The Best Feeling Of 2022: Finding Shortcuts In Neon White

Most levels have at least one shortcut that the game reveals to you via a marker once you get a fast enough time. But many of them also contain other shortcuts or skips that aren’t obviously signposted. Some of these require thinking outside the box, planning ahead, or some grinding.

“Arrival,” an early level, consumed me for nearly three hours. The entire thing could be completed in under 40 seconds fairly easily. But I noticed that I could skip an entire tower in the middle of the level with a few well-placed shots. Next, I found a skip where, instead of bouncing on a floating demon, I zipped by it and shot it with a rifle power before passing by. (You have to kill every demon or you can’t finish the level and set a time.) Eventually, I looked at the clock and realized how much time I had spent trying to desperately shave off a few more milliseconds. All my hard work led to me reaching the top five in the world on that level, an accomplishment that feels almost as good as destroying my friend’s times on Steam. Almost.

What really helps make finding and executing shortcuts and skips in Neon White so satisfying is that many of them seem almost like cheating. You feel a bit naughty for skipping an entire section of a level or going somewhere that feels out of bounds. But of course, outside of actual glitches, all of these skips are intended or designed to be possible. Still, nailing them makes you feel like a badass genius, and that’s not often how I feel in my day-to-day life. So thanks, Neon White, for letting me feel like the smart guy in the room, for once.

Of course, all of this confidence and satisfaction was destroyed the moment I looked up speedruns of the game on YouTube. My recommendation to you all: Don’t do that. At least, not until you’ve finished the game. Ignorance is bliss and all that.