The Textorcist: The Story of Ray Bibbia is a game that blends bullet hell action with high-speed typing in a weird tale about an exorcist-for-hire working the streets of a gritty, crime-ridden city in the 1990s. And you're not sure about that admittedly odd mix of genres, maybe you should take a minute to try out the free demo that's now available on Steam and GOG.
The Steam description is amusingly bizarre, but also very concise: "Are you a fast typer? Can you read and spell Latin while you dodge bullets? THIS is the game you're looking for! Real exorcisms, English, Latin and more! Avoid making mistakes and reach the highest combo! Compete with your friends by spelling the 'perfect exorcism' and compare with their scores on online leaderboards!"
Just about everything you do in the game is typed, from mundane actions like answering the telephone (type "answer") to the lengthy exorcisms you'll have to conduct in order to banish demons from their human hosts. During the exorcism sequences, you'll also use the arrow keys to dodge the waves of bullets the victims of possession spew at you.
Being hit isn't instant death, however—instead, it knocks your bible out of your hand, and since you don't have the rituals memorized you'll have to run to pick it up before you can carry on. Other obstacles complicate the process, like copious rivers of, uhh, pea soup (you've seen The Exorcist, right?) that obscure the text you're trying to type. You can keep going if you can remember what it said, but if not you'll just have to dodge and wait while it runs off the page.
Controllers are also supported for "rhythm" gameplay if you prefer, and it makes for a somewhat more conventional bullet hell experience: Instead of typing, the shoulder buttons are used to select the appropriate letters in sequence. (Update: The post originally said that controllers couldn't be used to interact in non-combat sections of the game, but they can. There's no prompt for it, but the shoulder buttons will work for things like opening doors and talking to people, too.)
The Textorcist really nails the retro visual vibe, and what I've heard of the soundtrack, by Gost, is pretty great too. It's silly but fun, and you can't beat the price. The full game is set for release on February 14.
