Neva

Neva prioritizes a meditation on life and loss that too often feels half-baked and pales in comparison to Gris’ execution of the same themes. Much of Neva feels propped up by its predecessor to cover its weaknesses, with familiar themes and the same platforming (flaws and all) from Gris encouraging fans of that game to not look too closely at this game’s faults. Ultimately, when Neva attempts a final narrative twist that fully leans away from the initially compelling and original themes of its story, it’s too much of a shift too late in the game, and only serves to undermine the few unique choices this experience attempts. At least it’s short.

Between the combat and platforming, Nomada Studio also uses long stretches of almost nothing in a surprisingly emotional way. There are plenty of times throughout Neva where the only thing I’m doing is pushing my controller’s joystick to the left or right — with Neva or without — in an effort to simply move forward. I’ve actually found an element of challenge in these too-quiet moments: Am I going the right way? Does that really matter? I just move forward.