Neva Preview: A Warm Embrace
Since 2021, The Tribeca Festival in New York City has showcased narrative-focused games that highlight the power of the medium in a way to feature powerful and impactful stories. Among the select few, Neva from Nomada Studio and published by Devolver Digital, was among these games. As the studio’s second game, Neva continues from the foundations of their first game, Gris, and has elevated every aspect of the experience. Though clearly inspired by its predecessor, Neva stands on its own as one of the powerhouse games expected to release this year. I had the privilege to play nearly an hour of the game and was left emotionally raw and absolutely wanting more.
The Tribeca demo opens up in a similar fashion of the announcement trailer showcased in 2023. There, we are introduced to the world within Neva - mountains encapsulated in bold shades of blue, rolling hills touched with lush pink, and an enclave of green shrubbery flourished throughout. A simple bird is soaring above all the beauty, but for an unexplained reason, begins to fall. As it crashes into the ground, it quickly deteriorates and transforms into an ominous dark flower. The protagonist, Alba, along with a small white fox with antlers named Neva, cautiously approaches the bird/flower. A much larger fox with branch-like looking antlers approaches them - both sharing a look of unease as scores of birds fall from the sky. The wind picks up, all three look out onto the horizon and are faced against a wave of darkness and monstrous creatures. With her sword unsheathed, Alba and the two fox creatures prepare to face these creatures.
Alba is quickly attacked and thrown into unconsciousness as the larger fox continues to fight. Alone in this fight now, the odds against the large fox becomes insurmountable and is overwhelmed by the volume of the dark long-limbed creatures. Alba eventually wakes up from the attack to see the large fox not moving, eyes closed. In a fit of grief, Alba embraces the large fox, while Neva approaches with hints of fear and sorrow. With their shared grief, Alba and Neva embrace in their sadness, opening the game with a gut-wrenching and powerfully emotional state.
Still raw from the opening trailer, the screen splashes a title screen: “Chapter 1: Summer”. This leads me to believe that there could be four main chapters within the game, to signify the four seasons. As the chapter opened up, Neva and Alba are surrounded by a lush forest, seemingly very close to where the end of the introduction took place. Like its predecessor, Gris, Neva is cinematic 2D platformer. I was mostly traversing left and right to progress the game, all the while ensuring that Neva was close by. Sometimes Neva would get stuck on various platforms or even easily distracted by the environment, so it became essential to coax the cub into regaining their attention and jumping to the next platform. There were even times that Neva needed to calm the cub with a warm embrace of a hug. I quickly appreciated that these challenges weren’t only about blocking a path from Point A to Point B, but rather, ensuring that the connection with Neva and Alba itself could be a gameplay mechanic within all the platforming.
As I progressed through the introductory minutes of gameplay, I was in awe of the sheer beauty and artistry of the game. Neva boasts bold colors and a stylization that is instantly recognizable as a Nomada Studio game. The protagonists weaved throughout the environment, and even pushed the camera’s perspective out and in to allow for a more cinematic feel. Docile creatures also encompassed the world as you ran through it. Cute butterflies catching Neva’s attention, larger swan-like creatures enjoying the water, and even a larger-than life stag took pause of my closeness. I adore these sorts of moments where a game gives me the chance to really see the scope of the world and how these protagonists are just a blip in the vastness of the world. I’m also happy to report that you can pet Neva and embrace Neva in a hug often within various scripted moments, explicitly showcasing the need for tissues nearby while playing this game.
Once I started to feel comfortable with the platforming, the game quickly added enemies to the mix. These elongated-limbed dark creatures were a breeze the first few times I encountered them. With Neva’s ability to double jump and dodge attacks, as well as a sword, I was zipping around the battle area with ease. However, things very rapidly became more of a challenge. Before I knew it, I was facing numerous enemies, each had varied attacks and patterns. The first wave of these groups had me in a bit of a frenzy, but I was able to lean in on my seat and adapt . Within a few minutes, I was easily juggling enemies, timing my attacks perfectly, dodging projectiles, all with a satisfying grin on my face.
With all the platforming and combat nearly mastered this far into the demo, I was happy to see both intertwined with various environmental puzzles. Since Neva is still a cub, much of the world scares them. To help rectify this, I was challenged to clear out dark vines or other obstacles obstructing Neva’s path. Similarly to the combat, the first few bouts were easy enough, teaching me more about the world and laying the foundations for more aggressive situations. Towards the end of the demo, I found myself progressing through complex platforming and strategizing to complete several segments within a larger scope of events, which became a profound feeling of accomplishment.
Towards the end of the demo, there were two major set piece events. The first was a chase sequence. More powerful than the other darkness creatures, this monster was so large and imposing that the only option I had was to run away from it. Unfortunately, this was the weakest part of the demo. As I was running away from this creature, black thorns would pop up and could inflict damage to me. If I didn’t dodge them early enough, I would lose health. Three mistakes and it’s over. Luckily, the reload was extremely fast. Not lucky, it would be at the start of the chase sequence each time with no checkpoints. This took me a few tries, not because it was overly difficult, but I felt that the game did not telecast where the thorns would pop up quick enough for me to adjust my movements (though the locations were the same in every attempt). Eventually, I was able to progress, but considering the immense highs that the rest of the game presented, this left me a bit crestfallen.
The second major set piece was the final portion of the demo. Remember that powerful and opposing creature that I had to run away from in the previous paragraph? Well, now defeating it is the goal. This battle sequence was far more challenging than I was expecting, but I was all for it. I was only able to get a few hits in before quickly rolling and dodging away to avoid any hits. The opposing creature followed specific patterns and attacks that were broadcasted a bit more easily than the chase sequence, and required a lot of precision with attacks. The combat here shined through and really gave me a sense that the development team was not holding their punches, but really flexing their combat sequences for players to enjoy. After a tough fight, I was able to vanquish the enemy and conquer the demo. My one caution is that the combat could be too aggressive for players of Gris who are looking for a meditative experience, so I would be curious how Nomada Studio will take this into account for the full version of the game.
Neva is my favorite demo at the Tribeca Festival Games Gallery. The score, art style, traversal, and combat wonderfully overlap and weave into each other, creating a sensational experience that had me upset that there wasn’t more to enjoy. Though Neva is still slated for 2024, there is currently no firm date on its release. Neva will certainly be a day one purchase for me, and if they can stick the landing like this first chapter, will be a breakout game for an already stacked year.
Preview by Harry Loizides