Neon white is a fully realized concept that shoots for and nails a specific aesthetic while taking a gameplay first approach where almost every minute you spend with it is a blast.
For how edgy the writing is, the game overall really doesn't have any sharp corners.
I was skeptical about the concept of weapon cards with discard abilities before playing and it made it click after like 2 minutes of playtime. That on it's own really is commendable and speaks to one of the greatest strengths the game has: How it teaches you to play and what to expect.
No real tutorials needed, you just jump into the game and through trial and error naturally get acquainted with how the level design works and what the bounds of your abilities are.
The complexity ramps up slowly enough that it should allow most players a really smooth experience. I don't expect people to get stuck anywhere and most of the time you don't notice how much better you get over time because of that. This might make it sound boring, but the speed running aspect of it always motivates you to push yourself to learn all the systems at play and focus.
Getting the blue medal is also balanced quite well compared to ratings I'm used to from speed focused games. They expect you to be competent, but not perfect, to get the best rating. This really took a lot of the stress that I usually associate with time challenges out of the picture.
For my personal taste it ended up being too easy at times. While there are levels that took me a fair amount of tries to ace, getting a blue rating at my first try while feeling like I didn't do a good job happened quite a bit too. This would be a bigger problem then it really is if the levels weren't all just 30sec to 1min chunks if you breeze through them. So even if some parts aren't that engaging, you really don't have to put up with them for long and can look forward to new ideas getting thrown at your head in a brisk pace.
The story and presentation just make sense.
While definitely written for a different demographic and not lining up with my usual taste, the story was also surprisingly engaging. The characters all felt like pushed representations of how some teenagers see themselves while they still haven't developed any subtlety in how they look at themselves and the world they live in.
Might come across as naive and is easy to label as cringe, but they knew what they were going for, took that naivete as their aesthetic and made their own thing out of it. Feels earnest and has it's own charm.
The characters could have been more interesting and multifaceted, sure, but what I really missed was more original artwork while you interact with the characters.
The game has a pretty simple relationship system that you use to get to know the cast better and a couple of illustrations of the characters hanging out or some closeups of important objects/locations they talk about could have helped sell the story a lot better.
What's more to say?
The UI design was excellent. The press F to restart with no loading times is undeniably one of the big reasons this game works so well. The music was pretty good and at times funny (which is good) and all I really wish for after I finished it is more. More as in more difficult and complex levels, more insight into the world/characters through additional art and more varied dialogue.
I really enjoyed my time with it and hope that we'll get some kind of "master levels" expansion at some point. With how well the game seems to be doing it would be amazing to get something with the full treatment. New score, new story and new setting while polishing up what they've already got.
I'd definitely play it!
For how edgy the writing is, the game overall really doesn't have any sharp corners.
I was skeptical about the concept of weapon cards with discard abilities before playing and it made it click after like 2 minutes of playtime. That on it's own really is commendable and speaks to one of the greatest strengths the game has: How it teaches you to play and what to expect.
No real tutorials needed, you just jump into the game and through trial and error naturally get acquainted with how the level design works and what the bounds of your abilities are.
The complexity ramps up slowly enough that it should allow most players a really smooth experience. I don't expect people to get stuck anywhere and most of the time you don't notice how much better you get over time because of that. This might make it sound boring, but the speed running aspect of it always motivates you to push yourself to learn all the systems at play and focus.
Getting the blue medal is also balanced quite well compared to ratings I'm used to from speed focused games. They expect you to be competent, but not perfect, to get the best rating. This really took a lot of the stress that I usually associate with time challenges out of the picture.
For my personal taste it ended up being too easy at times. While there are levels that took me a fair amount of tries to ace, getting a blue rating at my first try while feeling like I didn't do a good job happened quite a bit too. This would be a bigger problem then it really is if the levels weren't all just 30sec to 1min chunks if you breeze through them. So even if some parts aren't that engaging, you really don't have to put up with them for long and can look forward to new ideas getting thrown at your head in a brisk pace.
The story and presentation just make sense.
While definitely written for a different demographic and not lining up with my usual taste, the story was also surprisingly engaging. The characters all felt like pushed representations of how some teenagers see themselves while they still haven't developed any subtlety in how they look at themselves and the world they live in.
Might come across as naive and is easy to label as cringe, but they knew what they were going for, took that naivete as their aesthetic and made their own thing out of it. Feels earnest and has it's own charm.
The characters could have been more interesting and multifaceted, sure, but what I really missed was more original artwork while you interact with the characters.
The game has a pretty simple relationship system that you use to get to know the cast better and a couple of illustrations of the characters hanging out or some closeups of important objects/locations they talk about could have helped sell the story a lot better.
What's more to say?
The UI design was excellent. The press F to restart with no loading times is undeniably one of the big reasons this game works so well. The music was pretty good and at times funny (which is good) and all I really wish for after I finished it is more. More as in more difficult and complex levels, more insight into the world/characters through additional art and more varied dialogue.
I really enjoyed my time with it and hope that we'll get some kind of "master levels" expansion at some point. With how well the game seems to be doing it would be amazing to get something with the full treatment. New score, new story and new setting while polishing up what they've already got.
I'd definitely play it!