The Textorcist: The Story of Ray Bibbia

Lore & Background

The game's main character is Ray Bibbia, a 'salty' ex-priest living in Rome who takes house calls to exorcise demons. The story begins when Ray receives a call about a vomiting possessed girl. After successfully exorcising her, he brings her to his house after the girl's master refuses to pay for his services or take care of her; the girl is later revealed to be named Magda. Ray discovers that the Holy Church still facilitates slavery, and he attempts to find Magda's friend to help her, though he is distressed upon seeing a picture of Magda with her friend. After crashing a metal vegan band concert and a strip club for information, Ray uses his computer to follow up on a clue about a Holy Church covenant. Investigating the covenant, he finds evidence of their involvement in trading slaves, blood, human bones, and medieval weapons. The Nun, who had been passing off evidence as circumstantial, attacks Ray but is exorcised. Ray enters a secret dungeon to find the girl he has been looking for, who is revealed to be her father. When they try to escape, one of the Holy Church's Lieutenants, now a Demon, defeats Ray and takes the girl to the Vatican. Enoch, the singer from the metal vegan band, saves the unconscious Ray, who realizes he is not powerful enough. Urged by Magda, Ray seeks out his old master for further training. His master, a Hermit in Naples, is revealed to have made a deal with demons and become a demon himself, stating that only a demon can destroy a demon, while Ray has only been exorcising them.

Reader's Guide

The Textorcist received an aggregate score of 78/100 from Metacritic. Holly Green of Paste Magazine compared the game to Mavis Beacon, calling it 'a nice change of pace' as it challenged her despite her typing skill due to its difficulty and emphasis on precision. She called the game's mix of genres 'inventive', and the plot and setting 'deliciously sacrilegious'. Luca Forte of Eurogamer Italia rated the game 8/10, calling it a tribute to Italy, as well as 'ironic' and 'irreverent'. He stated that the game's music is 'extremely catchy' and called the humor a 'godsend' for Italians, but noted the game was 'niche' due to its difficulty and gameplay. Simone Tagliaferri of Multiplayer.it rated the game 7.8/10, comparing it to a mix of bullet hell, JRPG and Typing of the Dead, and calling the story 'intriguing' despite being 'decidedly surreal'. He praised the game's pixel art and originality, but stated that the game was 'frustrating' if the player could not type blindly with one hand. The game's holy invocations are displayed as text on screen that the player must type while dodging projectiles such as vomit and energy beams. If the player is hit, they drop their Bible and take damage to their health.

Did You Know?

• The game was developed by Italian studio Morbidware and published by Headup Games.
• The main character, Ray Bibbia, is a 'salty' ex-priest and freelance exorcist living in Rome.
• The game combines bullet hell mechanics with typing gameplay, requiring players to dodge projectiles while typing invocations.
• The story involves the Holy Church facilitating slavery and a demon revealing that only a demon can destroy a demon.