Possessor(s) hit PC and PlayStation 5 on November 11, 2025, marking Heart Machine’s first collaboration with publisher Devolver Digital. The studio behind the beloved Hyper Light Drifter returns with a darker vision – a fast-paced Metroidvania where you play as a high school student sharing her broken body with a demon in a quarantined city overrun by interdimensional horrors. Early reviews suggest the game’s stunning art and unique premise can’t quite overcome clunky execution and design frustrations.
A Deal With the Devil
The game wastes no time establishing its brutal tone. You wake as Luca, a high school student, dragging your mangled upper torso across the floor, leaving a blood trail behind. Your body is shattered, death is imminent, and you’re given a choice – make a pact with a demon named Rhem or die right here. Choosing survival means allowing Rhem to possess your body, creating an uneasy partnership where neither party fully trusts the other.
Together, Luca and Rhem must navigate the ruins of Sanzu City, a sprawling metropolis torn apart by an interdimensional catastrophe. The city has been quarantined and flooded with otherworldly creatures. Your goal is to find Luca’s mother and best friend while collecting four eyeballs to unlock a vault’s retinal scanner that might provide answers about what happened and how to escape this nightmare.
Heart Machine calls Possessor(s) a search action game, blending elements of Metroidvanias with combat inspired by platform fighters like Super Smash Bros. The focus is on exploration, aerial combos, juggling enemies, and using improvised weapons ranging from kitchen knives to guitars to computer mice. As you progress, you’ll unlock new abilities that open previously inaccessible areas across the interconnected city.
Stunning Visuals, Clunky Execution
Visually, Possessor(s) showcases Heart Machine’s signature art style – hand-drawn and animated characters overlaid on hauntingly beautiful 3D environments. You’ll explore collapsed skyscrapers, flooded aquariums, abandoned residential blocks, and other atmospheric locations that tell stories through environmental details. The world design captures that melancholic mood Heart Machine perfected in Hyper Light Drifter.
But reviews consistently note that animations can feel janky, especially during boss fights, climbing sequences, and swimming sections. The disconnect between the gorgeous static art and the awkward movement creates friction that pulls you out of immersion. For a studio known for fluid, tight gameplay in Hyper Light Drifter, the technical execution in Possessor(s) disappoints longtime fans.
The combat system centers on parries, dodges, and platform fighter-style aerial juggles. Weapons break after use, forcing you to constantly find new improvised tools from your environment. The concept sounds exciting in theory, but execution falters in practice. Boss encounters feel uninspired according to critics. Enemy placement and quantity create frustrating combat scenarios rather than fair challenges. The control layout makes executing secondary attacks during hectic moments awkward and unnatural.
Too Many Words
One of Hyper Light Drifter’s greatest strengths was telling a powerful story with minimal dialogue, leaving much to player interpretation through visual storytelling and environmental details. Possessor(s) takes the opposite approach with heavy dialogue, explicit explanations, and constant reminders about themes and emotions the game wants you to feel.
Multiple reviewers criticized this shift toward over-explanation. Instead of trusting players to discover meaning organically, Possessor(s) tells you directly about codependency, loss, survival, and every other thematic element it explores. The subtlety that made Heart Machine’s previous work resonate gets replaced by exposition that feels heavy-handed.
The narrative does explore interesting territory. Luca and Rhem’s forced partnership creates natural tension as they learn to coexist despite fundamentally conflicting interests. You’ll meet a cast of survivors, each with their own tragic stories about the catastrophe. The world-building establishes an intriguing sci-fi horror setting with genuine mystery about what caused the dimensional meltdown. But the execution undermines these good ideas through excessive dialogue and spelling everything out.
Mixed Critical Reception
Possessor(s) currently sits in the 51st percentile on OpenCritic, indicating middling critical response. Reviews praise the art direction, soundtrack, and unique premise while consistently pointing to execution issues that prevent the game from reaching its potential. The consensus suggests this is a game with bright spots buried under frustrating design choices and technical shortcomings.
Gamesradar’s review called it smart ideas quickly buried in this demonic metroidvania, capturing the sense that good concepts don’t translate into cohesive gameplay. Another critic described it as too safe and frictionless for some players, lacking the challenge and precision that defines great Metroidvanias. The world-building and boss designs receive praise, but the overall experience wears thin when moment-to-moment gameplay feels like a slog.
For Heart Machine fans expecting another Hyper Light Drifter, Possessor(s) represents a significant departure. It’s darker, more narrative-focused, and mechanically different in ways that won’t resonate with everyone who loved the studio’s breakout hit. The game demonstrates ambition and willingness to try new things, which deserves credit even when the final product doesn’t fully succeed.
