Neva Review: Dopamine of Gaming

Neva is one of those magical fairy tales that move you for life. While the game’s entire plot is simply the triumph over darkness, it simply fuels the game’s fire with attachment, love, hope, and power.

Developed by Nomada Studio and published by Devolver Digital, Neva was released on October 15 for PC, PS5, Nintendo Switch and Xbox. The studio’s second adventure after Gris has been established as one of the favourite releases of the year. Here’s Gameffine’s official review for Neva.

And the Leaves turn Black.

This tale starts with beautiful visuals of nature and the seasons, with our hero and her wolves. Right off the first frame, the art will captivate every player with its rich colour and design style. And soon are introduced to our party of heroes. A young woman with a sword, and the mother and child wolf who are partners to our protagonist. But what is the story of a hero without pain?

A sudden darkness engulfs everything it sees like a raging storm and is soon faced by the part of our heroes. Unfortunately, the storm of darkness is too tough to survive and our hero loses consciousness, and before closing her eyes, she sees the mother wolf also being devoured by the darkness.

Time passes, and our protagonist regains consciousness, she soon realises that her partner wolf has passed away. Her child however survives. The child’s name is – Neva.

The journey of bringing the world back to its true self begins, the corruption has to go, and the sacrifices can’t be in vain.

Our protagonist fights her way through her darkness, with each season, and grows as one with Neva. Neva is a divine wolf and can utilize divine powers to triumph over the darkness. But since she is just a baby, her survival and growth lie in the hands of our protagonist.

The Possessed Sword

Neva is one of the few games that capture your entire attention right from the get-go. Most of it is because of the art direction in the game, and the complementing mechanics and animations of the game.

My favourite feature of the game is simply pressing the triangle button to call out for Neva. This feature is extremely dynamic and probably the first time I’ve seen it in an Indie game. While for most of the game, Neva acts independently, by simply calling him out, I feel in control of him to perfectly blend a dynamic of combat between the protagonist and Neva. The soft-spoken calls for Neva cannot be more motherly and soft, which is extremely beautiful to listen to, given the same calls turn into fear and anguish during conflicts.

This feature expands and evolves with the game’s progression dynamic. Each level of the game is briefly divided into the seasons of the world. With each passing season, Neva grows from being a baby to a teen and finally an adult. All the while gaining new abilities, making better decisions and graceful travelling over platforms.

Individually, the protagonist sticks to being a human making a difference, and her only special powers are the bond with her divine pet. Even after making progressions in the game, new powers are unlocked around Neva and not the protagonist. Which in all fairness seems like an amazing decision, keeping the game authentic, and forcing me to make my gameplay around Neva.

This whole dynamic of character progression made a canonical change. Neva who was first entirely dependent on the protagonist, is now the one protecting her every step of the way. In the end, Neve became the guardian of the protagonist.  

As for the combat, enemy varieties are sufficient, most of them being as creative and artistic as possible. You will be hunted, lodged darkness at, attempted to be squeezed between boulders or burned by a dark angel. Your only way to react is by slashing them down with your swordsmanship. Instead of parries, you are simply allowed to dodge your way through dangers, which is even more elegant to do so.

But the real fun of the combat evolves with Neva. Neva can become one with your weapon, allowing a wider hit range and higher damage. Neva can also be dispatched like a spear who will then assume true far and hold the enemy down, or even tear him to pieces. Neva will be your light in darkness, and your ride to cover long distances.

If you’ve already caught on, you might be playing a different character, but the true hero and the title of the game is still – Neva.

The puzzles of Neva this time around are quite simple compared to Gris and are more about exploring. You get additional optional flowers which you can reach for them to bloom spread all across levels in the game.

There are no voiceovers, readable lores or anything to distract you from the vivid calm of the game. Just a canvas and even more beautiful music.

The Stroke of Hope

Neva is undoubtedly the most beautiful game I have played this year. I have mostly shifted all my games to the Steam deck for comfort. But given the game’s true artistic form deserved a bright and big screen, I sat down for the big adventure and completed it in one sitting.

Neva’s graphics are so mesmerising, that each frame can be turned into a wallpaper.

The colour palette does not hesitate at all either. I came across almost all the colours, and levels with matching themes. From the orange sunset of open fields to the deep red of a wolf’s curse. The gradients have been exceptionally good and more importantly, the custom brushes for the plants with often symmetric structures in the game will simply send your mind to cloud nine.

The OSTs of the game as earlier mentioned, have followed the lineage of Gris and have outdone themselves this time around as well. The sudden changes in tone during battles, to even specific build-ups and the calm walk during an extremely beautiful scenery. It all bundles up perfectly well like a 1000-piece puzzle coming together.

FINAL WORD

Neva is undoubtedly the most ravishing game we have played in a few years. The game sets a benchmark for all platformer games and sends a message that a story that can steal your heart and the visuals that you can’t look away from are enough for a perfect platformer game. Neva is our favourite game we have played this year.