If you, like me, have always admired speedrunning from a distance and maybe wanted to try it out yourself, this game is a must play. To say nothing of its actual gameplay, the integrated leaderboard, medal system, and level hints all work incredibly well to drive the player's sense of improvement and optimization.
On the gameplay itself, I think it's conceptually genius and executed near flawlessly. The levels are short and relatively simple, but act as the perfect playground for experimentation. They're all designed with an "intended" route, but lack any constraints and actively encourage you to find another, faster way. There's almost no clutter or visual noise in these levels to distract from the goal, and every stage works near perfectly to get you into a nice flow state. The game also knows when to slow down, coming to a halt at the end of every level, and splitting up groups of stages with its visual novel storytelling. This went miles in keeping me from burning out on the gameplay.
What stood out most to me was the way it feels to play this game, in a mechanical and tactile way. The level of polish is immaculate, and you can tell it was built from the ground up to be a speed game. The character is floaty, but moves at a consistent speed in all directions, unless boosted in some way. However, all of these movement options are either a visible part of the level, or a tangible resource, leaving no room for confusion on what you're capable of at any moment. On his own, White only runs and jumps, and there's no long jumps or sprints to complicate the act of just moving forward.
Aesthetically, I think the game keeps things relatively simple and benefits greatly from it. The environments and characters look just as polished as the game feels, while retaining plenty of detail and personality. The story and dialogue is cheesy and self-indulgent, packed full of tropes that some might find obnoxious. I never had an issue with them, as I think that level of cheese is nice every once in a while. The soundtrack speaks for itself. Absolutely perfect compliment to the gameplay.
If you like going fast, give this one a shot.
On the gameplay itself, I think it's conceptually genius and executed near flawlessly. The levels are short and relatively simple, but act as the perfect playground for experimentation. They're all designed with an "intended" route, but lack any constraints and actively encourage you to find another, faster way. There's almost no clutter or visual noise in these levels to distract from the goal, and every stage works near perfectly to get you into a nice flow state. The game also knows when to slow down, coming to a halt at the end of every level, and splitting up groups of stages with its visual novel storytelling. This went miles in keeping me from burning out on the gameplay.
What stood out most to me was the way it feels to play this game, in a mechanical and tactile way. The level of polish is immaculate, and you can tell it was built from the ground up to be a speed game. The character is floaty, but moves at a consistent speed in all directions, unless boosted in some way. However, all of these movement options are either a visible part of the level, or a tangible resource, leaving no room for confusion on what you're capable of at any moment. On his own, White only runs and jumps, and there's no long jumps or sprints to complicate the act of just moving forward.
Aesthetically, I think the game keeps things relatively simple and benefits greatly from it. The environments and characters look just as polished as the game feels, while retaining plenty of detail and personality. The story and dialogue is cheesy and self-indulgent, packed full of tropes that some might find obnoxious. I never had an issue with them, as I think that level of cheese is nice every once in a while. The soundtrack speaks for itself. Absolutely perfect compliment to the gameplay.
If you like going fast, give this one a shot.