I bear in mind being blown away by the 2024 reveal trailer for Possessor(s), the brand new recreation from Hyper Mild Drifter developer Coronary heart Machine. The trailer includes a hanging artwork design, the place an animated 2D character explores and fights in side-scrolling environments with beautiful 3D backgrounds, and it’s all set to moody, highly effective music. The ultimate recreation, which got here out this month, wasn’t fairly as awe-inspiring as that preliminary trailer made it appear, and I nearly stop it — however I’m actually glad I noticed it to the tip.
In Possessor(s), you play as Luca, a woman who’s possessed by Rehm, a demon from one other realm. After a disaster strikes, Rehm saves Luca’s life by creating legs for her — however from then on, Luca serves as a bunch for Rhem, that means they will speak to one another on a regular basis and sometimes see into one another’s recollections. The 2 have a contentious relationship. They bicker consistently, which generally made them tough for me to care about. However over the course of the sport, their relationship evolves as they arrive to know extra about one another and the worlds they got here from.
Coronary heart Machine describes Possessor(s) as a “fast-paced motion aspect scroller,” however it is a Metroid– or Castlevania-style recreation by and thru. You’ll discover an interconnected world with distinct zones, spend numerous time wanting on the map to attempt to discover the following path to discover, and gather useful traversal upgrades like a wall run that can assist you entry new areas. Very early on, you’ll decide up a whip, and it serves double obligation as an exploration software to cross giant gaps and a key weapon in battle.
Fights are inspired by platform fighters like Tremendous Smash Bros., that means they’re fast-paced and crunchy, and also you’ll tackle enemies with weapons impressed by common stuff you might need round your home. My standard technique consisted of whaling on enemies up shut with a big baseball bat, stunning them with an electrical blast from a cellphone to create area, and flinging demonic silverware throughout rooms to hit faraway targets. Parrying is a key a part of fights, too.
Picture: Devolver Digital
Early on, although, Possessor(s) was very powerful. Common enemies hit laborious, and in the event you lose focus for only a second or get caught in an unfortunate combo, you may die with none time to react. Dying sends you again to the Possessor(s) equal of Dark Souls bonfires, however the return journeys to the place you died may be lengthy, arduous, and crammed with hazard. (The sport additionally makes use of a Souls-like flask system, swapping flasks for painkillers to allow you to get better well being.)
Often, I like that kind of challenge, however one thing about Possessor(s)’s degree and enemy design usually made the early recreation really feel extra irritating than enjoyable for me. I additionally obtained very misplaced after the primary few hours, exploring far more of the map than I wanted to as a result of I couldn’t determine easy methods to get previous some mysterious partitions with glowy cracks on them. I contemplated placing down the sport for good.
Nonetheless, after lastly studying easy methods to open these partitions (use the whip!), getting a couple of well being and painkiller upgrades, and seeing extra nuance to Luca and Rhem’s relationship, I began to benefit from the recreation far more. I lastly settled into the satisfying Metroid loop of exploring a brand new space, discovering a brand new improve, utilizing that to get to the following boss, getting the following MacGuffin, after which doing it over again within the subsequent zone.
Possessor(s) didn’t possess me in the best way that I anticipated it would. Based mostly on my preliminary impressions, the sport appeared cooked in a lab to enchantment to my actual tastes. I simply wanted to have some persistence. The sport culminated in a closing degree that actually put my expertise to the take a look at and a hanging battlefield for the ultimate boss. As I watched the credit roll, I spotted it had all lastly evoked a few of these emotions I had watching the sport’s first trailer.
Possessor(s) is out now on PC and PS5.