Neva is a beautifully animated, left-to-right scrolling adventure game. From the makers of Gris, this game feels like a spiritual successor, although one that’s driven more by combat than its predecessor. You play a female protagonist with a magical companion named Neva. Your faithful animal seems to be a combination of a deer and a wolf, reminiscent of the deerfox from the children’s series Hilda. Together, the two of you walk through a vast, breathtaking word while battling enemies, jumping over platforms, solving puzzles and finding secrets.

The art and music in this game are very well done. Every screenshot feels like it could easily be desktop wallpaper. The protagonist transverses a great world; the landscapes are filled with massive beasts and fauna. There is very little dialog, with the main character’s only words being the name of her animal, as well as a chant before destroying totems and certain enemies. Her calls to Neva adjust depending on the current tone of the story. The interpretation of the story is left up to the player, but it seems to center around a beautiful world that’s being led into decay. There are themes indicating this tragedy is seasonal, and that the noble creatures you befriend are responsible for defending the balance between life and festering spirits.

The combat is simple yet satisfying, based entirely around jumping, dodging and sword attacks. Some combat includes puzzle mechanics. The enemy types vary, but they all seem to be inspired by the forest spirits from the movie Princess Mononoke. Variations of their human-like corpses and animal-like beasts fill the worlds you must navigate. Some of the later combat does get quite challenging, but none of it feels insurmountable. There are frequent checkpoints and health fountains.

There’s a pretty good variety of puzzles, most of them separated from the combat. Puzzles involve platforming, jumping, climbing and activating world mechanics. There are secret flowers that can be discovered in each chapter. Unlike the similar game, Planet of Lana, your companion isn’t directly involved with solving most puzzles. But Neva does grow throughout the adventure, adding abilities and being vital to combat mechanics.

The only series of puzzles that were really frustrating in the game were towards the end, involving popping bag-like enemies to assist in complicated jumps. This was the only part of the game where I had to look up the solution¹, and switch from Adventure to Story difficulty, just to reduce the amount of time I had to spend re-climbing these pillars to make these insanely complicated jumps.

Specific to the PS4 version, the game does an excellent job of using the controller’s LED and force feedback for game immersion. The main characters call to Neva can be heard through the controller’s speaker.

Overall, I enjoyed this game. It’s not long, and I finished it in about six days with casually playing it. The artwork is absolutely stunning, as is the music. The combat is challenging, but your health gauge can be disabled in story mode for players who are not interested in the combat. The world building is vast, and the story is as heartwarming as it is melancholy. There were only a few parts that were truly frustrating. It’s an excellent title that brings true gaming elements to a rich and vibrant world.