“Hey, guess what?  You died and God thinks you suck.  Go Kill some crap.”
– Neon White

A mask placed on your face that detonates if you take it off.  You wake, surrounded by a hundred other people in the same predicament, each wearing a unique mask representing a different animal or creature, ready to do whatever it takes to claim a year-long stay in Heaven.  Oh, and did I forget to mention?  You’re dead, Neon White.

Getting Started

You wake up in a serene world filled with bright colors surrounded by a hundred people– called “Neons”– of varying skills all fighting to rise in the rankings and be the one who kills the most demons.  If you defeat the reigning champion you’ll get to spend a year-long vacation in Heaven.  Each individual has a different mask and color associated with them, our main character is designated “Neon White.”  All these Neons are sent to Heaven to kill demons who slipped in and are causing trouble.  In the sermon hall, the gathering place for news about the competition, you meet the main characters of the game including Neons Yellow, Violet, Red, and Green.  Each one of them has a role in your past life but you can’t remember anything. Neon Yellow is a ‘bro’ type character who is loyal but a bit dumb while Neon Violet has an electric personality and is all about blowing stuff up.  Neon Red is more apprehensive about talking to you and has a tough personality.  Neon Green is the winner from the last competition and serves as the main antagonist throughout the story.  Condescending, bright blue characters called Believers are in control of everything; from the daily talks to the detonation of the masks.  They will also give you golden tickets used to unlock extra dialogue and story as you rise through the ranks of the Neons.  These tickets will grant Neon White the pleasantries of Heaven like ice cream to eat, watching a movie, or visiting the beach.  You’ll meet angels who appear to you as cats while to others they may look like something else.  There are a few angels you’ll talk to, like Mikey, who gives you your missions while smoking a cigar and talking in a gruff Brooklyn accent.  There are a lot of questions in the beginning, you’ll have to get all the answers before the dreaded day 15, judgment day. Everyone who isn’t Neon rank 1 goes back to purgatory to wait for their next shot in the competition. 

Interactions With Neons

The presentation of the game outside of combat is a lot like a visual novel game with two or three characters on the screen interacting with minimal movement.  To express the way a character is feeling in situations, sometimes you’ll actually see their facial expression underneath their mask.  In most cases a heart, glow on the character, sweat, and other ways of non-verbally showing emotion will appear around them akin to a dating sim, though it is not.   You don’t have any choice over what you say or who you ally with.  In each level you can find a wrapped gift box, these collectables sometimes will be hidden in difficult-to-get places.  There are several unique gifts for all the different characters.  Each character has a uniquely color-coded item; Yellow’s gift is a six-pack of beer, Red’s is a perfume bottle, Violet receives a Furby-type toy, and so on.  Giving a gift will unlock new dialogue, challenge levels, and flashbacks.  These differ from the tickets you receive from the Believers with the gifts being more focused on specific characters.  The challenge levels and flashbacks are the biggest reward giving you more depth into the game’s mechanics and backstories of the characters.  Even though these things are not necessary to advance the plot it does add much-needed character development.  I personally did not have a problem with the overall plot of the game even though it is a bit predictable at times.  The voice acting for the characters is really well done, everyone puts on great performances with plenty of emotion.  The only times that the dialogue falters is when it goes too far into anime tropes, like when Neon Violet describes how her “big boobs” get in the way when trying to aim her gun.  Her speech pattern mimics what a generic female character in an anime would sound like. These situations are far and few between but a bit jarring during normal conversations.  The story does a good job at progressing the events in the game and if you want to just get to the action there is a fast-forward button.

How to Kill a Demon

The combat, much like the music, in Neon White is fast and fluid.  You see the world through a first-person perspective but you never see weapons in your hands.  As you play you’ll find a rhythm and as you improve scores on each mission, your Neon rank will improve.  The goal is to reach  Neon rank 1 which can be obtained by getting a platinum medal on each level.  There are also bronze, silver, and gold medals as well, each giving you something specific to help reach the next medal.  You’ll be able to see your previously achieved ghost times, acquire the aforementioned gifts, have a hint for shortcuts you might have missed before, and access online leaderboards as your time improves.  In order to complete a level you’ll have to kill every demon while getting the best time but how does one kill a demon in Neon White?  Through items called Soul Cards. You’ll start off with a single Soul Card and can accumulate more as you run through the level.  You can hold two unique soul cards in your hand at once in stacks of three.  Each card allows you to use a specific weapon and come from a similar colored demon.  Each weapon also comes equipped with a special ability to help traverse the level.  The way to use the special ability is simple– all you have to do is discard it.  Doing this will eliminate the card from your hand but give you a boost to your platforming.  Some examples are the machine gun which will launch a grenade that you can use to gain height, the pistol which can be used as a double jump, and the RPG that also doubles as a zipline.  Knowing when to fire off a round of ammunition or discard for the platforming benefits is one of the most enjoyable parts of the game.   Timing your uses of each card can be tricky to nail down but very satisfying when you master it.

The Perils of Demon Killing

There is a lot of beauty in the world of Neon White not just in the level design but in the locations themselves.  The developers used color not only for distinguishing different characters but also for leading you towards your goal.  Most levels are sprawling, twisting, turning, vertical, and even destructible, but your way forward is made known with color.  Demons are a deep black that is easily visible at a distance.  Even the demons with coloring depicting a card you’ll pick up from killing them show in the vibrant white and bright colors that heaven is made of.  Along with special demons who have cards inside them there are also variations of normal enemies.  Some look like floating balls that you can jump on, there is a version that can instantly kill you with a tracking laser eye, bubbles that shield enemies until you go inside, and mimic chests that shoot in all directions when hit to name a few.  The areas you travel to all have one thing in common, no floor, making falling off a ledge or platform a bit more dangerous than your normal platformer.  Neon White also has a few boss fights sprinkled in that work well with its platforming and combat system.  Sometimes you’ll need to use a special ability to break a wall or traverse over a gap.  If you lack the tools then your run will be over, simple as that.

Mission Complete

Neon White is one of the only games that I’ve done the 100% completion in this year and it’s exactly what I needed.  In a year full of huge open worlds, longer-than-life experiences, and tedious side missions, Neon White blew those games out of the water.  The fast-paced action of the gameplay is very satisfying and there is plenty of replayability if you want to go for the platinum medals, gifts, and challenge modes.  The game only falters when the dialogue leans too heavily into anime tropes but I found the story very enjoyable and humorous at times.  The levels are smartly designed and begging to be mastered with shortcuts everywhere if you have the skill.  The hard-hitting soundtrack helps you keep in step as you run, jump, glide, and shoot your way through beautiful environments.  I’m happy to say that buying Neon White was money well spent, I got all $25 worth out of it and more.  If you are looking for a first-person shooter that changes things up, look no further than Neon White.

PIXEL PERFECT

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YemmytheFerret (Yemmy) is a podcast host for shows like Ferret64, Fubar Ferret, and Film Freakz. He is also a variety streamer on Twitch who currently lives in Ohio. He plays a bit of everything but loves platformers, shooters, and action RPG’s. Favorite game: Banjo-Kazooie.