the PS3 was notoriously difficult to code for. The PS4 gave access to multitudes of indie and smaller budget games. Before that you mostly had just a handful of developers who released their indie titles to the PS3.

 

6 hours ago, Fragtaster said:

Let us not forget that the median age of the average "gamer" is currently around 34-36 year's old. So a lot of these people who have disposable income grew up with these kind of titles, and both can appreciate their design, aswell as possibly have some degree of nostalgia for them.

 

Not entirely true.

 

Plenty of people well in their 40s play video games. I've met many guys in their early - mid 20s who spend a few hours each day playing video games. There is a wide audience... but generally speaking the average age is closer to mid - late 30s and early - mid 40s.

 

From what I can gather, you're a guy in his 40s who grew up on difficult NES games of the 1980s. They were a bit before my time, in fact it wasn't until James Rolfe himself (Angry Video Game Nerd) started posting videos on Screw Attack over a decade ago that I was aware of many of them.

 

6 hours ago, Fragtaster said:

I know you're a bit younger than me (though you're still obviously plenty old enough to have grownup with games like these), and you might not know this if your not in the scene: but there is a HUGE and highly profitable Retro Gaming Community, and a very healthy market that caters to them. 8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit and classically inspired games are a hot market currently (just look at how well Octopath Traveler did), and these circles are not shrinking.

 

I think part of why this is, is because a lot of us have expressed disinterest and discontent with the current direction of the gaming industry.

 

I was one of the last kids to have been exposed to the 16 bit era. I transitioned from Sega Genesis to Nintendo 64, many of my all time classics are on the N64. That will never change.

 

But.... most of the audience that the Retro Gaming Community caters to are older people. This includes people like yourself and James Rolfe and Mike Matei, I'm sure you know who they are since virtually everybody who is into retro gaming knows about them. They're the primary audience.

 

There are a few younger people, myself included and some guys in their 20s who do enjoy retro games. But they're the minority, it's mostly guys in their late 30s and older.

 

Cornshaq Gaming does reviews of retro games and has done full playthroughs of many old school titles. MetalJesusRocks is another guy worth looking at. I've been aware of the retro community.

 

6 hours ago, Fragtaster said:

It seems like all the eShop is these days is retro games and indie games inspired by them. Just the rise of mini consoles like the NES Classic, SNES Classic, Genesis Mini, Turbo Graphics Mini, etc - aswell as the rise of the boutique market for FPGA clone consoles (like the Analogue NT) - should tell you that these companies see a large enough interest there.

 

Same with old style music records that play only with a needle. Nostalgia is what's selling these days.

 

6 hours ago, Fragtaster said:

Now if you are measuring a games success purely on metrics from the peak of the industry: a game like Fortnite, GTA V, DOTA or Call of Duty will gross more money than any game on earth. But most those games took hundreds of millions of dollars to develop and millions more annually to service their infrastructure. By comparison a game like The Messenger, Celeste or even Dead Cell might take a few hundred thousand to develop, and make a massive profit on year-over-year sales.

 

Common knowledge at this point. Had no interest in any of those games except for GTA V.

 

Undertale was literally done on a shoestring budget, and look how well that did. If they can make a Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy 6 like game, I'll be very happy.

 

6 hours ago, Fragtaster said:

I don't know about you, but I don't base my GOTY on what games sold the best - nor do I choose which games to play and love based on which title the bottom 25-30% of the gaming population (kids, teenagers and collage kids - indecently those with the least disposable income) are throwing themselves at.

 

Just look at my profile. I have plenty of indies and AAA games mixed in on my list.

 

Kids and teenagers don't game like we did. They mostly spend their time watching their favorite cartoons and children shows on their parents Netflix/Amazon Prime subscription and playing those free to play mobile games on the iPhone X. Sure some of them may play on the Nintendo Switch, or on their PS4 or Xbox One if they're lucky, but I often don't see that.

 

If we're talking GOTY based on profits and universal success, I would point towards Red Dead Redemption 2, God of War 2018 and Marvel's Spider-Man. All are worthwhile games. For sheer gameplay factor, I would NOT put any of those games as GOTY.

