REVIEW: ‘Possessor(s)’ Is Beautiful Frustration

Want to learn more about Possessor(s)? Read our interview with Heart Machine developers here.

Possessor(s), the new action side-scroller metroidvania from developer Heart Machine and publisher Devolver Digital, has a lot going for it. The action combat is slick, fast, and satisfying, pulling off combos and chaining attacks to take out enemies quickly.

It’s gorgeous, with a striking art style and interesting setting. It’s unfortunate that the map design doesn’t hold up, leaving the player wandering aimlessly and trying to figure out where to go. It creates a middling, sometimes frustrating experience that is so close to being something truly great. 

Possessor(s) casts the player as Luca, a young girl recently possessed by a demon named Rhem. Luca was on the verge of death after a city-wide catastrophe. Demons were pouring out of the headquarters of a business that basically owns the city. Rhem offers a pact: let him possess her, and he’ll heal her, rebuilding her broken body. Together, they set out to discover the truth of what happened, adventuring around a dilapidated and destroyed city to do so. 

It’s a solid narrative with a likeable chemistry between Luca and Rhem. They start out at odds, but begin to learn more about and accept each other. The writing can be melodramatic at times, but it works well enough. The central mystery is intriguing, tugging at the player as they uncover hints of lore and what truly happened on their adventure. 

Combat is the star of the show in Possessor(s).

The star of the show here is the combat. The action feels smooth and responsive. Luca and Rhem have plenty of demons to take out, and an interesting kit to do so. Luca starts out with twin knives, quickly slashing through foes. She finds new weapons along the way, with a personal favorite being a baseball bat. It hits slower, but also sends enemies flying, leaving them open to follow-ups. 

Luca also gets access to some special abilities that refill as you use your main weapon. They’re a fun implementation of seemingly normal real-world objects. A cell phone becomes an electric discharge, stunning enemies around Luca, a baseball a charged up projectile. You can augment the weapons at different merchants as well, adding slots where affixes can be added, giving Luca benefits like increased sprint speed.

The combat gets really satisfying as you customize your kit, and the special abilities recharge quickly. Combat becomes a flurry of hits and specials, especially when combined with other upgrades Luca finds. A whip that’s used to swing across certain points also draws smaller enemies in, setting them up for combos. Dodging through attacks, setting up abilities with base weapons, and crushing through combat encounters is always fun It’s one of the best parts of the entire experience.

The environmental design is distinct compared to most other Metroidvanias.

Environmental design in Possessor(s) is another standout. Where other metroidvanias tend to opt for magical forests and fantastical locales, Possessor(s) instead takes place in a broken-down city. You run through office buildings, streets, and parks, merging them with demonic forces. The enemies you fight are normal, everyday objects possessed by demons who have lost control.

A pot of plants charging at you is as deadly as a security camera that shoots projectiles. This even extends to the bosses, where a regular businessperson becomes a deadly adversary. It creates a feeling of a place the player knows, a familiarity that this could really happen in our own backyards.

The city feels constantly dark and dour, a loneliness that crept in and never left. The graphics and art design are stunning, especially when the occasional pop of color shines through. There are some stunning vistas and areas in Possessor(s), spots I just wanted to sit in for a few minutes to truly take in what I was seeing. 

The map design in Posessor(s) is its greatest drawback.

It’s unfortunate that the actual map design doesn’t live up to the combat and graphics. Getting lost in Possessor(s) happens all too often, leaving the player running around aimlessly just trying to figure out where to go next. In classic metroidvania fashion, some areas need new upgrades to traverse.

I explored entire segments of the map only to reach an end I didn’t have the right ability for. These weren’t brief expeditions either. Given the limited fast-travel systems, it led to a lot of backtracking and map studying, desperately trying to see what other path could get me to my destination. 

This extends to merchants as well, where each one is placed just far enough from a fast travel point to become annoying. The item economy takes a while to get going, too, where I had plenty of spaces for affixes, but very few to actually equip. It ends up feeling like a lot of wasted space, where rewards for the journey were nothing more than a bit of lore, some currency, or more upgrade materials that you didn’t really need.

When Possessor(s) shines, it’s a fast, frenetic, and tight experience.

The aimless exploration makes Possessor(s) feel like an uneven experience, where combat and environment shine through, but aren’t enough to hold up the lost meandering. When Possessor(s) shines, it’s a fast, frenetic, and tight experience that has me looking forward to the next fight or new area.

Steam Deck performance is also rough right now. Even on the lowest available graphical settings, it struggles, dipping to around 15fps when there’s a lot going on. It generally runs around 50-60fps, but drops significantly in bigger areas where there are a lot of enemies. It isn’t verified for Steam Deck at the time of review, and Heart Machine is planning an update to improve the performance, so hopefully this won’t be an issue for long. 

When it falters, Possessor(s) leaves the player feeling frustrated and aimless, wandering around hoping to stumble onto the next right spot, and running back through long chunks when it’s not. Possessor(s) is like any solid pact with a demon—a good time, but with its own drawbacks.

Possessor(s) is available now on PC and PlayStation 5.