[for the demo]

red flag when your only two female characters are designed specifically to appeal to the kind of indie airhead who wrote them

however the movement tied to the cards feels v good! could see the puzzles requiring strict solutions / less player expression than i'd like as the game goes on, but using purify to jump around obstacles was enough to sell me on the idea

I'm sure this is 10/10 in a timeline where p5 never released.......

Jokes aside, I think the gameplay and soundtrack are amazing and the visuals are good too. The dialogues are weak, I think it felt a lil' better when there was no voice acting too, maybe I'm bad at judging dialogue but it felt like people reading twitter threads out loud. The dating parts are what bothered me the most, I ended up ignoring them altogether (sidenote I did the golden ticket thing that exists for some reason???) and it turns out the social links affects the ending lol.
It is a pretty fun game to try out though.

Ben Esposito refers to Neon White as a "game for freaks." One would assume that this game is meant to appeal to social outcasts, rejects, or at the very least those with very specific and esoteric tastes. Instead Neon White panders to the lowest common denominator of anime fans that dominate spaces like Twitter and Reddit - who are indeed freaks, though likely not the "cool" kind of freaks that Esposito is attempting to appeal to.

The gameplay is fun! A bit floaty, but not enough that the moment-to-moment platforming suffers. The process of learning levels to optimize your time and get an Ace rank is incredibly addicting. In spite of being a single-player game there is an undeniable communal aspect if you're playing with friends, since the PC version compares your scores to those of your Steam friends - a lot of the appeal to me is running levels over and over again to try and best your friends' scores. The levels are gorgeous, intuitively designed while remaining complex enough for optimization, and over in less than thirty seconds. The music is fantastic and the presentation (my distaste for the VN format aside) is spectacular.

Thus comes the elephant in the room: the writing. Abysmal on every single front, an endless fount of regurgitated memes originating from the "Anitwt" community on Twitter only to be reposted and recycled onto the countless cesspools of Reddit. You can't go twenty seconds without hearing a buzzword or in-joke, and in the rare moments without talking about characters' breasts, making John Cena jokes or name-dropping Naruto characters you'll find it hard to take the characters and their dialogue seriously for the simple fact that nobody talks like this. If anything it's only accentuated by the fact that the voice acting is really great (Steve Blum voices the title character!) and the actors are giving it their all with every line, struggling to wring emotion and depth out of dialogue that simply has none to offer.

I don't have anything to say about the plot because I don't care and I'm probably going to skip it from here on out. The only comment I have about the dating sim elements is that the Persona series and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race.

Overall a really fun game if you skip the cutscenes and pretend it's just a bunch of floating levels in a void with no context or narrative presentation!

Neon White is a game that's categorized primarily by it's excellent aesthetic and it's overtly amateurish game design.

The gameplay of Neon White is genuinely brilliant, if not groundbreaking. The way that the different abilities and weapons attatched to them are constructed is something special, i love the card game seetup of it.

The level design was something i found myself more and more dissatisfied with the longer the game went on. In the early levels i found myself having a lot more fun due to the faster, shorter nature of them, as well as the fact that a lot of them felt more open and less rigid. The later levels feel almost on-rails with how little room for variation or mistake there is, every level has an exact way you're supposed to play, and the only real difficulty in them comes from figuring that out with the sometimes obtuse mechanics. It's far too steeped in trial and error for me to find that muh satisfaction from it, even the boss fights are so limited in what can be done despite having such a well-designed moveset, it doesn't feel like it's reached it's potential.

The narrative is, as you can probably guess, paltry, and almost obnoxious in how unambitious it is. I want to give credit to an indie game for even having a story of this calibur, in addition to having voice acting for most of the dialogue, but as soon as i'm ready to ignore the cliche-ridden dialogue and poorly-defined characters, they throw in an almost insulting nod to the audience in the form of a joke or an out of place pop-culture reference, the tonal dissonance in this game is absolutely ridiculous. Just like the levels, the more and more the plot went on the less i found myself interested, it doesn't jive with the rest of the game, nor does it stand on it's own.

The aesthetic, for the most part, is atleast very well executed, it has a problem with a lot of the areas after the first third of the game not looking nwarly as good as that which was designed to be shown off in trailers and used in promo material, but the game never looks actively bad. The character portraits are actually pretty impressive in sheer number, they compliment the excellent designs. Neon White has such a firm hold on looking a certain way, but only some of the time, and i love the way it looks some of the time.

