The Messenger has now received the promised 'Messenger+' update, adding a New Game+ option and a nice little selection of quality of life improvements. We've got all the details you need down below.
Earlier this month, developer Sabotage confirmed that the update would be hitting at some point in November, letting us know that the quality of life improvements were set to include control remapping, the addition of a visual cue in the underwater labyrinth for accessibility purposes, and another addition which plonks the Prophet’s hint feature directly into the map to help guide adventurers.
Today marks that magical day of update goodness, and it's also brought with it a very tasty sounding New Game+ mode. This mode allows players who have already completed the game to start a new save slot with all previously unlocked upgrades at your disposal (plus the windmill shuriken), while simultaneously ramping up the difficulty with increased incoming damage and bosses HP.
Sabotage tells us that players must have a fully completed save slot (game progression at 100%) in order to access the feature, acting as the ultimate challenge for those who have got everything they can out of the game so far. Additionally, a jukebox feature has been added - because why not? You can learn all about the new content thanks to this video shared by the developer.
Have you enjoyed your time with this Ninja Gaiden-inspired 2D side-scroller? Will you be diving into the new content? Let us know with a comment below.
Comments 36
Still need to pick it up, no time to play everything and I'm on vacation!
Cool, something more to look forward to when it gets a physical release early next year.
It's being handled by Special Reserve Games.
[insert Snivy profile picture]
This game is great, I can't recommend it enough
@SuperCharlie78 Have you beat it? How long did it take you?
Yes Yes Yes!! Love this game. Can't wait to continue to my journey later tonight.
@ryancraddock Snivy supremacy!
The game is also in discount in EU, it goes for 13.49 Pounds.
Such a great game! Keeping my fingers crossed that I can get in on that physical release next year.
@Kalmaro yep. It took me around 20 hours to get 100% completion. I died a lot but it's not particularly difficult. The game is great in every aspect, I'd say it's without faults. Great controls, great OST, a good story with a lot of humor (It doesn't take itself too seriously), a lot of boss fights, great level design and difficulty curve, you need to master every ability to reach the end. Great, lovely game
@KingdomHeartsFan It's a thankless job, but someone has to do it. 👍
@SuperCharlie78 That's exactly what I was hoping to hear, thanks!
@RupeeClock Yeah good luck in getting one, they don't offer pre-order and they usually sell out in about 2 minutes, or their website crashes.
@YANDMAN
An attempt will be made.
My worry is that they're offering up some earlybird purchases for their existing customers, but I think this is a bad idea as this is Special Reserve Games' first physical Switch offering.
@Kalmaro Yep, go for it, you won't regret it. I enjoyed it even more than Shovel Knight and I loved that game.
100%'d this game, very solid. NG+ doesn't seem substantial enough for me top hop back in this soon.
@OorWullie Never did finish shovel knight. Good game but man that difficulty. It's not too hard but I was looking for something I could relax to. I'll finish it eventually.
@KingdomHeartsFan Why thank you very much, that's nice to hear! I do like this site quite a bit.
This is a great game and one of the few retro-inspired indies I’d say everyone can enjoy because the difficulty is accessible and never unfair. Can’t wait to play it once more!
I'll look forward to the physical release, but a good sale could temp me to dive hard in. Meanwhile, i'll just keep chipping away at my enormous backlog...
I highly recommend this game if you haven’t picked it up yet. The writing is witty and comical sometimes and the controls are tight. Easily one of the best releases this year. And now it’s even better!
Going to play this on my lunch beak today. Praise handheld mode!
@RupeeClock I have attempted to be a customer for every release and never been successful once. They should just adopt pre-orders like LRG now do.
I gotta disagree with the praise for this game. The controls are great, and it looks nice, and the music is pretty good (though it can get annoying), and the boss fights are cool, but the regular level design is substandard and pedestrian. Nowhere near the cleverness of a game like Shovel Knight, which has interesting stuff going on in nearly every screen.
@YANDMAN I'm mostly just interested in getting the game rather than any collector's editions or any other merch they might have.
Since this is Switch, it might be an open pre-order like LRG does, but I'm not sure.
Incidentally Limited Run Games are doing a black friday sale of leftover stock of some previous runs, there's quite a large list and this would be a nice chance to get Mercenary Kings since I didn't go for it last time.
Alright time to update!
It's part of the eShop Black Friday sale. Perfect time to buy it.
@Stargazer
Comparing it to Shovel Knight isn't exactly fair man, that game is a masterpiece. The Messenger is still dang good, one of my favorite games this year.
@RupeeClock The special editions have only come about recently. if you manage to get one you will be very lucky. I had two games in my basket, paid and cleared, later told there was a problem and i no longer had either of the games. I of course complained and was told they had issues with their site and that was that. The LRG stock sell off is also a fiasco of the same order. You will be very lucky to get anythinbg from that. Mercenary Kings in my opinion is very average. have you played it? or you just want it for the collection?
@YANDMAN
I haven't yet encountered any purchase problems with LRG, but that was only one thing, the Yooka Laylee Classic Edition or whatever it was called.
I'm interested in Mercenary Kings since I picked up Flinthook on a whim and absolutely loved it, both are developed by Tribute Games. I won't be too fussed if I don't manage to buy a copy, but am interested in it.
For the most part, I'm buying physical of games I'm interested in playing, rather than collecting them. No point in buying a game that doesn't interest me.
@Kalmaro I would say the messenger is a bit harder than shovel knight (just bear in mind)
P.s:love both
@RupeeClock Yokaa Laylee was agin an open pre-order so yeah that's that. These other sales are first come first served cut-throat. They will vanish in literally seconds if it's anything worht having.
Flinthook is a great game. Mercenary kings is not. It's slow and boring. Check out some reviews. it is nowhere near the caliber of flinthook.
@YANDMAN The game itself was open pre-order anyway, it's only ever the special editions that are subject to selling out stupidly fast. Not all of them do, some take a while longer.
Fox N Forests on Strictly Limited Games ran out of their first batch of Switch collector's editions very quickly, even with bigger numbers than the PS4 version.
Flinthook really is great, so looking into it a bit it's a shame that Mercenary Kings maybe isn't that good. Still, I wouldn't mind trying to snag a copy to see for myself.
Guess i need to finally get back to this awesome game. I think i was at the Demon General boss fight (or did i beat him? i can't recall right now) when i took a break. Then other games — particularly Ys VIII — came along and distracted me.
After a while I began to appreciate this game even more than Shovel Knight. One of the funnest gaming experiences I've had.
@YANDMAN Hey, you know what?
I landed a copy of Mercenary Kings.
It sold out in like one or two minutes too. Really glad I managed to get it.
@RupeeClock Nicely done
@Frenean
The comparison is all good, there are plenty of us that think the Messenger is waaaay better than Shovel Knight.
They're both ridiculously inexpensive until tomorrow.... Everyone just do it.
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