Review: Neva (Nintendo Switch) – Pure Nintendo

Neva’s opening sequence drifts from the peaceful tranquility of stunning natural landscapes to a fearsome battle between a woman and her white wolf against shadowy monsters. It is gripping to watch, immediately establishing the game as a gorgeously-designed world plagued by hordes of horrifying demons. The wolf becomes overwhelmed by monsters, leaving you to navigate the world without your familiar and caring for a newborn cub, Neva.

The controls are simple and clearly explained. You run, you jump, you attack to remove obstacles in your way and fight off monsters that lurch out at you. The enemies are shadowy, skeletal creatures with an uncanny human shape, grasping at you like vines with their skinny clawed limbs. Without knowing much about the context of the world, these things are chilling to behold.

Neva runs alongside you wherever you go. The detail that has gone into her character is fantastic. She’ll lap from puddles and chase butterflies, and she needs comforting when something scary happens. It gives the entire game a sense of reality that draws you in very effectively. Her behaviour also impacts how you navigate the world. You have to direct her through aspects of the landscape she can’t figure out herself. Her presence ramps up the stakes. It’s impossible not to want to protect her.

The game is split into four chapters divided by seasons. During each chapter, you explore, battle, and finally activate a totem to move onto the next. The backdrop changes to reflect the passage of time, not only in terms of the colour of the trees and the strength of the sunlight, but also the looming shadows as the demons infect more of the world around you. Neva grows with time, learning new skills that allow you to explore new places. You can shift rather than run and jump, and incorporate a larger, more powerful Neva into your battle strategy.

Most of the combat is simple, but it builds up to awesome boss fights. The first of these is an incredible chase scene in which you and Neva flee to safety. As the game goes on, you and Neva become more powerful and gain the skills to fight back. You chain hits to recover your health. Given that your opponents don’t have health bars and their movements can get lost in the mist, sometimes seeing your health flicker back can be the only indicator that you’ve landed a hit. This adds tension to battles, as you can’t see how close you are to victory, and equally adds to the sense of triumph when you get there.

Throughout the map, there are secret corners where you can find fun collectibles that you can track in the menu. These can sometimes be simply tucked away in a hidden space, or may be blocked by a puzzle you have to solve. There is also a list of achievements you can track. Half of these are completing the various chapters of the game, while others are less obvious and may be unlocked entirely by luck. It’s possible to complete the game without knowing what some of them are, which makes a compelling argument to go back and ensure you’ve explored every corner of the game.