Neon White is a curious amalgamation of Counter-Strike’s thrilling surf maps, the time-trial-centric pleasure of Trackmania, and the anime-infused narrative of a visible novel–all sprinkled with a light-weight dusting of Persona for good measure. It’s additionally a first-person shooter/puzzle-platformer and among the finest video games of the yr. I’ve by no means performed something fairly prefer it, regardless of being conversant in every of its influences. Not every thing coalesces as one may hope, with the story’s gradual construct interrupting the gameplay’s fast tempo, however this does little to dampen the sheer, unadulterated glee that comes from traversing every of its 97 immaculately constructed ranges.At its most simple, Neon White is actually a speedrunning first-person shooter. You play because the eponymous Neon White, a sinner from Hell who’s given the prospect to enter Heaven if he can rid it of a demon infestation. You’ll glide, leap, and shoot your approach by way of quite a few celestial arenas, all with the top purpose of reaching the end line as rapidly as possible–with the caveat that you simply additionally must kill each demon alongside the way in which. Most of the degrees are over in lower than 30 seconds, but it surely’s this confined dash that proves so tantalizing. Reaching the top of a degree is never ever tough however the crux of Neon White lies in determining the very best route by way of every one with the intention to shave off valuable seconds and earn higher medals and rewards.To support you on this endeavor is an impressed mechanic known as Soul Cards. These finite pickups provide you with entry to a variety of weapons that may also be discarded to activate one-off talents. The Fireball card, for instance, capabilities like a shotgun, letting you shoot a strong blast that is simplest at shut vary. If you discard it, however–losing the shotgun within the process–you can carry out a directional air sprint that obliterates any enemies you section by way of. Other Soul Cards embrace long-range rifles, SMGs, and extra, with their talents supplying you with extra traversal and offensive choices, together with a double leap, floor pound, and grappling hook. You can solely maintain two distinctive Soul Cards at a time so that you’re by no means overpowered, however you possibly can stack as much as three of the identical sort, supplying you with extra ammunition and a number of probabilities to make use of these secondary talents.Neon White does a unbelievable job of easing you into its breakneck rhythm as you discover ways to swap and ditch Soul Cards on the fly. Early on, you solely have to fret about juggling just a few at a time, however earlier than lengthy you will be using the capabilities of as much as six all through a single degree. This may sound overwhelming, but it surely’s all remarkably intuitive to the purpose the place you do not even have to consider what your arms are doing. There’s a pure development to the way in which you regularly be taught Neon White’s mechanics, too, as the educational curve prompts you to start out utilizing Soul Cards in several methods. You may initially discard the assault rifle to launch a grenade and defeat a clump of enemies, however ultimately you will be utilizing that very same explosion to additionally propel your self into the air and onto one other platform, chopping down in your time by wiping out an additional step.This emphasis on blistering velocity signifies that virtually any mistake will value you dearly, whether or not it is since you mistakenly burned by way of your whole Soul Cards or mistimed an important leap. Thankfully, a faucet of the F key on PC restarts the extent from the start, and every stage’s bite-sized nature–not to say how satisfying they’re to burst through–means that beginning over by no means feels deflating.You’re incentivized to repeat ranges even in case you’re capable of full a stage on the primary attempt, with bronze, silver, gold, and ace medals to be earned. Every time you beat a degree you additionally accrue Insight for that stage. Each rank of Insight unlocks a distinct reward, be it a ghost of your finest time, a degree trace that reveals a shortcut, or a secret present yow will discover after which use to progress a aspect character’s story. These presents are value seeking out since they show to be pleasing mini-puzzles of their very own. They’re often situated in hard-to-reach locations that require sensible use of your Soul Cards to achieve, and the aspect quests they unlock additionally introduce some distinctive challenges, together with spike-laden ranges stuffed with booby traps and others the place you are unable to make use of talents.Neon White’s story stumbles at instances, however its slick, breakneck motion is flawless and elevates it to be one of many yr’s finest video games.You need not obtain an ace medal on each degree to progress, but it surely’s awfully tempting to go for it purely due to the innate thrill these runs conjure. Each stage has a baked-in shortcut that the extent trace will disclose to you, permitting you to shave off a considerable period of time, however this is not the one method to obtain a sooner run. It pays dividends to consistently learn the surroundings and attempt to discover methods to chop corners or use Soul Cards in a extra environment friendly method. Achieving an ace medal in your first try makes you are feeling like a god, and because the ranges change into extra elaborate, this sense solely intensifies because it calls for extra fluidity and precision from you. There are additionally world and good friend leaderboards if you wish to compete along with your fellow sinners to realize the quickest instances. This provides but extra replay worth, though making an attempt to maintain up with the quickest on this planet is a foolhardy endeavor for the reason that world leaderboards are rampant with cheaters–at least on PC.Of course, all of this solely works as a result of the controls are extremely exact and responsive, with Neon White’s phenomenal degree design additionally enjoying a major position. The placing artwork model is deliberately minimal, guiding your eyes by way of enemy placement and dashes of coloration. While most ranges could initially appear fairly easy, they’re deceptively layered, difficult you to chain collectively Soul Card talents with killing blows and nimble platforming as the bottom crumbles beneath your toes, enemies prepare their sights on you, and explosive barrels ship you hovering tons of of toes into the air. In the fallacious arms, this is able to all crumble, however Neon White’s marriage between participant motion and degree design is so flawless that it by no means feels something however magical. Throw in a pulsating soundtrack from experimental music outfit Machine Girl and Neon White’s slick and trendy speedrunning turns into a continuing pleasure.The solely space the place this affection falters is in between every mission, when its puzzle-platforming makes approach for a visible novel with social sim components. White is affected by amnesia, which, as extraordinarily cliched as it’s, does present room so that you can construct a rapport with the sport’s numerous characters as you uncover the thriller surrounding who they’re and what they did of their previous lives. The voice solid is great, headed up by prolific voice actor Steve Blum (Cowboy Bebop, Naruto: Shippuden, Star Wars: Rebels) within the titular position, and their performances carry an earnestness to those characters even when the writing and its obnoxious, self-aware schtick are sometimes cringe-worthy.The story’s important challenge is that it begins at a snail’s tempo and is laden with dialogue-heavy scenes early on. This solely serves to get within the recreation’s personal approach as you need nothing greater than to leap into the following dozen or so ranges. The story ultimately picks up steam and introduces some compelling stakes towards the top, however the pacing may’ve been tightened up earlier. This would not be a problem in most different video games, however Neon White’s velocity is such an important element that disrupting its circulate looks like a very flawed transfer.Alas, one misstep is not fairly sufficient to derail what is among the yr’s finest and most authentic video games. Neon White is flawless from a gameplay perspective and isn’t solely fashionable and extremely satisfying, however a magnetic execution of an interesting thought. There’s nothing else fairly prefer it, and you would be doing your self an enormous disservice in case you do not no less than give it a attempt.
Neon White Review – Heavenly Sprint
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