Neon Junctions review for PS Vita, PS4, Xbox One, Switch

Neon Junctions may feature ?80s-influenced, cyberpunk-tinged graphics, but make no mistake: its influences are much more modern. Portal, of course, is the obvious one, but you could sub in The Spectrum Retreat, or QUBE, or Talos Principle — really, any first-person puzzler will do.

The obvious difference, of course, is that where those games all had things like stories, depth, challenging puzzles, and a budget, Neon Junctions does not. It?s a bargain basement version of other, much better known games, and that comes shining through every moment you spend with it.

That doesn?t mean that it?s bad, of course. Neon Junctions? core mechanic — you have to pick up boxes, and lay them down in a way that connects the power source to the exit — is easy enough to figure out, though it does start getting repetitive fairly quickly without any kind of narrative built around it. Likewise, the controls and camera are pretty smooth, which is just about all you could ask for in this type of game.

All that said, however, it?s over awfully quickly. And, on top of that, there?s no story, so there?s little pushing you forward beyond the motivation of beating some fairly simple puzzles (and the allure of an easy Platinum, if that?s your thing). Neon Junctions is a bargain basement version of some much, much better games — but as long as you don?t expect more than that, it?s a decent enough diversion.

Ratalaika Games provided us with a Neon Junctions PS4/Vitacode for review purposes.