Neva is a new and utterly gorgeous side-scrolling platformer from Nomada Studio, the team behind the sublime and award-winning Gris, featuring a brilliant soundtrack from Berlinist. It tells the story of a young woman named Alba and her wolf-meets-great-stag companion, Neva, as they overcome great tragedy in a time of growing darkness. This is our Neva Review!
Neva starts sweetly enough, sweeping us through painterly-landscapes of deep pinks and purples, the bold and hearty greens of great trees – a place where wildlife thrives in a beautiful valley of peace.
Something is deeply wrong however; a bird falls from the sky, its body overridden with dark flowers. A rot in the heart of nature itself. Alba and wolf-pup come across it, and to our joint horror, recoil as more and more birds fall foul to that same darkness, dropping from the sky in great numbers.
Soon, that darkness sweeps through the valley, and Alba, the wolf-pup and its much larger and more threatening parent are enveloped by shadow. Alba is rendered unconscious in the struggle, and we watch helplessly as the larger wolf, despite a valiant effort, is overwhelmed.
And so begins our journey. Mourning the loss of the Great Wolf, but comforted by the fact that the pup Neva has survived, they begin their journey deeper into this mysterious and hauntingly beautiful world. Together, they’ll discover the source of darkness and with luck, see if they can put an end to it.
A Journey Begins
It’s a testament to the talent of the team at Nomada Studio that in just a mere four-minutes of screen time, the stakes of this side-scrolling platformer are laid out so skillfully. I have now, subconsciously, taken on a parental role for the now-orphaned Wolf cub Neva, who is not yet old enough to entirely fend for herself.
The game itself is played out through seasonal stages – Summer, Fall, Winter and so on, broken down into several chapters. As this is an emotional and story driven game, I’m not going to spoil any further plot details beyond what I’ve spoken about thus far, so if you’re wary of that fret not. However, the passage of time is something keenly felt throughout this adventure – both in story and in gameplay.
Alba is a capable fighter, wielding a sword with which to defend herself via the X button, and in turn, young wolf-cub Neva. She has a health bar, represented by three daisy-like flowers at the bottom of the screen, which can be replenished at stone cairns throughout the game.
We can double jump straight from the get-go, and with a press of either B or the triggers Alba will dodge, gliding through the air or rolling across the ground.
The animation and general responsiveness here looks and feels fantastic, and certainly bode well for future platforming challenges, of which there are many.
Accessibility & Replayability
Neva offers two distinct playstyles – Adventure, which means health, death and a bit of a challenge. Story mode removes death entirely, with enemies just knocking you back, rather than causing direct harm. You’ll also deal more damage to enemies too.
A playthrough of Neva will take around 4-5 hours, but if you step off the beaten path you’ll find there are unique flowers to find, strewn throughout the game in sneakily-hidden, hard to reach places.
Think of them as optional puzzles, though I’m inclined to believe something special will happen should you find them all. Don’t worry, you can go back once you’ve completed the main story and find any you’ve missed.
In the Dog Days of Summer
We can press Y at any time to call Neva, and more importantly, pet and comfort her should the need arise. Pleasingly, the bond established so masterfully in the opening moments of the game between Alba and this young pup is re-enforced through gameplay in wonderfully clever ways.
Initially, Neva will follow along with us, sniffing at trees, or playing with other animals. Come to a jump she can’t quite make however, and she falls. On second attempt, I instinctively – without the game specifically telling me I can or should do this – press the Y button, and instantly Alba adopts an encouraging stance, willing Neva to make the jump again, and helping her up on to the platform. Lovely stuff.
As time passes, the young (as they tend to do) grow up, and Neva will grow more confident and far larger as we progress through the game. From Summer to Fall, Fall to Winter, the changes in time are reflected in the colour palette used on screen, in addition to the changes to our protagonists.
The growth of Alba and Neva are both heartfelt and genuine, and the bond deepens with the passage of time. It’ll also include teenage mood-swings, fierce declarations of independence and a dash of young love – we’ve all been there.
Creative Combat
The seasonal approach is more than just a backdrop change. Times passing in Neva in turn leads to more abilities, for both our sword wielding warrior and our young wolf-pup.
Alba will be able to climb walls of white flowers to assist in various platforming challenges, in addition to a downward strike that allows the player to break through certain weakened floors, as well as attacking and knocking back your foes.
Neva will begin to attack enemies on her own, or with a press of right bumper, will leap to one you’re pointing at, holding it in place and buying you time to dispense with other enemies. This was the only combat method I ever had a problem with, and had my yelling at my canine companion in rage.
One particular sequence required me to direct Neva to attack a specific target, however the wolf ended up anywhere but where I wanted her to go, leading to my death repeatedly. The combat never feels anything less than sublime most of the time, and any failure feels entirely of your own making. These kinds of frustrations stand out all the more, when everything else is so wonderfully fluid.
Later, Neva will grow so large that Alba will be able to ride her, in addition to attacking enemies in unison as one synchronised fighting team.
This darkness that appears to have swept across the land is, in my view, a corruption of nature. It’s no coincidence that the creatures we fight are often vaguely humanoid in form, and will happily infect other animals like a cancer for their own purposes, with nature itself becoming an unwilling habitat for these monstrosities.
Perilous Platforming Puzzles
The enemies themselves are surreal beings of shadows and white faces, their limbs disproportionate to their torsos, spurting out of the ground like unwanted weeds. The simpler enemies can be dispatched with a few swipes of our sword, though the game continuously throws greater and more complex beasties for us to contend with.
Indeed, sometimes these beasties will inhabit larger animals, corrupting the wildlife around you to use as a weapon against you, be it plant or animal. There are a variety of boss-like obstacles to overcome, be it in chase sequences, timed combat arenas and more.
With movement and combat being so agile and responsive, this leads to some delightful platforming and puzzling mechanics to be enjoyed throughout your time with Neva.
There’s some particular genius with some of the mechanics introduced here – the first is bringing combat into the platforming mix, where enemies will utilise blocks of man-made structures against you, forcing a combination of combat and platforming, making a heady concoction of reflexes and puzzle solving.
There’s also a wonderful section involving your own reflection in the mirror of a frozen lake which led to a particularly dream like-sequence that not only was visually mesmerising, but utterly captivating from a gameplay perspective. I don’t want to spoil too much.
A Dream of Spring
Despite feeling somewhat like well-trod narrative ground, Neva is a beautiful game, skilfully made with a lot of heart. The bond it fosters between you and your canine companion cannot be understated, and is likened to that of a parent and child. Alba becomes the parent figure, and the protector during Neva‘s youth.
As Neva grows, it is Alba now, who must be protected and cared for. We can only hope to have passed on what we learn to our children, in the hope that they will do a better job than we did.
Fans of the genre are unlikely to find a better game this year than this. Now I’m off to have a good cry and hug my kids.
Neva
Played on
Xbox Series X
PROS
- Lovely artstyle
- Responsive Controls
- Gorgeous Soundtrack
- Heartfelt Story
CONS
- A well trod narrative, albeit told well.
- One frustrating combat sequence
