Neon White, the fast-paced, anime-inspired FPS from Annapurna and Donut County developer Ben Esposito, is launching next week.
The Neon White release date was revealed during today’s Summer Game Fest stream, where we also saw a brand new trailer show off plenty of speedrunning and anime tropes. Neon White will release on Nintendo Switch and PC on June 16, 2022.
Neon White is openly inspired by 2000s anime and it’s many overplayed tropes, and as such the story plays out in visual novel-style cutscenes in-between missions, with characters who will immediately be familiar to fans of series like Danganronpa, Cowboy Bebop, and other classics. The protagonist is an assassin from hell who’s, ahem, hell-bent on slaying demons so that he can have a chance to stick around in heaven.
So, essentially, the amalgamation of several anime series you’ve probably already watched. But that’s the whole point! Neon White is super self aware. “Our whole ethos for the game was to be nostalgic but not in a superficial way, we really wanted to make a game that felt cool and really felt like the self-indulgent Y2K anime game of our dreams, and part of that is embracing cringe and embracing the tropes,” Esposito told GamesRadar during a recent preview event.
Gameplay is a mix of lightning fast parkour and magic wielding combat where you use and discard cards strategically. Levels are designed to be replayed and completed at a faster speed, and the competitive minded will have the chance to ascend the ladder on the global Neon leader boards.
For what to play right now, check out our extensive guide to the best FPS games.