The owner is a dark silver war zone with a very hot demon that I'm already obsessed with

Before participating Summer Competition FestivalI have hardly heard of Heart Machine's upcoming title Owner. Admittedly, this may be because I was a little obsolete. Because I'm very big Ultra-light driftera new version of the studio –Sun gray and Super fault– Not the way I capture me like Drifter's lush world of lovers. In my opinion, the heart machines are building their legacy parts and I find emphasis on fast, smooth traversals and breadth in exploration rather than depth. Don't get me wrong – I like Neither the sun ash nor the super bulbs fascinated me – their trajectory left me unsure if there would be a new heart machine title. Fortunately, the brush with the owner proved me Very Wrong.

Billed as a search game – a more independent term to describe the type of Metroidvania type – Possessor(S) marks a transition to the second dimension of the heart machine and combines fast-paced, side-straight action (la Metroid) and dark soul-inspired mechanics to create tense, cruel adventure games that lead to continuous exploration. Although the studio has previously carried more abstract stories and characters that are not particularly humanoid in appearance, The Owner also seems to mark a hub for a more traditional storytelling version with hand-painted, shocking characters that make the plot beats and dialogue similar to the accompanying character art, similar to Haves.

So far, this description contains a lot of Comparisons to some incredible games, so I want to emphasize that, despite this, in the part I played, I didn't find the owner too derivative. While it draws inspiration from some of my favorite titles, I don't think I've seen anything that could reshape or perfect its genre, urban horror environment, glossy artistic direction, overall tone and budding narrative that is both a clear heart machine and a new direction for the studio.

The owner's appearance uncovers a world replaced by a sized dance demon, the protagonist Luca watches one of her relatives be torn apart by a demon while a pile of pieces are torn apart by a demon. Eventually, she was able to move it out from under it, only to find that her legs had been cut off from her body. After a moment of crawling and shouting, she discovered that it was in shape a tall, dark, handsome man named Rhem, who also happens to be one of the demons that terrorize humanity. Rhem told Luca that he could also grab her new legs and save her life as long as she reached a deal with him, which would also help save his life. She reluctantly agreed that the two formed a unique bond that connected their souls to Luca's body.

As both progressed, Rhem hints that Luca did not understand the motivations or real purposes of global companies related to household appliances and created better lives for its customers. This ultimately uncovers a mystery for Luca, making all the evil, lifeless object enemies of the game more meaningful and creating a way forward for her and Rhem's coexistence. Although not completely novel – science fiction and corrupt companies tend to work together – it remains an interesting premise, with its shocking tendencies, fantastic character art and the overall atmosphere of the sprawling city I explored.

But, most importantly, the owner’s gameplay feels great. It's smooth, fun, pleasingly difficult, and according to the map sections I've seen it seems to provide a mature world for the large world I've explored. While some Metroidvanias (or search sex games) leave room for hacker slash-style gameplay, owners need a dexterity and intent to reflect the team’s desire to incorporate soul-like elements into it. It also includes a “bonfire” and a reset once resting world, further emphasizing this impact.

The owner has impressed me with a commitment to a complex narrative that allows you to browse multiple avenues and encounter various characters with your own “heartbreaking” story, and it quickly became one of my most anticipated versions of 2025.