After seeing a wave of demos during the recent Steam Next fest events, this was the game that caught me and had a strong interest in playing through ever since I laid my eyes on it. And yes, this title did not disappoint. Neon White is a flashy, fast-paced, run n’ gun, first-person shooter where the goal is to kill all enemies while breaking through obstacles till you make it to the end as fast as you can. The game also has an awesome soundtrack, produced by Machine Girl that fits well with the overall fast-paced gameplay. It’s very similar to another speedrunning focused FPS game called “Lovely Planet” released in 2014, but this title has more attractive graphics and is more appealing to play due to the flashiness showcased in its own presentation.

You play as Neon White, a guy who wakes up in heaven who has lost most of his memories of who he was. He has been chosen as a “neon”, an assassin who is tasked to eliminate demons, to do God’s “dirty work”. Every “neon” must compete in getting the highest ranking in order to have temporary peace in heaven. Neons that disobey the angels or have no desire to slay demons get obliterated and transferred to hell or sometimes become extinct. The characters are memorable with each of them having unique personalities and the game gives you systems that could help you learn about them more. If you’re not into stories in games, you don’t even need to pay attention to it just to have fun with this title, as the gameplay itself speaks for it.

The gameplay itself is simple, kill all demons present in the level and make it to the end as fast as possible. The movement is silky smooth which feels great. Ice floor and water will speed up your movement. Jumping on demons that look like inflated balloons will bounce you up. Destroying an explosive barrel can make you fly really high when you are close to it and will not damage you. The weapons in this game are represented as “soul cards” and can also be used to affect your movement. These cards are spread across each level as a drop from an enemy, a chest, a vending machine or by itself. You initially start with a katana card which you could use 30 times. You could only hold 2 unique types of cards at a time and have 3 of each (excluding the katana). Discarding a card will make you do a special ability. A pistol card (Elevate) makes you jump (acts as a double jump while in mid-air) to reach higher places. A machine gun (Purify) card shoots a sticky grenade that could deal damage to enemies and could send you flying to the air and break barriers. A semi automatic rifle (Godspeed) card does a powerful horizontal dash towards where the player is facing and instantly punctures enemies. An UZI (Stomp) card does a powerful stomp that brings you down to the ground, creating a shockwave that eliminates enemies affected by it (can also break barriers). A shotgun (Fireball) card does a dash like the godspeed card, but can also launch you vertically depending on how much you are facing above. And a rocket launcher (Dominion) card that releases a grappling hook that makes it easier to reach higher surfaces. You don’t really feel the impact of the weapons when you shoot them, but only when you use the discard abilities which is understandable for a game like this where a screen shake could ruin the experience. Ammo and card distribution is fair and balanced in almost every level as every situation where you feel like you have run out of ammo or cards is completely the fault of the player. Even if you do lose all your cards, vending machines containing a specific card are a thing on some levels.

Each level in the game has an insight meter which you fill up by getting faster times and could unlock different things like spawning the collectible gift in that level, a ghost run of your fastest lap, a shortcut hint, and a global leaderboard. Getting better results in levels also contributes to improving your overall rank which is used to unlock the next chapters. Replaying every level just to get the best result is very satisfying and sometimes you get the urge to actually be the best in the global leaderboard as you improve. Getting the gifts just to give to your friends will give you benefits like unlocking side levels, extra dialogue, and lost memories related to the story. Finding these gifts does get more difficult as you play through the later levels. Every level that you have finished can be replayed again through level selection.

This is an FPS game that is not punishing but could be seen as too easy for veterans of the genre. The rush may look hard to keep up with for beginners and people who are not into FPS games at first glance, but the game does a good job introducing you to its mechanics and earlier levels get you into situations that would benefit your skill later on and make the player realize that it’s easier than it looks. The sense of accomplishment as you get the best medal for each level while doing cool moves is pretty sick :).

I really should've played this sooner than later (same with Super Metroid). I've played older Castlevania games before and have endured painful experiences with those. So finally giving myself the urge to sit through this definitely blew my expectations. It was definitely more of a relaxing journey than I thought. Also loved that I only had to use one save file just to experience multiple endings (would recommend checking this when playing). Would give this another spin in the future or maybe even try the Richter playthrough right now. (⌒‿⌒)