Genre: First Person Shooter, Puzzle, Platformer
Year: 2022
Developed by: Angel Matrix
Published by: Annapurna Interactive
Platforms: PC, Switch, PS4, PS5, XBOX One, XBOX Series X/S
#45
Feeling Like: Anime Neo (Whoa…)
It’s not often I play something that feels entirely new. The second I loaded up Neon White, I knew it was special. I found myself beating the first stage, not really know what I was doing…and then suddenly re-doing it about ten times trying to perfect my route to get a high score/low time.
I have never done that in my entire life. Replay the tutorial level? Usually I can’t skip it fast enough, or try to soak in the mechanics as quickly as possible before moving on to the real game. With Neon White, every stage is an playground and provides an excuse to go back, and back again.
Neon White feels like a forbidden Japanese Arcade game that’s been unearthed from a planet whose sole industry is making amazing video games. It takes everything I loved about Mirror’s Edge, adds in a dash of Doom Eternal and wraps it up in a Shonen anime blanket. The sense of movement? Perfect, unmatched. Using weapons’ secondary fire to launch myself in an mid-air zig-zag is mesmerizing. Level design? Fantastic, I’ve never replayed stages this much in my entire life.
The aesthetics are so clean that I wanted to stop and stare at every architectural wonder. It would ruin my time by doing so, sure, but restarting a level is so instantaneous that it never feels like a penalty. Experimentation is a breeze and everything is so well thought out that you can improve upon your score multiple times before you even realize you’re not even doing it the most optimal way.
It’s so easy to learn, and so difficult to master. Less is more, how many games can be this well revered with only three actions and the directional keys? (Golf clap to Vampire Survivors in this regard, you can only move in that one!) It gradually introduces new weapons, but that only opens up new movement possibilities! It doesn’t bog you down with extraneous options or confuse you with any combos. Getting stuck or lost is such a rare experience as the games guides you naturally with obstacles, enemies and gun cards, to the point where there might as well be a giant arrow pointing THIS WAY!
I know for others the batshit story was a turnoff, but I thought it was a nice break from the insanity of the stages. Plus, you can just skip them without really losing too much. The core gameplay is too good, it could have overwhelmed anything negative story-wise.
I’ve really never played anything like this. I never felt any frustration. Each successful run flooded my brain with serotonin. The amount of challenge is perfectly suited to nearly every skill level – the main story isn’t overly challenging, but there are optional areas that will test even the most godly of angelic assassins. The soundtrack is ethereal, even now I have some of the tunes stuck in my head, particularly when I get into a flow state of reading, or writing, or arithmeticizing about video games. I could listen to “Glass Ocean” all night.
Watching speedrunners and world record holders is like watching somebody peel away the very fabric of physics. It shows the skill and confidence of a developer that can ensure the lowliest noob to the most elite in the world can both enjoy the same game every step of the way. It doesn’t have the relationships or story or graphics of God of War: Ragnarok, but it does have that fresh, exciting, completely unexpected “X factor” that so few games have.
Before long, you won’t even bother reading what weapon card you picked up. You’ll just know, by the color of them in your periphery. It is beyond impressive how soon you’ll completely memorize every enemy placement, every shortcut, every projectile to dodge, when to jump, when to sprint, when to look and when to stomp. The boss fights are a gauntlet that will test your reflexes further beyond what you thought possible. In the end, you win and feel like you could climb to heaven itself.
It’s bizarre, even for a video game, but the moment you adopt the conception, it’ll be one of your favorites. If it isn’t, you can blame me!
The 500 