Few games measure up to the amount of satisfaction that Neon White delivers when you manage to ace a level, whether it’s on your first try or after it’s been giving you some trouble. It is an immensely satisfying game. So much so that, several hours after finishing it, I was bummed that I didn’t have more to play. I’m not usually one for time chasing in games, but the loop of trying to get the best time possible, ace every level, and find every gift, was incredibly addicting.
That said, there were times where my frustration outweighed the fun I was having. For the most part, it only happened on a couple levels that were too long and relied too much on perfect execution. I’m fine with the rapid restarts on shorter levels when you’re only losing 15-20 seconds, but there were a few stages that were over a minute long (one was over 4 minutes), and it got a bit annoying to have to restart after just one missed jump 75% of the way into the level.
Everything everyone said about the cheesy writing was pretty spot-on. Honestly, I actually kind of enjoyed the story and world, as goofy as it was, but the moment-to-moment writing and dialogue is pretty unbearable. You have the option to skip the dialogue, but it’s also the only thing that breaks up the levels. So it’s kind of nice to have a bit of a break between acts.
Overall, Neon White is an incredibly unique, rad as heck game that brought me more satisfaction than most other games, even if parts of the game overstayed their welcome.
+ Solid gameplay feel even on console
+ Insanely satisfying to chase a faster time or get all the ace medals
+ Killer soundtrack
+ Great style
- Gameplay loop is basically the same throughout the whole game
- Moment-to-moment writing is cringey and unbearably bad
- Some levels are a bit too long which made trying for faster times frustrating
- Gift hunting got to be a pain as some of them are too well-hidden and require guides
That said, there were times where my frustration outweighed the fun I was having. For the most part, it only happened on a couple levels that were too long and relied too much on perfect execution. I’m fine with the rapid restarts on shorter levels when you’re only losing 15-20 seconds, but there were a few stages that were over a minute long (one was over 4 minutes), and it got a bit annoying to have to restart after just one missed jump 75% of the way into the level.
Everything everyone said about the cheesy writing was pretty spot-on. Honestly, I actually kind of enjoyed the story and world, as goofy as it was, but the moment-to-moment writing and dialogue is pretty unbearable. You have the option to skip the dialogue, but it’s also the only thing that breaks up the levels. So it’s kind of nice to have a bit of a break between acts.
Overall, Neon White is an incredibly unique, rad as heck game that brought me more satisfaction than most other games, even if parts of the game overstayed their welcome.
+ Solid gameplay feel even on console
+ Insanely satisfying to chase a faster time or get all the ace medals
+ Killer soundtrack
+ Great style
- Gameplay loop is basically the same throughout the whole game
- Moment-to-moment writing is cringey and unbearably bad
- Some levels are a bit too long which made trying for faster times frustrating
- Gift hunting got to be a pain as some of them are too well-hidden and require guides