Neva almost brought me to tears. During Summer Game Fest, the game's opening cinematics left me emotionally shattered within just one minute of starting the demo. I won't spoil what happens in those initial frames, but it deeply affected me. It set the stage perfectly for the heart-pounding danger and breathtaking beauty that I experienced over the next 45 minutes, alongside my new companion, Neva the wolf.

Figure 1. Neva Hands-On: A Remarkable Achievement in Emotional Game Design.

Every aspect of Neva is awe-inspiring. It plays out like a living watercolour illustration: Alba, the protagonist, with her long, slender limbs, cloud of silver hair, and flowing red cloak that elegantly drapes behind her with each leap and fall. Neva, a young white wolf, is fluffy and energetic, and the bond between the two is intense, repeatedly reinforced and tested in the demo. Figure 1 shows Neva hands-on: a remarkable achievement in emotional game design.

The world of Neva feels slightly more grounded than Gris, the game that brought Nomada Studio to fame in 2018, yet it's still brimming with layers of magic. The landscapes beyond the 2D plane that Alba and Neva traverse have incredible depth—dense forests hiding secrets, mountain ranges towering above wide valleys, and sharp peaks piercing the distant sky. The demo features lush glades adorned with vines and weeping branches, sunlight streaming through gaps in the leaves, and cave systems with dark, tight corridors.

At times, Neva adopts a Frank Lloyd Wright approach to design, guiding players through claustrophobic thickets that suddenly open into fields of thick green grass. The camera pulls back to reveal how small Alba and Neva truly are in this vast space.

In Neva, the side scrolling playground is composed of trees, leaves, rocks, and roots, featuring sloping platforms and floating islands predominantly made of stone. As the demo progresses, touches of fantastical alien technology become more frequent, accompanied by hordes of inky-black enemies with round white faces, mouths open in silent screams.[1]

Platforming in Neva feels intuitive. The game minimizes on-screen text, relying instead on environmental cues like soft highlights and sun-kissed glows to indicate the correct paths, which feels entirely natural. I flowed through most areas of the demo, leaping onto ledges with almost subconscious impulses, trusting the game’s subtle instructions. There are areas of spiky blackness that Alba must clear for Neva to progress, and sometimes I had to momentarily leave the little wolf behind, generating instant separation anxiety. Neva yelps and squeaks as she learns to traverse the world, and these sounds are heart-wrenching. I was keenly aware of Neva with each jump, ensuring she could follow my path, lingering to watch her complete big leaps, petting her after each success, and consistently calling out her name.

Alba’s voice is fairy-like, and her way of saying, “Neva? Neva. Nevaaa!” has become an earworm I can’t shake. Since returning home from Summer Game Fest and reuniting with my two small dogs, I’ve been walking around the house saying, “Neva?” as if it were their names. It’s been a confusing time for them, but they’ve gotten a few extra treats, so all’s well.

Combat in Neva is as intuitive as the platforming, with simple inputs that deliver satisfying hits from Alba’s sword. The enemies, long-limbed creatures emerging from dark pools in the ground, slash at Alba with their spiky fingers and throw lethal blobs, but they’re fairly easy to dispatch one-on-one. Alba can get incredibly close to each creature before taking damage, making the fight scenes feel like a dance, with constant action and minimal interruptions. I didn’t die until I reached the boss fight at the end of the demo, where Neva and I had to battle a giant creature, double jumping around it to slash at its legs and back while avoiding its attacks. I defeated the boss after three deaths, and the scene felt like a fitting escalation of everything I’d learned so far.

I’m convinced that every preview of Neva (including this one) will mention how quickly and easily the game will make players cry, and I want to take a moment to recognize the magnitude of this achievement. The bond that Nomada Studio has built between Neva and Alba is incredibly powerful, and this type of emotional connection doesn’t just happen when you put an animal and a human in the same scene. Neva is a constant source of anxiety and joy: The cub must be protected at all costs, and she feels like a physical part of Alba’s being, necessary for the protagonist’s survival. Neva establishes their shared trauma, and every subsequent mechanic reinforces their partnership — protect, pet, repeat. Neva and Alba need each other, and their shared love resonates from every frame of the game.

Reference:

1. https://www.engadget.com/neva-hands-on-a-grand-achievement-in-emotional-game-design-180516649.html

Cite this article:

Gokila G (2024), Neva Hands-On: A Remarkable Achievement in Emotional Game Design, AnaTechMaz pp.22