Neon White: Beginner's Guide & Best Tips

My Honest Take on Neon White

Look, I'm gonna be straight with you. I bought Neon White because I saw a cool anime character holding a gun and thought "hey, stylish shooter, I'm in." Then I spent the first two hours feeling like I was having a stroke. The game doesn't explain itself well, the movement feels alien at first, and I kept dying to things I couldn't see coming. I almost refunded it. But something kept pulling me back—that one perfect run where everything clicked, where I skimmed across rooftops like I was cheating, and I realized this is probably the best speedrunning game ever made that isn't actually a speedrunning game. It's a card game, a platformer, a shooter, and a visual novel, and somehow it works. But only if you get past the brutal first impression.

This guide is me telling you what I wish someone had told me before I wasted my first three hours banging my head against walls. I'm not here to sell you on the game—you already bought it or you're thinking about it. I'm here to save you the pain I went through.

Why This Game Makes You Want to Throw Your Controller

Let's talk about the elephant in the room. Neon White is hard in a way that feels unfair at first. Not because the enemies are bullet sponges or the platforming is pixel-perfect (though sometimes it is), but because the game doesn't tell you how to think about it. You're handed a deck of cards that are also weapons, and you're told to kill demons and get to the exit fast. That's it. No tutorial on how to chain movement, no explanation of which cards combo with what, nothing about the fact that discarding a card for movement is often better than using it as a weapon. I spent my first five missions trying to kill everything in sight and running out of steam halfway through every level.

The other thing nobody warns you about: the visual novel stuff. Yeah, there's a lot of talking. And if you're here for the gameplay, those sections can feel like a brick wall. But here's the thing—if you skip all the dialogue, you miss context for why you're doing what you're doing, AND you lock yourself out of the best endings. I've seen people rage-quit during the Heaven's Gate chapter because they couldn't handle another conversation. Push through it. Or don't. But know what you're getting into.

And the bosses. God, the bosses. Some of them are pure nonsense until you learn their patterns. The second boss (White, if you're wondering) took me 47 attempts on my first playthrough. I counted. Not because it's unfair, but because the game trains you to be fast and aggressive, and then suddenly you need to be patient and precise. It's a mind game.

What You Actually Need to Know on Day One

Alright, let's strip this down to basics. You have cards. Each card is a weapon AND a movement tool. Every card has two uses: you can fire it (costs one ammo, usually kills one enemy or does area damage) or you can discard it (gives you a movement ability like a double jump, dash, or air stall). The core loop is: pick up cards, use them to kill enemies and traverse gaps, reach the exit. Do it fast enough to get a medal. But here's what the game doesn't tell you:

• Discarding is almost always better than shooting. Early on, you'll find cards like the Sidearm (basic pistol). It does 35 damage per shot. Its discard gives you a simple dash forward. That dash is worth more than the damage 90% of the time. If you can skip a platforming section by dashing, do it. Kill enemies only when they block your path or when you need their dropped cards to refill your deck.
• Pink cards (gifts) are free movement. When you kill a demon, they sometimes drop pink cards. These have no attack—they're pure movement. They might give you a massive jump boost or a teleport. Always grab them. They cost nothing to use and they're often the difference between a gold medal and a bronze.
• Hold to discard vs tap to shoot. The game lets you set this. I use right trigger to shoot, right bumper to discard. Some people swap them. Find what works for you, but practice the split-second decision of "shoot or discard". This is the entire game. Every run, every level, you're making that call in under a second.
• The first hub area (Heaven) is a tutorial that doesn't tell you it's a tutorial. Levels 1-10 are meant to teach you card types and movement. Don't stress about medals here. Just finish each level. The real game starts when you unlock the second area and the timer actually matters for progression.
• You can restart instantly. There's no penalty for restarting a level. Hit the restart button (I mapped it to backspace on PC) as soon as you feel a run going wrong. Don't waste time trying to salvage a run that's already 5 seconds behind. Speedrunners restart dozens of times per level. Do the same.

One more thing that nobody told me: the "Suggestions" in the pause menu are not hints for how to beat the level. They're speedrun routes from the developers. If you're stuck on how to just FINISH a level, don't look at them. They'll confuse you. Only open them when you have a clear path to the exit and you want to shave off time.

