The Messenger first playthrough, part 4 + finale
3The late-game fortunately goes more smoothly than the previous segment, precisely because there wasn't much backtracking left to do (and I made better decisions this time on how to tackle it), and none of the remaining bosses commit grave photosensitivity crimes.
Surprisingly, the game still has one new type of movement tech up its sleeve... and seemingly only one place to make use of it outside of the area it's found in, which makes it seem like somewhat of a waste. I have to wonder if there was some seat-of-the-pants decision-making going on during development.
The game throws one final twist at us in unveiling the meaning behind the notes we've been collecting, leading to the true final area. The lore dump here is so comprehensive, it feels like an entire extra game intro, which leaves me wondering if this was originally placed earlier in the game and moved later in development. I get that the plot has a habit of being a roller coaster, but given how little of the game remains at this point, it feels like odd pacing.
The final area features one particularly troublesome room located frustratingly far from a checkpoint (at least there is mercifully one immediately after it), and I am perplexed at the inclusion of the return of timed gates...that only delay when they open? As in, there's no challenge, they can only possibly slow down the player. I'm guessing the purpose was to add a visual indicator of where the switches were taking effect; if anything, I might've had the reverse issue, sometimes completing the screen without realizing what the switch had even done because I was concentrating on the rest of the room.
The final boss was sufficiently challenging, forcing you to deal with increasingly-demanding patterns to dodge (a couple of which seem near-impossible to avoid taking any damage in). I could've done without the last-minute mashing gag; seems like a poor note to end the game on, but I guess that particular decision is bound to be polarizing.
I maintain that The Messenger exhibits a ton of brilliance throughout the first half of the game, and the late-game is also decent; IMO it would be a better game without the metroidvania aspects (and the flashing-background boss). The revisits are fine, so long as the path is clear and unique (as they are when you first revisit them in the alternate time period). They needed to avoid causing the player to needlessly trudge through onerous bits repeatedly while trying to figure out how to get to the few-and-far-between undiscovered spots.
Note: I was planning to play the DLC too, but I ultimately decided enough was enough within the first half hour. It begins with a segment with hard-to-follow visuals that sometimes move excessively fast in a poorly-designed attempt to riff on Battletoads' Turbo Tunnels, while neglecting the rather important element of blinking warning indicators that give you any actual ability to react. Its then follows with an annoying cycle-based boss designed as a Souls-esque exercise in boring the player out of their mind over the course of 10 minutes until you make enough mistakes to die and have to do the entire fight over again. Both of these seemed like huge departures from what the main game was all about, and I decided the DLC wasn't worth my time and energy at that point. (Good thing it was free.)
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