Neon White is partly a demonic parkour game, partly a dating simulation

Neon White sounds great. As you might have seen in tonight’s Annapurna Interactive Showcase, this is a speedrunning first person shooter game where you use card games that represent weapons to keep demons from dying. ‘invade paradise. It also has dating mock aspects where you can chat and have a good time with the other Neons (the demon slayers you sort of work with). Best of all, it’s made by the developers in Donut County, and designer Ben Esposito told me that the massive tone change was because he wanted to become “apeshit”.

“After working in Donut County for six years, I was trying to make something for people who had never played a game before,” he tells me. “But in the end, I just wanted to go crazy. So we went from, let’s make a game for everyone, to make a game for a really specific audience.”

As you can probably tell from the new gameplay footage in Annapurna Interactive’s showcase, Neon White is a fast-paced game with big influences from anime and games like Persona. In this one, you will have to fight and fight your way through the levels using weapon cards which can be used as weapons or discarded to perform special moves. It’s the kind of game for people who already like that fast-paced style of action, stepping away from the more accessible nature of Donut County.

“With Donut County, I wanted to do something that was almost free from genre expectations and tropes. When you make a game like [Neon White], people who play this stuff know how to move around, they know how it works, ”says Esposito. “We want to get away from the player because they know what they’re doing, but we want the speedrunning aspect, and tell them how to get all the content out of it.”

However, Neon White won’t be a super hardcore game if you’ve never tried speedrun. It’s designed to be an entry point into that style of play, while also appealing to fans of that sort of thing. To that end, Esposito tells me that there are always two ways to complete a level: another intended way and another shortcut that you will need to think smart. Of course, being a speedrunning game, he knows that it won’t be long before even those shortcuts are considered shortcuts.

I was curious how the whole dating sim aspect fits into the game, given everything that seems to be happening in other areas. He tells me that the team wanted a part of the game where players could relax a bit, because despite how much he loves speedrun games, even he can get exhausted in them.

“Neon White is a game that’s very intense to think about because it’s very energetic, so we wanted a whole other half of the game so that when you’ve had enough there is the story and the characters to explore. “he said. “With each level you get another objective in that you can search for a secret hidden gift that you can give to one of the characters. It almost turns it into a puzzle game: how can I use my cards to get that gift? It’s a weird kind of mashup, but to me that makes perfect sense. “

When I first saw the trailer, I honestly wasn’t too sure this game was for me. But that chaotic energy and tonal boost from Donut County intrigued me. I think Neon White is one to watch, and you can keep your eyes peeled on Steam and Nintendo Switch this winter.