Crawling With The Best Of Them
The dungeon crawling in Possessed is very well put together. It was easily one of the best entries I've played in a fairly saturated genere in ZZT. The basic rules for the game are tried and true. Every single gameplay board is a dark room, requiring players to scrounge around for torches in order to be able to make any real progress as well as gaining the usual benefit of ensuring players have to divert their focus to be prepared to light their next torch, ideally not while surrounded by enemies. Your weapon is sometimes described as a bomb fruit, attempting to transform a gun into something more original to the subterranean world, though in a few instances it is just outright called a gun. So shooting obviously is your method of attack. There is no melee, which I don't mind so much, though the number of seemingly useful sword and maces found near fallen warriors does make me wish they could have been picked up. These weapons are instead used by the games' enemies, who up until the last level only attack in close range.
Jojo is clearly aware of the basic formula and implements these concepts without issue. It's clear though that he aspires to do more than just the expected, and that effort really uplifts the game. The levels in Possessed are more open than usual. Narrow corridors are the exception rather than the norm. These dungeons are also spread out across several boards. Levels in turn feel less confined and have multiple routes through them. In darkness, it could be easy to lose one's bearings, but jojo eases players into the format. Rooms include distinct features that work as landmarks for navigation. It's a lot easier to remember there was a door you couldn't access in the room with a big pool of water in the center than in "Dungeon 1 - Southwest". The first level takes this even further by including signs in every room, assigning them names like "Plant room", "Pool Room", or "Altar Room".
Though I will complain that I'd much rather the signs at the doorways said what was on the other side of the passage rather than the name of the current room. Trying to find your way back to the Pool Room means hoping you're remembering correctly which passage you're looking for.
The pace of the game is fairly fast. Having to rely on torches discourages players from moving too carefully as there's always the danger of running out entirely and effectively being forced to reload. Many boards feature obstructions that need to be worked around in some way. In some cases this is as simple as a series of locks to a central room that requires Arkin to hit switches scattered around the screen. Other instances take a more widespread approach. The first level titled "Dials and Doors" revolves around a central room with a mechanism that can be rotated to four different positions. Gates around the level obstruct passages to certain rooms which each require a different dial position to open.
This makes for a good amount of backtracking, a pet peeve of mine that jojo addresses wonderfully. On occassion, additional enemies will spawn into rooms that were previously clear. It's not utilized as often as I'd like it to have been, but it's a step up from Cherry Pie where a similar technique was used once early on, got immense praise from me, and then let me down by never trying anything like that again.
Perhaps the finest instance of this is in the "plant room" where a gigantic flower windss around the room forming a spiral path for players to take. At the end of the path is a barrier that requires the dial be positioned to allow entrance into the flower itself.
First of all, jojo extends an incredibly courtesy to players here. It's possible to see the gate blocking the passage by moving towards it from the entrance rather than make them commit to exploring a room that they know they'll have to return to again. It warms my heart to see the player getting a little respect for their time.
The path has its share of enemies to fight, and so when you do travel to the flower and collect a sharp thorn which will serve as a dagger for the possession ritual (it's also fantastic to see some more creative items like this) the expectation is that you'll have to dully trudge back around the flower's stem to the plant room's exit.
Not so! As suddenly the smaller thorns on the vine spring to life and begin to attack. Most impressive of all, this doesn't happen immediately, only after Arkin passes a specific object a little ways down. This lulls players into a false sense of security as well as allows the attack to be more threatening as a number of thorns are now approaching from behind as well.
It's a great moment, and probably the moment where I realized that Possessed was going to be one to remember.
There's some good variety in terms of enemies fought, although their behaviors are all very similar. One enemy will "Move randomly, move randomly, seek the player." The next will "Move randomly, seek the player, move randomly". A few toss in "move randomly perpendicular to the player", but unless you're really studying their movements over a long period of time, it's hard to tell one from another. While this is one of the game's few faults, everything else about the combat is very well done. Enemies vary in how much damage they deal to players, movement speed, and how many shots they take to bring down, so even if they move similiarly, some enemies are considerably more dangerous than others.
