Don’t shoot the messenger.
Sabotage Studios, the minds behind retro hack ‘n slash game The Messenger, released the first big update for the game today, with Switch and Steam players able to make the most of some quality of life changes and more excitingly, the introduction of a New Game +.
As you might expect from an NG+, you’ll get to play the game with all your equipment from the start, including the all-powerful wind shurikens (all hail the wind shurikens!) But with that early bonus in weapons also comes an increase in enemy difficulty, similar to the New Game Plus for Bloodborne and other games. And with every New Game Plus you start, the enemies become more powerful each time, turning bosses into one-hit killers and your hero into the most fragile thing in the world apparently.
There’s also changes to a handful of mechanics in the game, with players able to play around with the button mapping so you can have the controller setup that suits you. There’s also a visual cue for the underwater labyrinth meaning that you shouldn’t get stuck dossing about underwater for minutes on end anymore, and the devs have moved the Prophet’s Hint feature directly into the map so as to make it easier to know where you need to go. The strangest change made in the latest update is, of course, the inclusion of a jukebox. Sabotage hasn’t explained why this is there or even how it’ll work, whether it’s found in the game menu of hidden away somewhere, but yeah – there’s a jukebox now as well.
Finally, Sabotage has teased some upcoming news about the game, which will be announced on December 8 during the Kinda Funny Games Showcase. So, if you’re a fan of the game like our Dan was in his review, it’s worth keeping an eye out for more news in the near future.
