Neon White Is Still A High-Speed Joy On PlayStation Plus
Gotta go fast.
To get into heaven, you have to kill at lot of demons. At least, that’s the way it works in Neon White, a unique blend of lightning-fast shooter and horny visual novel with a bit of deckbuilding thrown in for flavor. One of the most captivating games of 2022, it’s now available on PlayStation Plus, where it feels just as great as the day it launched.
In Neon White, you play as Neon White, which I suppose warrants a little more explanation. The game begins with the player character waking up in heaven — not because he lived a flawless life, but quite the opposite. To the angels, he’s known as a Neon, a human who’s been selected from among the sinners in hell to take part in a ten-day competition. And since his surname in life was White, that makes him Neon White. The rules of the competition are simple: survive the contest while taking down as many demons as possible, and you’ll be granted access to paradise.
Neon White is an ultra-fast platforming shooter with surprisingly lovable characters.
In gameplay terms, that means zipping through short platforming levels, taking out demons along the way to reach each stage’s goal as quickly as possible. Levels typically take under a minute to complete, with true mastery demanding multiple trips through to figure out all their secrets and execute your run perfectly. It’s sort of a beginner’s class in speedrunning, teaching you how to read levels for alternate paths, train yourself never to stop or hesitate, and practice moves over and over until they become second nature.
Your demon-dispatching tools come in the form of various firearms and your trusty katana. While your sword is always in hand, everything else comes from cards you’ll find scattered around the level or picked up from defeated demons. You can use each card’s attack with one controller trigger or discard it with the other trigger, which will play a special ability. One weapon gives you a second in-air jump when discarded, for instance, while another launches a bomb that destroys enemies, breaks certain walls, and launches you higher if you’re caught in the blast. Figuring out how to use each weapon and discard ability perfectly to reach the goal turns every stage into a compelling puzzle that demands both quick wits and quick reflexes.
Neon White’s level are a glorious blitz of platforming and shooting.
If that’s all there was to Neon White, it would still be an easy game to recommend, but along with its blazing fast levels, it also features a funny, stupendously horny story that plays out between runs (not to mention a catchy soundtrack by electronic duo machine girl). You can’t have a competition without rivals, of course, and as you fight your way through demon hordes, you’ll come up against the other sinners competing for their chance at redemption.
That’s a big problem for Neon White, because everyone else in the competition seems to know exactly who he is, but he’s lost all but the most basic of his memories. He knows he’s seen this collection of weirdos before, but as they flirt, taunt, or reminisce about old times with him, he can’t quite recall how they actually knew each other.
Neon White’s rivals might be more dangerous than the demons.
Over the course of the game, you’ll have the chance to cozy up to each character, forming relationships with White’s rivals. Each stage hides a hidden gift that you can only find after succeeding once, encouraging multiple tries at each level. These gifts can help ingratiate you to your fellow Neons, from the gleefully homicidal Violet to the affably dorky Yellow. Despite White’s soul being on the line, Neon White is primarily a comedy, keeping the fight for redemption and the fatal competition a lighthearted affair.
Neon White combines a large and unlikely set of influences, and manages to pull it off with impressive flair. Its stages feel fantastic, its characters are a hoot, and its art and music perfectly fit its energetic vibe. Whatever platform you play on, if you haven’t gotten around to Neon White yet, it’s a good time to change that.