The soundtrack was an excellent addition too, and it made repeating the same missions over and over again a lot more enjoyable, it definitely adds to the vibes of the game a lot, one of my favorite game soundtracks in a while, just off the top of my head.

The thing that strangely bogs this down is the optional relationship-building and bonus level segments, which are required to acquire what is surely going to be considered the superior, and possibly, canonical ending, are such a drain on the game i can barely even articulate it. The scenes aren't particularly fun to unlock, take a lot of time of aimless wandering, and aren't entertaining to watch at all, they are a tremendous waste of time, and i can only see tying the true ending to them as a massive mistake. The game doesn't even account for narrative change that would, in other games, cause these scenes to be inaccesible for the time, once again the game undercuts any emotional significance it might have.

Overall i felt that Neon White was undercooked, but worth playing. I'd say this is a great first attempt for a studio that's only just finding it's footing, and hope that they can either improve upon this idea, or move on to something else that i happen to enjoy more in the future.

This game has a number of moments where the player is very clearly meant to find something cool, funny, sexy, or endearing, and it is extremely clear to me that the creator and I would disagree on these concepts as not a single one of these moments "landed" with me.

That I kept playing is more a testament to the strength of the gameplay, because despite the slightly floaty controls, running through these levels is actually a treat. The guns feel punchy and the parkour moves provide useful traversal options (save for a few levels that are a little more on-rails), making the choice between "machine gun" or "double-jump" a little more interesting than you might expect at first glance. I don't think anyone's going to sit at home writing about how this is the most innovative set of time trials they've ever played, but it's clever enough and the levels are stylish enough (they all feel like Kaizo Slumber cover art) that I don't feel like I'm getting robbed for 25 USD.

With a different story, I'd be singing the praises of this game a lot louder, but as things stand it's just a neat way to blow $25 if it's burning a hole in your pocket. It's a good time, but don't sacrifice rent money for this.

...its okay.


The best part about this game is the actual gameplay itself, the movement, weapons, and having to move quickly in this game is incredibly fun. However, what holds this game bad is the abysmally bad writing along with jokes that honestly feel as if they were pulled from Reddit/Twitter.

When I'm playing through games I'm rarely the type of person who beats a level and instantly says to myself "I can do that better." Usually, I'm quite content to just move along and finish the story, and if I really like the game I'll play through the whole thing again. That is not the case with Neon White.

Every single time I finished a level and didn't get the max rank I immediately ran it back and kept beating my head against it until I perfected it. This just goes to show how great it feels to move through these levels, and how the joy of perfecting that movement is so pleasurable. I've played other 2D platformers that have a similar rhythm to the movement, using enemies as springboards to propel yourself forward and whatnot, but this is the first time I've ever seen it done in 3D and in first person which is usually awful for platformers.

The idea of having all your guns have an alt-fire which acts as an attack and a movement ability is fucking golden. The meathook in Doom Eternal is kinda similar, and I'm sure there are other examples that I don't know about, but that's a mechanic I'd love for other shooters to steal even if they don't have such a large emphasis on platforming.

The soundtrack for Neon White is also outstanding. One of the biggest selling points for me was that Machine Girl was doing the entire thing, and it fucking rules. It's definitely a bit more subdued than their usual thing, but in tandem with the gameplay it's sublime.

If Neon White was purely playing through these excellently designed levels while blasting Machine Girl that would be fine by me. Unfortunately, in between all of the good stuff there is a whole lot of visual novel. I'm completely okay with the VN segments existing, I like VNs and I think they work in this game structurally as a breather from the high intensity gameplay. That being said, wow oh wow is this writing bad.

When I first started the game I found the writing kind of endearing. The art style of the game, the intro, the voice cast are all so obviously inspired by 2000s anime culture so why shouldn't the writing also evoke that flavor? That feeling of endearment did not last for long. At a certain point all the characters just really started to grate on me, and the plot did absolutely nothing for me either (especially the ending). The whole script really feels like what an anime club would have written while subsisting on a diet of Toonami and early aughts anime forums, then it sat on a shelf for 15 years and got punched up with a bunch of memes.

