The other half of the equation is that Neon White has an amazing score, courtesy of New York City band Machine Girl. It feels perfectly smooth, and from the beginning of the first level you just want to keep going faster and faster to take advantage of it. In terms of movement, your character – the titular Neon White – glides along the ground like he’s skating, and soars through the air with every jump. The two things that make the game’s pace work are the movement and the music. Again, you need to time them all just right, or you’ll falter and be forced to start the level over again.
On top of that, the game uses a card-based system, so you’re grabbing cards and shuffling your deck as you go. One false step can ruin it all – and there’s even a button dedicated to restarting the level, since you’ll need to use it pretty frequently. You’re being timed, and you have to fly through every level, guns blazing, looking for shortcuts to shave off precious seconds wherever you can. Neon White, by contrast, isn’t just fast-paced, the speed is the point. All of them progressed at a fairly leisurely pace.
Those three games I mentioned above were, in reverse order, a game about painting your way through a maze, a walking simulator, and a game about racoons using holes to steal everything. In that context, though, what’s especially interesting about Neon White is how different it is from other games. Couple Neon White’s incredible-ness with the fact he also played major roles on Donut County ( which I loved), What Remains of Edith Finch ( a strong contender for one of my all-time favourite games), and The Unfinished Swan (which was also exceptional), and it’s pretty clear that Esposito knows how to make great games. But as the creator and lead designer, I assume he played a significant role in the game’s creation.
I know, I know: plenty of other people worked on Neon White, and I shouldn’t minimize what they did. Not to be too reductive, but Neon White is incredible, and Ben Esposito is a genius.
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