Neon White has achieved the unexpected and seemingly impossible. I’m not talking about merging a first-person shooter/platformer/time trial game with a social sim visual novel. I’m talking about dethroning Elden Ring of game of the year 2022 for this extremely diehard FromSoftware fan.

It’s hard to think of another game that was so tailor-made for me. It had me searching my room for covert mind reading devices. I adore any vaporwave adjacent aesthetic, I did all the speedrun achievements and many of the time trials in Mirror’s Edge and got the platinum trophy in Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst. The voice of Steve Blum combined with the early 2000s toonami/adult swim esque story, dialogue, and character designs were tingling a deep childhood part of my 32 year old psyche. To put all those unconnected things in a blender is truly inspired and saturated my brain with dangerous levels of dopamine from the drop. Speaking of drops, the soundtrack is one of the best game soundtracks I've heard in YEARS.

This game is so good it’s making me act out of character. I’m normally not a competitive person whatsoever, but I taunted my friend to start playing the game and fight my times, which he has, and I’ve sometimes spent hours on a single level to win my top spot back.I'm recording clips of every developer medal I get and uploading them to YouTube for some reason.

I have a sickness.

Here’s the real proof that this game is something special. After about 18 hours of playtime I had a circuit trip in the middle of a session which tragically wiped my save. In 99.99% of other games, that would be a death knell, I would uninstall and move on to something else. Instead I started the game over again the very next morning (after setting up automatic rolling backups of the save so nothing like that EVER happens again) and played for six straight hours. Not only did I play for six straight hours, but I, instead of just settling for a gold or ace medal to quickly get back to where I was, got every developer medal again, before I would allow myself to go to the next level. To be clear, developer medals are not necessary for any achievement, and my clear times from my original save were still on the leaderboard so I didn’t need to do it to fight with my friend, either. I just HAD to. For me.

FEEL THE RUSH!

I just finished playing through Neon White and it's an absolutely amazing game. It perfectly encapsulates the fun of speedrunning through a game while at the same time giving you an engaging story about regret and forgiveness.

The gameplay is amazing. It's a fast-paced platform shooter where you have to blaze through small platforming challenges (usually under a minute) while killing every demon in the level. The controls are incredibly tight, and game does an amazing job when it comes to its level design. But I think the best part of the game is how, in reality, every level is more of a puzzle than it is a race. Having to kill every demon means you're no longer going on a straight line to the end of the level, but rather you're trying to figure out the optimal way to snipe the enemies while still getting to the finish line as fast as you can. Plus the fact that every weapon can be discarded to use them as movement options makes it so that you need to consider when to use them as weapons, when to use them for movement and when to save them.

Every level is tailor-made for you to finish quickly, with them having one or two shortcuts intentionally added by the developers for you to get to the end even faster. It does an amazing job incentivizing the player to try again just to beat their best time. Simply put: It feels good to go fast.

And the gameplay is not the only good part about it. The graphics are amazing with lots of style and personality, and the soundtrack fits the game perfectly. The presentation of the game is absolutely phenomenal. I especially love the card's design. It's so simple, yet so elegant and cool. I love it.

The story is great too! The main character (neon white) wakes up with amnesia, so getting to discover his past, who he is, and why he lost his memories is super fun. The characters are also a big highlight of the game, they all feel unique and real. Like yeah, they might all be psychos, but the decisions they make all fit their characters and it makes them feel alive. Every character is written really well, and it's super cool to see how they affect the story as you go along.

I will admit that sometimes, especially during the support conversations you have with the characters between missions, the writing might be a bit too much. It feels cringe but at the same time it still feels sincere so i'll let it slide this once.

In conclusion: Play this game. The gameplay is perfectly made and super fun to play through, while the presentation and story of the game are impeccably added on top of it. Even if you're not into speedrunning, you should still give it a shot. 10/10

Do not sleep on this game!

Neon White is definitely one of the best games of the year and surely one that I wasn't expecting to get me like it did. It has plenty of flaws, but it makes up for it with HUGE fun factor.

First, I need to say that what got me into this game was the soundtrack. It's just PERFECT! Not a single bad song. Songs to keep the rush going, calm songs, stylish songs and so on. If you don't get your hands on this game, at least go for the music. And this sick soundtrack matches perfectly with Neon White's sick gameplay.

Everything just flows amazingly well. You feel the rush, you want to go fast and when you accomplish it, you see yourself as this bad ass player. I'm not a guy who usually goes for record times and collectibles, but it's so fun to traverse through these VERY well-designed levels that I just went for whatever I could get, again and again. It is addictive and will keep you there.

One thing I was worried about after picking up the game was the story. But I'm happy to say that it's actually pretty fun.

