Neon White gets physical

The indie hit Neon White earned itself a cult following after it launched in 2022. The developer, Angel Matrix, recently announced that the game will be receiving a physical release soon. Depending? on what version you buy, you can also expect a few extras.

[caption id="attachment_391922" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid.[/caption]

What you get with Neon White's physical edition

The physical editions for the PS5 and Nintendo Switch launch on September 12 this year. If you grab it at reta??il sto??res, you'll receive a bonus 11 by 17 inches poster by Rebecca Ryan. It launches with a $39.99 price tag.

Pre-orders for ex??clusive iam8bit versions are availab?le for preorder. Both the Switch and PS5 versions include a physical copy of the game along with five anime-style "character peeker" stickers, music by Machine Girl, and a cover sheet by Rebecca Ryan. Both versions of the iam8bit exclusive cost $44.99, and they will be available in this year's fourth quarter.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmofCFI3JuQ

Xbox players shouldn't despair, as it appears a port is on the way. Eagle-eyed fans have spotted an ESRB rating for Neon White that includes the Xbox Series X/S, suggesting that developers haven't for??gotten about the platform.

For gamers looking for a unique FPS, Neon White is a critically acclaimed title wo?rth checking?? out. This physical release comes at a time when studios are opting to not include physical versions of titles. This is the case with Remedy Entertainment which currently has no plans to release physical editions of Alan Wake 2.

The post Neon White is getting a physical edition appeared first on Destructoid.

An interesting year

It feels like a bit of a copout to say "2022 was an interesting year for video games," because every year is an interesting year for video games... but, well, 2022 was an interesting year for video games! It was the first year in which I really felt like I could see 2020's production setbacks on the release calendar, but it was also a year for projects that seemed like they would never arrive. Who would have guessed that Dwarf Fortress would reach 1.0 and Live A Live would get its of?ficial English?? localization in the same year?

I?? didn't have to whittle this list down too much - while there were a lot of smaller games this year, I only reall??y loved a few. Personally, I prefer that to a year with a massive wave of just-okay games crowding out the ones I'm actually interested in. 2022 didn't see all that many releases from massive developers, which meant shorter mid-budget titles and indie games had the chance to really stand out, and I had the chance to play a lot more of them. There was plenty of chaff in there, but I also got to see some wheat I may have otherwise missed. I might not have even played some of the games on this list in a busier year. So thanks, 2022.

With all that being said, I'd like ??to run down those excellent games that gave me that warm and fuzzy game of the year feeling.

[caption id="attachment_356093" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Vampire Survivors

Vampire Survivors showed up at just the right time for me. At the beginning of the year, I contracted COVID-19 after seeing the most recent Scream movie in theaters (the illness was nearly as bad as the movie). Blessedly, Vampire Survivors had entered early access only a few weeks earlier, and, as luck would have it, I had a spare three dollars burning a hole in my pocket. And that's the story of how Vampire Survivors made my quarantine bearable.

This is by no means a difficult game, but it's a microcosm of what I love about RPGs. Watching my character go from a wimpy little single-weaponed loser to a screen-clearing god over the course of thirty minutes is the kind of dopamine hit that I just need sometimes. This is not a joke - I just opened Vampire Survivors to grab a quick screenshot for this entry and I accidentally played through an enti??re run.

[caption id="attachment_356095" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Bethesda Softworks[/caption]

Ghostwire: Tokyo

I don't really understand why so few people played Ghostwire: Tokyo. I get that it was never going to be a God of War-sized smash hit, but this is the third title from a studio with a decent reputation, and the pitch is great - explore the haunted streets of Tokyo while slinging Doctor Strange-ish magic at various ghosts and spirits. What's more, the execution of all t??hose ideas is pretty great.

The empty city at the heart of Ghostwire: Tokyo is gorgeously haunting, and the moment-to-moment FPS combat feels great. The banter between protagonist Akito and his ghost buddy KK keeps the middling story from dragging the experience down, and collecting what feels like one tr??illion different objects scattered around the environment?? is a blast. It doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it rolls along just fine.

[caption id="attachment_356098" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Neon White

Nobody needs to hear me talk about Neon White. I've touched on its cringe-and-proud writing in the past, and anyone who's spent more than a couple hours with it knows how instantly addicting its speedrunning parkour loop is. Neon White is very go?od, and if you haven't played it by now, you really should.

I'm reminded of something like Celeste, a game that made me love precision platforming where other precision platformers could not. I don't care for speed games of this nature, and yet, I cannot stop gunning for those shiny blue medals in Neon White. It's just so great.

[caption id="attachment_356100" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image from Humble Games[/caption]

Signalis

I have a confession to make: while I love nearly every Resident Evil game released after 2005, I kind of can't stand classic survival horror games. I love the eerie atmospheres and the carefully constructed environments, and every time I start Silent Hill, I become briefly convinced that it will become my entire personality. But I've never finished Silent Hill.

I did finish Signalis, a lo-fi sci-fi sendup to survival horror stories of the PSX era, and I thought it was great. A lot of the things I struggle with in those early survival horror games (esoteric puzzles, poor sense of direction, clunky gunplay, constant inventory management) are present here, but I forced myself to muscle through them, and I found myself really liking them. I was also very taken in by Signalis' setting and its beautiful art style. I guess I should go finish Silent Hill now.

