The wolf actually dies Nevathe new platform adventure game from Nomada Studio. This isn’t really a spoiler, as the game’s reveal trailer showed this exact moment and it’s the very first thing you’ll experience when you start playing. What you’ll be wondering for the next five hours, however, is whether the game’s titular wolf pup will suffer the same fate as its deceased parent.
As the developers’ second title from 2018 Grisa critically acclaimed puzzle-platformer about grief, Neva has a lot to offer. Like its predecessor Neva features beautiful graphics and often delicious platforming puzzles. However, the second title falters when it comes to implementing its often all too familiar themes. For those who have played GrisThis game’s distinctive art style and animation, reminiscent of a hand-drawn film, make it clear that the same team is behind it. However, this pedigree isn’t always a good thing, as the game fails to assert itself, instead falling back on the creative choices we’ve seen before. NevaThe story about our relationship with nature and the circle of life seems full of potential, but it never knows how to deliver on that promise.
A Tale of the Seasons
While the wolf pup takes the top position NevaThat’s not the role you’re playing. Rather, you slip into the role of Alba, a surrogate parent for the now orphaned Neva. Alba, a young woman who lives in a beautiful forest inhabited by larger-than-life deer, wild boars and wolves, has seemingly known Neva since birth, as we see her fighting alongside her against a wave of enemies made up of a nature-destroying species Plague consists of puppies and their parents in the game’s opening cinematic. With the forest around them rapidly dying off due to this new threat, the two embark on a journey that will last a full cycle of seasons (or approximately five hours of gameplay). Along the way, you’ll help transform Neva from a small, nervous puppy into a giant wolf while battling the world’s now-infected inhabitants.
However, before you even set off on your adventure, which is massive Princess Mononoke The atmosphere is palpable everywhere (if you couldn’t already tell from the giant wolf in the game’s opening game and his female companion), you’ll probably be amazed Neva‘S beautiful pictures. Similar Gris before that, Neva takes a painterly approach to his depiction. An early shot of the game’s lead duo resting under a giant flowering tree is particularly impressive, setting the bar for any view, no matter how beautiful. The leaves of skyscraper-tall trees are made up of countless little colorful dots that blur in a way that Georges Seurat would approve of. As the game begins in summer and progresses through the seasons, the color palette becomes more muted, with the increasing infection-killing nature also playing its part. Gris was a game that started in grayscale and helped bring color into the world. Neva reverses that and it’s a wonderful visual journey that continues.
Lone wolf and cub
You navigate Neva through 2D platforming that lets you run, jump, double jump and dash through lush natural environments. There are plenty of platforming puzzles, but there are also fights that lack a mechanic Gris. While I was initially concerned about how combat would be integrated into this narrative-heavy platformer, after a full playthrough I can say that it’s mostly fine. You’ll make your way through a range of enemy types, some requiring a little more thought than others to defeat and get on your way. As Neva grows from season to season, you will also unlock new ways to incorporate her into battles. The combat isn’t particularly bad, but it’s also not good enough to make it satisfying, making the game’s boss fights (which take place near the end of each chapter) low points in your short adventure.
Platforming, on the other hand, feels wonderful, which is especially the case Neva brings new challenges. But just like in GrisThese interesting variations on the game’s standard platforming system are often given only a brief spotlight before being thrown out entirely. In one area, I had to navigate invisible platforms by looking at a reflection of the level, which caused the controls to feel like I was jumping through the air in hopes of not falling to my death. The following rooms added more reflections and different perspectives, making them even more fun to navigate, but soon I was past that particular set of levels and would never face a similar challenge again. I can’t help but think it would have been better to have a smaller selection of innovative core gameplay details, each given a greater spotlight.
It’s the circle of life
If I shown in the preview Neva In June of this year, I was excited about the potential of this story. But now that I’ve completed it, I realize that it’s a game with potential that is never realized. In the game’s first chapter, “Summer,” Neva’s company feels meaningful, in part because you have to constantly watch out for the young pup. If you’re not careful, they’ll run away or fall off a ledge and have trouble following you. Calling out to Neva and petting her, which you can do at any time with the push of a button, promises that forging that bond between Alba and Neva will mean something.
But in later chapters this never feels true. Ultimately, Neva becomes just a tool for Alba (and you) to use in combat or platforming, but never a true partner. The focus on an NPC companion puts this game in conversation with people like this Ico And The Last Guardianbut unlike those games, it fails to understand the importance of granting such a companion a level of freedom that sometimes goes against the player’s wishes but ultimately leads to a wonderful symbiotic relationship forged through challenge.
In theory, the game’s combat also serves a thematic purpose, as it allows you to actively fight for a better world. As Alba and Neva continue to travel, they are constantly ambushed by the forest’s once-thriving fauna, now afflicted with the same corruption that poisons the land itself, and by engaging you directly in this fight, the game seems to assert itself Environmentalists call to arms. Unfortunately, these topics never go deeper than depth. Beyond destroying the threat, Alba and Neva cannot work to bring life back into the world. Neva is the only animal that you as the player are directly responsible for and interact with, and even they become nothing more than another tool to use in battle. There was a lot of setup that kept me waiting for the game to say something meaningful, but it never paid off. Since the game’s narrative doesn’t take into account the environmentalist message, the inclusion of combat feels like an afterthought whose only real purpose is to give the player some work to do in the form of enemies to take down.
Instead, Neva prioritizes a meditation on life and loss that all too often seems half-baked and pales in comparison Gris‘ Execution of the same themes. A lot of it Neva feels encouraged by its predecessor to cover up its weaknesses with familiar themes and the same platform (with all its flaws). Gris I encourage fans of this game not to look too closely at the flaws of this game. Ultimately when Neva attempting to take a final narrative twist that completely departs from the story’s initially compelling and original themes is too much of a shift too late in the game and only serves to undermine the few unique choices this experience attempts. At least it’s short.
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