By At GDC 2025, I observed a presentation of one of the initial levels of Possessor(s), the upcoming title from Heart Machine. The studio typically focuses on fast-paced games but incorporates a mix of diverse elements–2016’s Hyper Light Drifter featured RPG elements, 2021’s Solar Ash was an action-platformer, and 2025’s Hyper Light Breaker is a cooperative roguelike. Possessor(s) falls into the metroidvania category or, as Heart Machine prefers to term it, a search-dash game (which, to be honest, is a much more fitting label for the genre).
In this sidescroller, Possessor(s) allows you to play as two characters: Luca, a teen girl, and Rehm, the demon that possesses her. I didn’t get to witness the events that led to their bond, but the Heart Machine team clarified that the beginning of Possessor(s) shows Luca caught in an interdimensional crisis that tears a rift in the sky and eliminates everyone she cherishes–she survives only because of the intervention of the peculiar horned figure now within her.
Rehm also provides Luca with artificial legs (I am uncertain about what happened to her original legs, but I believe the complete game will reveal that), enabling her to jump higher and survive falls from any height. Luca utilizes these new prosthetics to navigate the now-contained city, hoping to escape and uncover more regarding the crisis. The duo frequently discuss their vastly different perspectives on demons and the organization behind the chaos in town, alleviating some of the loneliness I’ve come to expect in other search-dash titles.
With Rehm’s support, Luca manages to keep her footing in a world that aims to destroy her. The battles involve confronting possessed objects and individuals in town–demons far more savage than Rehm have tainted all sorts of things in the city. I was startled when a potted plant that seemed completely innocent sprang to life as Luca walked by, and the developers noted that many demons will adopt that tactic of lurking in plain sight by pretending to be ordinary parts of the environment. When combat occurs, it feels quite similar to playing Super Smash Bros., with a focus on combos and aerial juggling. It appears to be more exciting than Hyper Light Breaker, but since I didn’t have hands-on experience with Possessor(s), I can’t say for sure either way.
Much like its genre counterparts, Luca gradually gains new abilities, which open up new possibilities in combat and allow access to previously unreachable areas of the map. While I didn’t get a chance to see this in action, it sounds like it operates similarly to how upgrades are managed in titles like Hollow Knight, Nine Sols, Super Metroid, and other similar games, featuring an open-ended, interconnected world that lets players explore in whichever direction they have access to.
Visually, Possessor(s) represents a significant shift from Hyper Light Drifter’s aesthetic—not poor in any respect, but rather distinct since every subsequent game from the studio has incorporated its