Already seduced by GRIS from the Spanish studio the nomadwe couldn’t wait to get our hands on Neva.
Alba, accompanied by her mystical white wolf, travels through meadows and forests to confront a strange evil force that seems to devour everything in its path. If Gris was above all a contemplative puzzle game, Neva remedies this in a radical way and changes the situation.
Patience and perseverance
Although Neva is extremely handsome and seems cute, don’t be fooled by his appearance, he is actually a platform which connects a few boss fight rather demanding. The game doesn’t play out like a walk.
GRIS was a visual adventure, combined with music where you had to solve puzzles to progress, but some players had deplored the lack of combat and action in general. Here, the first clashes arrive quickly and the enemies are lively, elusive and deceitful, and it obviously gets tougher as you progress.
The tables are generally traversed from left to right and you will have to master jump, double jump and dodge, but also combos of three consecutive attacks in order to regain some energy during the fights. Alba’s life is represented by three flowers (and will never increase), and she loses a flower every time an enemy touches her. The only way to regain a little energy: by regrowing the petals of a flower by performing attack combos without getting hit, or falling miserably into a hole, my great specialty…
I might as well tell you that it will take a lot of dexterity but also patience, my second major specialty (no), to overcome each chapter and therefore all the enemies. There is also a large part of die and retry in order to memorize the behaviors of enemies, especially bosses, and to understand what actions will need to be carried out and in what order.
The gameplay is ultra simple and only relies on these few combinations, but the handling and execution prove to be a challenge in its own right, death being violent and abrupt. Fortunately you can retry as many times as you want with checkpoints galore. The game is nevertheless not frustrating and if you really cannot cope, you can switch to “Story” mode at any time and lower the difficulty of the confrontations.
If I can do it, anyone can!
Let’s take a walk in the woods, while the wolf is not there…
Fortunately, Neva will be there to help you throughout the adventure, while growing alongside you. And that is the strength of the game: the bond that unites Alba and Neva, their interactions, their intertwining and their evolution together.
The title is divided into four chapters bearing the names of the four seasons: the cycle of time and life, quite simply. During the summer chapter, Neva is still a cub. We teach her things, we give her confidence, we also reassure her. The relationship between Alba and Neva is handled very well, the dialogues being non-existent, everything being done by feeling and with a single button used to call Neva. Moreover, the tone changes depending on the situation, a small detail which serves the experience all the more.
No text or dialogue, but a lively emotion in each scene and music which enhances each moment of beauty or tension to be totally immersed. Neva grows alongside you.
Things get tough, of course, during the autumn chapter (which has three more parts) then it’s the apotheosis during the winter.
The gameplay changes throughout the game and the title is constantly renewed. A mechanic that we thought was acquired will have to be reviewed, transformed, changed at each new level. “What if…I should do it like this instead?” “Don’t tell me…” these are the kinds of thoughts you will have throughout the adventure. It’s very refreshing and allows you to never get bored during the 6 or 8 hours that the title lasts (depending on whether you want to collect all the hidden bonus flowers or the luminous birds). Neva is an adventure that is experienced in one go, passionately, and which takes us to the sky as well as to the bowels of the earth!
Monochrome Princess
I will be forced to bring out all the clichés worthy of Teleramabut we are clearly here faced with an “eco fable” which pays homage to the greatest: Hayao Miyazaki and the nods to the well-known director of Studios Ghibli are numerous: Faceless which devours the world, large mythological deer with woods in the shape of branches, galloping wolves, possessed wild boars, and corpses which return to nature flourishing. The strange black characters who bury everything in their path, slimy, with spider arms, are of course reminiscent of Princess Mononoke or quite simply the Faceless One in Spirited Away. We clearly find very marked inspirations, but this does not spoil our pleasure, quite the contrary.
Visually, the work is exceptional, plunging us from shadow to light. Here we find life and death in their purest state. The seasons and the abundant nature, or the mist, are also very well treated, the animation is magnificent and the chara-design gets to the point. A visual and audio adventure that will keep all your senses alert. A cycle of life.
It is with a beating heart that I went through all these levels and I do not regret the adventure. Of course, Neva is also loaded with strong messages and symbols. We can only recommend this poetic and gripping title!
Sironimo
Points forts :
– Sublime !
– Reflection and ingenuity
– The relationship with Neva
– A very beautiful soundtrack that accompanies the actions
– Demanding
Weak points:
– Maybe a little frustrating
– Court
Developer: Nomada Studio
Editor: Return Digital
Genre : Adventure, Platformer, Action
Support : Nintendo Switch, PS5, PC, XBox Series
Release date: October 15, 2024