I really liked the character design and voice acting, but the whacky writing and so-so jokes kept me a bit on the edge about it. But as the story proggresses, you start to figure the plot out and comprehend character motives and personality. It's not incredibly engaging, but it's interesting. Especially with characters as charismatic as Mikey, or nice the nice relationship development of White & Red's. By the end, I was satisfied with what I experienced.

But while Neon White gets a lot of things right, some of its cracks are right there, preventing it from being better than it is.

After chapter 6, there's a weird shift. The difficulty spike is HUGE and, while I did not find anything unfair, it did cut back the perfect flow and paciong built up from its very first level. Some of the new obstacles on late game levels were just a chore. There were levels that were either completely focused on shooting demons rather than quick traversal, or extremely long. That happens a lot and it sucks, because Neon White is at its best when it's fast as fuck, not trying to be a shooter.

Some other things also bothered me.

The presentation could've been better, they could've cut back the amount of useless dialogue, there are more gifts than there should be, late sidequests were a little too Celeste for me and the few boss fights in the game weren't as thrilling as I thought they could be (especially the 2nd one). And at last, but definitely not least, aiming is HORRIBLE on Switch. It works a little better when you mess around with aim assist and sensitivity, but it was the reason why I failed a lot of the more "shooter" focused levels. Don't even get me started on the Dominion card levels. If you can, play this with a mouse and keyboard.

Neon White is an EXTREMELY fun game. It may not be consistent from beginning to end, but it works a lot more than it doesn't. Do not be discouraged by its weird presentation and writing. Dive right in and I'm sure you will not want to leave.

Aright Esposito, you definitely delivered on your narrative goal. Though to be fair there is a heavy dose of anime cringe as well.

Excluding the plot, which does serve a purpose, this game is amazing and easily the most fun I had while playing a game recently. Even though I rank Elden Ring higher than this (which I think is warranted), this game is really close to taking the top spot from 2022.

What holds it back is the aforementioned writing. That isn't to say the visual novel is structurally a poor inclusion. Quite the opposite in fact. This game is non-stop gas while in a level, so those story moments are a welcomed breather. Honestly, the lack of something like this in Resident Evil or either of the recent Doom games (2016 and Eternal) necessitated me taking breaks so my heart wouldn't explode. Doom eternal has cut scenes but honestly I didn't give a shit about that plot and was grateful the cut scenes were all skippable. Still it needed something to let you catch your breath.

This is easily one of the most unique and well designed games I have ever played. The level design is perfection. Thought, love and methodical play testing clearly went into all 100 levels. The devs encourage you to break each level to shave off just a little more from your time and at the same time the level is usually designed in a way to help you break the intended sequence. It's fast fun, replayable and challenging. Despite not liking the writing, I still found myself 100% completing every level and collecting all the collectibles to give to the various NPCs.

Giving gifts, while bare bones, does unlock some additional fun challenges which are honestly among the most challenging. Particularly Violets last few did get borderline frustrating for me, though it was all the more cathartic when beating it.

A few things that make this game feel so good to play: 1.) The controls, while early source/unreal engine robotic in feel, are responsive and precise. You never feel like you are out of control. Sure it doesn't make sense why you have so much mobility in midair, but this is a video game and game play is king. 2.) Level design. Enough said. 3.) Weapon variety and utility is great. The pacing in which they give you new weapons feels great and keeps levels feeling fresh. In addition, even the first weapon you get still has utility up to the final level, thus everything feels useful. 4.) This might seem like a small thing, but I love how user friendly this game is in terms of picking it up and stopping. Most levels will last 30s and the game autosaves so if you only have 5 minutes before you need somewhere to go, this game can accommodate (to be fair you may have attention span issues if you feel the need to fill 5 minutes).

In conclusion, this game rocks. It makes you feel like a 1337 speedrunner and is a ton of fun to play. Sure the writing is edge lord anime cringe, but the visual novel does give a welcomed respite to the high octane game play.

