The Messenger is a true love letter to the 8-bit and 16-bit era. It starts simple enough as a classic 8-bit platformer in the vein of Ninja Gaiden in which the player has to traverse several stages and fight bosses, but then it opens up and becomes a metroidvania, with the main gimmick being that the stages can seamlessly change between their past and future versions when the main character crosses certain portals. Crossing this portals alters both the stage graphics and music and the terrain layout itself, opening up previously closed paths and vice-versa.
Regarding the presentation the pixel art is gorgeous in both versions of each location, applying to both backgrounds, stages and enemies. The soundtrack on the other hand is full of absolute bangers that sound fantastic in their both versions, each track is very memorable and the soundtrack as a whole is very worthy of being listened to on its own.
The level design is incredible, controls are snappy and responsive and traversing each stage is a blast as the player has access to lots of special moves that can be chained together. There is a shop in which upgrades can be purchased with the game's currency and the shopkeeper himself has to be one of the best NPCs that has ever existed. The story is quirky and doesn't take itself seriously and the game is chock-full of humor, this is one of the few games that makes me laugh every time I fall into a pit or get crushed by a moving pillar and the game itself makes fun of me because of that. It's priceless. There is a ton of content and enthusiast players can aim to 100% each stage, find all hidden items, and even purchase the DLC. This is one of the best platformers out there, it's an absolute gem of a game and a must play for everyone.

I ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ LOVE THIS GAME
I BEAT IT ON SWITCH BACK IN 2019 AND DECIDED TO GET IT ON PC AGAIN
THE WRITING IS SO FUNNY AND THE GAMEPLAY IS SOMEWHAT CHALLENGING (ALSO ♥♥♥♥ THAT STUPID RACE IN THE DLC)
THIS GAME IS MY FIRST PERFECTED GAME EVER YIPPEEEEEEEE

This game was cool and kinda reminded me of Ninja Aiden on the sega.