All that aside this is an excellent game, I loved my time with it, but all future playthroughs will be heavily utilizing the fastforward dialogue button

People gonna compare this to P5 like they aren't two completely different games lmao. It's more comparable to a Suda title than anything. What happened to y'all? lol

Yeah, the writing is seriously not good and the same can be said about the voice acting, but literally everything else about this game is amazing and incredibly fun. I love good gameplay more than anything else (the silent hill games are probably the only exception). The story could be mediocre but it could have the best gameplay ever and I wouldn't hesitate to give the game close to a perfect score.

The gameplay loop is addicting and I've just been playing the same levels again and again to try and get in the top 100. And the best part is, it doesn't feel like it's forcing me to. I actually wanna do that shit. I actually wanna get better at the game instead of blaming the game. Each card or mechanic adds variety to the level and to the game itself. Giving the player more things to think about in the moment.

The level design is fantastic giving the player multiple routes to tackle, making them feel like a puzzle. While sure, you could finish each level in 10 seconds and move on, I spend up to an hour trying to master it and I'm sure many others will as well.

The visual novel aspects are plain and unintresting but it unlocks really fun platformer challenges so I'm fine with them because of that alone.

The art direction is nice, every character design is pleasing to the eye and the enemies and levels look great as well.

And of course, the soundtrack. Done by our favourite digital hardcore artist, Machine Girl. It's just a really well rounded soundtrack filled with addicting breaks and drum & bass. I have only praise for the soundtrack.

I'm still playing through the game so these are just some thoughts 20 hours in rather than a review. Watch this space.

played the demo

the gameplay is pretty fun, i found it kinda weird for the intro to put emphasis on your character's card considering the main character's one is a dinky sword you never use. aside from that, I really liked the levels

but man oh man, once you finish a level and have to be subjected to the plot... the writing is TEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRIBLE. the voice acting is pretty bad too, Ian JQ is really bad in this.. the writing is just TROPE TROPE REFERENCE TROPE BAD JOKE TROPE like huh?? who wrote this?!!!! then they even dared to put dating sim mechanics on this ☠☠ what were they thinking!!

From what I played (2 sets of levels), in a nutshell it is a dating sim for speedrunners with some questionable quality writing.

Was tempted to just shelf it but I highly doubt I will ever return to this.

Music's good tho.

Not memorable but I had some fun playing the game.
+ The soundtrack is fire.

Obviously one of the main issue here is the bad writing that's shoved in your face every five minutes, even between levels. I ended up skipping the dating sim parts because it was becoming too tedious for me to follow that. The fact that it has a huge impact on the ending really makes you wonder if they felt it was more than just a gimmick.

I think instead on focusing so much on developing an average-at-best story, they should've tried to better the level design, at least giving the player an actual sense of progression between the chapters. The sad thing is you'll probably start playing in auto-pilot at some point because of how repetitive some areas are.

The boss fights were decent, but they really weren't that great. Especially the final one, pretty disappointing for the ending.

Overall great concept but ruined by the narrative side of the game, and also not addictive enough imo, i'd take SEUM any day over this one.

Neon White is a game made by someone who really knows how to make engaging, fun, fast-paced action, and does NOT know how to write a compelling narrative. There's a lot that I absolutely LOVED about Neon White, and plenty that I hated as well.

Let's start with the positives. Neon White's gameplay is the star of the show here. Almost every level made me smile and excited, especially towards the end. The game is not afraid to test your speed and knowledge of its mechanics. It does a good job of introducing you to concepts at a good pace. Just as certain abilities are going stale or running out of uses, BAM, a new weapon or way to use your weapon that changes the way you have to think about things. The movement can be a little floaty at times, but for the most part, the action is fast-paced and thrilling.

The art style and music are also fantastic. I love the way things look both in the VN sections and during the action. It isn't anything mind blowing, but its very pretty to look at. The soundtrack by Machine Girl has been praised a ton, and that's for good reason. These tracks help ramp up the action and intensity during levels, especially as they grow more difficult.

Unfortunately, Neon White's huge red flag is its story, dialogue, and characters. While I liked some of the side characters (Raz and Mikey specifically), the main cast is a huge let down. This is mostly because of the very, VERY poor writing. The main plot is nothing special and never really amounts to anything interesting. Character dialogue is meh at best and, at worst, so cringe inducing I just had to skip it. Whenever you are engaging with characters in its VN sections (akin to a dating-sim at times) you can't help but feel like you just want it to be over. This concept is so cool and interesting, but Ben Esposito just doesn't know how to engage its players with a compelling narrative, instead trying to appeal itself to dumb anime fans who will eat up the game's terrible writing simply because it tries to be like an anime game.