[caption id="attachment_356102" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image from Bandai Namco[/caption]

Elden Ring

Poet Robert Graves once said, "The remarkable thing about Shakespeare is that he really is very good, in spite of all the people who say he is very good." That's kind of how I feel about Elden Ring. Often, when a game connects with? absolutely everybody else, I can't help but look for its shortcomings. I always end up scouting for the seams, the compromises that must have been made to appeal to such a wide audience.

I did exactly that with Elden Ring. I loved the thing on release, and I poured dozens of hours into it, but as soon as I stopped playing, I started assembling my little list of contrarian gripes. It's repetitive, the narrative coasts on being esoteric to mask the fact that it's kind of boring, there are too many damn systems to make "system mastery" feel satisfying, and so on. And then I came back to Elden Ring, and all of those complaints melted away. Because Elden Ring is very good, in spite of al??l the people who say it is very good.

[caption id="attachment_356104" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image from Funcom[/caption]

Metal: Hellsinger

Metal: Hellsinger is a rhythm game with designs that imitate 2016's DOOM and a boss fight set to a Serj ??Tankian sol??o. It's great.

[caption id="attachment_356106" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image from Crows Crows Crows[/caption]

The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe

The Stanley Parable didn't really need a remaster, and The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe knows it. It's hard to explain what, exactly, The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe is without totally spoiling some of its most delightful surprises. I don't think it's a spoiler to say that Ultra Deluxe has surprises, though, because it's The Stanley Parable, and that's what The Stanley Parable is.

The Stanley Parable is the kind of game that you should play if you have any interest in video games as a means of telling stories, and that's especially true now, with the Ultra Deluxe p??ackage representing a reaso??nably major reinvention of the original concept.

[caption id="attachment_356108" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Immortality

I love Sam Barlow's Her Story, a non-linear FMV mystery game in which new scenes are discovered by searching for specific keywords. Immortality, Barlow'??s newest game, is even better. It features a similar system, in which new scenes are unlocked by searching for specific item??s found in video clips.

Immortality is the story of a movie star whose three films were never released to the public. The player takes on the role of an archivist, simultaneously assembling those unreleased films from recovered footage and attempting to unravel the mystery of what happened behind the scenes. It's a story about cinema, and the image-matching game system is a perfect match for that narrative. Her Story is a story about language, the words we use and the reasons we use them. In contrast, Immortality is a story about images, a much? headier concept in a much more satisfying package.

[caption id="attachment_356109" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image from Raw Fury[/caption]

Norco

Norco is one of those games that feels special from minute one. This bizarre point-and-click adventure set in a near-future version of the real-world town of Norco, Louisiana is dreamy, melancholic, and simply amazing. It's a striking anti-capitalist text, but it's also a love letter to the k??ind of place that doesn't often receive love letters.

I have found myself considering something new about Norco almost every day since I played it. It blends its near-future dystopia wit?h its current-day problems absolutely expertly. This is the kind of game where a dying mother does gig work in order to ?amass cryptocurrency to pay for her own digital ghost. It's full of tragic sci-fi conundrums like that, and I can't stop thinking about it.

[caption id="attachment_356112" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image from Devolver Digital[/caption]

Card Shark

I don't know all that much about pre-revolutionary France. I know even less about gambling, and next to nothing about cheating at card tables. And yet, while playing Card Shark, I felt myself becoming an expert at cheating at card games in pre-revolutionary France. Nerial's period piece, which focuses on the pupil of the Comte de Saint Germa??in (history's greatest liar), is a thing of beauty.

Card Shark looks amazing, and its story is a charming and touching testament to the proverbial little guy, but where it sings is in its gameplay. The card tricks performed in the game are based on very real cheats, and Nerial has produced something of an interactive handbook for fraud. Every trick is taught to the player carefully, and executing on them feels like playing a very painterly WarioWare micro-game. Part of me wishes it was a little longer, but the narrative itself is very well-paced. I just want to play more of the thing, which is a very good problem?? to have. It's an incredibly specific game, but the one that I loved the most this year.

The post Sorrel Kerr-Jung’s favorite games of 2022 appeared first on Destructoid.

The only embarrassing thing is being embarrassed

Since its release in June, the speedrunning first-person parkour shooter Neon White has been plagued by one common criticism. I've heard it more times than I can count, and it comes up as a counterpoint nearly every time I praise the game: "It's a good game with bad writing." The complaint doesn't always arrive in those words (I've also heard it described as "so cringy" many times), but the philosophy has pervaded discussion of ?the game for six months now.

There's just one problem: it's completely wrong. Neon White is a good game with good writing. And yes, it's a good game with writing that sometimes makes me cringe. Most of the jokes are cheap gags about the main character being either stupid or horny. The entire conceit of parkour demons slicing up heaven with cool anime swords is the kind of thing a 14-year-old would scribble in the margins of their math notebook. But the key mistake arises when you assume that cringe-worthy writing is inherently bad. In fact, Neon White's embarrassing nonsense is crucial to ??its success.

