This review contains spoilers
100%ed the game(all ace medals + gifts + true ending)
neon white is the complete opposite of post void. to succeed in post void, you need to forfeit all thought and just do. neon white, however, is a thinking man’s game. you need to constantly be thinking two steps ahead at any given moment if you want the best times and medals. one mistake can utterly ruin an entire run, and with how fast you’re going you need to always be thinking ahead. in post void, you fail if you exit autopilot. in neon white, you fail if you enter autopilot.
the game plays like a dream, it’s honestly the most exhilarating gameplay experience i’ve had since ultrakill’s p-2(still need to p-rank it lol). especially in the book of life levels, oh my god i was staining the walls neon white. the gameplay loop is just so perfect. learning routes for better times, what cards to discard, perfecting your skills, god it’s just so fucking fun.
i would be remiss to not mention the ost. my favorite machine girl album is reporpoised phantasies, and the neon white ost is almost entirely comprised of that style of machine girl, i love the ost in this game. there is not a doubt in my mind machine girl could create an amazing song for p-3, something like tenebre rosso sangue. TRS got me through the gauntlet of p-2 and i guarantee a machine girl song for ultrakill would have the exact same effect. i love the ost here, some favorites include hellion, thousand pound butterfly and glass ocean. the only complaint i have is that it started to get old when i was going for ace medals, but that happens to me with MG a lot, and i started listening to it outside of the game before i finished it so there’s that. i don’t really think it’s a flaw.
the art direction of this game is also amazing, the demon designs are all whimsical and unique, each stage has a unique (and beautiful) environment/backdrop from lower heaven to the hanging gardens to the ??? of thousand pound butterfly. the ost once again helps each stage stand out.
onto the gifts. i was initially skeptical of the gifts you need to get for true ending. i remember tattletail being some big thing back in the day, at least in fnaf youtube spaces. it was cool to realize esposito made that game and turned it into an easter egg lol. outside of getting a bit burnt out on finding them by the end they were really nice. (though the same can be said for the ace medals, i think both are a side effect of 30+ hours of a single game in a week) the “side quests” which were really just awesome bonus levels with a gimmick were great, i loved them. violet > yellow > red for their quality. and the dialogue you receive as another reward always seemed to get a chuckle out of me, at the very least. i seriously don’t get people who hate this dialogue, if you embrace the cheese these characters are endearing.
now for the story/dialouge. everyone says it sucks and yeah its kinda cringe but in an endearing way. its very anime inspired and i have no doubt people would call this dialogue good if it were recorded in japanese. anime dialogue just doesnt sound that good in english. but i mean you got steve blum voicing the protagonist and everyone else is doing a great job as well, so it levels out to endearing rather than cringe. it's not that bad, honestly. the story and world is also genuinely good, too. i like the themes and direction they took with it, there's not often an anime game where god is portrayed as good lol, so that was refreshing. and the twist with the believers being fake angels/deities was also completely unexpected. the believers whole shtick being that they wanted luxury in heaven and were so upset when all they got was eternal peace THAT THEY OVERTHREW GOD. thats a damn good twist, id say. might be unintentional, but it certainly felt like they were critiquing a certain sect of christians. you know the ones
the only complaint i really have is the burnout/fatigue i got late game.
out of the few 2022 games i’ve played, this is definitely goty. i can only see it being surpassed by elden, xbc3, or live a live. though i’ve been known to be blown away by things i have no expectations for, so who knows what could surpass neon white.
this game’s a gem, it’s dialogue and story get hated on way too often, and the gameplay is an exhilarating test of skill. i enjoyed almost every second of it. if not for cs1 or spiderman, this would be the best game i played this year.
ill try the eternights demo next and if i like it then thats whats next if not uhhh gaming break me thinks
neon white is the complete opposite of post void. to succeed in post void, you need to forfeit all thought and just do. neon white, however, is a thinking man’s game. you need to constantly be thinking two steps ahead at any given moment if you want the best times and medals. one mistake can utterly ruin an entire run, and with how fast you’re going you need to always be thinking ahead. in post void, you fail if you exit autopilot. in neon white, you fail if you enter autopilot.
the game plays like a dream, it’s honestly the most exhilarating gameplay experience i’ve had since ultrakill’s p-2(still need to p-rank it lol). especially in the book of life levels, oh my god i was staining the walls neon white. the gameplay loop is just so perfect. learning routes for better times, what cards to discard, perfecting your skills, god it’s just so fucking fun.
i would be remiss to not mention the ost. my favorite machine girl album is reporpoised phantasies, and the neon white ost is almost entirely comprised of that style of machine girl, i love the ost in this game. there is not a doubt in my mind machine girl could create an amazing song for p-3, something like tenebre rosso sangue. TRS got me through the gauntlet of p-2 and i guarantee a machine girl song for ultrakill would have the exact same effect. i love the ost here, some favorites include hellion, thousand pound butterfly and glass ocean. the only complaint i have is that it started to get old when i was going for ace medals, but that happens to me with MG a lot, and i started listening to it outside of the game before i finished it so there’s that. i don’t really think it’s a flaw.
the art direction of this game is also amazing, the demon designs are all whimsical and unique, each stage has a unique (and beautiful) environment/backdrop from lower heaven to the hanging gardens to the ??? of thousand pound butterfly. the ost once again helps each stage stand out.
onto the gifts. i was initially skeptical of the gifts you need to get for true ending. i remember tattletail being some big thing back in the day, at least in fnaf youtube spaces. it was cool to realize esposito made that game and turned it into an easter egg lol. outside of getting a bit burnt out on finding them by the end they were really nice. (though the same can be said for the ace medals, i think both are a side effect of 30+ hours of a single game in a week) the “side quests” which were really just awesome bonus levels with a gimmick were great, i loved them. violet > yellow > red for their quality. and the dialogue you receive as another reward always seemed to get a chuckle out of me, at the very least. i seriously don’t get people who hate this dialogue, if you embrace the cheese these characters are endearing.
now for the story/dialouge. everyone says it sucks and yeah its kinda cringe but in an endearing way. its very anime inspired and i have no doubt people would call this dialogue good if it were recorded in japanese. anime dialogue just doesnt sound that good in english. but i mean you got steve blum voicing the protagonist and everyone else is doing a great job as well, so it levels out to endearing rather than cringe. it's not that bad, honestly. the story and world is also genuinely good, too. i like the themes and direction they took with it, there's not often an anime game where god is portrayed as good lol, so that was refreshing. and the twist with the believers being fake angels/deities was also completely unexpected. the believers whole shtick being that they wanted luxury in heaven and were so upset when all they got was eternal peace THAT THEY OVERTHREW GOD. thats a damn good twist, id say. might be unintentional, but it certainly felt like they were critiquing a certain sect of christians. you know the ones
the only complaint i really have is the burnout/fatigue i got late game.
out of the few 2022 games i’ve played, this is definitely goty. i can only see it being surpassed by elden, xbc3, or live a live. though i’ve been known to be blown away by things i have no expectations for, so who knows what could surpass neon white.
this game’s a gem, it’s dialogue and story get hated on way too often, and the gameplay is an exhilarating test of skill. i enjoyed almost every second of it. if not for cs1 or spiderman, this would be the best game i played this year.
ill try the eternights demo next and if i like it then thats whats next if not uhhh gaming break me thinks