Ever since developer Heart Machine burst onto the scene with its hyper-stylized 2D action game Hyper Light Drifter, every effort from the studio comes with the promise of visual splendor and tight gameplay, and Possessor(s) is no different.
If Hyper Light Drifter is Zelda-like, then Possessor(s) is the team’s take on the Metroidvania. Although their dev team will probably get mad at me for calling it that, as they prefer the original genre term of “search-action.” Regardless of which label you prefer, you’ll find the genre’s familiar hallmarks here. Possessor(s) drops you in a big open map full of powerful demon enemies and branching paths that aren’t all open to you just yet.
Unlike Heart Machine’s past games with stylized, but masked or hooded, heroes, Possessor(s) is led by a cast of beautifully hand-drawn characters whose stories I’m curious to learn more of. Set in a fictional, Japan-inspired, city, the player controls Luca, who survives a devastating, apocalyptic event. But only just barely. She awakens to find herself without her legs, which were damaged during the attack. Luckily (or not), she makes contact with a demon named Rehm, who offers her the classic devil’s bargain. She can get her legs back, but only if she helps him get revenge on some unnamed but powerful demonic forces.
Similarly, Possessor(s) feels heavily inspired by urban fantasy anime. Shows like Jujutsu Kaisen come quickly to mind as Luca and Rehm explore a ruined metropolitan city and fight off demon-possessed everyday objects like haunted searchlights and demon fridges. This extends to Luca as well. While she’s now powered by demon-magic legs, her weapons are also everyday objects. Things like kitchen knives or even a computer mouse she can wield like a whip.
All of this combines into a fast-paced action-adventure. Combat feels rapid-fast, which is great because there are a lot of enemies to cut through. And running through the devastated city, or jumping and grappling over obstacles, also feels fast and great, which is a plus because I get the sense this is a pretty big game. The portion of the map I played already felt quite large and I only played a 20-minute demo.
Mechanically, I wouldn’t say Possessor(s) upends the search-action genre, or at the very least not in the early portion of the game I saw. But both narratively and in the design there’s tons more that I’m interested in learning more of. Possessor(s) has moments where the camera pans out into the ruined city, highlighting a cinematic sense of scale that Heart Machine has explored before in games like Solar Ash. And even in my short hands-on time there was a lot of dialogue and exposition between Luca and Rehm.
There’s also likely more to the RPG element that I haven’t discovered yet. Luca’s character menu seemed to show empty slots for a variety of weapons and upgrades – way more than the couple I found during my demo. And having only been given a glimpse of the map, which was primarily a lot of abandoned and destroyed office buildings, there’s clearly a lot more under the hood in Possessor(s) than what I saw. I’ll be keeping an eye on this one.
Matt Kim is IGN’s Senior Features Editor.
