Neva review

Video games are often just a fun way to spend your free time that help pick you up after a long day, but sometimes they’re much more than that. Most of us will remember the emotional gut punch of starting Ori and the Blind Forest for the first time, and I’m pretty sure of all the things you could call the story in The Last of Us would avoid the word “fun”. The way I felt when playing Neva in a single word was “emotional”, and like any powerful piece of art it has stuck with me way after the credits rolled.

In Neva you play as Alba, a young woman who is bound to a sort of magical fantasy wolf called Neva in a world of darkness and demons. After an incredibly powerful and rather tragic opening cutscene that I won’t spoil, you wake up next to Neva and are thrown into a journey across this dangerous, sinister, and above all else beautiful world. In terms of plot there isn’t a whole lot more to go on than this, but despite it all being told with the singular spoken word of “Neva” this story really resonated with me.

Once you actually gain control of Alba for the first time, you’ll start platforming through the striking environments of Neva. Our sword wielding heroine can jump, double jump, and do an air dash, and you’ll be required to combine all of these to get across massive gaps and tricky platform layouts to progress on your adventure. Alba feels great to control, and although there’s rarely any punishment for failing at the platforming it’s still tricky enough to keep you engaged between fights with the masked creatures that hunt you down.

It’s never really explained what these horrible monsters that are taking over the beautiful vistas of the game are, but they sure are violent and grotesque. Although combat is relatively simple in Neva, it’s still a lot of fun. You can swing your sword in a fast combo, perform a downward strike, and dodge roll to safety to handle the enemies, and that’s all you really need to manage your foes. With only three points of health at your disposal you’ll need to dodge through attacks to survive, and if you can land six hits without taking damage you’ll even recover a hit-point. The flow of fights just feels right, and with a nice enemy variety and some truly nasty bosses thrown your way it’s a good job it does.

Alba is no slouch in her role of saving the world from evil, but she couldn’t do it without Neva. Initially your titular companion struggles to help very much. As a pup Neva’s ability to fight monsters is a little lacking, and they also need a little help getting around the environment. As you progress through the seasons (which are basically chapters) of the game though, Neva grows up, and as they do they begin to help you hit things out of reach and in combat, and by the end of the game if my wolf companion was missing for a scene I’d really feel it. The growth of Neva really helps you build up a bond with the majestic wolf, which the game is happy to zoom in on when things get emotional.

While trying my best not to spoil anything, Neva is a game that features a whole lot of scenes featuring animals in danger that some will find distressing. This isn’t a bleak and horrific experience from start to finish a-la The Last of Us, but there are some moments where certain players will really struggle and possibly even be unable to continue with the game. I feel some sort of warning at the start of the game or on the store page would be appreciated by these people too, so it’s a shame that this doesn’t exist.

If you can cope with this though, Neva is a lovely way to spend around three hours. The visuals are some of the nicest I’ve ever experienced in the medium, and the soundtrack is breath-taking. Pretty much every intense fight has an accompanying sweeping score that just feels epic, and there’s not a single background in the game that you couldn’t hang in a gallery. Neva is a joy to the senses, and it makes it such an absorbing experience.

Neva has a whole lot going for it, but just occasionally it feels a bit sluggish. To ensure you drink in the environments there are often sections where you run in a straight line between more interesting moments, and they stretch on just a touch too long. Alba in general moves a tad too slowly alongside this, and I spent most of my time mashing the dash button in an attempt to go slightly quicker.

Neva is a gorgeous game with engaging combat and a sensational soundtrack. Very few games have made me feel a connection quite so strong with a character as I had with my majestic wolf buddy, and the emotional moments this enabled were pretty damn powerful. It’s a touch slow and has some moments that might be too much for animal lovers to deal with, but Neva is an experience I won’t soon forget.