Possessor(s) Reviews
A stylish metroidvania with crunchy combat and a delightfully melancholy mood, but some will find it too safe and frictionless.
All in all, there’s some entertainment in the story, dialogue, and possessed objects that attack you. The bosses are nicely designed, and the world-building is pretty great – but it all wears thin too quickly when it’s such a slog to play.
Ignoring its current serious problems, Possessor(s) is a merely adequate Metroidvania that doesn't excel in anything except its art direction. At very specific moments, one can glimpse the grandeur of the Heart Machine that gave us Hyper Light Drifter… but it's such a fleeting vision that it feels like a hallucination.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Possessor(s) is a beautiful Metroidvania with an open structure that encourages exploration and lets you progress at your own pace. While its platforming and combat are both solid, they lack the distinctive flair needed to match the game’s stunning art direction. The narrative is deep and layered, but its delivery sometimes undermines immersion. Despite being a strong and engaging adventure, it doesn’t always capture the magic its visuals promise.
Possessor(s) brings a lot of success to the table: lots of boss fights, chunky and engaging combat, and a robust world to explore. Combine that with a strong narrative, and you have a recipe for success. The whip needs some optimization, and progressing the story can easily stagnate once the map opens up. Possessor(s) may not be able to contend with the titans of the genre, but it doesn't need to. It still provides a good experience for anyone interested in Metroidvanias.
Possessor(s) is perfectly fine while it's happening, but its rote exploration and weak enemy variety mean it'll be hard to remember once it's over.
Possessor(s) combines a compelling narrative, solid understanding of Metroid-like design and genuinely fun combat for an experience that is intensely captivating.
A Metroidvania set in a mega-city ruined by demons, Possessor(s) unfortunately fails to fulfil its potential due to clunky combat and general lack of polish.
Possessor(s) is one of the most unconventional Metroidvanias that I've played thanks to its visceral dystopian world and focus on equipment-based combat that rewards experimentation, practice, and patience much more than brute force. Now, that's clever and quite cool indeed. 🩸
Possessor(s)' gameplay is challenging, the environments are stunning, and the story is superb. You can't go wrong with this intense and interesting sci-fi action game.
Possessor(s) lacks the unique pizazz of some recent Metroidvanias, but delivers a solid adventure in its own right.
Possessor(s) is a visually striking journey supported by agile combat, yet it lacks the boldness that could have made it truly memorable. The relationship between Luca and Rhem adds emotional weight to the story, and the battle system provides exciting moments, but the metroidvania structure feels too basic. In the end, the game manages to engage and hold our interest, but it settles for playing it safe, delivering a competent experience, though far from the potential its premise promised.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
For the past decade fans have been sitting, waiting and wishing for a return to form for Heart Machine to meet the expectations they bestowed upon themselves as a result of creating one of the best indie games of the past decade with Hyper Light Drifter. Solar Ash was very good, but it was a large departure from their debut in many ways and Hyper Light Breaker moved even farther away from what fans wanted, which is ironic since it wore the Hyper Light brand. This brings us to Possessors, a metroidvania created by Heart Machine, which in theory, should be a perfect pairing, but the combination somehow fails to formulate into anything more than just the sum of its parts. There are good ideas and bright spots throughout the experience including the art style, soundtrack and unique world, all things Heart Machine have shown to be adept at, but for everything else, Possessors fails to execute on them in meaningful ways that would take their fourth game beyond an average metroidvania.
Possessor(s) is a great Metroidvania with excellent narrative ideas, incredible character designs and very fun gameplay. It will be difficult for it to stand out in such a competitive market as this genre, which already boasts so many masterpieces, and some of its flaws may frustrate some players. But if it manages to find the right audience, it could become a huge success.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
With an intriguing lore and a combat system that breaks away from genre conventions, Possessor(s) is a solid metroidvania worth your time and money. Despite stumbling in mobility and having some unbalanced elements, the game is likely to please fans of the genre.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
There are games that teach you how to attack, and others that force you to look inward. Possessor(s) belongs to the latter. Its world breathes between piano notes and broken lights; its story beats more in what it hints at than in what it tells; and its combat feels like a dialogue between two souls that can’t quite understand each other. It’s not perfect, but it’s profoundly human. And sometimes, that’s enough to make you want to stay and live in it.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Possessor(s) is like any solid pact with a demon—a good time, but with its own drawbacks.
Possessor(s)'s combat and traversal are quite enjoyable, there is ample reason to chase 100% completion, the story made me want to keep playing, and there were plenty of late nights spent just wanting to see what was in the next area because the game simply looks fantastic.
While Possessor(s) doesn’t fully break from a crowded field of search-action games, its compelling characters and pointed commentary give it some personality of its own. If you’re eager to explore man-made horrors, this flaming wreck of a company town will provide.
Possessor(s) is a stylish, anime-inspired Metroidvania that combines an intriguing world, compelling characters, and challenging yet rewarding combat into an atmospheric and satisfying adventure.
Review in Dutch | Read full review