Combat ends up being one of the better parts of the game however thanks to some really helpful staggering code when enemies are shot. The way it works is that on being hit enemies will stagger backwards a few steps and only then call #ZAP SHOT to actually confirm the damage dealt. This prevents players from holding down the fire button to stun-lock most foes, while still allowing them to maintain a steady rhythm which let you chain successive hits. As most enemies aren't operating at max speed, players can pretty consistently take out a foe without wasting ammunition provided that they aren't counter-attacked by another nearby enemy in the process.
Some of the stronger enemies will sidestep away from the player at the end of their staggering as well, in theory being able to disrupt your rhythm, but in practice only making it require more finesse since objects are so quick to re-align with players in their main loops. A little extra patience allows you to maintain your timing. This staggering along with minor variances between enemies makes it really easy to get lost in the combat. You are keeping an eye on how long your torch is going to last during all this right?
A committed player can get through a surprising number of enemies unscathed, but doing so requires more than holding shift and a direction until everything is dead. Possessed's combat is some of the best I've seen for a world of its era.
All of this is paired with some equally solid level design. Gone are the cramped corridors of Deep December or Psyche, with jojoisjo favoring larger rooms with more open spaces. Spaces like these not only allow enmies to attack from all sides, but you can never be too sure if you're actually safe or another enemy is about to finally enter your field of vision.
The third level, the dwarven mines, also takes things in a unique direction. Jojoisjo throws a few ideas at the wall, and I'd say two of the three stick. The one dud are these sort of trap doors where in theory the player can lure enemies inside and then slam the door on them to keep them from reaching the player. The idea is a sensible one as this level as both the dwarves that can't be harmed who end the game if they catch you and new enemies that throw stars when shot or defeated. This gives the player a chance to make a screen easier without having to kill anything. However, trying to lure an enemy in leaves players way too vulnerable to other enemies making it not worth the effort.
What does work, are the tracks and the stalagmites.
The tracks manage to make the make the level much more maze-like without looking like a maze. Boards are broken up into different sections with minecart tracks running between them, bordered by line walls that prevent players from crossing where they please. Instead, you need to find where sets of tracks begin and end and follow them, which allows you to reach areas in rooms that previous couldn't be. This is well implemented with situations where you'll need to enter a room from several different angles to be able to access everything contained within. A switch on one board even toggles between two sets of tracks adding to the complexity of navigating successfully. With the unkillable enemies here, mistakes in trying to reach a specific area can be deadly, to say nothing of the amount of torchlight that can be wasted by walking to a dead end.
There is potential for the tracks to go awry. A scroll warns players that if some enemies wander onto them, that they're pretty much out of luck. Enemies are positioned in a way that this is unlikey to actually happen, and when it does, it will most likely be within the player's sight where you can hopefully get them to move back out. It's a risk that could have been solved easily enough with pairs of transporters at each tracks endpoints.
Then there's the stalagmites, which are a strange way to create additional barriers. Throughout the level there are some spots that are blocked off by piles of rock. These stalagmites trigger earthquakes when shot which open up paths previously closed, including on boards other than the current one, requiring players to hunt down which path actually opened. (And for the curious, yes, the stalagmites all correctly point up.)
The more labyrinthine nature of this last level works really nicely with the guarantee that no board is ever completely safe. Jojoisjo really did an admirable job finding ways to create more twisty layouts with his levels without running the risk of players getting bored trying to find an exit with the only real cost being time.
And the last thing to bring up with regards to gameplay is jojo's smart handling of supplies for the player. The difficult of a dungeon crawler, especially a dark one, has a lot to do with how well stocked the player is at any given time. Drop one hundred torches in the player's lap, and they won't think twice about spending time exploring. Jojoisjo manages to strike a delicate balance with supplies. Everything is provided in large enough quantities that balances player comfort while maintaining a challenge. You'll never really have excessive amounts of any resources, but you won't really be starved of anything either. Pickups show up just when you need them. Don't play carelessly and you'll be fine.