Expert Tricks That Saved My Ass

Once you've got the basics down, you'll hit a wall around the Fourth Area (Elysium) where the game stops holding your hand and starts demanding perfection. Here's what got me through:

• Learn to "Quick Discard" multiple cards. You can hold the discard button and cycle through your hand. This is critical when you have three cards and need a specific movement type. I practice this in the first level of each area for five minutes before attempting the harder levels. It sounds boring but it saves you panic-fumbling in the middle of a run.
• Stack movement cards before big jumps. Some gaps require two or three movement discs in rapid succession. Plan your route. If you see a long gap, don't burn your dash card early. Save two dash/double-jump cards and use them back-to-back. The game doesn't limit how fast you can discard, so you can chain four movements in under a second if you've got the cards.
• The Flamethrower is a trap for new players. Yeah, it does 45 base DPS and ramps to 120 after 3 seconds of continuous fire. But it locks you in place and kills your momentum. I see so many people using it as their primary, and then they fail the timer because they stood still for 4 seconds cooking an enemy they could've killed with one shot from the basic pistol. Use it only for crowd control when enemies are grouped up. Otherwise, discard it for its movement bonus (air dash with lingering fire trail that damages enemies you fly past—actually useful).
• The "God Hand" achievement is not worth chasing on your first playthrough. Getting gold medals on every level with red borders is endgame content. I tried. I cried. Do yourself a favor: finish the story first. The medals give you items that help (more cards, extra health, etc.), but you don't need all golds to see the credits. Focus on getting silvers. That's enough to unlock every area.
• Memorize the enemy spawns. They are 100% scripted. Every run of every level has enemies in the exact same positions. Use this. I write down the first three enemies of each level on a sticky note. After ten runs, I don't even think—I just shoot them while my brain is planning the route forward. That split second of auto-pilot is worth tenths of seconds per enemy.

Also, if you're playing on PC, turn off mouse acceleration. The game doesn't tell you this, but mouse smoothing is on by default. It makes flicking to enemies feel like you're wading through mud. Go to the config file (it's in your documents folder under "Neon White/settings") and set "MouseSmooth" to 0. It's tied to FPS, so if you're running at 144 fps, it's less noticeable, but at 60 fps it's brutal. This tip alone improved my time by about 15% because I stopped overshooting targets.

Common Mistakes to Avoid (From Someone Who Made All of Them)

I'm going to list the dumbest things I did so you don't have to learn the hard way.

• Hoarding cards "for later." There is no later. You hold up to 4 cards. If you're holding a card you don't plan to use in the next 3 seconds, discard it for movement. The game literally throws new cards at you constantly. Holding a card because "it might be useful later" is how you miss opportunities to dash through a gap and save time. I wasted entire days clinging to a Soul Gun I never used.
• Not using the "Practice Mode" (hearts). The heart collectibles unlock a practice version of the level with no enemies, just the platforming. I ignored these for my entire first run because I thought they were pointless. They're not. They let you figure out the optimal route without getting shot. If you're stuck on a level, find the heart, practice the path, THEN go for the real run.
• Fighting every enemy. I mentioned this before but it bears repeating. The medal timer is aggressive. If an enemy is not in your direct path or blocking a card you need, run past them. They are slow. They cannot chase you across gaps. I've seen people clear entire rooms of demons and then wonder why they got a bronze. Kill only what you must.
• Ignoring the "Chase" mechanic (the purple glow). Some levels have a "chase" sequence where a demon is running away. These are timed sections where you MUST keep moving or the demon escapes and you fail. The common mistake is to stop and fight. Don't. You can't kill the fleeing demon. Just focus on movement and grab any pink cards along the path. I failed the third chase sequence five times before I realized I was trying to "defeat" something that was scripted to run.
• Not rebinding jump and discard to separate buttons. The default on PC has spacebar for jump and Q for discard. Fine for most games. But in Neon White, you often need to jump AND discard in the same split second. I rebinded discard to mouse side button 1 and jump to mouse side button 2. My hands never leave the movement keys. This is not optional if you want to play fast. Trust me on this one.
• Getting attached to a "main" playstyle. The game forces you to adapt. One level might favor vertical movement, the next might be horizontal corridors. If you're one of those people who only uses the Sword because you love melee, you're going to have a bad time. Learn every card type. The game has an encyclopedia in the menu that lists all cards and their stats. Read it.

And the biggest mistake of all: comparing your times to speedrunners. Look, I get it. You see someone finish a level in 12 seconds and you're struggling to get under a minute. Stop it. Those runners have hundreds of hours. They've optimized every pixel. Your goal is not to be them. Your goal is to beat your own time by 0.5 seconds. That's the real game. The competition is with yourself. Once I stopped watching YouTube runs, I started having a lot more fun.

