The developer’s heart machine is busy.
After the launch of Hyper Light Breaker, the successor to Hyper Light Drifter, they also work hard at Possessor (S), known as the “fast-paced action-side scrawler.” In reality, it’s a hybrid between titles like old school Side Skler, Metroidvania, and yes, Souls.
There’s no shortage of games like Souls in the indie world. If you have a dollar like all the souls that exist, you can buy Elden Ring: Nintendo Switch 2 Discoloration Edition.
It’s a popular genre for a reason. The game is well-made, challenging and successful. From Hollow Knight to Nine Sols and everything in between, owners enter busy spaces.
Thankfully, the Heart Machine has a pedigree that can pull it off. After spending about an hour in the game, there are many promises here. It all depends on whether they can chase and stand out from their peers.
Dealing with the Devil
The owner starts out in a rather scary way. You play as Luka, a girl living in the enormity of mass destruction. Luka is familiar with this fear as he loses both legs and is in the process of bleeding.
The game begins with craving towards a demon named Les who wants to make a deal to her. There’s no choice, so it’s time to make a deal with the devil.
We then become our own demons and become owned by Rehm. I think we’re stuck with this guy, so it’s better to do what he says. Reminiscing both Luka and Reme’s memories gives hints to the backstory of both characters. Here are some key moments that will help you flesh out the characters. Sadly, given the demonstration lasted about 30-40 minutes, they were fairly limited in their range.
The gameplay is very familiar
If you’ve played something like Souls in Indie Metroidvania before, the owner is like riding a bike.
Gameplay consists of exploring a world like a 2D Labyrinth. Picking up upgrades such as grappling hooks and parry gives you access to new areas where you can progress and complete tasks. The platform has felt a bit of a bare bone so far, but there’s a great mix of platforms along with combat that helps keep things fresh.
Exploration feels physically and natural. There’s no need to search for secret sentences that you might have missed at first glance. Plus, backtracking was never an issue. In one case, I had to pick up an upgrade and dive deep into the basement to unlock the door.
Thankfully, I was waiting for the elevator to bring me back to the aforementioned door. It’s always great when these games respect my time. Because there’s nothing more frustrating than continuing to move forward for five to ten minutes of the game.
I was able to experience one boss fight and it was delivered. It was a fast, desperate battle that tested my reflexes and abilities without being overly difficult. It’s still a challenge, but if you understand the core mechanics at work here, you won’t die a few times.
I was happy to see attempts to make the fight into cheese, such as repeatedly avoiding it, not overly effective. I look forward to how other boss fights can work together.
Gorgeous look game
From the start, the owners don’t try to hide their sense of style. The graphics are bright, lively and smooth, but also convey a sense of darkness and despair. It matches well with the game’s calm soundtrack.
Given the harsh nature of the game’s story, the presentation is perfectly combined with the story. We are trying to recover from a horrific accident and revealing the mystery of the city we thought we were familiar with. There are lots of nice touches here.
The dark and boring environment in the Megacorp basement makes you feel like you’re exploring a place you shouldn’t be. A dark street illuminated by streetlights in the rain. It’s all incredibly ambience and does a great job of highlighting the mood we should be feeling.
The owner has a clear sense of wonder that encourages me to explore and advance, but the story and characters need to maintain the end of the bargain. After playing the demo several times, it’s easily my biggest concern.
Writing is not very optimistic about me now
Unlike Hyperlight Drifter, there is a big emphasis on the owner’s story. The constant dialogue between Luka and Les is the main focus of the game, with Luka slowly coming down to the naive side and Less ready to show how Luka works.
Naturally, Luka isn’t too pleased with Les possessing her body. Against the background to more serious story elements, the altercation between Luka and Les was front and center during the demonstration. The question here is not necessarily the front and back, but how it was drawn. The writing felt like a boy and was humiliated that I had never heard of since high school was thrown in. Perhaps speaking like this would fit within Luka’s character, but it feels incredibly uncomfortable.
I can already say that there are some intense blows, emotional moments waiting for me at the owner. As a result, the quality of writing must meet those moments. So far, I’m not exactly sure that it is.
Upgrade! Get the upgrade here!
Although I had no chance to fully explore the ability upgrades and introduce affixes to weapons, I got a bite-sized taste for how the system works.
Every time you kill an enemy, you get Chroma. It is the main currency of the game. Well, think of it as similar to the soul. When you die, you lose all the chroma, but when you return to the scene of your final mise without you dying, you can get them all back. Does it sound familiar? You can also save it if you are at risk somewhere.
Chroma can be upgraded to make Luca stronger, along with other options available. In Metroidvania fashion, there are also many abilities to wait for discovery as you explore the world. This includes important abilities such as grapple hooks and parasitics, as well as affixes to go to weapons. This balances the soul-like design and Metroidvania design that helps to tie things together.
It is clear that Heart Machines are inspired by both genres, from the “bonfires” that exist in the game. I look forward to how deep these systems can become. If the heart machine can pull it off well, we do business.
I think it could be another great indie title for Heart Machine, but you’ll need to follow and run it. My time in the game up until now has been limited, but there is a lot to enjoy, especially the game’s combat and Metroidvania style exploration.
However, you must follow the text. As it stands, you’ll be shaking the immersion that the game creates and prefers to skip the dialogue and go back to action. I hope that as I dig deeper into the world of ownership, I will continue to like what I see.
