Neon White Review (heisenburgers)
For the longest time, I didn't really "get" speedrunning. I felt like it was ruining games; abusing bugs only to finish mere seconds faster than a small pool of competitors. Over time, I've come to appreciate it as an art, but from a distance. Getting on the leaderboard requires making discoveries (shortcuts, hidden mechanics, etc.) followed up by flawless execution. This sounds like tons of fun to me, but I don't participate because of the unreasonable commitment of time and effort it requires.
That's where Neon White comes in. The gameplay loop goes like this: you platform your way through a short level (usually under a minute long) shooting demons along the way, only to earn a bronze/silver medal. You learn the layout and go as fast as possible, earning a gold medal. The game then provides you with a shortcut hint, shaving seconds off your time and earning you an Ace medal. You see your friend .05 seconds above you on the leaderboard, and maybe grind the level out a few more times to beat em. If you're lucky, maybe you'll even earn the highest medal: a red one, indicating that you have beaten the developer's own best time. As you progress, you unlock new guns and abilities (i.e. dash, stomp) that make the movement even faster/more complex and add even more possibilities for shortcuts. Effectively, you become a speedrunner every time you boot up a new stage. But how far you want to push it is completely up to you.
All of this on its own would have made for a solid game. Thankfully, it doesn't stop there. The game is gorgeous, and the soundtrack bangs. The level design ranges from good to insanely good. There are collectibles hidden in every level that unlock story and MORE levels (if you count these, the game has well over 100 levels). Reaching them usually requires you to move through the stage in an unconventional way in order to hoarde power-ups. It also forces you to explore and take in the level design. Finding every collectible rewards you with the true ending, and unlocks "rushes" -- how fast can you beat clusters of 8 levels? How fast can you beat the 90+ base levels? Can you do it without dying a single time?
Now I will warn story-first gamers: this one is probably not for you. The dialogue is intentionally cringe, in like an edgy pre-teen anime kind of way. It serves as an effective break from the frantic action. Some of the characters grow on you, and it contributes to the world-building and personality of the game. So in that way, I love it. But I must admit that if this was a standalone visual novel, I wouldn't go near it with a ten foot pole (the fast forward button was tempting sometimes).
But, If you're a gameplay-first gamer like me, this is an absolute must-play. I haven't been this addicted to a game in a really long time. It'll make you feel like a godlike speedrunner without the 1000-hour commitment (That is, until you see the REAL psychos halving your time in White's Hell Rush). I love this game.
9.5/10