What Works
Despite criticisms, Possessor(s) delivers several strong elements. The soundtrack matches Heart Machine’s previous work with atmospheric audio that enhances the melancholic mood. The visual design, even with animation issues, creates a distinctive aesthetic that stands out in the crowded Metroidvania space. The premise of sharing a body with a demon while exploring a quarantined horror city is genuinely fresh.
Movement abilities feel good when they work properly. Grappling hooks let you swing across gaps. Slides send you racing down long corridors. The traversal mechanics that define good Metroidvanias exist here, they just don’t feel as polished as genre leaders. Players who can overlook technical rough edges and control quirks might find an interesting experience beneath the frustrations.
The interconnected world design rewards exploration with shortcuts, secrets, and hidden areas that encourage backtracking with new abilities. Each district of Sanzu City offers unique challenges and atmosphere. The environmental variety prevents the game from feeling repetitive even as you revisit locations multiple times.
Pricing and Availability
Possessor(s) launched November 11 on PC via Steam and PlayStation 5. Steam currently offers a 15 percent launch discount bringing the price down from its standard retail point. No Xbox version has been announced, making this a PC and PlayStation exclusive for now. Given the mixed reception, waiting for deeper sales or Game Pass inclusion might be wise for players unsure about committing full price.
Heart Machine’s previous game Hyper Light Drifter eventually came to Nintendo Switch with additional content as Hyper Light Drifter: Special Edition. Whether Possessor(s) follows a similar path depends on sales performance and fan demand. The game would certainly work on Switch hardware given its 2D perspective and art style.
The Devolver Digital Partnership
This marks Heart Machine’s first collaboration with indie publishing giant Devolver Digital, known for championing unusual projects like Enter the Gungeon, Cult of the Lamb, and countless other indie hits. Devolver’s involvement likely provided marketing muscle and funding that helped Possessor(s) reach completion.
Whether the partnership continues for future Heart Machine projects remains to be seen. The studio is also working on Hyper Light Breaker, a 3D roguelike prequel to Hyper Light Drifter announced in 2021 and currently in early access. That project represents Heart Machine’s most ambitious undertaking yet, transitioning their distinctive style into full 3D environments with multiplayer elements.
FAQs
When did Possessor(s) release?
Possessor(s) launched on November 11, 2025, for PC via Steam and PlayStation 5.
Who developed Possessor(s)?
Heart Machine, the studio behind Hyper Light Drifter and Solar Ash, developed Possessor(s) with publishing support from Devolver Digital.
What kind of game is Possessor(s)?
Possessor(s) is a Metroidvania-style action platformer with combat inspired by platform fighters. You play as a high school student sharing her body with a demon while exploring a quarantined city full of interdimensional horrors.
Is Possessor(s) like Hyper Light Drifter?
While both games share Heart Machine’s distinctive art style and atmospheric world-building, Possessor(s) is darker, more narrative-heavy, and mechanically different from Hyper Light Drifter’s tight combat and minimal storytelling.
What are the reviews saying about Possessor(s)?
Reviews are mixed. Critics praise the art direction, soundtrack, and unique premise but criticize clunky animations, awkward controls, uninspired boss fights, and heavy-handed dialogue that contrasts with Heart Machine’s previous subtle storytelling.
Is Possessor(s) coming to Xbox or Switch?
No Xbox or Nintendo Switch versions have been announced. The game is currently exclusive to PC and PlayStation 5.
How much does Possessor(s) cost?
Standard pricing hasn’t been officially disclosed, but Steam is offering a 15 percent launch discount. Check the Steam store or PlayStation Store for current pricing in your region.
How long is Possessor(s)?
Playtime estimates haven’t been widely reported yet, but typical Metroidvania campaigns range from 10 to 20 hours depending on how thoroughly you explore and whether you pursue completion.
What is Heart Machine working on next?
Heart Machine is developing Hyper Light Breaker, a 3D roguelike prequel to Hyper Light Drifter announced in 2021. The game is currently in early access.
Conclusion
Possessor(s) represents an ambitious but flawed entry from Heart Machine. The studio clearly wanted to push beyond Hyper Light Drifter’s formula, exploring darker themes through a narrative-heavy Metroidvania with unique combat mechanics. The demon possession premise, quarantined city setting, and gorgeous art create a foundation for something special. But clunky animations, awkward controls, and over-explanation undermine the experience in ways that prevent it from reaching the heights of Heart Machine’s previous masterpiece.
For die-hard Heart Machine fans or Metroidvania completionists, Possessor(s) offers enough interesting ideas to justify checking out, especially once it hits deeper sales. The world is worth exploring, the soundtrack deserves attention, and the premise has genuine novelty. But players expecting another instant classic might want to temper expectations. Sometimes ambition alone isn’t enough when execution falters. Possessor(s) proves that even talented studios with proven track records can stumble when trying something new. Whether Heart Machine learns from these missteps for their next project remains the more interesting question than whether this particular game succeeds.