Remembering what came before

Neon White takes a lot of cues from dubbed anime of the '90s and 2000s. This isn't a secret - director Ben Esposito describes Neon White, in his own words, as a "speedrunning anime FPS." The main character, the eponymous Neon White, is voiced by Cowboy Bebop's Steve Blum (Blum's voice can also be heard in everything from Digimon to Naruto: Shippuden). There's even a bona fide ?beach episode wedged into the middle of an incredibly tense point in the story, complete with new swimsuits for the main characters.

To that end, it would be profoundly dishonest for Neon White to be anything but cringe-worthy. The exact same game minus the frequent eye-rolling jokes about boobs would, in fact, be an entirely different game. It's impossible to truly send up that era without reminding the player of the annoying tropes that used to prevail. Once again, this is something Esposito himself has acknowledged. In a pre-release interview with GamesRadar, Esposito noted that he wanted to make a game that felt like the trope-laden shows he? loved, adding that "part of that is embracing cringe and embracing the tropes."

Comfort for the shameful

"It's on purpose" is, of course, a weak justification for a creative decision. Deliberate choices can also be bad choices. Many would argue that the decision to imitate a bygone era of writing is an altogether bad one. Most of the folks who used to love the shows Neon White is imitating look back on those days w??ith a bit of shame.

But the stuff that we cringe at now was cool as hell back then. Parkour demons were cool, and jokes about idiot protagonists were funny. Beach episodes were fun. If Neon White was one of the DVDs in my little collection of video store oddities back in the day, I would have been obsessed with it. As a video game in 2022, Neon White lets me retreat back into that zone. It lets me enjoy things just the way I used to. It's the interactive equivalent of a reunion tour for all the corniest, most over-played tropes in the world, and that's great. If you didn't come up around stories like this, then maybe it won't do anything for you. Maybe the clumsy comedy is just clumsy, and the cast of ?horny idiots are just horny idiots.

If you have no affection for a younger, more embarrassing version of yourself, then sure, Neon White is just an annoying attempt to relive the not-so-glory days. For the rest of us, it's the chance to live like a shameless weirdo again. To get to that point, you have to be able to kill the part of you that cringes. Once you do, listening to Neon White's goofy dialogue is like coming home.

The post Neon White kills the beast that cringes appeared first on Destructoid.

PC indeed

As someone who heretically prefers to play games on a controller, PC may not always be my first choice. But even I have to admit that it's a platform that has some of the most compelling releases of the year, every year. When it's easier for small, independent teams to publish to platforms like Steam or itch.io, the cream usually tends to rise to the top, so that PC is always one of the most stacked "best of the year" categories, in my opinion. 2022 was no exception, because this?? banger-filled list is making it really difficult to try and decide which game is gonna take my vote.

First you've got Signalis, which is not only an awesome tribute to classic horror games like Silent Hill and Resident Evil, but also one of the most stylish and he?art-wrenching games I've played in a long time. Everything from the art style to the soundtrack to the puzzle design elevated the creepy, slow-burn atmosphere, and it's a game I've been left thinking about weeks after having put it down.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KFiOp2o4L8

Citizen Sleeper is yet another innovative title that released in 2022 ??among a swath of other games that are moving the medium forward. Its focus is on a tabletop-inspired, dice-centric narrative, and it executes that premise with all of the polish you can imagine. What it is able to achieve in unique yet somehow familiar gameplay, it also wins you over with its stories, even after leaving us with some mysteries to explore on our next adventure.

For all the shoot 'em up fans out there, Vampire Survivors has you covered. The game has minimalistic art and gameplay design, but with good reason �the gameplay loop is so well-designed and lean, it doesn't need any of the extra fluff. It's one of those games that's perfect to sit down and play in little bouts, but every time you do, you know you're gonna have a blast. Vampire Survivors snuck up on me for sure, but it did indeed turn ou??t to be one of the highlights?? of 2022.

Trombone Champ is the obvious stand-out of the year. At a glance, it's not a game I think any of us would have expected to appear on a list like this, but when you look more closely, it's all there. It's simply a well-designed rhythm game (going so far as to actually imitate how it feels to play a real trombone with a scary amount of accuracy), the visual style is downright hilarious, and the soundtrack has the perfect lineup of songs that you're either super familiar with, or make you go "I know this song but I never knew wh?at it was called."

It was one of those ideas that the team would make or break in its execution, and they absolutely nailed it. If nothing else, the entire gaming community's reaction to Trombone Champ is ??enough to warrant its place on this list, I think, because there was something magical about seeing a game collectively bring all of us joy upon its release.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpQ8a3c7EAQ

If you're not a speedrunning person, you will be after playing Neon White. While you can really take or leave the story, the gameplay alone is enough to land Neon White on this list. It's bombastic, it's creative, and of course fast-paced, and it'll make even the most tepid players (aka me) twitching to set a new record. This title is really able to capture the raw, tactical fun that only tightly-designed gameplay can really deliver, and is maybe the best game to do so since the release of Hades.

Then there's NORCO, which is easily one of the weirdest games of the year, in the best way. It's a Southern Gothic point-and-click narrative set in the marshlands of New Orleans, and let me tell you, it is one wild ride. NORCO has absolutely beautiful prose and breathtaking pixel art, and then you'll encounter one of the most strange set pieces you've likely see??n in a game in a while. I found the game incredibly moving, and easily one of the best narrative games of the year. If nothing else, it simply deserves more eyes on it, because it was an absolute delight to play.

