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Five years ago, in 2019, the Barcelona studio Nomada Studio debuted with Gris. At that time their name was not known in the industry, but the success of their debut film led them not only to national and international recognition, but Gris ended up becoming the first Spanish video game in history to be nominated and win a Game Award. It won the Games for Impact award, but was also a candidate in the categories of best art direction and debut indie game.
Now, five years later, Nomada returns with an adventure that follows in the footsteps of Gris, but that evolves in many aspects and knows how to remain faithful to those that made the studio's first title an essential. Today, in our Neva analysiswe tell you what we thought of the return of the only Spanish studio with a Game Award and we tell you that it continues to become strong in what it should, telling an emotional story through images and not words.
dancing with wolves
Neva tells us the story of Alba, a young woman strongly linked to a very special cub after the succession of a traumatic event. The land they inhabit is being affected by a dark force that corrupts everything, so the two together will embark on a journey through a world in decline to try to restore its beauty thanks to their spectacular combined skills.
Beyond the story of purifying a world in danger, Neva is about the evolution of the relationship between Alba and her cub as it grows and becomes stronger and more independent. This is the starting point of a Neva that, as Gris did at the time, focuses on the visual and sound and not textually. Throughout the entire adventure the only words we hear are those of Alba calling Neva, something that can be done with a button in the purest Team ICO style, but the true strength of the story lies in the powerful artistic section commanded by Conrad Roset and in the music of the Barcelona group Berlinist.
Much more than a “Gris 2”
If you look back you will remember that Gris was a beautiful adventure about dueling and overcoming that based its entire playable formula on the platform. Jumping, interacting with elements of the environment and the protagonist's ability to modify her body were the keys to overcoming the puzzles and platform sections that the game proposed. Neva does not lose these elements, but it does evolve them and also introduces new combat mechanics that provide greater depth and richness to the gameplay.
Alba has a double jump, a dash or momentum that is used to dodge enemy attacks or reach further in a jump and also a sword that she can use to get rid of the dangers that lie in wait for her during the journey. The action mechanics are simple, but they are incredibly well implemented and they feel very satisfying. Also the functioning of the character's life. We have three chances for the enemies to touch us before dying, but if we manage to chain six consecutive hits without receiving damage we will recover one of those three lives. A very well introduced system. Neva is not an excessively long game, so the variety of enemies is contained, but each of them has different attack patterns that will test us on more than one occasion.
Although jumping, boosting, dodging or attacking (in different ways, as you will unlock throughout the story, as well as collaborating with Neva) are the only mechanics for combat, they are always fun and even challenging at times. If you are a fan of action platforms, you will find an unexpected surprise in Neva. If you were looking for something more like Gris, we have to give you another good news: the game allows you to choose a lower difficulty with which to enjoy the story without worrying too much about the action.
A story in phases
Neva follows a narrative structure already used in the past, but equally effective. It develops in four chapterseach of them corresponding to a season of the year, which allows us to have an action set in four radically different visual environments while giving space for temporal ellipses to occur so that we can appreciate the physical and spiritual growth of Neva. The relationship with the cub is the key to the Nomada Studio video game and, although we will not go into too many details so as not to reveal surprises, we will say that the Catalan company has put all its efforts into making this relationship resonate with the player.
There are hundreds of ways Alba calls Neva and, beyond being an aesthetic resourcehas great utility. As was the case with Trico in The Last Guardian, Neva does not always follow us closely or pay attention to our instructions, so it will be important to keep an eye on our companion so that he does not get distracted. After all, he is an animal. If you allow me, dear reader, on a personal note, playing Neva from start to finish with my dog lying on the couch next to me has been a most emotional experience.
We have already valued the visual and sound appearance of Neva, but we have no choice but to do it again. And although it is a delight to play and the story is careful and very emotional, the images that accompany us throughout the adventure are so spectacular that we cannot help but highlight them as one of the fundamental elements to understand Neva in its entirety.
Conclusions
In terms of playability, Neva is the logical evolution after Gris. It maintains the pillars that made the second a successful game, such as its platforming and its incomparable audiovisual beauty, and adds a simple but satisfying combat system and greater interaction with the environment thanks to the cub that accompanies us during the adventure. Neva feels like a more complete game than Gris, also in length (about four hours compared to two in Nomada Studio's debut film).
The most differentiating point is its story and to what extent it resonates with you as a player. Without a doubt, Neva is another great achievement for the Barcelona studio and for the development of video games in Spain. With any luck, we will once again have a candidate for indie game of the year at the next edition of The Game Awards. Neva deserves it.