Recent reviews by FF3D

So after 100% completion of the game, i decided to write a review. This will contain spoilers for both gameplay and story. I recommend you should go in blind, because the game has a nice twist around 2-3 hours in the game. The story is not the best, but it is interesting anyway. This my opinion, so you can disagree with me, and that's fine. So let's begin!

Gameplay:
The Messenger is a pretty good platformer. In the second half of the game, it transforms into a metroidvania. But you probably knew that.
During the game, you are given some items. These include: Climbing Claws, a Wingsuit, a Grappling Hook, and much later Boots, that allow to walk on liquids. Honestly i forgot about the Boots. They often need to be used, so you learn to use them pretty quick. Well except the Boots i mentioned earlier. They are only used once to get to Hell, and then they are never needed.
Now let's talk about the metroidvania part. You go back to previous stages to collect new items and complete "quests".
The quests are pretty straightforward. For example: Pick up an item in the Present and put it somewhere else in the Future.
The Messenger has two hint systems to complete them. You can get a vague hint for free. And if you are stupid like me have some problems finding the quest place, you can pay 300 timepieces (money) to get a mark on the map. This saved a lot of my time, so thanks to the devs for that.
Now, about the difficulty... I read a few reviews of people complaining about some hard screens. Honestly there weren't any screens i was really stuck on. This game is not really that difficult, so people, who never really played platformers like me will do fine. There are Power Seals (green coins), which you can collect in "hard" hidden rooms.
Why did i mark word "hard"?
Because they are not. I died more in regular screens, than in challenge rooms. BUT they were not boring. Each one uses interesting mechanics, like jumping off of projectiles. So that's a tradeoff of sorts.
And the reward for getting all Power Seals is actually not that great. You get a boomerang shuriken which can be stayed up forever, if you move correctly. But it's pretty hard to do while platforming, or dodging attacks of a boss. So i never found it useful.

Okay, i don't want to build an even higher wall of text, so i will do a small lightning round.

Past and Future transitions create fun puzzles.

The upgrade system is nice, there are upgrades beside +stat, but there is a good amount of just stats.

The areas are good. You go through a few of them during the first half. When you go back to them in the midgame you start finding new areas inside old ones which is pretty cool too. Also there are often new mechanics introduced in them. Like flying a dragon in the Elemental Skylands. Which refreshed my interest in the game right until the end.

Bosses are fine. The first few ones are so easy, that you don't even have to dodge them. Except the Golem. The first bosses, which you can't hit mindlessly are the Ogres. After them the bosses begin to become challenging. Almost every boss has an interesting new mechanic, so that spices things up a bit.

The Controls are now editable. This pretty much fixes the biggest issue for me.
Controls are the biggest problem i found with the game. You cannot edit them. And this would be fine, since most of them are good. Excluding the walk on liquid button, but you don’t need to use it often, as I mentioned earlier. And it's kinda funny, because i said then that this is a negative thing.

Okay i am finally done... with the gameplay...

Graphics:
The pixel art is pleasing to look at. Animations are great. AND THE TRANSITION BETWEEN THE PAST AND FUTURE IS SOOO SMOOTH.

There are a few secrets in the backgrounds, so you can look for those too

Yeah that's pretty much all.

Music:
It's really REALLY great. Soundtrack is a must buy.

I really like interaction between the Music and Gameplay in the last level.

Story and Characters:
The story is not really the focus, but it's there, i guess. It had good moment and reveals. But dumping a huge amount of it at the end is not the best way to handle the plot.
The thing i enjoyed more is the characters. Well more like two characters. The Shopkeeper and the Ninja you play as. Interactions between them are really nice, the jokes are also good. Also interact with the Wardrobe. You won't regret it..

Bugs:
I only encountered only one:
Sometimes when i tab out of and back in the game, it would lock in on 30 fps. (Not drop near 30, it stayed exactly on 30 fps). Tabbing out of/back in the game again or dying fixes the issue.

Results:
This is a great game with very addicting gameplay, Literally completed the game in 3-4 sittings and one of the best soundtracks I've ever heard. The plot is handled sloppily, but it had some interesting twists.
And yes, i overpraised a bit, i know. But I just can't say anything really negative about it

Is this worth your money?
If you are a platformer/metroidvania fan - You have already bought it, haven't you?
If you don't play games like this - The Game is not that expensive, so you can give it a try.