Last but certainly not least, we have Victoria 3. It may not be for everyone, but for those who are fans of grand strategy games, the newest release from Paradox Interactive is considered a truly great title. The cult following of the Victoria series has been long-awaiting the series' third installment, as Paradox themselves call it "one of the most anticipated games in Paradox’s history." The general consensus is that Victoria 3 did in fact live up to the hype, making it ??one of the best grand strategy games to come out in recent years, and certainly in 2022.

Here are the nominees for Destructoid’s Best PC Game of 2022:

• Signalis
• Citizen Sleeper
• Vampire Survivors
• Trombone Champ
• Neon White
• NORCO
• Victoria 3

The post Nominees for Destructoid’s Best PC Game of 2022 appeared first on Destructoid.

The DualSense controller will bring a whole new feel

The "lightning fast" first person shooter/puzzle platformer Neon White was one of this year's best indie hits. It had some of the freshest gameplay ideas we've seen in a while, plus, who doesn't love a game that pushes you to challenge yourself to beat a level as fast as you can? I could see Neon White being a gateway to the speedrunning community, for sure. The game was able to snag three different nominations from the Game Awards, inc?luding Best Indie, Best Action, ?and Best Debut Indie.

Now, PlayStation has announced that they're bringing Neon White to PS4 and PS5 consoles on December 13, so a whole new group of players who have yet to check it out are going to have the chance. According to a PlayStation blog by Angel Matrix's Game Director Ben Esposito detailing the port, Neon White will run at 120hz on PlayStation? 5 across the board, because "high framerate matters" when a game is so focused on speed.

//twitter.com/PlayNeonWhite/??status/15983??61286680535042

The ??port will also "??make use of PS5's adaptive triggers to make each Soul Card feel unique when you fire them as well as when you discard." Another DualSense feature you can use to your advantage is the controller's Gyroscope, which you can use to help aim with more precision. Esposito says "gyroscope aiming can take some getting used to, but it’s well worth it for an extra degree of fine-grained control when sniping demons from the start of a level."

If my Breath of the Wild playthroughs have taught me anything, it's that motion controls aren't really my thing. Either way, Neon White is a game I've been itching to play since it came out, and now that it's on my favorite con??sole, it looks like it's finally time for me to give this heavenly speedrunner a shot.

The post Neon?? White comes to PlayStation consoles this month appeared first on Destructoid.

Keep those genre mashups coming, game devs

There are a lot of video games out there in the world. Shooters, platformers, narrative adventures, fighting games �iconic? genres that have almost forty years of precedence to make them what they are today. Various developers and studios have given us some truly amazing entries in all of these genres and many more, but sometimes, I find myself wondering if there's anything new out there that will shake up the industry. Of course, this is always a silly thought, because people are endlessly creative, especially when it comes to game design. The industry has plenty of answers for keeping things moving forward, but my absolute favorite trend in games right now is genre mashup.

That's right, it's as simple as taking two game genres and combining them �but the outcome is almost always effective, giving us a?? new perspective on some gameplay systems that might have otherwise become a bit tired. Developers have been borrowing design elements from all kinds of games pretty much forever, but it seems like in the past few years, the main conceit of "this game mix?ed with that game" has become more prominent than ever before.

Exhibit A: Deckbuilding Roguelikes

One of my favorite examples of a genre mashup is Mega Crit's 2017 indie darling Slay the Spire. This game has had a chokehold on me for over a year now, and in that time I've loaded 250 hours into it on my Switch. For those who aren't familiar, it's a deckbuilding roguelike, which happens to be two of my favorite g??enres in the first place.

You completely start your deck over with each run, and getting to know the cards and how to max out your builds makes for a really fun gameplay loop. On their own, both deckbuilders and roguelikes make learn?ing the details of the game mec?hanics a core part of their design, so putting the two together is a match made in heaven. It's like peanut butter and chocolate �two great things on their own make something even better when combined.

Deadpan Games also has a title coming up this year that I absolutely can't wait for: Wildfrost. It's a deckbuilding roguelike, just like Slay the Spire, only with an adorable, snow-and-ice theme. I'm honestly supe?r excited to see the combo of these two subg??enres becoming more prominent in the games space, because they make for endless fun and replayability.

Exhibit B: Neon White

Another recent game that's been getting a lot of love recently is Neon White, Angel Matrix's new speedrunning FPS puzzle-platformer. It's such a unique mix of gaming conventions that you have to list at least three different genres in its description, and I think that's beautiful. Neon White has been a standout ever since i??t premiered back in early 2021, and although I haven't gotten the opportunity to play it yet mys?elf, from what I hear it's delivering on everything we could want from its premise.

It's fast-paced and action-packed, but the game also requires you to think of each level like a puzzle. I love a game that gets me out of my comfort zone, and from what I can tell, Neon White will do just that. I've caught a few glimpses of my roommate playing, and they told me how much the game is challenging them to try new things and implement strategies that they normally wouldn't. In the same way that Hades pushed me to find a love of real-time combat, they insist that Neon White will help me get over my trouble with platforming. Neon White wasn'??t a game I was expecting to get excited for this year, but it is sitting pretty at the very top of my Steam wishlist.

