The Metroidvania genre is difficult to master. If you deviate too much from the established formula, you might estrange the core audience. Play too much by the book, however, and you might get lost among your competitors. So, if I were to make a deal with the devil, would he reveal the best way forward to me?
Am I a demon?
From Heart Machine, the studio behind games such as Hyper Light Drifter and Solar Ash, comes the side-scrolling action game Possessor(s). It tells the story of an unlikely team-up between a human and a devil. As the name suggests, for this joint venture, they only need one body. Luca, a girl who is injured at the start of the game when the city is attacked by demons, is the host of the party. She loses both her legs but refuses to die and carries on until she meets an equally injured devil: Rehm. He offers to give her her legs back if she joins forces with him. Refusing to give up, she agrees, offering her body so that they can both continue to pursue their goals.
This metroidvania game sees you making your way through the remains of your hometown, gathering keys and items to grow stronger and eventually seal away the evil that destroyed the city. However, there are many enemies in your way who need to be defeated, so Rehm and Luca’s only hope is to work together, combining their physical prowess and knowledge of the setting.
Less Talking! More Punching!
After booting up Possessor(s), it quickly became clear that the team wanted to make the story the focus. As the main character is actually two different people, Luca and Rehm cannot be silent protagonists as they would be in most Metroidvanias. Your journey is interrupted by conversations between the two of them, and at certain times, you see flashbacks of both characters. Because they share a body and mind, they can react to each other’s memories. This concept isn’t used much in this type of game and offers significant character development, especially between two characters who don’t fully trust each other (at least initially). However, that isn’t to say that stunning visuals are absent. The mega-city that serves as the game’s backdrop boasts beautiful lighting effects that blend dark urban areas with bioluminescent elements in both the protagonists and the enemies, as well as vibrant colours in magical attacks.
That’s where the combat element of Possessor(s) comes in. The city is overrun by possessed creatures that stand in your way, so you need to take them down. You can do this using your light attack and a plethora of moves that you acquire along the way. These come in two forms: weapons that add special moves to your arsenal or larger demonic upgrades. I found the weapons particularly charming as they are mostly mundane items that you find on your travels. For example, there’s a computer mouse that becomes a sort of upward-swinging whip, a TV remote that zaps the area around you and a pair of gloves that allow you to grab and suplex enemies. They all made me chuckle a bit when I first found them. The demonic upgrades are a bit different. As well as enhancing your combat power, they also grant you extra traversal abilities. Take the whip, for example. Not only does it allow you to pull enemies towards you, it also enables aerial traversal. These clever tricks will ensure you never feel underpowered on your journey to the next checkpoint.
Industry standards
But even with its vibrant visuals, deep story and fun fighting system, I couldn’t help but feel that something was missing. I couldn’t shake off the feeling that this game had been made countless times before. Metroidvanias are a popular genre for developers because they enable small teams to create big games. This might explain why they are released so frequently. Possessor(s) has its own identity in terms of its world and story, but in terms of gameplay, I felt that I wanted a bit more to satisfy my appetite. The game would have benefited from an original concept to elevate it, because right now the release felt a bit too safe.
As a critic, it’s easy for me to suggest adding extras to a game during its development. It’s not my time or money that’s at stake. I just hide behind my pen and say what I like and don’t like. I don’t do the heavy lifting. However, as the tools for making games become more widely available, I’m realising that I’m increasingly looking for new and unfamiliar releases to see what they do differently rather than how well the core formula is executed once again.
However, games like this one have their place because, when everyone is trying to reinvent the wheel, it’s nice to just pick a set of tyres that you know will be the right fit for your current needs. Even though I wasn’t blown away by Possessor(s), I would still recommend it to players who are new to the genre. The core aspects on offer here are executed flawlessly.
Conclusion
Possessor(s) is a beautiful metroidvania with a compelling story and world design. However, it doesn’t introduce any particularly game-changing features. The combat is perfected, but it’s what we’ve come to expect as the standard for Metroidvanias, with familiar weapons and abilities in clever reskins. I was left wanting more and expecting to see a gameplay hook that would set it apart from other games in the genre, but this never materialised. It’s a game that I would recommend to people who are curious about Metroidvanias and are looking for a place to start. After playing it, you will understand the genre’s language. Because if there is something especially strong in Possessor(s), it’s the foundations.