Another thing I was disappointed in was the game's lack of bosses. There are only 3 boss fights in this game, and they are all against the same character. While gameplay wise, I LOVED the boss fights, having it be with the same character was a huge bummer. I would have loved to have seen some unique demon bosses that could have tested the player on different mechanics or weapon abilities just to shake things up. It doesn't detract too much from my overall opinions on the game, but it is something worth noting.

Neon White is the product of incredible gameplay and horrible writing. If the story had been better, this could have been a real GOTY contender for me. Instead, we have a pretty great game that is held back severely by its lack of compelling characters and plot. But hey, I had a great time with this game overall. The gameplay kept me engaged and wanting me to keep trying for faster times and finding each level's secret presents to unlock secret challenge levels. If this game were to ever get a sequel, the biggest improvement needed would be its narrative. If this had been a full $60 title, I would probably rate it a bit lower, but for only $25, I'd say its worth picking up, even with the horrible writing. Give us a great narrative and keep up with the amazing gameplay, and you would have a surefire hit on your hands, Esposito

This is like Walmart brand Suda51.

I like the gameplay. Mechanically, it's fucking rad and quite addicting to see how much faster you can beat each mission. Problem is that the game is also trying to have a very involved narrative alongside it, as you're cut away from the game a lot to watch the VN-like cutscenes. It sucks. But what makes it suck more is that there's a little bit of something charming there and it's just not fully explored in favor of a bunch of cringe-inducing anime references and a piss-poor dating sim addition which is there because "WOAH KAWAII ANIME DATING SO SUGOI UWU!" Every game wants to be Persona when it doesn't need to be at all.

As if it wasn't bad enough, maxing out all the relationship stuff is mandatory to achieve the good ending of the game. This requires obtaining every gift collectible, which is the worst addition to the actual good part of Neon White since it slows everything down and makes you have to check every corner of the levels so you can find these dumb things. I hate when games purposely inconvenience you in order to get the ideal ending.

i love neon white i wish i was a murderer

as for actual serious thoughts im surprised there are so many complaints for the writing, i thought it was pretty funny in the short bursts it has while the actual plot and theming of forgiveness felt pretty solid, the entire cast was real charismatic and their interactions, while you could say they are kinda one note, feel fun enough and are spread out enough that it never feels /boring/. its nothing special but i dont think its such a huge sleight it weights the game down; also feels a bit superficial for a game with such amazing and addicting gameplay, which is the major draw (and i do mean major, the writing is very noticeably NOT the focus.) the lore of "heaven" was real interesting and i found the ways it plays with and keeps certain religious mythologies to be great, while still allowing for comedy to take place at times. neon yellow was extremely entertaining and he was probably the highlight, his relationship with white is such a joy to watch. red was fun in a bit of a Fujiko/Lupin way, but there was still an intimacy that lend itself extremely well to the actual plot of the game. Violet's the... weakest? for me? She's not necessarily bad but she's very much a literal weak link, although I still really liked her interactions with Red. Green was good. Mikey and Raz were done real fun. I don't have much to say about the writing past this because it's not really the major draw and I have no major complaints, but the GAMEPLAY.

Neon White's gameplay is amazing. It is the zenith of fiction. I loved all of the levels save some of the Hanging Gardens levels, and all the weapons had so much variety to it. There's a certain harmony between the weapons and the levels which is amazing, it feels as if the weapons are tailor-made for the levels, and vice versa, its just an amazing fit in both ways.

The game's also just really beautiful? Amazing art and art direction, and a baller soundtrack. I don't listen to much Machine Girl, I've only listened to Because I'm Young, Arrogant, and Hate Everything You Stand For, but I'll definetly check out their other works lol. Nonetheless, the art direction, music, and gameplay lends itself to an outstanding, addicting aesthetic. I ended up 100%ing it in about three somewhat lengthy sessions because I just wanted to keep playing.

I've got some level rushes to do so it's not a "complete 100%", but the game gave me the 100% achievement so still. I definetly see myself coming back and getting some of these rankings higher, and I'm excited to see what's next from the developers.