From the first trailer, I knew Neva would be an emotional experience. Nomada Studio’s previous game, Gris, was a poignant exploration of grief and the effects it can have on a person, told through the lens of a young girl who’d just lost her mother. Neva explores familial bonds through a different but just as emotional lens: parenthood.
The relationship between Alba and Neva mirrors a mother/child relationship through most of the game. The wolf starts as a small cub, curious about the world and ready to explore, and eventually he becomes a strong protector, equaling his mother’s capabilities. From there, the two fight against the blight that’s affecting the world, with Neva learning new abilities in every season.
The journey encompassing this coming of age includes some of the strongest voice acting you’ll find in a video game this year. However, unlike games like Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and Metaphor: ReFantazio, which are bursting with dialogue, Neva accomplishes this feat with a much smaller script; throughout the entire five-hour adventure, only one word is ever spoken.
Neva’s control scheme is standard fare for an action-platformer: one button to attack, one button to jump, one button to dodge, etc. Included in the control scheme, though, is a button specifically designated for calling Neva. No matter what you’re doing, or where you are, a simple press will make Alba say “Neva” and call out for the good wolfie girl.
While the mechanic has its uses–you can call Neva to your side if she’s far away, or instruct her to jump up a ledge–it’s mostly just there for the player’s enjoyment. Calling Neva usually results in Alba giving her companion a little scratch behind the ears–which means yes, in Neva, you can pet the dog.
Its biggest contribution to the story, and what sends Neva into the upper echelon of 2024 voice acting, is the emotion Alba conveys whenever the button is pressed. When there’s little danger around, and Neva is sniffing around or standing still, Alba’s voice is calm, loving, and light. The character’s love for her companion comes through, especially when it’s followed by sounds of delight from both characters following a loving head scratch.
Press that button in a more urgent moment, however, and Alba’s voice becomes much heavier. There’s urgency in her calls, permeated by a sense of panic. Her anxiety and fear come to the surface, and all it takes is a change in inflection. It’s powerful stuff, and it makes using the call button more than worth it even in hectic situations.
There’s one moment in particular that really highlights how effective this voice acting can be. Alba and Neva are separated, and the player as Alba must traverse a perilous maze in order to reunite with the wolf. Throughout this endeavor, pressing the call button makes Alba utter a cry of pure terror, helplessly shouting into the void in search of her lost companion. The fear of the unknown is palpable, and I start to feel Alba’s anxiety with her as I hear her call the wolf’s name.
Now, putting Alba’s ability to call out for Neva on a button is not without its pitfalls. By doing this, Nomada ran the risk of some players not being able to hear the exceptional voice work at hand, simply because they were so focused on the action on screen that they were too busy attacking and dodging to press the call button.
However, Nomada brilliantly trained us to keep it in the back of our minds through the mechanic I mentioned earlier: the one where Alba uses her call to summon Neva to her side. The player now knows that calling Neva can summon her, so once the two are separated, it’s natural to press the button and see if it works–and when it doesn’t, to keep trying it in the hopes that maybe it will work eventually.
Anyone who’s ever been in care of a child and lost sight of them–be it in a store, a theme park, or even in their own homes–can relate to this feeling of paralyzing fear, uncertainty, and doubt… as well as the feeling of sheer relief when Alba finds Neva happily sitting on a platform, not a care in the world, as if nothing happened. Kids these days!
Neva is a profound analysis of parenthood, and all of the highs and lows that come with it. The raw emotion is best conveyed through its voice acting, credited to Cristina Peña, and putting Alba’s voice under the player’s control makes it that much more effective. Nomada Studio deserves a ton of credit for finding a way to convey the intricate complexities of being a caregiver–and even more credit for doing it with a single word.
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