Ok. Let's get the biggest thing out of the way first. One thing I see so many people rag on is the writing. I totally understand that sentiment. Especially when the demo came out a few months ago and the whole demo was filled with memes, references, those kinds of anime tropes, etc. As expected from Ben Esposito. After beating the game and 100%ing it, I'd say that the general writing of Neon White is hit-and-miss, mostly miss. The start is insanely grating, but Neon White gets more bearable as it goes on. Not to the point where I say it's great, but tolerable. More cutscenes have a serious tone to them so now it is less obnoxious. The two main female characters are made to oogle at the basic ass white bread White but the game gets a bit less horny overtime as less of those moments appear throughout(it is rated T after all, not M). You still have a lot of your references, dialogue you'd see in a Twitter/Reddit thread, all that junk, but admittedly, only a very few bits landed for me(Idiot Island). Outside of a lot of the dialogue, my biggest issue with the writing is how much the visual novel dating sim-ish aspect clashes with the narrative. It negates so much emotional tension between characters that it's kind of hard to take them seriously. The main villain, Neon Green, for example. He is posed as such a threat throughout the main story, but after one major story beat, I used these heavenly reward tickets and had an an interaction with him that is supposed to be taken as a comedy bit which deflates all tension between White and Green. White is supposed to be absolutely infuriated at Green in the main story, but he's moreso somewhat pissed at him in the dating sim dialogue. Another example much later on, Violet backstabs White for a moment just to be revered by Green, but when you go to the relationship side of the game, she's all friendly and shit. When you talk to her after the story beat, her dialogue is treated as playful banter. When you bond with her in these Persona-like social link scenes, White and Purple act like they're still friends.The dating sim moments don't line up with the current relationships and it creates such a jarring dissonance that it hurts the writing even more than the dialogue. The relationship side of the game didn't need to exist. Someone could argue that the whiplash in tone is part of the joke, but I felt deflated when those moments happened. The main narrative had it written into a corner and it shows. I get why people detest the writing and I'm somewhat on that boat, but hey. It could've been worse. At least it's not as atrocious as Borderlands 3's writing in the main campaign.

Where I would grade the writing a D+ to C-, I would grade the main gameplay of Neon White an A. It is so much fun. I put aside Steam Next Fest because I was binging so much of my time getting everything. I got every ace medal in the game, I got every gift, every memory, everything in the main game. The game is an FPS speedrunning game. The gimmick here is that your weapons are cards used for either shooting or platforming. This gives some quick decision making for the player. Using a card for platforming gets rid of the card and the wepon altogether, but what if you needed a gun for an enemy since you need to kill every demon before finishing a level? Neon White squeezes so much out of its mechanics. It never throws anything away. It and the general feel of playing the game (which is all fantastic save for the floaty falling) makes for such a compelling game to improve your time. While I didn't want the dating sim aspect to be in the game at all, I did really like getting the gifts in the game. They're hidden collectibles, but they are like puzzles with how to get to them, what cards to use. I found finding them to be gratifying as I found smarter ways to use the cards. Especially the rocket launcher. That weapon is so flexible and my favorite thing about the game aside from the one card that I will not spoil.

I like Neon White more than I dislike it. I think the gameplay here outweighs the writing and it'a got a banging breakcore soundtrack from Machine Girl and a nice art direction to boot up.

Edit: The game is bogged down on further thought for the true ending being locked behind the choice to forgive your abuser. If we saw how Green gets better, it wouldn't be as bad, but there is such a lack of development that it isn't earned, making the true ending feel gross and leaving such a sour taste. Just what the fuck? That's fucking disgusting and can be dangerous.

6.5/10

Neon White is an intensely rewarding game that prioritizes just the right mix of reflex action and thoughtful routing in some of the most fun levels I've played in recent memory.

Speaking of memory, the player takes the role of Neon White, an assassin from another life given a second chance in Heaven to slay demons at breakneck speeds. Across 12 or so episodes the player will zoom through the halcyon skies of Heaven, meet old friends (and enemies) and can both reach a level's goal (slay all demons first!) or get a special gift to give to said friends.

The game is a mix of first person shooting and platforming, with a unique twist: each weapon is a finite card that can be discarded to grant a movement ability. Dashing, double jumping, ziplining through the air, and other abilities can be combined with careful shooting to get around levels in a pinch. Enemies are mostly speedbumps (that can kill you if you're not careful!) but interacting with them can also help the player get around. After beating the level, the player can be rewarded with up to four different difficulty tiers of medal based on time (with a secret fifth medal based on developer times) as well as unlockable access to global leaderboards and hints to find special shortcuts to get even better times. Even with the fastest reflexes around the player will have to explore a bit and find the route that works best for them, as they'll eventually need to gain enough skill to grab the highest medals for a fair number of levels in order to beat the game.

That's no problem, however, as the game is INCREDIBLY rewarding and addicting, especially with friends on the local leaderboard. The game is also meticulously and gorgeously detailed with bright and sky blue visuals - crystal clear water marks where the player can go fast, destructible doors have a distinct tinge of bright red to spot in the middle of a rush, and enemies are distinct shadowy baddies with unique behaviors and drops. The music is the real star of this show, with electronic, drum & bass, breakcore, and other tracks scientifically designed to put the player in a perfect flow state. It's easily some of the best video game music I've ever heard.

The story is cheeky and comedic despite the gravity of its plot, but while its writing has a bit of a reputation I found it remarkably funny and endearing. It manages to find just the right amount of heart and quip to keep the deadly struggle of life and death from getting too serious.

Neon White is an amazing game - one that rewards exploration, skill, but doesn't sacrifice the amount of wild fun and style it exudes in that process. You'll need that fun to shave off that extra half second to beat your friends!