The Messenger is a retro-platformer with an interesting twist. It starts off like a fairly standard action-platformer from back in the day, but soon turns into "an expansive time-traveling adventure" that makes use of both 8-bit and 16-bit graphics and audio. And not just for visual flavor but as an actual mechanic: Players can swap between the two styles mid-level to solve puzzles, for instance.

In late 2018 it got a new Game+ mode with a more challenging difficulty, and earlier this year new levels were added in the free Picnic Panic DLC. And now it's free for the week on the Epic Games Store: Hit the page, click the "get" button, take it from there. You know how it goes.

There's only one free game this week, because The Messenger is rated E10+ by the ESRB. (Access to "Mature" games can be disabled by Epic Store parental controls, so whenever the weekly freebie is M-rated Epic gives away a second, more family-friendly game as well, to ensure that everyone gets a game.) There will be just one free game next week too, the tile-based RTS roguelite Bad North: Jotun Edition, which despite the title is actually quite good.

The Messenger is Sabotage Studio's 2D platformer in the vein of classics like Shinobi and Ninja Gaiden 2. And, if you've finished it already, it now has some free DLC accessible to anyone who has made it to the credits.

Picnic Panic is a vacation-themed collection of three new levels with new boss fights as well, set on on Voodkin Island. It seems kind of like an anime beach episode, and various characters from the base game will tag along with you on this new adventure. As the press release puts it, "keep your friends close, and your anemones closer."

To access Picnic Panic, make sure the DLC has downloaded and you're on a save file that's beaten the final boss. If you're on New Game +, you'll need to have unlocked the map. Either way, head over to the shop and find the pink neon palm tree sign to set off for Voodkin Island.

The Ninja Gaiden-inspired retro-platformer The Messenger got a big update today that adds "quality of life" changes including remappable controls and "dialog turbo speed," as well as a New Game+ mode that will give players the option of bringing items unlocked in previous playthroughs into new games. Access to that bonus equipment comes at a cost, however, as New Game+ mode will also serve up significantly increased difficulty.

Enemies will do more damage in the mode, and bosses will have increased hit points. The resurrection demon Quarble will be more of a hardass, too: Normally he'll follow you around and swipe any time shards you collect until you've covered your debt for the resurrection, but in New Game+ you'll have to pay him up-front, or you'll stay dead. And with each subsequent run, another "+" is added, ramping up the difficulty even further. 

Other changes in the update include the ability to toggle Prophet hints from the map, bug fixes, and a jukebox that will become accessible in the shop after you find your first Music Note.   

Details on the update are available on Steam. The Messenger is currently on sale for 30 percent off, reducing it to $14/£11/€12 as part of the Steam Autumn Sale, which runs until November 27. 

The Messenger is a self-described love letter to 8-bit and 16-bit platformers and action games, and it just so happens to star a young ninja fighting to defend his clan from demons. 

As you may have guessed, The Messenger was heavily inspired by the old Ninja Gaiden games—so much so that, speaking with Polygon, lead designer Thierry Boulanger said much of his development history can be traced back to Ninja Gaiden 2 on the NES. 

Boulanger and developer Sabotage boast of "challenging gameplay and tight controls" on Steam, but The Messenger's most interesting tidbit is its generation-hopping aesthetic. When I said it's a love letter to both 8-bit and 16-bit games, I wasn't kidding: partway through, the whole game upgrades from an 8-bit action game to a 16-bit Metroidvania game with improved music and visuals. You can also swap between the two styles mid-level to solve puzzles. 

The Messenger was designed to be speedrun-friendly. Boulanger says there are multiple paths to each level: the normal, obvious path, and then paths with huge shortcuts hidden behind skill-based techniques like the "cloud-step," a situational double jump which can only be used when you hit something (like an enemy or an enemy projectile) mid-air but can also be chained infinitely. 

The Messenger looks like one to keep an eye on as it cloud-steps toward its 2018 release.