A visual and aural splendor that hits right in the heart, carried by a magnificent soundtrack. Short and light on challenge, it's worth it above all for its emotion and beauty, to be savored as a moving painting more than a demanding game.
Your verdict
Category
Action Adventure1 player7+
Description
A poetic adventure from Nomada Studio, creators of Gris, published by Devolver Digital in 2024. You accompany Alba and her wolf pup Neva through a sublime world that withers across the seasons. Between platforming, measured combat and a bond that strengthens, the game weaves a stirring visual tale of grief and growth.
Neva review
MAX
Art direction
★★★★★
"Iconic"
MAX
Music
★★★★★
"Legendary"
4/5
Story
★★★★★
"Captivating"
Every frame looks like an animated watercolor: bold colors, pared-down silhouettes, settings that unfurl like paintings. Nomada's art direction, already dazzling in Gris, reaches a maturity here that makes every moment a delight for the eye.
Berlinist's score, already sublime in Gris, reaches a rare emotional intensity here. The orchestral washes wed each season and each stage of grief, and the music alone carries an immense share of the story's devastating weight.
The confrontations punctuate the story like symbolic trials rather than difficulty walls. Each corrupted creature embodies a stage of the heroine's grief, and defeating them alongside the wolf, in those painted settings, is as much dance as combat.
An underrated gem
After Gris, Nomada delivers an even more accomplished work: a tale of grief and the passing of time, of striking painterly beauty. For the emotion of its bond between woman and wolf, the grace of its animation and its devastating soundtrack, it's a gem that etches itself into memory.
Is Neva still worth playing in 2026?
Two years after release, Neva has established itself as a must-play for anyone who loved Gris. This fable about grief and the passing of time, of devastating painterly beauty, has lost none of its force and is best savored in one sitting over a few hours. Nothing dates in its animation or its soundtrack: it's a timeless work you can discover today exactly as on day one. On Switch, portability further elevates these contemplative moments, best lived quietly with headphones on.