Exhibit C: Eternights

We also have some more great genre mashup games on the horizon �during Sony's State of Play last month, we got a first look at Studio Sai's dating sim/action game combo Eternights. With some dungeon-crawling mechanics and character relationships being at the forefront, it sounds like there's some Persona inspiration going on there.

I love action games, but when you're bombarded with level after level of intense fight sequences, it can get a bit exhausting. On the other hand, even the most adorable of dating sims can feel like a grind to me sometimes because the gameplay doesn't vary all that much. Now there's obviously no way of knowing until I get my hands on it, but as of now I can imagine Eternights actually having a more agreea?ble pacing for me by contrasting fast-paced action moments with quieter story beats in the romance sections.

I could also imagine great character moments having to do with the?? mortal danger they're in during the fights. It's all speculation at this point, but as someone who loves both romance and action games, this is? definitely one that I'm looking forward to�whenever it comes out.

In conclusion...

The games I've listed here are only a few of the genre-mixing titles that I'm excited about �there are so many more out there, and you can probably find one that combines two or more of your own favorite genres. One of the things I love most about video games is how quickly this industry innovates and iterates on the ideas that keep our games moving forward, and something as simple as combining motifs from different ??genres is a perfect example of developers' creativity at work.

Sometimes, all it takes to make something awesome that no one has ever seen before is combining two things that you already love. When I'm at my most cynical, insisting that I've seen it all before, devs from small indie teams all the way up to AAA prove me wrong ??with ideas like genre mashups, and I honestly wouldn't want it any other way.

The post Genre mashups are my?? favorite trend in gaming right now appeared first on Destructoid.

Get some good jams for your next world-record attempt

Neon White went live today, on Nintendo Switch and PC, for anime speedrunning freaks everywhere. But even if you're not into going fast in an anime world, you should also take some time to check out the Neon White OSTs from Machine Girl that hit Bandcamp today.

Artist Machine Girl composed not one, but two OSTs—or original soundtracks—for Neon White. They're the tunes that p??lay in the background as you speed along, zipping from demon to demon and blazing through the outer limits of heaven. They're extremely good.

Check out this track, dubbed The Wicked Heart, from the first OST. It starts out at full throttle, with punchy drums and raw noise bleeding throughout the track. The melody drops in around the 1:13 mark and is one of my favorites in Neon White.

Or maybe you want something a little more chill. We can head on down to the Neon Bar in Neon White and catch some relaxed, easygoing beats. It's perfect for? kicking ba??ck after a long day of setting records.

Tracks like Bloody Sneakers, the theme for Neon Violet, almost remind me of early PlayStation days. I think of the Racing Lagoon soundtrack, and in the best way possible.

Beats to blast your record in half

What I'm saying is, the Neon White OSTs are a jam. It's already a contender for best? soundtrack of the year, in my book.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0b-qZTF0Mc

As for Neon White itself, it's great. I've spent the last week setting and then besting my times, competing with other early players along the way. It's anime as heck, like the sort of series you'd find on a VHS tape in the '90s at your local mom-and-pop rental place. Suffice to say, if you like going fast, Neon White is worth y?our time—and it?'s got some killer beats, too.

The post The Neon White OSTs are on Bandcamp, and they’re fantastic appeared first on Destructoid.

Running up that hill

Neon White is the latest game from Donut County creator Ben Esposito. He and the Angel Matrix team bill this level-based first-person shooter as "for freaks, by freaks." They're not wrong, either. Despite some rough narrative moments and occasional hiccups, Neon White is a blazing-fast shooter with style, precision?, and a lot of dead demons.

Sinners, saints, and salvation. All of these potentially await in the heaven of Neon White. To reach the end, though, you'll have to learn to go really, really fast. And, as it so happens, Neon White is a pretty good tutor.

Neon White (PC [reviewed], Nintendo Switch)
Developer: Angel Matrix
Publisher: Annapurna Interactive
Released: June 16, 2022
MSRP: $24.99

Surfacing in the ocean of heaven as Neon White himself, the player is a dead, amnesiac assassin stuck in a rut. White's lost s??oul can be ferried?? into heaven, but only if he can seize the number-one spot against all the other damned, color-coded Neons.

Over time you acquaint yourself, or re-acquaint yourself, with the other denizens of heaven's compe?tition. There are some nameless Neons, the Believers who maintain the game and punish rulebreakers, and the pencil-pushing angels who task White with his daily missions. Mikey, the cigar-chomping Garfield-alike, is a particular favorite of mine, and SungWon Cho's delivery as the inconceivable presence that White's mind can only rationalize as an angelic cartoon is very endearing.

//youtu.be/fDD17TfIn7Y

Friends in low places

A few key Neons make up the core of the story though, as former life acquaintances of Whit??e's. They start out divided into tropes; Yellow the best bro, Violet the homicidal but childish tagalong, and Red the enigmatic femme fatale. Add in Green, the ??imposing top-ranker, and it's a pretty colorful crew competing for the top spot.

Though some of the gags do wear on after a while, the crew is overall pretty likable as long as you enjoy a little bit of online humor??. References to memes and jokes about other video games are pretty frequent, and it definitely has a self-aware sense of humor.

