Neon Blood has been a game that I’ve been keeping an eye on ever since it was announced in 2022, mainly because I am a sucker for anything cyberpunk and Neon Blood looked like it would be dripping in cyberpunk goodness. Developers ChaoticBrain Studio originally set out to make Neon Blood a JRPG, but now is a pixelated adventure game set in Viridis, a world littered with inequality and corruption due to the aftermath of WWIII. It is a world where implants are the norm and the dangerous green neon sludge drug, Spark, is leaving citizens strung out.

You play as Axel McCoin, a cop enhanced by implants, who is addicted to Spark and is therefore seen as a bit of a loose unit by his team. However, it is because of his Spark addiction, and the way that the drug leads those addicted to lose their memory, that motivates Axel to fight to uncover Viridis’ secrets, try to end its corruption and hopefully piece together his fragmented memories.

Firstly, Neon Blood is a damn good-looking game. The world of Viridis fits the cyberpunk detective vibe perfectly – a mainly dark, dingy environment that is highlighted in the neon that it’s drenched in. The addition of the blue neon light draped around Axel’s neck in the form of his coat’s collar is a constant symbolic reminder of how entrenched he is in the corruption plaguing the city. He’s been in the city so long that he knows everyone, including his main target, Robin Slash, an assassin who is going around killing the engineers in charge of making the city’s implants. With lots of twists and turns along the way, you’ll find yourself venturing side-scroller style around different parts of Viridis, meeting all types of colourful individuals that either help or hinder Axel on his mission and finally discovering what is really going below Viridis’ surface.

The inclusion of HUDs or any type of system that would give access to what skills or upgrades the player has obtained is also lacking. There were a few times in the game where I was a bit unsure as to what I had to do as a few objectives would pop up on the screen briefly and then disappear. It was by accident that I realised objectives appeared on the game’s pause screen. Also, when Axel obtained implant upgrades there was no way to see what advances in his stats had been made. Therefore, Neon Blood is lacking in providing the player with the ability to really deep dive into Axel’s abilities and also provide a deeper understanding of the lore of the world.

Providing further context to the player about the implant upgrades Axel was sporadically receiving would have made my time with Neon Blood a bit more immersive. The only way I could see these upgraded abilities is during combat, which is a confusing choice by ChaoticBrain Studio. This isn’t the only issue with combat; Neon Blood’s turn-based combat isn’t very exciting, especially when you are sometimes thrown into it without much context. Turn-based is usually my favourite type of combat due to the strategy it involves, however, Neon Blood’s combat only saw me using the same headshot ‘skill’ over and over as it was the most powerful. Other skills will be gained throughout your playthrough, but I stuck with the headshot skill as the new ones obtained weren’t anywhere near as effective.

Another element of gameplay that involves accessibility is the quick time response gameplay that triggers straight after you defeat a boss and acts as a “round 2.” Once again you cannot change this gameplay element, which again reiterates that Neon Blood isn’t an accessible game. I’m unsure as well why the devs have included this extra bit of combat; visually it is stunning, but as a combat method, it is clunky and uninspiring.

What is inspiring however is the way that Neon Blood scatters throughout the world Easter Eggs that pay homage to other cyberpunk games that the devs have obviously been inspired by. This includes the Stray cat, Johnny Silverhand from Cyberpunk and even an inclusion of 2024’s Altered Alma. It is obvious that ChaoticBrain Studio loves the aesthetics of cyberpunk worlds as their visual depictions of the environment are so stunning. However, the visuals themselves are not enough to make Neon Blood a successful cyberpunk adventure.