Possessor(s) overview | PC Gamer

Possessors is a quiet sport by most measures, however it begins all whips akimbo. It is set in a walled company metropolis within the aftermath of a mysterious cataclysm. Teen protagonist Luca loses her legs throughout the calamity and is left for useless, however thankfully it is not lengthy earlier than she’s possessed by a demon known as Rhem, who grants her some new insectile legs on the proviso they collaborate on an escape from the ruined metropolis. So far as pacts with the satan go, it is fairly rational. The 20-odd hour metroidvania that ensues has quite a bit to admire about it, however does not buck nor create any traits.

Earlier than the autumn, the company doyens of this walled metropolis, Agradyne, siphoned a useful resource known as Chroma from captured demons, which was used to energy the batteries they bought. Within the wake of the cataclysm, demons have escaped their vats and possessed every part from angsty teenagers by means of to pot vegetation.

Which means Luca should struggle towards demon-possessed witches hats, demon-possessed safety cameras, demon-possessed submitting cupboards and extra, normally with a baseball bat or a hockey stick. It additionally implies that she’s in fixed dialogue together with her possessor Rhem, who seems like what would occur if Astarion performed bass in Sort O Damaging. These demons aren’t fantasy demons: they’re hipster demons, whose insouciance hides an undercurrent of trauma born of their standing as websites of useful resource extraction for grasping corpos.

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Full movement

Possessors is ready in a 3D world performed from a strict sidelong perspective. Luca and all enemies are meticulously animated 2D sprites, lending the entire affair an clever, city fantasy aptitude that appears good in trailers however takes time to come back to grips with in apply. The 3D world is introduced in muted, shadowy, dystopian color schemes, whereas the sprites are fluorescent and crisply readable. If it jogs my memory of something, it is these Nineteen Nineties movies like Roger Rabbit that blended—sometimes very awkwardly—dwell motion with animation. I assume it is no coincidence that Possessors itself is ready in a fictional 1992.

This artwork model contributes to occasional imprecision in platforming and fight: it is not at all times tremendous apparent what precise a part of a crumbly ledge may be grabbed, for instance, and generally trendy foreground artwork can obscure the motion. There are different issues that are not strictly to do with the artwork model too: Luca cannot look down, and I encountered many conditions the place it will have been helpful if she may. This can be a platformer with frequent emphasis on precision, however it’s filled with leaps of religion.

The place precision is anxious, the fight fares higher. Loads has been product of Posessors’ resemblance to Smash Bros, and whereas I am unable to actually vouch for that, I can verify the preventing right here is absolutely enjoyable in its essence. Luca can wield quite a lot of major weapons—kitchen knives, hockey sticks, a baseball bat—however she will additionally equip three particular weapons. I normally used the particular katana for a fast burst of injury, however there’s additionally stuff like the pc mouse, which works like a ball and chain, and the cellular phone, which sends out a shockwave that may stun enemies. Luca has a whip for swinging between hooks and dragging weaker enemies inside melee vary, and her parry can volley again projectiles.

The fight is enjoyable, typically madcap, however finally simplistic: It takes hours for this sport to indicate its enamel. Individuals conversant in trendy 2D motion video games will trounce most early bosses on their first try, and whereas Coronary heart Machine has actually mastered the stately flux of whacking, dodging and parrying—it feels exact and impactful—its makes an attempt to include aerial motion typically really feel wasted: In a sport the place deadly projectiles are flying in each path without delay, it nearly at all times pays off to stay to the bottom and play defensively. I did not have to study new methods after the 5 hour mark: I simply wanted to execute them extra rapidly and reliably.

Not that the absence of headache-inducing fight is a mark towards Possessors. In reality, as the sport progressed I admired its dedication to a mild problem curve in an age the place almost each indie motion sport looks like a pretext for bragging rights (the studio’s influential Hyper Gentle Drifter can partially be blamed for this). Whereas the loosely interconnected map sprawls because it ought to, little dots mark the place I have never explored but: not as soon as did I ever really feel misplaced or confused. Dying means I lose the foreign money I’ve collected, however that is OK as a result of I can deposit it for secure conserving at common save factors anyway. I by no means felt distraught or offended taking part in Possessors like I did Silksong. It goes down easily, maybe too easily for some.

Satan within the element

This gentleness feels of a bit with its story, which contrasts interpersonal exploitation (horrible mates benefiting from you) with its abstracted industrialised model (companies actually farming you for commodities). The tone of the writing intentionally wavers between ’90s anime and Younger Grownup fiction, however Coronary heart Machine nonetheless manages some admirable restraint in a pop sci-fi style that may be bullheaded about flagging its lofty themes. I got here to admire how the sport’s generally awkward commingling of 2D and 3D artwork mirrored the contrasting existential conundrums on the coronary heart of Possessors.

The soundtrack is gorgeous and various too, starting from frivolously melancholic ’90s digital jazz by means of to starry-eyed city-pop ballads. It helps the sport work gently in direction of a climax that feels as overblown and cathartic (learn: fairly emo-adjacent) as befits a narrative a few teen and their buddy demon navigating a world in irredeemable disaster, however it additionally leaves room for a broader, extra reflective strategy to its storytelling.

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Not one of the discrete environments in Possessors are particularly novel—we go to company buildings, luxurious residences, ruined aquariums and vanquished libraries—however the music, not even the sound design, dabs a moody subtlety onto the undertaking that looks like a secret weapon. One other studio might need opted for the same old paint-by-numbers symphony or chiptune throwback.

There are sometimes annoying imperfections. Areas with water tended to tank the body charge on my two generations previous gaming laptop computer, and I met with one annoying bug that mainly erased a complete room (fortunately, approaching it from a distinct entry rematerialised it, however I may by no means use that one damaged entry).

The improve system is weirdly opaque too: I discovered very late that I wanted to improve my weapons with a view to apply power-ups (or “affixes”) to them. That is on me perhaps, however the well being and therapeutic potion improve system is needlessly unclear too: improve gadgets can’t be “used” and for hours I anticipated to come across an NPC who would assist me apply them. However no: these are robotically used as soon as I’ve reached some mysterious milestone of getting 5, or 4, or six—I nonetheless do not know what number of. As a result of vagueness of this technique I rapidly misplaced curiosity in gathering issues.

Coronary heart Machine nailed 2D pixel artwork motion proper from the beginning with Hyper Gentle Drifter, however transitioned awkwardly into 3D with Photo voltaic Ash. Now they’ve blended the 2, and whereas I do not suppose Possessors is as revelatory because it maybe must be in 2025’s unsustainably aggressive market, it is undoubtedly the work of a studio with an idiosyncratic strategy to graphics, motion and storytelling.

Frustratingly, Coronary heart Machine’s future does not appear assured at current. In a greater world, quiet missives like this might make a dime or extra, sustaining the livelihoods of all concerned. That is not the fact proper now, particularly for a studio whose main early entry gambit has clearly failed. Because it stands, Possessors must be seen for what it’s on this local weather: a humble, nearly plaintive metroidvania with some nice concepts, engineered for folks alive to its considerations. It is a quiet little work despatched out right into a barking mad local weather.