Neva Reviews
Nomada Studio follows up on the striking Gris with an effort that's poignant and precise, if maybe just a tad melodramatic.
Nomada Studios' sophomore release shows that lightning can indeed strike twice, as it's every bit as breathtaking as 2018's Gris.
Neva is one of the most beautiful games I’ve ever played, from the watercolour art style to the clever direction.
Neva is another winner from Nomada Studio, but it's also much more than that. It's a drop-dead gorgeous game with truly fun platforming action, puzzles and combat, with hauntingly-beautiful moments. But the titular character is the true highlight, easily encapsulating the biggest strengths as you see this wolf grow up alongside Alba. It's a journey of motherhood that takes the form of one of the year's best platformers, and just one of the year's best games, period.
Neva is a beautiful platformer about nature and decay that takes Nomada Studio to the next level. The platforming and combat are imprecise enough to distract from a world of dangerous beauty - but not so much that you won't enjoy the journey.
Neva is a spectacular example of art in motion, delivering a thoroughly engrossing platforming experience that'll stick in your mind long after you've rolled credits. The incredible visuals, moving soundtrack, satisfying gameplay, and surprisingly touching story all come together to make for a game that shouldn't miss. A few frame drops aside, if you're looking for a new addition to your library that'll give you something to savour rather than just consume, look no further than Neva.
Neva is a beautiful game that hits you right in the feels, with engaging combat and a soundtrack that'll sweep you off your feet.
Neva is a game that builds on the platforming prowess of its predecessor GRIS, offering powerful pastel visuals, incredible use of color and flora, and sublime set-pieces to tell a powerful story where your bond is everything. The game offers a newfound dynamism, trading in the label of a puzzle platformer for a more traditional adventure platforming approach. Sadly, the game fails to hit the narrative heights of its predecessor, and also fails to truly get the most out of each mechanic presented. But despite this, Neva is a captivating, visually jaw-dropping indie that is simply too good to ignore.
Like the previous game, Neva is a delight to the eye and a real hug to the soul. Nomada Studio bets this time on a story with small doses of action, and it's as touching as Gris, but it never leaves its own path. Everything, from the sounds of the forest to Alba's swords, feels delicate. It's a rich world you'll never want to leave.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Neva is almost brilliant. This is a finely crafted game let down by too much empty time-wasting, untapped potential in its puzzling, and a rather onerous desire to make people cry.
While it adheres to genre fundamentals, Neva distinguishes itself through high artistic quality and a simple yet impactful story. The chapter and level design maintains a brisk pace, avoiding repetitive situations that could weaken the overall experience. This skillful management of time and style allows Neva to shine despite its brief duration.
Review in Italian | Read full review
NEVA is pure emotion, an audiovisual delight that conquers the playable plane with the blow of a sword to offer an adventure more archetypal and standardized than GRIS, but equally loaded with beauty, meaning and feeling.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Neva may not be the most complex 2D platformer, but it still might make you cry.
Neva is not yet a modern classic, but it's one of those games that can be completed in a couple of evenings but is memorable for years to come.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Neva is a stunning game with incredible art and visuals that showcase a Nomada Studio team that's much more refined since it's last game, "Gris." The much-improved gameplay experience on offer in Neva paired with a deeply emotional story that's expressed in the art, the score, and the wonderfully detailed animations hit deep within you, charging you towards the credits until you're weeping while watching them roll. It's more simplistic puzzle-platforming and combat design do leave something to be desired, and a pacing deficiency dampens the mood, but those issues don't stop it from being a must-play game and one of the best indie's in 2024.
It must be a challenge to thread inspiration’s needle in a game like this one. Critics and players might point to Neva’s most obvious references as thematic shortcuts, but the game’s personality and careful sense of craft always shined through. I’m tempted to compare Neva to Playdead’s influential duology of Limbo and Inside, even though the tonal qualities remain quite different, primarily for the impeccable quality of its design and richness of its world, dialogue-free as it may be. It's a brief experience overall, but most players should feel compelled to happily join Alba and Neva in starting the seasonal cycle anew, their screenshot key on a hair trigger.
Neva makes it clear that GRIS, Nomada Studio's first game, wasn't a one-off exploit. Combining a stunning art style with a touching story and a simple but entertaining combat system, Neva is a beautiful (if a bit short) game that anyone should play. Its only flaw is that, compared to GRIS, its themes are much more obvious, so there is very little sense of mystery and discovery.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Neva offers a unique, spiritual journey through life’s complexities. While the narrative leaves some elements open to interpretation, its grounded aspects make the characters relatable. Though brief, the adventure is full of memorable moments that will captivate you with each step toward its wonderful conclusion. The emotional and thought-provoking journey blends captivating storytelling with immersive gameplay to deliver a truly special experience.
It's an evocative story that is beautifully told and has plenty of heart, and one that feels increasingly relevant in the context of the world that we live in.
Neva is a Ghibli-esque adventure of torture, triumph, and friendship that won’t fail to tug on your heart strings. Combining beautiful visuals, with precise platforming and combat that coats every action you make with endless heart, it’s easily one of the best games of the year and by far my favourite indie of 2024. I’ve never felt so emotionally attached to an animal companion – which is thanks to the carefully crafted bond Nomada Studios built between the wolf and the girl, and by extension, the player; none of them made me want to take as big a leap as the ones I took to protect her. My only criticism of Neva is that I won’t be able to play it for the first time again; but the memory will stay with me forever.