 

6 hours ago, Fragtaster said:

A great game deserves recognition regardless of where it falls in the hierarchy of Yearly Sales. When it comes to retro inspired titles: games like Shovel Knight, The Messenger, Celeste, Dead Cells, Cuphead, Blazing Chrome, Battle Princes Madelyn, Axiom Verge, Sonic Mania, Guacamelee, Hollow Knight... even re-releases like the The Lion King/Aladin Collection, Capcom Beatemups Collection, Street Fighter Anniversary Collection, Konami Contra/Castlevania Collections, Disney Afternoon Collection, Mega Man Legacy Collections, and on-and-on - they are EXTREMELY successful and lucrative releases for their publishers.

 

Everything I've highlighted bold I have played.

 

I honestly don't consider Guacamelee to be that much of a retro inspired title. It has a lot of memes packed in both the original and in the sequel. The only retro aspect I can think of is the fact that it's a Metroidvania, it basically takes what Super Metroid on the SNES perfected into it's own game. It feels more like a game fit for modern audiences. Tales From Space: Mutant Blobs Attack and Severed didn't feel all too retro either, even though they were made by the same developer.

 

Super Meat Boy can be argued that it's a retro like game. But it has enough elements to make it more than worth looking at for modern audiences who did not grow up in the 8 bit, 16 bit generations.

 

Everything you listed here is good and worth playing. I just don't understand why you got upset and went at me when I merely said my reason for why The Messenger was overlooked.

 

6 hours ago, Fragtaster said:

But if all you do is spend you're time watching Markiplier, IGN and Metacritic, and following the pulse of what is the hottest trendy new game that the media (who are paid to advertise what's current) is talking about, and the kids/young people today are playing… you wouldn't know any of this.

 

Again look at my trophy account.

 

PewDiePie, Markiplier and JackSepticEye are trash. They all spout inconsequential bullshit in their videos. Thought it was funny how much of a jackass PewDiePie made himself to be in the video he posted after he reached 50 million subscribers on YouTube.

 

If you want good YouTubers, look at Cornshaq Gaming.

Edited March 24, 2020 by Spaz

[Gone Fishing]

. 

Edited September 14, 2020 by Fragtaster

[K1D_SP00KY]

On 4/14/2019 at 11:18 AM, iGGTheEnd said:

So I saw this game is sub 200 players on both NA and EU and I think this game easily deserves more it is in my opinion an amazing game.  The humour is top notch and takes jabs at older games as well as gamers themselves,  the retro music is great and changes up a lot throughout the game,  the movement in the game is very satisfying comparable to Celeste, Deadcells and HK.  Its not just straight up platforming there are plenty of upgrades and items that change up the game as you play.  

 

But my favorite part of the whole game is the level design and boss design,  the level design is something older retro games would never be able to achieve and always feels new and fresh as you progress through the game while also giving new challenges that can be hard but also fair once you figure them out.

 

The devs did a great job on this one and I just thought I would vouch for it,  this game isn't another shovelware its actually an amazing game.

I couldn’t agree more!

Everyone needs to play this game. Period.

[Sydoki]

Daang, that good? I'm not a huuuuge fan of retro games...but if knowledgeable people are vouching for it...maybe I should give it a go

[LordBilbanes]

On the issue of Cuphead, it will never see a release on PSN as it's a Microsoft owned IP.  Not even Phil Spencer is dumb enough to put games on the platform of a direct competitor.  I own this game physically.  I think it is a great game, though I haven't beaten it.

[Good_Sir_Matt_II]

How difficulty is it? I'm terrible at 2D platformers

[LordBilbanes]

The platforming itself isn't particularly difficult.  The biggest issue I've had was with bosses, though I'm not particularly skilled myself.

[iGGTheEnd]

6 hours ago, Good_Sir_Matt_II said:

How difficulty is it? I'm terrible at 2D platformers

Fairly easy I would say 3/10 the hardest part is platforming in a completely black room and getting to the other side without getting the candle first.  But there are youtube videos that can help with that.  Some puzzle can be frustrating but after a few attempts you will get them.  I am bad at platformers as well and was still able to get the plat fairly easily.

[vegetollo7]

On 7/27/2020 at 2:05 PM, LordBilbanes said:

On the issue of Cuphead, it will never see a release on PSN as it's a Microsoft owned IP.  Not even Phil Spencer is dumb enough to put games on the platform of a direct competitor.  I own this game physically.  I think it is a great game, though I haven't beaten it.

Haha, this did not age well. 😏

 

Back on topic, it's interesting playing this game after finishing Sea of Stars. It's cool seeing some of the same areas and hearing the same music but in 8bit form. I even noticed some of the same enemy types.

[LordBilbanes]

Yes indeed, though I think I might be wrong about it being a Microsoft IP.