He also isn't afraid to let something dip from time to time. There were moments in this game where I was running around with single digit health, single digit ammo, and single digit torches, but importantly never more than one at a time. Players can expect to be longing for some item to show up, while still being confident that it's going to. This is extra impressive given the more sprawling level layouts. The numbers just feel very right with this one.
I think the key here is that pickups aren't grabbing a single torch off a wall or finding a few bullets on the ground. Instead you get bags of items scattered as necessary. These almost never provide just one kind of item, with Possessed favoring the idea of getting a lot of one resource and a tiny amount of the rest. If you're really low on torches, grabbing a satchel with food for a sizable amount health and a few torches will keep you going even when it's not your top priority. More often than not, the tiny infusions of ammo and torches keep the game running smoothly. When you get low on ammo, you can safely play more conservatively with what you have, trying to avoid enemies by running around them in larger areas or luring them to a narrow spot where you can more confidently land the first attack and use the staggering system to defeat them without wasting a single shot.
The Ritual
The dungeon design would certainly be enough to make Possessed one of ZZT's better dungeon crawls. The whole "possessor" thing however, makes it that much more original of a game.
Each level ends with an entrance to a deeper part of the caverns blocked off by an NPC who cannot be fought. Just as the book says, nobody likes a possessor, and you'll be yelled at by orcs, dwarves, or whoever for wanting to enter their territory. In order to get past them, Arkin has to perform the posession ritual and take the form of a member of that guardian's tribe so that they'll be allowed to pass.
In order to metamorph to a new identity, Arkin needs to find a handful of materials scattered on each level. This amounts to little more than collecting "five purple keys" but the items are much less abstract, fitting naturally into the world jojoisjo designed. What might be an everyday key hunt is instead transformed into a novel part of the game experience. Players get to scour each screen searching for a candle, magic powder, oil, a dagger, ...and a victim.
This is when it becomes clear that despite their adorably dorky appearances, there may be a reason why possessors are hated. This ritual does require a sacrifice, taking the life of another to transform the self.
It's kind of metal. Surprisingly jojo doesn't lean into the darker aspects of the process. That's not to say you won't get to read about stabbing an injured orc that's bleeding out on an altar, just that Arkin does so entirely devoid of emotion. There's never the slighest hint as to how Arkin feels about the process, whether it's seen as something to be used only in the most desperate situations, or if the posessors regularly do this as a normal part of their lives.
It's hard to say how comfortable jojo is with it, even as the game's author. Going through the game you'll notice that all of Arkin's sacrifices are already on the verge of death. An orc defeated in battle, a prisoner of the trolls wasting away, even the one time when pity might not enter the equation; a commander of Ganin's forces whose handprint is the key to opening a magically locked door, jojo still makes sure that the captain was injured by dwarves trying to fight against Ganin. You'll never have to ice somebody who was having a good day beforehand. It's a mercy killing. I swear.
As a game mechanic, it's extremely cool. Possesor will forever be "that game where you take the form of your enemies to gain their trust" to me. It's one of the more memorable experiences and with so little to complain about with regards to the dungeon crawling, it's no wonder it immediately became a new favorite.
Though I can't help but wish jojo had gone a little further with the posession mechanic. It really doesn't amount to anything more than a key system. It gives you reasons to visit every board instead of hoping to make a beeline for the exit. It makes it easier to forget if you have everything, which in later levels can lead to harrowing moments where you've got a dagger in hand only to realize you never found the oil and have to return to exploration mode in search of what you missed. That's something you don't get when you're ferrying keys one at a time.
