By cryptoadmin 
Coronary heart Machine is aware of the right way to make a classy sport, so it’s no shock that the studio’s newest undertaking, Possessor(s), is attractive as hell. I imply, simply have a look at Rhem, the cosmic demon with a chiseled jawline, aquamarine horns and a fine-cut go well with unbuttoned all the way down to his navel, who alternately encourages and negs you all through the sport. Silly attractive Rhem.
“It's simply enjoyable to have scorching characters on the finish of the day,” Coronary heart Machine founder Alx Preston mentioned at GDC 2025. Preston and three different Coronary heart Machine builders — producer Myriame Lachapelle, narrative director Tyler Hutchison and author Laura Michet — performed by Possessor(s) whereas we chatted concerning the sport and the studio.
Hutchison continued the hot-characters dialog by praising Coronary heart Machine idea artist Sophie Medvedeva and including, “Since we had been sort of constructing out this visible novel, I used to be attempting to leverage the experience I introduced from Dream Daddy to be like, effectively, let's be certain that these characters are very popular.”
Generally, it’s so simple as that.
Possessor(s) is a sidescrolling sci-fi motion sport set within the ruins of Sanzu, a company megalopolis that's been ripped aside by interdimensional horrors. Sanzu was as soon as an organization city managed by the tech agency Agradyne, however three years in the past, a flood of demons escaped town’s underground laboratories, possessing its residents and remodeling most of them into vicious, mutated creatures. The sport spans desolate skyscrapers and deserted aquariums, and it appears like a daydream of a Nineteen Nineties anime, splattered in neon and shimmering with a sickly inexperienced VHS aura.
It stars Luca, a possessed-but-lucid 16-year-old who’s looking out the city wasteland for any indicators of her mom and finest pal. The “scorching” descriptor on this sport is reserved for the demons, however Luca is trendy, with an iridescent coat, slender steel legs and two horns of her personal. Luca is bursting with teenage angst and he or she has an uneasy relationship with Rhem, the demon who’s invaded her consciousness. He’s the one factor preserving her alive, and he wants her so as to lastly return residence.
“Luca is lacking her mother and her finest pal, who each acquired misplaced when the demons escaped to destroy town,” Michet mentioned. “So she's resentful Rhem gained't let her take a while off to search out all of the folks necessary to her.”
Collectively, Luca and Rhem discover Sanzu, examine the true nature of Agradyne and seek for Luca’s family members. Ranges are affected by evil creatures to battle and puzzles to resolve, and all through the sport, Luca masters an arsenal of improvised weapons like kitchen knives, a guitar, a hockey stick and a corded pc mouse. Her whip, an influence offered by Rhem, permits her to swing throughout gaps, quickly reposition and pull in heavy objects and enemies.
Fight within the demo appeared to circulation easily; it was heavy on visible prospers, leaping airborne assaults and satisfying slashing strikes, with Luca bounding seamlessly throughout flooring, partitions and platforms. A couple of frames of line-drawn placeholder artwork flashed throughout the display screen at one level, however these had been the one indication that Possessor(s) isn’t really full but. It’s resulting from hit PC and PS5 this yr.
“The unique premise was one thing extra like Smash Bros., the place you are able to do directional inputs and sort of construct out your loadout to really feel extra like a special character,” Preston mentioned. “The place we've ended up remains to be a bit Smash Bros.-y, in that there's juggling and bouncing enemies on surfaces and issues like that. However we've discovered the spirit of Luca and her character, and what she needs to do.”
Possessor(s) is eye-catching and combat-focused, and it additionally has a story that’s supremely related for our occasions. Boiled down, the premise is that capitalistic megacorporations with an iron grip on society are unhealthy, and younger folks combating the system are rad. Interdimensional beings with chiseled pecs and a devastating smoking behavior are the new twist that makes the story uniquely Coronary heart Machine’s.
“I imply, it sucks to reside in a hierarchical company society the place your worth is decided by your worth to the enterprise,” Michet mentioned. “And Luca will uncover this from her teenager perspective.”
The story in Possessor(s) is branching, with a number of paths to comply with and a quarantined metropolis of characters to fulfill. It is a new mechanic for Coronary heart Machine — the truth is, your complete sport consists of firsts for the studio, and Possessor(s) is purposefully totally different from its earlier video games, Hyper Gentle Drifter, Photo voltaic Ash and Hyper Gentle Breaker. Hyper Gentle Drifter'smoody, 16-bit-inspired isometric actionput Coronary heart Machine on the map even earlier than its launch in 2016. Photo voltaic Ash adopted in 2022 and it was a third-person, 3D platformer. Hyper Light Breaker hit the market this January as a third-person, on-line roguelite with stylized 3D graphics. In the meantime, Possessor(s) is a hand-drawn, 2.D side-scroller with touches of horror and visual-novel mechanics.
This development aligns with a mentality of curiosity that Preston outlined to Engadget in 2021. On the time, Coronary heart Machine had fewer than 30 builders and so they had been nonetheless constructing Photo voltaic Ash, uncertain of how the change to 3D can be acquired. Again then, Preston mentioned the next:
“Hyper Gentle was a means for me to get began, it was a means for me to be extra grounded and put collectively a crew and perceive, can I do that? Can I really make video games? And so having answered that query, then the pure subsequent step for me was one thing in 3D. Can I put one thing on the market that actually opens up the world and makes you’re feeling like you’ll be able to really escape into one thing, a creation that’s otherworldly, that you just in any other case wouldn't have the expertise of?”
Since 2021, Coronary heart Machine has endured layoffs and launched a Patreon, and right now it has 58 folks on workers. Preston stays on the studio's core, nonetheless testing new ideas.
At GDC 2025, he mentioned, “We've performed overhead stuff with Drifter again within the day, after which totally 3D was an enormous soar. I needed to do one thing sidescrolling, as a result of there's a variety of totally different, distinctive challenges there which might be enjoyable to deal with. That perspective for a way we do artwork, and mixing our 3D stuff with a 2D aircraft, there's a variety of cool alternatives there. One thing like Inside was a superb level of inspiration, seeing what a smaller crew can do with atmospheric chops. And we're fairly good on these fronts.”
Possessor(s) is because of hit PC and PS5 in 2025, revealed by Devolver Digital.
This text initially appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/possessors-is-a-game-about-hot-demons-and-other-things-170016014.html?src=rss