I am not a woman with a sword and I do not live in a soft, watercolor world that is quickly being overtaken by thin, dark shadows. But I feel like it is. Most days are a struggle as I hit the abyss that threatens to overwhelm me; I have a lot more in common, right now, with NevaAlba's human character is more striking than I expected.
NevaNomada Studio's follow-up to its acclaimed platform game greybegins with Alba pushing to wake up the fantastical wolf cub of the same name as the game. She yawns and stretches, then jogs, distracted by the falling leaves. Alba and a much larger wolf, presumably Neva's mother, watch. Together, the group of three breathes in the spring air and bursts of greenery until a familiar shadow fills the air. Birds fall from the sky, dead and blackened by blossoms instead of decay. The larger wolf narrows his eyes and crouches as Alba draws her sword. The darkness wins, rendering Alba unconscious and rendering the larger wolf superficial. Later, Alba and Neva realize the reality of what happened: Alba's partner, Neva's mother, is dead.
Although consumed by pain, life does not stop for Alba and Neva. The darkness still stings their backs, threatening to consume them. NevaIt's a lush world, but you must move forward together. Life didn't stop for me either when my 8-year-old puppy, my best friend, died at the end of May. A growing darkness, cancer, followed us for four months before advancing too far. My life is not the same without him and it never will be. My days were darkened by pain, I had to move on because someone else depended on me. Long before his death, when he was still well, my partner and I decided to adopt a puppy. We were going to pick her up at the beginning of June. Which happened to be a day after our son died. Like Neva, our pup is the spitting image of the one who came before. She is so small, so curious and always distracted. She needs guidance. Neva does it too.
Over time, Neva will help fight larger monsters and assist in more complicated platforming sections. Although Neva It is a progression in terms of difficulty, it is never a difficult game. (And if a section of combat is holding you back, you can turn to story mode, which eliminates taking damage.) Some may find Neva Too simple, maybe if you came expecting something with Soulslike difficulty. This is not that game. At just over four hours long, the combat is totally limited. But the combat sequences are meant to demonstrate the evolution of Alba and Neva's relationship rather than existing as an element of pure challenge. It's the right length for an ethereal game like Nevasomething that has so much to do with how it makes you feel like actually playing it. There is no dialogue in Neva – except Alba screams his name – so the gameplay is how the narrative is expertly expressed. It is very similar to grey in that way; You can also see Nomada Studio's legacy in the muted colors, geometric architecture, and overwhelming sadness.
Between the combat and platforming, Nomada Studio also uses long stretches of almost nothing in a surprisingly emotional way. There are many times throughout Neva where all I do is push my controller's joystick left or right, Neva or not, in an effort to simply move forward. In fact, I've found an element of challenge in these all-too-quiet times: am I heading down the right path? Does that really matter? I just keep going.
Right now I think of my own dogs, of Alba and Neva, and of the wolf that came before. I've thought a lot about how my relationship with the new puppy will change and grow, how it will be different or the same as with my best friend. There is no substitute for what I have lost, for what Alba and Neva have lost. But even forged in pain, something beautiful will grow. We'll just move on. Alba and Neva do it too.
Neva will be released on October 15 on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X. The game was played on the Steam Deck using a pre-release download code provided by Devolver Digital. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence editorial content, although Vox Media may earn commissions on products purchased through affiliate links. Additional information about Polygon's ethics policy can be found here.