FAQ from Someone Who's Been There

Q: The movement feels weird. Am I doing it wrong?
A: Probably. The movement has a slight "float" to it—you don't snap to surfaces immediately like in Doom. This is intentional. The game is built around chaining dashes and air stalls. You need to unlearn "run and gun" muscle memory from other shooters. Spend an hour in the first hub area just dashing around. No enemies. Just movement. It'll click.

Q: I can't get past the boss in Area 3 (Yellow/Envy). Help.
A: This boss is a DPS check. Bring cards that hit fast, not hard. The basic pistol and the Uriel Rifle work great. The trick is to stay in the air as much as possible—the boss's ground attacks are lethal. I used the Blue card's triple jump to hover and the Sword's vertical dash to reposition. Avoid the Soul Gun—it's too slow for this fight. If you're still stuck, there's a mechanic similar to the bosses in Hades: learn the telegraph, attack during the punish window, repeat. The Envy boss has a 2-second wind-up on its big attack. Count it out loud. "One... two... DODGE."

Q: Do I really need to read all the visual novel dialogue?
A: For the true ending? Yes. For gameplay? Mostly no. But some gifts and upgrades are locked behind dialogue choices. If you skip everything, you can still finish the game, but you'll miss out on the "Neon White" ending (the good one). I'd recommend reading the first playthrough, then skipping on replays. The writing is actually good—it's by the same team that did VA-11 Hall-A—but you can always come back to it later. Use the "Gallery" menu to rewatch scenes you've unlocked.

Q: Which medal should I aim for? Bronze, silver, or gold?
A: For your first run through the story, aim for silvers. You get enough rewards to keep unlocking areas, and you don't hate yourself. Gold is for completionists and people who hate their free time. Bronze is fine if you just want to see the credits. The game does not punish you for bronze. I got bronze on three levels in my first playthrough and I still saw the ending. Don't let the shiny medal system stress you out.

Q: The game keeps crashing on the "Lily" level. What gives?
A: There's a known bug with the particle effects on the Level 5-3 (the one with the giant fans). If you're on PC, turn down "Particle Quality" to Medium. It's a memory leak issue that they haven't patched completely. Also, if you're using mods (like the cheat table), disable them. I spent an hour troubleshooting before I realized my FOV mod was corrupting save data.

Q: I'm stuck on a level and the demo ghost shows a route I can't replicate. Is it cheating to use the suggestions?
A: No. The suggestions are built into the game. Use them. That said, some suggestion routes are actually harder than the "intended" path because they require pixel-perfect movement. If you can't replicate it after 10 tries, look for a different route. There's almost always a path that's easier but 2 seconds slower. Take that one. 2 seconds is nothing. 20 minutes of frustration is everything.

Q: Is this game like Mirror's Edge? I've heard comparisons.
A: Superficially, yes—first-person parkour with a timer. But the card system makes it completely different. In Mirror's Edge, you learn a single movement language. In Neon White, you have to adapt your language every 30 seconds based on what cards you pick up. It's more like if Titanfall 2's speedrunning community designed a game in a blender with a visual novel. If you liked the movement in Titanfall 2, you'll love this once it clicks. But prepare for a slower start.

Q: The "White" boss (final boss of Area 1) is impossible. Help?
A: This is the biggest filter in the game. The fight is a puzzle, not a combat challenge. White has a pattern: he teleports, shoots a slow projectile, then rushes you. The key is to not shoot him during the rush phase. He has a counter-attack that one-shots you if you hit him during his dash. Wait until he stops, then unload. Also, use the environment—there are explosive barrels on the edges of the arena. Lure him near them and shoot the barrels. This fight is a rhythm game. Say the pattern in your head: "Teleport, shoot, wait, dodge, attack." Do that three times and he's done. If you're on attempt 40+, take a break. Seriously. Walk away for 10 minutes. I did, came back, and beat him first try. The tilt is real.

Q: Any good builds for the final area?
A: The meta for the post-game is Sword + Uriel Rifle + Flamethrower (discard only). The Sword's discard is a vertical launch that cancels fall damage. The Rifle is your main damage. Flamethrower discard is for crowd control when you need to pass through packed rooms. Don't use the Soul Gun or the Reaper Scythe in the final area—they're too slow and the enemies have more health. Stick to fast, consistent weapons. Also, equip the "Air Brake" upgrade from the shop. It lets you slow your descent slightly, which helps with precision landings on those tiny glass platforms in Area 6.