Neon White Review - Purge Demons as You Run Through the Heavens

There are many games where we hack and slash through a horde of demons in the underworld, however, Annapurna Interactive brings the trope to another level with the new action platforming game – Neon White. The player is in heaven, speedrunning the way, blasting off demons – giving it a somewhat unique take. We got a chance to review the game, so buckle up and get those guns up as we blast into this quick-paced game, which is available to play on PC (via Steam) and Nintendo Switch.

Developed by Angel Matrix and published by Annapurna Interactive, Neon White is a fast-paced platforming game, with Battle Royale undertones, in which you take the role of a Neon, a sinner lifted to heaven to purge demons in a yearly competition. The winner gets to spend a year in heaven before doing it all over again the following year’s competition. To keep things interesting, your character Neon White suffers from amnesia, meaning the lore of the story is hidden.

I’ve played lots of platforming games, and Neon White is a unique title on its own. Platforming games tend to be fast-paced as they are “jump and run” games giving you little time to think and more time to run. Neon White spices things up as you simultaneously jump, run and shoot as you purge demons on your way. There are certain cards that you can collect across the platform. These cards are weapons you can use to shoot demons or discard them and unleash particular abilities like extra jump, exploding bombs, or a powerful stomp.

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The game’s art style is breathtakingly neat and attractive, with pop-art aesthetics and synth-based soundtracks. The stages are also well-designed, giving the exact amount of challenge that can grit a player’s teeth as they repeat stages trying to achieve that perfect run. Being a completionist is not that bad as long as you get rewarded with gold medals.

The supporting characters have their unique personalities. You have your cheerfully muscular brother Neon Yellow, the cute junior Neon Violet, the delinquent maniac Neon Green, and your hot crush Neon Red. The story itself is pretty straightforward: you’re suffering from amnesia, and now you’re lifted to heaven to enter a competition as you purge demons and claim the right to stay.

Overall, Neon White truly earned a spot in my gaming library. For those looking for a new fun platforming game, I’d say definitely try Neon White. Great visuals and soundtrack made the game very enjoyable and I loved the fast-paced style. The characters were well-written and they were able to create the building blocks of the story. So what’s a better way to speedrun through the heavens? Shooting and blasting off those demons along the way!

Anime Corner News received a copy of the game in exchange for an honest review.