Neon White

Genre: First-Person Shooter / Platformer

Players: 1, Online Leaderboards

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Review:

Neon White, released on PC and Nintendo Switch in 2022, is a First-Person Shooter with a strong emphasis on platforming. Players take the role of an amnesiac man who is told that he’s dead and condemned to hell, but can earn his way into heaven by winning a demon-slaying competition in heaven. This demon-slaying is accomplished using magical cards that behave like earthly weapons.

It’s an odd concept, to be sure, but this game exudes an odd anime-like vibe to it, with your character and other competitors (called Neon and referred to by a color, with your own character being the titular White) all wearing creepy masks and trading dialogue that feels very anime-esque. Ultimately, this largely works in the game’s favor, giving it a unique look and feel that’s not really like anything else out there.

This is largely due to this game’s aesthetic, which depicts the heavenly locales with bright blues and whites. The areas you’ll be running through are relatively simple but still pleasant-looking, and everything runs with a nice resolution and a (mostly) silky-smooth framerate. This is probably for the best, given this game’s focus on moving through levels quickly.

These visuals are backed by a light but energetic techno-style soundtrack that does a good job working both with the game’s heavenly locale as well as its fast-paced and intense gameplay. In addition, most of the major dialogue here is voiced, and the voice actors do a decent enough job given the silly writing.

While the presentation may be a bit odd, the real draw here is the gameplay, and Neon White delivers something both original and compelling. Players must get through each of the game’s obstacle course-style levels as quickly as possible while taking out all of that level’s demons. The demons themselves aren’t generally all that difficult to eliminate, the trick is usually doing so as quickly as possible while getting from point A to point B.

Players start each level with a katana card that allows them to melee attack enemies, though generally if you have to resort to using it that’s a sign that you’re doing the level wrong. As you progress through the level you’ll get additional cards representing other weapons. You can fire them normally, but often the main use for these cards is the secondary effect you get by discarding that card. Doing so will eliminate the card from your hand, but will give you a single use of a special ability specific to that card, generally one that provides added mobility – an extra jump, a dash, a rocket jump, that sorta’ thing. Players will need to use these abilities to complete these levels too.

As such, the game’s levels are set up almost like a fun fast-paced puzzle – how do I use the cards I gain to tear through enemies as quickly as possible and get to the exit. At times, the enemies the game throws at you (each dropping a card when they die) are clearly designed to be taken in succession – use the jump ability from this enemy to get up to this enemy which you take out with your explosive ability, then use its dash to take out the stomp enemy, then stomp down through the barrier below you. The enemy placement and level design here is phenomenal, so much so that you can often know exactly where you need to look based on the latest card you’ve gained.

Of course, the speed running element of the game is its core focus, but there are other elements too. Each level has a hidden “gift” for players to find, giving players something to do in these levels beyond speeding through them, more slowly and thoughtfully looking around them to spot the telltale color these gifts give off. These gifts are given to other characters in-between stages to advance the story and unlock bonus challenge levels.

There’s one other element here that I really wanted to touch on, and that’s the controls. Given the intense, fast-paced nature of Neon White, you would really hope for decent controls, and Neon White absolutely nails this element. Movement and aiming is not only fluid and fun, but the game is just forgiving enough with its abilities and platforming that the game does a good job translating what you want to do into your actions in the game, even when zipping around at full speed. What’s more, those who prefer gyroscopic motion controls will find that Neon White’s motion controls are excellent.

On a personal note, when I play First-Person Shooters, I generally like to be slow and methodical, taking my time, checking my angles, doing stealthy stuff… and Neon White is all about the opposite of all that – it’s all about doing everything as fast as possible and blasting through enemies without taking a single moment to rest. I would think that would result in a game that’s just not my sorta’ thing, but quite the contrary is true – I keep finding myself craving more. The excellent controls, the wonderful level design, the amazing sense of speed and movement this game gives you all add up to be an extremely compelling experience, and whether I’m running around a level searching for its hidden secrets or jumping back in to try to shave a few more seconds off my time, this is a game that really hits the “just one more try…” note perfectly.

In fact, I’d say my biggest complaint here, other than the lack of any sort of multiplayer, is that the brief few seconds of loading in between levels starts to feel like too much in contrast with the super-fast pace of the rest of the game, and whenever the game stops so the characters can start chitchatting, I just want to be done with it so I can get back to speeding through the game’s levels.

While there’s room for improvement, to be sure, it surely must bode well for the game that one of my biggest complaints about it is that I want to get back to playing it sooner. Neon White’s story and gameplay premise may be odd, but that gameplay is so unique and genuinely fun that I feel like this game definitely warrants a look from any fan of First-Person Shooters. This is one of the most delightful surprises on the Nintendo Switch in 2022.

tl;dr – Neon White is a First-Person Shooter with strong Platformer elements that has players speeding through obstacle course-style levels in heaven trying to gun down demons and get to the exit as quickly as possible using cards that act like weapons. The story and premise may seem odd, but the presentation is memorable, the gameplay is fluid, fast-paced and exhilarating, and the level design is impeccable. If you’re a fan of fast-paced action and First-Person Shooters, you should definitely give this game a try.

Grade: A-

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This game has been nominated for one or more of eShopperReviews 2022 Game Awards:

Winner:

Best Platformer – There were some strong contenders in this category this year, but I ultimately had to choose Neon White. No other game this year really made it such a joy to jump, dash, and move around in three dimensions like Neon White, and that’s in part due to how wildly creative it is. You’ve never played another Platformer quite like this, and if you want a truly wonderful and unique experience within the genre, you need to play this game.

Most Original – I don’t know that describing Neon White can ever truly prepare you for the experience of playing it, and I can’t help but feel like attempting to do so would only convey the wrong impression. It’s a First-Person Shooter where the shooting isn’t really the point, it’s usually more about discarding your weapons than about shooting them. It’s a Platformer where every level plays out like a carefully-crafted puzzle designed to challenge players to reach the end as quickly as possible. It’s fast but rarely out of control, you’ll likely find yourself quitting and restarting each level mid-run countless times in your fervor to do everything perfectly, and yet it somehow doesn’t get repetitive or frustrating. I certainly would have expected a game made by the developer of Donut County to be a shoo-in to win this award, but I never would have imagined it would be a game like this. In any case, Neon White is without a doubt the most refreshing game I played all year.

Runner-Up: Game of the Year, Best Action Game, Best Card Game

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