Over the past several years, indie gaming has become almost as big as its AAA counterpart. From spectacular rogue-likes like Have a Nice Death and Hades, to intricate puzzle platformers like Celeste and Cocoon, players have been treated to fantastic experiences that aren't always the focus of major headlines. Neon White is one such fantastic title that, unfortunately, was lost in the shuffle of the usual major game releases of the year it came out.

Developed by Angel Matrix and published by Annapurna Interactive, Neon White is a chaotic mix of action, puzzles, and platforming that comes together to create an intriguingly enjoyable experience. Throughout the game, players are encouraged to make it through each level as fast as possible by understanding some of the more intricate platforming mechanics in modern indie games.

On top of its endlessly addictive gameplay loop, Neon White presents Toonami-style dialogue with the polish of a cheesy "B movie." Complete with a Steve Blum-voiced lead protagonist, the narrative of Neon White, while simple, is campy and enjoyable throughout its entire blistering runtime of 11 hours. Paired with this narrative and gameplay is a fantastic up-tempo soundtrack that makes each level a tense and blood-pumping experience.

A Perfect Mix of Game Genres Creates an Addictive Gameplay Loop

Neon White's Unique Style Adds To The Overall Enjoyment

Unlike most games in the first-person action genre, Neon White decides to treat each weapon (card in this case) as a tool to be expertly used and discarded at any time. While players will always have access to White's signature katana, the variety that the other weapons provide is what sets this game apart from many other puzzle action games.

While running through any particular level, players can pick up one of 7 alternate weapons, each having their own unique attacks and movement properties that are crucial to learn for any player chasing the top ranks of Neon White's speedrun leaderboard. From the first handgun, Elevate, which provides White with an additional jump, to more intricate tools like Dominion, a rocket launcher with a grappling hook, each of the tools in White's arsenal is required to delicately traverse through the stage. The most intriguing weapon, The Book of Life, is only acquired in the game's final 10 stages, but it provides a lasting impact. Allowing players to teleport to the nearest enemy within White's line of sight, The Book of Life is the most interesting weapon at the player's disposal and makes any level it is on instantly faster.

The speed of the game is part of what makes the gameplay loop so addictive. While most speedrunning-focused games are not developed with that aspect in mind, Neon White presents itself as a speedrunner's paradise, urging players to try to beat the red-ranked developer times. On each level, there is an obvious shortcut, but with a bit of tactful experimentation, players can find their own routes and improve their times, cutting them down to make levels sometimes take as few as 5 seconds.

While the main levels of Neon White focus on the players' ability to take down complex puzzle platforming challenges as swiftly as possible, the 3 boss encounters with the main antagonist, Neon Green, take on a different style. As each boss fight can be cleared in under two minutes, players instead have to focus on precision shooting and delicate platforming to maximize damage on Green and take him down each time. These boss fights test players' knowledge of every weapon in the game and encourage players to find outside-the-box solutions, as the only required enemy to defeat during these levels is Green himself.

The other unique level in Neon White tasks players with chasing down White's love interest, Neon Red, as she attempts to sacrifice herself to help White take down Green and stop Green from taking over heaven. This level is unique to each other encounter. Instead of taking down all enemies on the way to a goal, players can skip each enemy if they wish as their only goal is catching Red, This makes the level a challenging mix of precision and action, as players will want to take down enemies, but might realize that going around them is sometimes better.

Overall, Neon White is superlative in every sense of its gameplay. As most shooters only treat ammo as a resource, Neon White wants players to work around the limitations of its weapons system and approach each puzzle with a different plan of attack. This level of variety makes each of the areas of Neon White a blast to play through, even before considering its music and character design.

Neon White's Narrative and Characters are Surprisingly Endearing

90s Inspired Anime Dialogue Makes for a Charming Plot

Most indie games in recent years have had deep stories aimed at eliciting feelings of deep emotion and wonderment from their players. From the sadness of Celeste to the joy and intrigue of Journey, these deep narratives are beloved by fans wishing to see the more artistic side of the gaming medium. The best stories in gaming, however, are sometimes the ones that take themselves the least seriously and completely own their humorous side.

Led by the standout lead performances of White (Steve Blum) and White's handler, Mike (Sungwon Cho), Neon White's vocal cast is filled with spectacular talent that adds to a rather straightforward narrative. Neon White details the story of Neons, sinners who are given a chance to stay in heaven if they can kill the most demons by the end of one year. Each of the main Neons (White, Green, Red, Yellow, and Purple) are members of a crime group, but White loses any memories of this when he is transported to Heaven. Throughout the game, players uncover the backstory of these characters, learning how each of them died in a heist gone wrong.

Despite the simplicity of Neon White's story, the narrative is able to stand out because of the campy nature of its dialogue. Sometimes straying into anime levels of absurdity, the dialogue of the game intentionally tries to be over the top and is sometimes wholesomely cringy with its cheesy meta humor. Each of the major characters is a stereotypical depiction of an anime type, which somehow makes them more endearing than they would be otherwise. From White's role as the standoffish, brooding lead, to Yellow's role as the spitting image of Ryuji Sakamoto from Persona 5, each trope only enhances the narrative and makes each of its twists and turns easier to understand.

As Neon White follows the traditional crime backstory with a side of redemption narrative, it is crucial that the main hero and villain are intriguing characters. The game aces this task spectacularly as every interaction between White and Green is filled with tension. Voiced by Ben Lepley, Neon Green is everything that the villain of any game needs to be. Equally menacing as he is intriguing, Green's sparing appearances throughout the game make the buildup to each encounter with him all the more enticing to go through, eventually leading to a heartwarming post-credits scene between all the Neons.

While Neon White's story isn't a masterpiece of modern fiction by any means, its characters and campy dialogue make for a charming narrative. When looking at anime-inspired games in recent years, it is hard to argue that there is a more enjoyable comedic story than Neon White.

Spectacular Sound and Visual Design Add Needed Tension

Neon White's Soundtrack and Visuals are a Divine Pairing

Every great game is paired with great sound and visuals, and Neon White is no exception. Performed by American music duo Machine Girl, Neon White's soundtrack is a perfect mix of slow, soft tones for menus and hub worlds and bombastic, off-the-wall club mixes for its intense level designs. Many of the game's best songs occur during the boss fights with Neon Green. These tracks help to add to the already tense moments and create the high-stakes tension that players love from their boss fights.

Furthermore, Neon White knows how to pace its music with both specific moments and levels of difficulty. Hub worlds, as well as early game levels, ease players into the pace of the game, leaning heavily on soft piano and guitar beats to elicit a feeling of calm. This shifts throughout the game. As the levels become more high stakes, the music adapts to this, learning more into high-paced club music and EDM that makes players truly feel the power of the protagonist they are embodying.

Paired alongside this magnificent soundtrack is spectacular enemy and character design. Some of the enemies are simple and don't bring out much of a visceral reaction from the player. Early-game blobs serve as a mere platforming obstacle compared to the intimidation of late-game mimics, which threaten to punish the player for even the slightest misstep.

Furthermore, each Neon has specific design characteristics that embody their personality to a tee. Neon Purple's bunny mask shows off her hyper nature and her obsession with White, while Neon Red's fox mask is meant to show off her sleek and mysterious personality. The Angels that each Neon interacts with also have unique designs. While each Neon sees them differently, White, and therefore the player, imagines his handler and secretary as differently colored cats. These intricate designs, paired with a lively soundtrack, exciting gameplay, and a lively story, help Neon White to be a stellar indie title that deserves far more praise than it receives.