Speedrunning is the art of completing a video game as fast as possible, often tapping outside a level’s boundaries to skip massive chunks of a game’s intended path. A talented speedrunner cuts through a game with blazing speed, sidestepping complex fights with divine smoothness.
In Neon White, you play as a class of lower citizens known to the world as “Neons,” sinners from a previous life now employed by angels to fight demons on their way out of hell. Missions take the form of blistering obstacle courses – many of which last less than 30 seconds – in which you play through tightly designed levels.
The process of slipping outside a game’s boundaries and exploiting the skewed and glitchy unknown has traditionally been reserved for technically capable players – the end result of hours of studious play. Neon White brings this experience to ordinary gamers; it’s a first-person platformer highly conducive to speedrunning. Despite playing as a sinner, the game will make you feel like a speedrunning god.
Items take the form of cards that encourage out-of-the-box thinking, acting either as demon-slaying guns or single-use abilities. Playing the specific hand you’re dealt – literally— and realizing how to creatively exploit it creates a stimulating optimization game.
Each level gains new life after you beat it in the form of a “gift”. You can then play through the level again to try and determine the location of the gift, which is never on the main path. Gifts are almost always positioned to get you thinking about the design of a level, hinting at the level’s best-shrouded secrets.
This simple change encourages average gamers to think like speedrunners: tweaking and optimizing new routes, all to shave off a few tenths of a second. This may sound laborious, but it’s not. There’s so little friction in Neon White’s jumping, dashing, and shooting that the experience of trying and trying again is painless, allowing you to focus on just the exciting moments.
It’s this simple-sounding but incredibly effective formula that makes Neon White an awesome game to play. Even if you don’t view yourself as an obsessive player who pours over the inner workings of games, Neon White will bring out the freak in you.
In Neon White, you play as a class of lower citizens known to the world as “Neons,” sinners from a previous life now employed by angels to fight demons on their way out of hell. Missions take the form of blistering obstacle courses – many of which last less than 30 seconds – in which you play through tightly designed levels.
The process of slipping outside a game’s boundaries and exploiting the skewed and glitchy unknown has traditionally been reserved for technically capable players – the end result of hours of studious play. Neon White brings this experience to ordinary gamers; it’s a first-person platformer highly conducive to speedrunning. Despite playing as a sinner, the game will make you feel like a speedrunning god.
Items take the form of cards that encourage out-of-the-box thinking, acting either as demon-slaying guns or single-use abilities. Playing the specific hand you’re dealt – literally— and realizing how to creatively exploit it creates a stimulating optimization game.
Each level gains new life after you beat it in the form of a “gift”. You can then play through the level again to try and determine the location of the gift, which is never on the main path. Gifts are almost always positioned to get you thinking about the design of a level, hinting at the level’s best-shrouded secrets.
This simple change encourages average gamers to think like speedrunners: tweaking and optimizing new routes, all to shave off a few tenths of a second. This may sound laborious, but it’s not. There’s so little friction in Neon White’s jumping, dashing, and shooting that the experience of trying and trying again is painless, allowing you to focus on just the exciting moments.
It’s this simple-sounding but incredibly effective formula that makes Neon White an awesome game to play. Even if you don’t view yourself as an obsessive player who pours over the inner workings of games, Neon White will bring out the freak in you.
