This review contains spoilers
Yeah in a nutshell this game was pretty much made for a Hot Topic-ass motherfucker like me. I wanna delve into my thoughts about the story because that's definitely the spiciest part, but I should definitely talk about everything else first.
The #1 thing that makes this game worth it for me is the gameplay. While trying to explain it in concept is a bit daunting (it's a mixture of card playing, platforming, shooting and puzzle solving), its execution is smoother than the glass ocean White runs on to pick up speed. All of the previously mentioned elements work in my opinion because they work like pieces of a puzzle, and the picture is to beat the level as fast as you can.
Of course, a game that wants to do that has to subtly encourage the player to want to try and beat their records, and Neon White does that well. The medals that can be unlocked doubly serve as a benchmark of skill and help open up more of the level's secrets so you can try and work towards a faster time, such as shortcut hints, ghost data, and leaderboards.
Of course, these are just the sprinkles to the delicious cake that I enjoyed within the gameplay itself. The platforming was super responsive as it should be, and the environments are extremely readable. The jet-black enemies contrast well with the brighter environments and served as points on the map that I should be paying attention to. The "FPS" portion of the game isn't really so much FPS as the enemies don't really do much save for being the rails that the player must follow in order to beat the level. But that's fine because it means the gameplay can continue being tight. The cards work well as they both serve as shooting mechanics and as extra move options when discarded. I found myself being able to use these controls with ease. Highly recommend using mouse + keyboard. Performance was never an issue for me either as the framerate stayed consistently smooth on PC.
I will say, White kinda felt a bit too floaty for me at first, but that in turn made for some fun mid-air sections. It's also kinda hard to check whether where you'll land will be solid ground or the unforgiving void of glorified water vapor. I also didn't really bother to try and figure out most of the solutions to the hidden gifts throughout the levels, but they were worth it to listen more to the characters and especially for those fun challenge levels.
Also, big shout-outs to Machine Girl for the soundtrack on this game. It really adds to the idea of speed being a top priority with its fast drum n' bass tracks. I highly recommend listening to this soundtrack while working out. Virtual Paradise continues to live in my head it is HEAVENLY.
Now onto...dramatic pause the story. Understandably, a lot of people aren't fans of it. However, in knowing that the writer for it did stuff for OK KO and that the game's tagline is literally "For Freaks, By Freaks" I can see that this was done as a deliberate decision in order to give itself a sense of campiness like no other. Being the autistic nerdy kid in elementary school, this tone is secretly my guilty pleasure. I found myself chuckling to the over-the-top tropiness of the characters. Of COURSE the protagonist is a brooding and ill-prepared showoff. Of COURSE his friend is a lovable himbo. Of COURSE his love interest is a mysteriously sexy mistress. Of COURSE the antagonist is a flamboyant bisexual asshole. Of COURSE Violet is both a yandere and a fujoshi. It all just makes sense! It saves itself from being too annoying with its top notch voice acting (I mean come on, Steve Blum??) I also adored the character designs and if you're anything like me you too wanna be a big-tittied alt trans girl that is Violet. Or maybe you wanna be the tall step-on-me queen Red. We don't judge.
I actually found myself unironically enjoying the story from a narrative perspective later on as I started piecing together White's memories and the stakes got higher. Towards the end I was thinking, man these characters don't deserve what happened to them. They all deserve to be happy hanging out together, eating ice cream and watching cheesy action movies/soap operas. Just because of one petty plan they got themselves killed. Remind me to never simp for overly macho men anytime soon.
But for the rest of you people, the skip button is also a nice touch that you can just click once and never have to think about again.
So yeah! Overall, really big fan of this game front to back! I'm not really motivated to get Ace medals in all levels as my dumb lil girlbrain can't process all the shortcuts in the later levels but I had a great time with this game and being relentlessly petty with my friends on the leaderboards. If you wear black nail polish, this game is completely for you. For everyone else that uses a different color, I'd still recommend you give the gameplay a try.
The #1 thing that makes this game worth it for me is the gameplay. While trying to explain it in concept is a bit daunting (it's a mixture of card playing, platforming, shooting and puzzle solving), its execution is smoother than the glass ocean White runs on to pick up speed. All of the previously mentioned elements work in my opinion because they work like pieces of a puzzle, and the picture is to beat the level as fast as you can.
Of course, a game that wants to do that has to subtly encourage the player to want to try and beat their records, and Neon White does that well. The medals that can be unlocked doubly serve as a benchmark of skill and help open up more of the level's secrets so you can try and work towards a faster time, such as shortcut hints, ghost data, and leaderboards.
Of course, these are just the sprinkles to the delicious cake that I enjoyed within the gameplay itself. The platforming was super responsive as it should be, and the environments are extremely readable. The jet-black enemies contrast well with the brighter environments and served as points on the map that I should be paying attention to. The "FPS" portion of the game isn't really so much FPS as the enemies don't really do much save for being the rails that the player must follow in order to beat the level. But that's fine because it means the gameplay can continue being tight. The cards work well as they both serve as shooting mechanics and as extra move options when discarded. I found myself being able to use these controls with ease. Highly recommend using mouse + keyboard. Performance was never an issue for me either as the framerate stayed consistently smooth on PC.
I will say, White kinda felt a bit too floaty for me at first, but that in turn made for some fun mid-air sections. It's also kinda hard to check whether where you'll land will be solid ground or the unforgiving void of glorified water vapor. I also didn't really bother to try and figure out most of the solutions to the hidden gifts throughout the levels, but they were worth it to listen more to the characters and especially for those fun challenge levels.
Also, big shout-outs to Machine Girl for the soundtrack on this game. It really adds to the idea of speed being a top priority with its fast drum n' bass tracks. I highly recommend listening to this soundtrack while working out. Virtual Paradise continues to live in my head it is HEAVENLY.
Now onto...dramatic pause the story. Understandably, a lot of people aren't fans of it. However, in knowing that the writer for it did stuff for OK KO and that the game's tagline is literally "For Freaks, By Freaks" I can see that this was done as a deliberate decision in order to give itself a sense of campiness like no other. Being the autistic nerdy kid in elementary school, this tone is secretly my guilty pleasure. I found myself chuckling to the over-the-top tropiness of the characters. Of COURSE the protagonist is a brooding and ill-prepared showoff. Of COURSE his friend is a lovable himbo. Of COURSE his love interest is a mysteriously sexy mistress. Of COURSE the antagonist is a flamboyant bisexual asshole. Of COURSE Violet is both a yandere and a fujoshi. It all just makes sense! It saves itself from being too annoying with its top notch voice acting (I mean come on, Steve Blum??) I also adored the character designs and if you're anything like me you too wanna be a big-tittied alt trans girl that is Violet. Or maybe you wanna be the tall step-on-me queen Red. We don't judge.
I actually found myself unironically enjoying the story from a narrative perspective later on as I started piecing together White's memories and the stakes got higher. Towards the end I was thinking, man these characters don't deserve what happened to them. They all deserve to be happy hanging out together, eating ice cream and watching cheesy action movies/soap operas. Just because of one petty plan they got themselves killed. Remind me to never simp for overly macho men anytime soon.
But for the rest of you people, the skip button is also a nice touch that you can just click once and never have to think about again.
So yeah! Overall, really big fan of this game front to back! I'm not really motivated to get Ace medals in all levels as my dumb lil girlbrain can't process all the shortcuts in the later levels but I had a great time with this game and being relentlessly petty with my friends on the leaderboards. If you wear black nail polish, this game is completely for you. For everyone else that uses a different color, I'd still recommend you give the gameplay a try.