Year: 2024
Platform: PlayStation 5
Genre: Adventure
Review Date: 7/28/26
Rating: ***

From the same team that brought you "Gris" (2018), comes another tale of heartbreak and despair. The game opens with a terrible blight attacking an idyllic forest, killing everything in its path. After the gut-wrenching introduction, you take control of a warrior woman named Alba (I don't know where her name came from, since it's not mentioned anywhere in the game) and a wolf cub named Neva. Over the course of four seasons, Alba confronts the darkness, which is seemingly ruled by a singular sword-wielding witch, while Neva grows up and becomes increasingly more powerful. Not surprisingly, the game ends on a grueling and heartbreaking note, to which I have to say, "HOW DARE YOU!"

The minimalistic art direction is gorgeous and reminiscent of "Gris," but quite often the scenery gets lost in the overpowering bloom lighting effects. This also has the effect of making your character hard to see, and she frequently gets lost on the screen. The four seasons look radically different and provide a great amount of visual variety. The environments are also nicely complemented by a melancholic music score that's bound to bring you to tears. While the character design is simplistic, the pairing of Alba and Neva is very reminiscent of Hayao Miyazaki's "Mononoke Hime" (1997).

The gameplay consists of platforming and light combat, and the difficulty constantly increases. There's also a considerable amount of just walking through the environment, presumably to force you to take in your surroundings and contemplate the state of the world. Alba has a double-jump and dodge maneuver, which effectively works as a triple-jump. While most of the platforming challenges are manageable, there are several areas that are overly demanding and nearly forced me to quit. I still haven't grabbed all of the collectibles because they're just too hard to reach. Thankfully, the game is very generous when you fall to your death and respawns you at the same place where you failed. Combat is another sore spot and is unreasonably difficult. Fortunately, the game includes a story mode which makes you invincible so that you don't have to worry about constantly dying. Otherwise, I never would have finished the game. However, there are several extended chase sequences that result in instant death regardless of your settings.

"Neva" is a short game that can be completed in 5-6 hours, but despite all of the good things I have to say about it, I never felt engaged or invested in it. There was a point in the first chapter where I walked away for a couple of days simply because I was bored and had no interest in going any further. However, that may just be a reflection of my own mental health and emotional state.