No matter whether or not you name them “search motion” video games or Metroidvanias, Possessors provides a enjoyable, if very acquainted, tackle the method. Its sturdy fight and high quality storytelling make up for just a few stumbles on the exploration aspect. By the point I noticed credit, I didn’t remorse making a cope with this devilish journey.
A company-owned metropolis has been torn asunder by the emergence of a demonic portal. Interdimensional demons have flooded the streets; some residents develop into possessed, whereas the vast majority of others, maybe mercifully, are outright slaughtered. A teenage lady named Luca is mortally wounded within the chaos, dropping each of her legs whereas witnessing a mysterious monster homicide her greatest buddy. Whereas at dying’s door, she finds a equally brutalized demon named Rhem, who will die with out a host. Rhem proposes a deal: If Luca agrees to let him possess her, he’ll not solely save her life, however will change her legs and grant the facility to struggle out of town collectively.
Luca isn’t thrilled about this association, however I relish utilizing Rhem’s powers to tear aside monsters utilizing combo-heavy assaults impressed by the trendy motion style. Armed with quite a lot of demonically supercharged extraordinary gadgets, equivalent to kitchen knives, a pc mouse, sun shades, and extra, stringing collectively offense to juggle enemies feels clean and has an awesome sense of influence. I’m a sucker for any mechanic that yanks enemies nearer to me, so I like utilizing Luca’s whip to reel in flying foes and even swing off of them. Surviving the comparatively powerful adversaries additionally requires a mastery of Luca’s satisfying parry capacity to repel their assaults, and I by no means tire of bouncing incoming projectiles again to their senders.
Upgrading weapons to bestow passive perks, like dealing elevated parry harm and regaining well being by dodging assaults, provides small however welcome layers of technique to deal with varied conditions. Nonetheless, I discovered little incentive to alter my loadout as soon as I settled into the mid-game since I might greater than deal with any risk, together with the entertainingly difficult boss fights. The motion can be visually spectacular in movement, because of the sport’s slick and colourful artwork path, cool monster designs (most of that are twisted visages of possessed objects), and a skip-frame animation type. The superbly illustrated dialog portraits are additionally a deal with, with an artwork type paying homage to Picture Comics’ Saga.
Conversely, the devastated metropolis districts, equivalent to a college campus and an aquatic park, are visually sparse and mundane in comparison with the colourful characters. Sprinting by way of them reveals some respectable sidequests, together with slaying entertaining bounty targets and fulfilling easy fetch quests for mentally damaged survivors, which glad the Metroidvania completionist in me. Simply don’t be shocked should you get misplaced whereas trying to find these duties.
Since you possibly can pursue the sport’s important aims of accumulating 4 demon eyeballs in any order, the sport doesn’t funnel gamers towards key skills, like a diving stomp and floor slide, as clearly as I’d like. It wasn’t unusual to spend lengthy stretches of time pursuing seemingly viable paths, solely to hit limitations I couldn’t bypass, forcing lengthy backtracks even after unlocking some shortcuts. The “right” path isn’t at all times clear sufficient, and breakable limitations, like fragile wood planks, typically mix into their environment a little bit too effectively. Between this and the comparatively sparse checkpoints and fast-travel stations, to not point out needing to remember fallen foreign money after dying à la Soulslikes, the prolonged runbacks by way of enemy-infested areas or tough platforming sequences finally wore on me. Barebones map markers additionally make it powerful to recollect which factors of curiosity to revisit with a sure capacity.
Along with the sturdy motion and artwork path, Possessors’ plot is an sudden spotlight. Luca and Rhem’s disparate personalities shine by way of humorous bickering, and the story options surprisingly poignant revelations centered on poisonous relationships – platonic and romantic – that successfully humanize them. Rhem is an particularly compelling character, and Coronary heart Machine provides a contemporary and fascinating tackle demon lore that saved me engaged with this fallen world.
Essentially the most disappointing facet of Possessors is that it performs it fairly protected in comparison with Coronary heart Machine’s previous titles, Hyper Gentle Drifter and Photo voltaic Ash. Little about its method will shock Metroidvania lovers; nonetheless, the studio has nonetheless notched one other entertaining single-player motion sport below its belt, proving its motion and world-building chops transcend style.
