Neva Review

Neva is the latest title from the developers of GRIS, Nomada Studio, and one of the latest games published by Devolver Digital. The title of the game comes from the young wolf cub whom you are now in charge of raising, after the tragic death of her mother. The opening cutscene is heart-wrenching, and I already knew that this was a game that would be an emotional rollercoaster.

See, it all began when the birds all started falling from the sky, dying, and withering into black flowers. When this happened, these dark, mysterious, hands from the ground began to sprout and attacked both myself — playing as the warrior, Alba — and Neva’s mother, leading, tragically, to her demise. Clearly, they were once friends, and so I took it upon myself to look after the young cub.

The controls are simple and easy to learn. Move with the analog stick, press the left-face button to attack, right-face to dodge, and the bottom-face to jump (or double jump if you tap it twice). There are two game modes: Adventure Mode and Story Mode. In Adventure, you get more of a challenge, while Story allows you to focus on the narrative, without worrying about death.

You can only die when you run out of three flowers that you’ll see at the bottom of the screen when you fight. Upon dying, you’ll be sent to your most recent checkpoint. Naturally, there are a number of platforming elements for you to jump into, and if you see Neva getting distracted, or struggling, then don’t worry. You can press the top-face button to pet her or give her a boost of encouragement. If she struggles to reach you, don’t worry. You can run and go help her before she falls, and upon finding out I could do that, I was delighted, because I felt so guilty the first time she fell.

As you progress, you go through different seasons, and with each season, you’ll find new challenges and new monsters to contend with. I have to admit, that after Summer Part 2, it was easier for me to shift to Story Mode, as the three lives were becoming more of a hindrance at that point… Admittedly, I am also very bad at dodging. In this segment of the game, you learn how to attack enemies from above, (press the cross button as you’re jumping, and you’ll speed up and stab your enemy from above) and as I entered Fall, I was able to climb white flowers, and an adolescent Neva joins me in battle, which was super handy.

However, in Fall Part 1, I found my greatest enemy of all: platforming. As I climbed the trees to escape the wilting below, I essentially had to jump and climb at high speeds. Let me tell you now, that that’s not an easy task. It took me multiple (and I mean multiple) attempts. Each time I failed, I ended right at the checkpoint, which meant straight to the bottom of the tree I went. It’s at this point that I was especially glad that I was using a controller, as the idea of using my keypad really didn’t appeal to me when I knew speed was my main ally here.

Undoubtedly, this was a challenge. While Story Mode does offer simpler alternatives to platforming, there were still numerous challenges that I faced at this time. Was it frustrating? Yes. Was it because I’m just generally bad at platformers? Also yes.

Once I found myself at the top of the tree, having escaped the withering darkness from below, we came to discover that the monstrous beings have been corrupting and killing the animals. The forest is more in ruin than before, and it’s overcome by these fiends. As I traversed the level, I noticed that the monsters would use the animal corpses to attack us, and so at the end of each fight, you could take the time to honour these fallen friends. It was a nice touch, and one that I appreciated.

Also, at this point, I was introduced to Neva’s new ability, where I would aim with the left trigger and attack with the right trigger, allowing Neva to attack enemies who were at a distance. This, let me tell you, was incredibly useful. Flying enemies often meant that I would inevitably fall off my platform and die, and when fighting multiple enemies, I could send Neva off to attack, so I could at least take down the small fry on the other side.

However, one thing I noticed with Fall was that as the darkness corrupts, the forest becomes more surreal. It enters a nightmare sequence, where corpses of animals are floating in the red sky, and Alba is haunted by a nightmare wolf, a shadowy form of what I would assume is Neva’s mother. It was honestly chilling, and upon waking up, I was even glad that it was all a dream.

Compared to the nightmarish Fall, Winter is one of the most beautiful levels I’ve played. Which is astounding, because the art of Neva? Gorgeous. It was also in Winter that I could actually ride Neva, which made travelling long distances even easier. Upon going underground to find the glowing orbs that would awaken the Totem, I really had to use my head as well. Some areas could only be accessed by utilising your reflections, so you would have to calculate where you would need to jump and attack, to ensure that you could progress.

It was at the end of Winter Part 1 that I met my greatest foe of all. A creature you had to attack, similarly to a balloon, to gain momentum. Now, I’m terrible at these, so while the monsters were no longer a problem, this was a frustrating moment, where I would often have to take a long break to stop myself from screaming into the void. But, at least it shows that Neva will still offer a challenge, even if you want to focus on the story. However, it would be nice if that specific moment where I’m jumping from balloon to balloon would be easier. (Have I mentioned how terrible I am at platformers?)

In terms of music and sound, I can’t say that I didn’t absolutely adore the soundtrack. The music completely encapsulated the atmosphere, and successfully built tension in the chase scenes. The animations never felt jarring, and in fact, I always looked forward to them. While there isn’t any voice-acting aside from Alba calling Neva’s name, I loved the different ways that Alba would call for the wolf, because it really showed the emotional stakes of each level.

Considering how much Nomada Studio wanted to focus on the relationship between parent and child, and the issues of climate change, I think they’ve done an amazing job. While playing as Alba, I genuinely felt so concerned for Neva when I couldn’t see her. I also feared what would happen to her, and I felt so awful for the animals who were corrupted by the monsters, and seeing the destruction of the forest was incredibly jarring. In terms of the themes, there’s no doubt that Nomada Studio has done incredibly well.

Overall, I would recommend Neva to anyone who enjoys platformers, or even just enjoyed GRIS. With beautiful art and sound, it tells a story that resonates even without dialogue and voice-acting. With two different modes, everyone will find some kind of challenge, whether it’s collecting all the flowers on each level, or appreciating the scenery. It’s got an evocative story that’s sure to resonate with everyone.