Neva Review – The Circle of Life

It’s hard to believe that Nomada Studio’s Gris is almost six years old. When it first launched, the platformer gained extensive acclaim for its visuals, minimalist narrative, and emotional soundtrack, recently passing three million copies sold in September 2024. Despite its short runtime, it was hailed as another example of video games as art, both in its presentation and overall atmosphere. It’s a triumph, but how would the studio live up to, much less surpass it?

Nomada may have found the answer with Neva, a story about a woman named Alba and the titular wolf, Neva, as they venture through the seasons and fight back against a mysterious force. It encompasses many of Gris’s moods – grief, acceptance, and ultimately moving on – but also focuses on family and nature. The results are stunning to behold, and even if it doesn’t venture too far outside of the action platforming box, Neva delivers an emotional tale with stunning aesthetics.

"Nomada Studio describes the game as a “love song dedicated to our children, our parents, and our planet,” yet the circle of life – and the meaning that you ascribe to it – is also a strong recurring theme."

The story begins with Alba walking with Neva’s mother in the Summer when a strange corruption suddenly falls across the land. Birds fall out of the sky, afflicted with rotting flowers, and a flood of darkness assails them. Alba is knocked unconscious and ultimately survives – unfortunately, the mother isn’t so lucky. As she grieves for her friend, it’s revealed that Neva still lives, and thus, the two begin their journey through the seasons.

Like with Gris, questions emerge, including the nature of the darkness. I won’t posit too many theories in favor of avoiding spoilers, but suffice it to say that Nomada Studio’s narrative takes a slightly different route than expected. It describes the game as a “love song dedicated to our children, our parents, and our planet,” yet the circle of life – and the meaning that you ascribe to it – is also a strong recurring theme.

Neva’s story runs through Summer, Fall, Winter, and Spring, divided further into parts. Initially, the wolf pup follows Alba and requires protection as the darkness attempts to take her at nearly every turn. However, she slowly grows into a powerful companion, capable of attacking enemies and even acting as a seeking projectile to hold them in place or destroy crumbling objects. It’s also interesting to see the shift in her demeanor from a pup frightened and seeking shelter away from Alba to ultimately standing tall alongside her, ready to face battle.

As the darkness spreads, the world changes. Summer is straightforward enough and serves to build the bond between Alba and Neva, but Fall – ironically focused more on climbing and ascending – is where things get serious. The game’s platforming slowly increases in difficulty as you start timing dashes and double jumps, hanging and climbing from white vines on cliff sides and dealing with shattering rocks to venture forth.

"Combat is perhaps the biggest evolution compared to Gris. Wielding a sword, players can execute three-hit combos, dodge-rolling, air-dashing, and plunging attacks from on high."

While Gris felt decidedly more adventure-focused, Neva dabbles slightly with precision platforming to excellent results. You will venture through portals, reacting quickly from falling to dashing and resetting dashes into jumps. One section even plays with mirrors, requiring you to watch the reflections for areas to land and even combat enemies since they’re invisible on your side. Some puzzle-solving is involved, especially as you manipulate mysterious Totems to create new pathways. While not overtly challenging, they seamlessly integrate into the experience.

Another section involves lighting up hallways to avoid hazards (which Neva may signal by growling) and to ascertain the way forward. You also encounter optional platforming challenges for hidden flowers, offering clever diversions.

Summer initially may seem more deliberate and drawn out. However, Neva’s pacing quickly picks up from there, as the environmental design feels intuitive and natural, even as it warps and twists before your eyes in stunning detail. Neva’s abilities evolve based on the situations that she and Alba find themselves in, but it’s a testament to Nomada’s craft that their introduction feels natural. Over time, Neva will also integrate herself more closely with Alba’s melee attacks, indicative of their growing bond and dependence on each other.

Combat is perhaps the biggest evolution compared to Gris. Wielding a sword, players can execute three-hit combos, dodge-rolling, air-dashing, and plunging attacks from on high. It’s basic but works incredibly well, especially at the outset, since Alba is a human lacking any special powers. Once again, things pick up as Neva’s abilities manifest, which you’ll seamlessly wield into your set-up to turn the tables.

"Speaking of expectations, gorgeous visuals and aesthetics from Nomada are a given, but what you’ve seen in trailers is only a taste of what Neva has to offer."

The enemy variety aids in this regard – even the simplest of grunts can be threatening when they suddenly have blocks to push around (bizarre as it sounds). Of course, you also have the heavies and flying enemies – Neva can grapple and distract the former, inflicting significant damage and knockback the latter. At times, there are corrupted animals to battle, each with their own intriguing mechanics and patterns.

Adventure Mode feels right in its challenge, though Story Mode is available for those who want to focus more on the narrative. However, this isn’t a difficult game – some boss fights and encounters may require a couple of retries, but I could deal with others in a single shot. Not that this takes away from the game, but it’s something to remember for those seeking a more action-heavy experience.

Speaking of expectations, gorgeous visuals and aesthetics from Nomada are a given, but what you’ve seen in trailers is only a taste of what Neva has to offer. Each season plays with color tones in creative ways – the heat and vibrancy of Summer dotted with shadowy forests and the horrors that lurk around every corner; the more subdued yet darker shades of Fall, with the crumbling environments acting as an analogy for the dying leaves; and the starkness of Winter, with its haze and desiccated vegetation creating a feeling of isolation while also drawing attention to a central figure. Neva’s visuals simply sing with life, even in its most disparate tones, enveloping you in a world equal parts hostile and inviting.

The music, composed by Berlinist, who also worked on Gris, is equally enthralling. The piano and violin are once again dominant but percussion comes into play during some of the more action-packed moments, which lends well to triumph and tension alike.

"Neva may not be on everyone’s radar due to the busy quarter. However, if you enjoyed Gris, it’s an essential journey."

What’s especially interesting is how restrained it can feel at times, with the ambient sounds of the world taking precedence. Everything works in concert with the camera system, which zooms out accordingly depending on the scene. It can work in subtle, terrifying ways, such as Alba waking up to strange creaking sounds and quietly waking Neva while the camera slightly zooms out to show the corrupted beings crawling above them.

It’s difficult to find any real knocks against Neva, except for a few hitboxes during certain boss battles. Some may feel dissuaded by its short playtime (which clocked in at about 4.2 hours for me on Adventure mode). However, Nomada’s story is perfectly conveyed in that window with no fluff or filler, much as I would have liked a few more non-combative sections with some more bonding.

Neva may not be on everyone’s radar due to the busy quarter. However, if you enjoyed Gris, it’s an essential journey. The beautiful visuals and art style, the evolving bond between Alba and Neva, the tight combat and the incredible environmental design – it’s all meticulously crafted yet seamlessly and naturally integrated. It’s a stunning meditation that’s confident yet compassionate and worth your time.

This game was reviewed on PC.