When the story gets a bit more serious, it's pretty good. Neon White quickly goes from demon-slaying and gags to questions of how one's deeds carry over into the afterlife, and whether those actions merit eternal condemnation. As the por??trait of White in the bottom-left constantly asks, "who deserves a place in heaven?"

It's got some Cowboy Bebop vibes, which makes casting Steve Blum in the role of Neon White all the more appropriate. Really, the whole voice cast does a pretty great job across the board. But I did feel like the narrative was ultimately where Neon White falters a bit. It certainly works and provides some lighthearted asides, but aside from a few twists and cool moments in levels, it really felt like it took a ba??ckseat to the running-and-gunning that physically drives White towards redemption.

Make a deal with God

Of course, to reach any of that self-realization and affirmation, White has to slay a lot of demons. Each day of the Days of Judgment tasks you with tackling a host of levels, spread out across the kingdom of heave??n. There's a bit of a demon outbreak around this time of year, so the Believers host this competition to clear them all out and see who slays best for God's salvation in the process.

Each one is a race to the finish, navigating the ??environment, obstacles, enemies, and their glowing bullets. Of course, White has some tools of his own to use too. Scattered everywhere are Soul Cards, which can be either primary-fired for a bullet type or discarded for a secondary-fire effect.

Elevate, for example, is a handgun that can be discarded for an extra jump. Purify, meanwhile, is a machine-gun that also fires a time-delayed bomb that can clear an area or give you a rocket boost. There's a pret??ty good variety of cards, as well as a very important economy: White can only ever hold two types of cards, at three apiece. Hitting Ace, the highest me?dal in the game, on levels usually entails clever use of resources to clear what you need to clear while moving as fast as possible.

Really, Neon White feels like a tutorial for speedrunning. And I don't just mean that it makes running fast through these levels fun and enjoyable. It's not even that it necessarily encourages speedrunning itself. It's that Neon White is remarka???bly good at teaching the player to speedrun.

Medals are given at different time markers cleared, to give a sense of gradual progression. At Gold, the player is given a hint specifically for bumping their time up to Ace; a ghost helper can show a place where a well-timed jump or boost can completely circumvent otherwise tedious navigation. The dual-use cards allow for a surprising number of interactions, but keeping it to two-and-two (two fire types, two in your hand at any?? time) keeps the effectual verbs at your disposal easy to rem?ember.

Neon White's levels are gorgeous to speed through as well. It's full of vaporwave, sharp-angled polygons, neon colors, and anime. But the architecture is also enormous and even imposing at times. In a few cases, I slowed down just to take in the breadth of an area. And the levels themselves play home to some interesting storytelling too. While the boss fights are fine?, at least a couple of levels had some really compelling story tie-in moments that propelled them along.

Need for speed

It is amazing how good it feels to finally feel like you've mastered a level in Neon White. And once you've cleared the premade markers, the global leaderboard opens up, adding a new level of competition. It was always exciting to hit a new Ace time and see if I'd gone up or down in the standings, and (on Steam at least) there's also a Friends filter. Beyond that, there are even more options? to run that shuffle level orders and add a few extra ticks of difficulty, like no health recovery.

If you're not eager to compete, Neon White is still fairly finishable without Acing every run. There are a f??ew medal hurdles to clear, but they're set fairly low compared to where a completionist would be. It's certainly a c?hallenging game, even though it's fairly short in length �I'd guess anywhere from eight-to-ten hours to see credits roll �and I'm still plucking away at getting the optional off-the-beaten-path Gifts in each level that unlock visual novel chats with the cast and challenges in the hub.

Everything in Neon White revolves around running though, especially if you want to see the optional ending. Whether you dig Neon White or not will depend heavily on whether a shooter built on speedrunning through levels appeals to you??. Some of the best writing and in-game moments lay behind the optional social content, and that'll add a little challenge to the fold.

If shoving Toonami and the Titanfall 2 Pilot's Gauntlet into a blender and turning it to the highest speed sounds like a good time, then Neon White might be what you're looking for. It's a blood-pumping, speed-infused anime shooter with style and a decent bit of heart. While it's short and sweet, Neon White give??s just enoug??h to get the player keen on shaving off seconds and fractions of seconds until they are, indeed, a speedrunning freak. For anyone who likes to go fast, that's at least worth the price of admission.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Review: Neon White appeared first on Destructoid.

By freaks, for freaks

The card-drawing, gun-blasting, speedrunning FPS Neon White is coming in hot. Annapurna Interactive and the dev team announced Neon White has a?? launch date for PC and Nintendo Switch next week, on June 16.

The release date for Neon White was shown off during today's Summer Game Fest showcase. This speedy FPS is the new game from Donut County developer Ben Esposito and the crew at Angel Matrix. Rather than a cozy game about swallowing the world up, Neon White is about speed, execution, and anime. Just bi?g anime vibes.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=xL8C6v7_vi8

Speeding through the afterlife

The crux of Neon White is that you're ?a former assassin wh??o's died and gone to... well, not heaven. As Neon White (the character), you're saved from Hell to compete with other Neons in a competition for a shot at redemption.

Most of the levels take place in a dreamy paradise, with clouds and vistas abound. Oh, and demons. You want to get from point A to B as fast as possible, while also wiping out any demons you can. It feels fast and fluid, like if the Pilot's Gauntlet from Titanfall 2 was spread out into a full game. Plus, it has a side of get??ting to know your fellow Neons.

