Neva Review – Poetic Platforming Perfection

Neva is an emotionally impactful piece of interactive poetry. Nomada Studios has refined their game design craft, delivering a brief, but deeply moving experience. A stellar blend of measured game design and phenomenal art direction makes it one of the best games of the year.

Neva Review – A Girl and Her Pup

You play as Alba, a young woman in an enchanted forest. When the forest is overrun by a wave of corruption, its protective guardian, a giant wolf, dies protecting Alba and its pup. Alba adopts the pup, names her Neva, and embarks on a journey to make the world right again. All the while, Alba watches her new friend grow and mature.

The first early moments of the game do a fantastic job of setting up the tone and core themes. At its heart, it is an inversion of Nomada Studio's first title, Gris. Where that game was a melancholic meditation on loss, death, and depression, Neva is a celebration of life, parenthood, and the joys of nature.

It is a celebration that bursts off the screen through stunningly beautiful art direction. Fantastically stylized tableaus of warm colors and striking vistas. Coupled with some fluid and responsive animations, it comes together to create an experience somewhere between a game and a watercolor painting in motion.

Contrasting this vibrancy are the more subdued moody color palettes when you wade through corrupted areas. Mountains and forests break away into surreal, abstract vignettes. Nightmarish fields of desolation were torn apart by grasping clawing hands. Once peaceful animals twisted into pained monstrosities.

Through visuals alone, Neva expresses a strong environmentalist narrative, one that can be interpreted both as a call to action against climate change and a meditation on the circle of life through the changing seasons. It is arguably the most overt theme in the game since its chapters are broken up by seasons. Starting in Spring and Summer with bright colors and friendly faces before turning into something akin to a horror experience in Fall and Winter.

What anchors this entire story is the central relationship between the two leads. Alba's furry companion starts as this small pup, wandering around, playing with and investigating everything around her. It is only with Alba's guidance that the pup follows and grows. Yes, there is a dedicated button to calling and petting the dog.

In a way, Neva shares similarities with Team Ico's The Last Guardian. Both games are about the growing relationship of a human and a supernatural dog creature. But Nomada Studios handily avoids frustrating situations by keeping the gameplay focused on Alba with her furry friend serving as a guide and aid. It's an elegant solution for interactive storytelling since it allows key moments in the story to land with precision and intention.

Neva Review – Oh The Places You'll Go

Neva continues the proud tradition of the arthouse platformer. You will be spending most of your time moving from location to location, navigating through moderate platforming challenges.

Notably, Nomada Studios has greatly improved the game feel in this title. Alba doesn't just look effortlessly gracious as she twirls through the air, her jumps feel responsive and bouncy. Sword slashes are quick, and pack the right amount of punch. Getting into a chase sequence is packed with balletic tension.

Which is a good thing since Neva is expertly paced. Each level introduces a new twist on the gameplay, explores it, and then wraps it up in a nice bow before the idea overstays its welcome. It helps give each story chapter its own identity and each environment personality. The result is a platforming experience with an effortless sense of flow.

Complementing this platforming is some basic but serviceable hack-and-slash combat. Alba has a simple three-hit combo and a dodge roll. Eventually, she can command Neva to pounce and neutralize enemies, but that's about it.

Whenever enemy encounters happen, they never feel completely frivolous. This is thanks to inventive and creative arena design and a steady introduction of new enemy types. It nails the feeling of having each encounter being a puzzle of priority rather than an extensive chore.

It also helps the fights are designed to be quick and rewarding. Checkpoints are plentiful. Enemy attacks are telegraphed expertly with visually distinct wind-up animations. There's even a rallying mechanic where Alba can regain health by hitting enemies.

Yet, Neva doesn't completely alienate the less dextrous members of its audience. The game has two difficulty modes. Normal mode, the one I played, and story mode, which gives you unlimited health and lowers combat difficulty. It's a great compromise that will help this title age like wine.

What stuck in my mind after rolling credits on Neva is how it feels so precise in its gameplay and focused on its storytelling. There are plenty of games out there that focus on core gameplay, storytelling, or content by volume. But this game maintains a lean completion time of four hours packed with emotional richness and meticulous technical polish.

In the purest sense of the word, Neva is a game that must be experienced firsthand. It stands alongside the likes of Journey with its elegance, brevity, and emotional richness.

Neva Review | Final Thoughts

Nomada Studios has made something deeply moving with Neva. A short, but powerful experience about the persistence of nature, the joys and struggles of life, and a great visual tone poem of parenthood. It is one of the best games I've played this year and well worth your time.

Neva was reviewed on PC with a copy provided by the developer over 4 hours of gameplay - all screenshots were taken during the process of review.