Back in September 2013, a Kickstarter began for a game called Hyper Light Drifter and I liked the look of what the game was aiming for, so I backed it. Here we are almost 12 years later and I am playing the next game from developer Heart Machine and I still am loving the look of things. Having sunk some time into Possessor(s), is this a game with heart or is the developer on life support?

If I had to give you the 60 second run down on what this game is all about, basically take the vibe of Limbo, the combat of Hollow Knight and the art style from Gris and you have the beginnings of Possessor(s). The game begins with some sort of explosion going off and then soon humans are running everywhere, your character Luca is left behind and is then witness to the death of someone important to her. Fearing for her life she crawls away from the danger, because in the chaos she was pinned under some rubble and her legs are gone. Eventually she comes across someone who claims to be a demon, but they can heal her legs, if she agrees to give them a ride, the pair form an accord and the game truly begins.

At heart the game plays out like a metroidvania but look a little closer and you will see a bit of roguelite action happening, not a lot, just a touch. Luca does not become some sort of powerhouse once she has some demon possessing her, but she does pick up a few abilities. Just know that much like any decent metroidvania, you get more of them over time. The first ability that I acquired was a whip, which could have been basic, but instead ended up being quite fun. It can be used in combat, to pull enemies to you, but also outside of combat, in order to swing across large gaps. Later on I discovered some enemies that were too large to be pulled to me, but instead had me pulled to them, it was unexpected, but delightful. The main weapon that I picked up first were a pair of kitchen knives, nothing fancy, but eventually I got a secondary weapon on the form of a corded mouse. Yeah, humanity is not really around when you start, so there are things just lying around the place.

I will be honest, combat was far more challenging than I had predicted it would be, I died a lot. But it was never due to any cheap moves or such, just a lack of skill on my part, that I eventually started to correct. One example is that the mouse being my secondary attack, has a limit to its number of uses, this was not something that I was aware of when I first got it, so I was whipping everything in sight. Once you have attacked with it, the counter goes down and once its gone, you can’t attack anymore. However, hitting enemies with your regular attack slowly restores some of those attack points, for lack of a better term and that means you can use it some more. Eventually I picked up a parry ability, which helped with some more stubborn enemies, but beyond that I won’t say any more.

What I liked about my time with the game was that, while it would provide me with a destination to reach, it didn’t hold my hand at any point. That meant that everything was on me, and its been a while since a game did that. Now of course, the game could completely change course 5 hours in and be nothing but hand holding, but for now I remain optimistic that it won’t. Perhaps the most frustrating element was the combat, don’t get me wrong it is satisfying to take down any enemy you want, but the lack of instructions meant that sometimes a death felt more like a punishment, due to that lack of help. The game is still in development, so there are bound to be changes, but for now, there is a lot about the game that I like, I just want to see more of it before I let it take over my life.