//twitter.com/PlayNeonWhite/status/1526??983810289745925

The demo for it really spoke to me earlier this year, with its mix of precision FPS running and social sim side-ventures. Plus, watching a bunch of speedrunners tackle this game has been a treat in and of itself. And now that Neon White has a date, we can finally know when we'll b??e able to start setting our own records on the leaderboard.

Neon White hits Nintendo Switch and PC on June 16, 2022.

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Check out the best of what's next in Steam's demo fest

It's time again for the Steam Next Fest. Deve??lopers are putting demos for their games up on Valve's PC platform?, so players can try them out to see what's on the way for the year and beyond.

Each year,?? a flood of demos hits the storefront. Steam's preset categories have been helpful so far, but sometimes, you just want a list of interesting curiosities to check out.

Well, that's what I'm here for. I've been taking a browse through this year's selection, picking out a bunch of demos that catch my eye. I'll preface this by saying I haven't played all of them, much less every demo available for the festival. But I picked out a few?? that really took me by surprise, have been on my radar for a while, or seem like they're worthy of general public interest.

The festival's running for seven days, from Feb. 21 through 28, with dozens of demos available. If you want to sift for yourself, you can find the landing page and categories here. Otherwi?se, here are some of my picks ?for what to check out.

Neon White

Developer: Angel Matrix

Publisher: Annapurna Interactive

This is one of the headliners of the festival, and it shows up ready to party. I wrote down some longer thoughts on Neon White's speedrunning battle for heaven and hell, but this is definitely one to make time for. You'll be surpris??ed how fast the hours slip by.

Steam link

The Wandering Village

Developer: Stray Fawn Studio

Publisher: Stray Fawn Studio

If you've ever wanted a city builder with a tinge of Xenoblade Chronicles to it, The Wandering Village is here. You have to manage the wants and needs of a tribe living on the back of a mass??ive beast, who you should probably also attend to. Resource and space management?? make this a pretty compelling builder that kept me up quite a while.

Steam link

Hero's Hour

Developer: Benjamin Hauer

Publisher: Goblinz Publishing, Maple Whispering Limited

Dash Heroes of Might and Magic with a heavy helping of pixels, and you've got Hero's Hour. Command hero-led armies around the map while managing the town back home, then duke it out in auto-battler combat. It's not exactly as tactical as could be, but the sheer size of the armies and variety of biomes in the maps really made this a fun d?emo. Good news is, it's right around the corner too, with a March 1 release date.

Steam link

Turbo Overkill

Developer: Trigger Happy Interactive

Publisher: Apogee Entertainment

The retro shooter revival roars on with Turbo Overkill. It's a game that understands the simple pleasures in life, like chainsaw-leg sliding through a horde of enemies. If you want a little bit of cyberpunk in your Quake, this will do wonders.

Steam link

Finders, Keepers

Developer: Alex Francois

Publisher: Brainchild

This might be my biggest surprise of the demo lineup this year. Finders, Keepers is best experienced knowing as little as possible going in. If you still need convincing, just let the idea of a Blair Witch story told in a dating app format percolate, and go try it. It was a haunting, intriguing little slice that I haven't stopped thinking about sin?ce.

Steam link

Small Saga

Developer: Jeremy Noghani

Publisher: Jeremy Noghani

Have you ever wondered what a Redwall RPG might look like? What if those plucky mice became fantasy warriors through use of conventional weapons, like a warrior with a pocket knife or wizard with a lighter? That's Small Saga, a visually gorgeous and conceptually inventive RPG. It's a bit slower than? some of the mor?e action-oriented demos in the Fest, but for RPG fans, this is one to keep on your radar.

Steam link

Tinykin

Developer: Splashteam

Publisher: tinyBuild

Tinykin is one that folks here at Destructoid have been looking forward to, and while I've not booted up the demo yet, it sounds like it's had a good reception. It's a little Paper Mario in the visual department and a lot of Pikmin in the gameplay department. But its fun, quirky style really pops off the screen, and honestly, more people should be making Pikmin-style games! This one's on my wishlist for sure.

Steam link

Souldiers

Developer: Retro Forge

Publisher: Dear Villagers

There are many a Metroidvania these days, so it takes a little extra to stick out. Souldiers definitely has it, from its really gorgeous pixel art to very novel concept: a b?unch of soldiers are sent to Valhalla, and must fight for their freedom. I really dig that you basic?ally play a grunt in the army, following in the footsteps behind legendary heroes, just trying to make it out.

Steam link

I have a few others on my playlist to get around to, like the space-builder Ixion, card battler Racine, and whatever Pants Quest might turn out to be. If you have a demo you dig, or you're showing one in the festival, please shout? it out below!

The Steam Next Fest will run until Feb. 28, 2022.

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A heaven for those who gotta go fast

Neon White was already pretty high on my own list of most-anticipated games this year. The indie project from Angel Matrix and Donut County creator Ben Esposito looked like a fast, gorgeous shooter.

The good news is that it's just that. But I can also confirm, after playing the Neon White demo currently available as part of Steam Next Fest, it's a little bit more. The game isn't just about taking out demons, but doing it fast. And it??'s built to make you keep wanting to reset the level for a new time.

