What HyperParasite is
HyperParasite is a top-down twin-stick shooter and brawler set in a grimy, procedurally generated city that looks and sounds like the 1980s. You play the Parasite, an alien dragging its tentacles through the streets, snatching human bodies one after another. Each host you take over has its own attack and smack-down move, and there are over 60 characters to collect and control. When a host dies you can drop the body and snatch another, so the run keeps shifting depending on who you're wearing at the time.
The run is split into 5 Acts, and because the layout is generated each time, the streets, corners and secrets differ from run to run. The game is built around permadeath: one shot on the bare Parasite ends the run, unless you've picked up upgrades along the way. Bosses hit hard, and the shadows hide secrets worth exploring inside the roguelite map system.
Playing it together
HyperParasite supports two-player local co-op, so a second player joins in and you split the carnage between you. The same body-snatching loop applies to both of you, so each player can grab their own host and swap bodies as the fight demands. Steam's Remote Play Together is listed as a feature, which lets a friend join from their own machine.
Before you start
Expect a tough game: permadeath means a single hit on the unpossessed Parasite ends things, and the bosses punish sloppy play. Money matters between runs — you take a boss's brain back to Wito, the shopkeeper, who stores it in his machinery and unlocks that character for later games. Collected hosts also get a storage unit, so characters you've already unlocked can come back in subsequent runs. The soundtrack is an original synthwave score by Van Reeves and Joe Kataldo, which sets the pace for the whole thing.