Bullet hell shooter Soulers free demo lets you slow down time to turn the tide of battle in your favor 

South Korean developer Drabit Studios has released a free demo of its top-down, bullet hell shooter Soulers. The demo is available on both PC and MacOS via Steam in English and offers around 40 minutes of gameplay. The full game is due to be released later this year. 

The key features that set Soulers apart from the many other bullet hell shooters out there (like Cave’s DoDonPachi series) are the main character’s ability to slow down time and the team-building gameplay system. You play as Machina, the female captain of a Union vessel. Using her time-slowing ability allows you to dodge enemy attacks, return incoming missiles to their senders and hopefully turn the tide of battle in your favor. Of course, you can only use this Matrix-style ability in short bursts, so it’s important to deploy it strategically. 

In this game, you must also recruit other Soulers (tough girls with their own special abilities) to your team and build up a crew that suits your combat style. During battle, it is very important to use your supporting team members wisely. At the start of each stage, you can select 3 Soulers who will support Machina. The type of support each Souler can provide varies widely- such as fighting alongside you for a limited time or launching a big attack from the position they are summoned to. In the full game, you will also be able to add defeated bosses to your roster, increasing the strategic possibilities even further. 

The free demo of Soulers gives you 4 stages, 3 weapon types and 7 team members. You can also get a feel for the game’s customization and upgrading system, which allows you to strengthen your characters and weapons in between stages.  

Soulers has been in development for over 2 and a half years, with the developers refining the bullet hell shooter based on feedback from events where it was exhibited. Further tweaks to the game will be carried out based on players’ responses to the demo. 

Soulers is coming to PC and MacOS (Steam) later this year. A free demo is currently available on the Steam page. 

Based on the original Japanese article by Daijiro Akiyama (original article’s publication date: 2025-01-06 16:43 JST)