The story pin of Neon White is t?hat you're a badass who's died and gone to not-quite-heaven. Recruited to be one of many demon hunters called "Neons" by heaven's angels, you—Neon White—compete with other Neons to earn a ticket into the more pleasant side of the afterlife.

These competitions take place in stylish but easily readable levels, where you run from start to finish line, exterminating every demon and finishing as fas??t as possible. At the conclusion of the run, you get a grade. Bronze simply counts as a clear, and is usually pretty forgiving. Silver gets a little tougher, but adds a special gift to the level, usually off the beaten path. Gold unlocks some helpful speedrunning hints,? and Acing a level opens up the global leaderboard.

The ranking system is one of several reasons why Neon White feels like the perfect entry point to time-trial competition and speedrunning. The staggered approach makes it easy for those who want to just clear levels to keep moving on, while those who want to really jockey for a top spot get more tools as they shave seconds off their times. The hints system is particularly effective, and restarting a level has a snappiness that reminds me of Hotline Miami.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lUw7fMdNKE

Neon White is also pretty easy to pick up. On a keyboard and mouse, it's mostly just WASD and Space to move around, with an extra key dedicated to swapping your soul cards (weapons). Each card has a main fire and alt-fire; a reusable damage source and a one-off utility effect that "burns" the card. The pistol is a standard, semi-auto pistol, but sacrificing it gives you a double-jump. The machine gun launches a delayed-detonation grenade, which can also damage boost y??ou across gaps.

What's great is how simple and clean this movement feels in the moment. There is no crouch-jumping or weird reaches across the keyboard. Neon White does an impressive amount with its inputs.

This extends out to the levels, where different routes are made apparent through repeat runs. I might take the long way around the first time, before reali??zing that I could use a damage boost to skip a major portion of the le?vel. Demons tend to mark the critical path, but geometry is at your discretion. The hint markers really help get you in this mindset too, pointing out some clever skips to help reach an Ace.

While the vaporwave heaven of Neon White was visually appealing all on its own, this Steam demo has really brought another strength to the fore: its speedrunning potential. Speedrunner Bryonato showed off some of its potential in a sho?rt segment on the Ne??xt Fest stream, and it already looks great.

Already, I'm starting to trade times wit??h friends and compete for hundredths of a second's advantage. The leaderboard that pops up after every clear amps up that drive, egging me on with every inch I gain on friends' times.

Neon White looks pretty interesting visually and conceptually, and it's goo??d to know now that the gameplay matches up too. If the final ve??rsion keeps the same energy and drive of its opening levels, this could be one to watch.

Neon White is coming to Nintendo Switch and Steam sometime this year. You can find the Steam page and demo here.

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Fast and furious combat, with a side of social sim

Ben Esposito's previous project, Donut County, was a very wholesome (donut hole pun unintended) game that the whole family could enjoy. Neon White is a little different. ??As Espo??sito said today, it's not a game for kids or adults; it's a game "for freaks."

Shown during today's Annapurna Interactive Showcase, Neon White is described as a single-player speedrunning FPS, where you can sacrifice guns and weapons?? for parkour movement options.

We got a look at Neon White during February's Nintendo Direct, showcasing its style and card-driven combat. Today, Ben Esposito spent some time breaking down exactly how that card system work?s, and how it turns careful card usage into lightning-fast combat trials.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=hA7aG1C5FU0

Every card offers either a regular use, like shooting an SMG, or a secondary option you can use by discarding the card, like stomping the ground. Completing the level unlocks levels of Insight, which can open up new features in?? the level, and there are also leaderboards, so you can compete with your friends.

Also unlockable in the levels are gifts, that you can grab by completing a mini-puzzle of traversal and card usage. These gifts can be given to other characters in Heaven, deepeni?ng your relationships and unlocking sidequests, or even uncovering memories of your previous life, which could ?change how the story ends.

Neon White looks super stylish and fast, like a mix of Doom and Paradise Killer. Adding in a layer of social sim and relationships that develop over time just makes it all the more appealing to folks like me, who cannot resist that aspect of games. Making everyone happy, while also trying to become the fastest and most effective demon slayer in Heaven, is looking like a pretty good time??.

Neon White is?? still looking to launch this winter on Nintendo Switch and PC.

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Coming to Switch and Steam in winter 2021

Annapurna Interactive is teaming up with Donut County's Ben Esposito for Neon White, one o?f the most double??-take-worthy games shown in today's Nintendo Direct. You're gonna want to catch the trailer.

Set in a world where demonic assassins roam heaven, you'll zip around 3D zones as fast as possible and grab Soul Cards to fuel your gun, sword, and parkour abilities. Speed and traversal are the focus – the central idea is to use the right cards at the right time to take shortcuts through the obstacle-course levels – but there's a story, too. You're the titular Ne?on White, "an assassin handpicked from Hell."

I don't entirely comprehend it yet, and I might n?ot get it until I play it, but it's memorable, for sure.

The Neon White OST is by @machin3gir1.

Trailer track is a brand new version of 'Lilith' //t.co/Xa0fKQRkRv

— Neon White - Coming to Steam + Switch 2021 (@NeonWhiteDev) February 18, 2021

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