But each form change amounts to little more than a disguise, and has no impact on your abilities when it comes to dungeoneering. Regardless of form, you shoot enemies with your bomb fruit/gun and are just as strong in your native form as you are when you're an orc. I'd have loved if each chapter tried its hand at tweaking the combat based on your current form. You could have troll-Arkin bash things at close range instead of shooting. Maybe you could take on a form that makes you move faster (by making the enemies move more slowly), but caps your health at a low number so that you real feel any hits you take.
The mechanics of this game feel like they haven't been fully taken advantage of, which is a real shame when the gimmick here has so much potential. Possession certainly plays a major role in the game's story, and the search for components to perform the ritual mean it's present in gameplay, but I think some shakeups to how the game plays could make it one of the best instead of safely "quite good".
Secrets And Bonuses
Jojoisjo lets himself have a little fun with the game by adding in a secret room mechanic. On a few boards, touching certain walls will cause them to crumble, revealing a secret passage to a new screen.
There are four of them throughout the game, two in the first level, and one in the next two. I only managed to find one of them, and can't imagine anyone finding the others without far too much dedication for what the secret rooms entail.
Even the one that I found was specifically because a prisoner said to check the walls of their cell. The others require paying very close attention to the details of a given room and noticing when a certain kind of tile appears just once. That's a big ask when the entire game takes place in the dark.
Jojo uses a single board to hold all four secrets, relying on darkness to cover up the fact that they all share a board, but in the darkness you can see the passages to return to normal gameplay, making it apparent exactly how many secrets there are to find as long as you can discover that first one.
In one secret players get to watch cows dance to the tuba. In another, an annoying guy (that's the object's name) makes fun of Arkin's current form, resulting in Arkin smacking him. You get some ammo out of it at least. One has a man tormenting another with a worm, and the last nets you 100 health from a man named Bob who claims to also be Elvis.
It's all just jojo getting silly with it, and a fifty percent chance your secret actually nets you a reward. Enjoy them if you manage to find them, and take solace that the ones that do give rewards are the two I'd say are most likely to be found if you're looking. The extra supplies are helpful, yet not game breaking amounts.
There's also a secret game mode accessible via a cheat that's given to players during the game's credits. Enter ?+LGAME at cheat prompt at the start of a new game along with a series of inputs (down, up, down) that when performed will activate "Super Mode", giving the player 9,999 of everything for a chill second playthrough. It's probably not going to be all that useful as fighting your way through the dungeons is 95% of the game's appeal which the cheat doing away with the game's difficulty after players have already shown themselves capable of beating it.
There is one more amusing secret though. When players first begin the game, the room Arkin starts in has some initial equipment to get the game going, as well as as a jojoisjo cameo just sitting in the corner. Yep. Sitting there, barely-breathing. He's in rough shape. ...Just like all of Arkin's other sacrifices.
I didn't put two and two together at first, only understanding why jojo would be there on a second game after checking to see what Super Mode would entail. Props to jojo for including himself in the game in the wildest way possible. He is indeed an alternate sacrifice for the game's first level should players think to head back to the very beginning of the level rather than its exit.
Taking his form provides Arkin with a feeling that he should investigate a corpse near a pool on this level, and it's the only change made when you possess jojo. If you're him, the body will reveal a hidden passage to a different secret room than the four with the shared board.
It's a cameo board for the members of Lame Game!
It's been awhile since I've run into one of these. This one is kind of cute. The people are portrayed comically but not in a mean-spirited way. It also tries to give players a little more to do than just talk to people and get a one liner. There's a little puzzle of sorts here to solve. It's really just a one-board fetch quest with stools and twinkies and crowbars and all kinds of things being used on one ZZTer in exchange for a new item that helps the next. (A lot like the school kids of After Pain Talks now that I think about it.) At the end of it all is freeing gerbil (the ZZTer) from a cage and getting 100 health and ammo as a reward. Still not enough to break the game, but enough to make things a bit easier for those who had the thought of possessing jojo instead.
You're free to leave whenever, and there's a set of possession ritual supplies in the room up for grabs that allow you to resume the normal path through the game.
