After the release of greya beautiful game that explores grief, the team at Nomada Studio in Barcelona needed a long break. They spent about half a year without even thinking about what would come next, avoiding words like “Unity” or “sequel.” Eventually, director Conrad Roset, who became a father during that time, came up with the idea of a similar experience that would introduce a new companion, allowing players to connect with and care for another character.
“I told him no problem, as long as it's not a four-legged animal, you can do whatever you want,” says lead producer Roger Mendoza, noting that animating many-legged critters can be “pretty painful.” But the director was able to defend a game called Neva about a young girl who goes on an emotional journey with a magical fox creature. “I think it was worth it,” Mendoza admits.
Neva launches on October 15 (coming to PC, Switch, Xbox, and PS5), and I like it greyis an incredibly animated 2D adventure. Players take on the role of a young girl who cares for a young fox cub named Neva, trying to lead him to safety in a world full of dark forces that seem ripped from him. Spirited Away. It only takes about five hours to finish, but the game covers a long period of time; Each episode is a different season and you see the fox grow over time. At first, he is a relatively helpless puppy, but eventually he becomes your protector.
Neva and grey They have a lot in common: the short length, the accessible gameplay, the incredible art and animation, and the narrative that is told almost entirely without words. (Neva It has some voice acting, but it's multiple variations of the heroine screaming Neva's name. “I think we recorded 500 different ways of saying Neva,” Mendoza jokes.) But the new game also introduces two main features: not only a second character but also combat.
“When she's not with you, you really feel it.”
According to Mendoza, the latter was inspired by the former. “(The addition of Neva) was kind of where the combat came from; we thought it would be a good mechanic to combine the fact that there is now a companion,” he explains. At first, you have to fight to protect the fox, but as she grows and changes, so does that dynamic. “Now she is the one who takes care of you,” says Mendoza. “When she's not with you, you really feel it. “Combat seemed like a good way to bring everything together.”
This presented a number of design challenges, particularly in terms of accessibility. one of grey'The biggest strengths were how easy it was to learn and play; It even worked well on a smartphone touchscreen. But the added layer of complexity that comes from combat and a companion meant that Neva “It is not as accessible as grey”according to Mendoza. “That's something we knew from the beginning; “the moment you add more controls, it becomes more difficult.” To take this into account, the developers designed the game from the beginning with a story mode, where you cannot die in battle. “That was a way of trying to find the right balance,” he says.
The success of grey – the game x.com/nomadastudiobcn/status/1838963894712221984″>has sold more than 3 million copies to date – gave the studio the confidence to push these more ambitious directions but also to continue to play to its strengths. One of the main learnings from that game, according to Mendoza, was that “you can make a solid narrative without the need for words. It's something we had no idea if it would work. grey.” Neva takes things a step further, with a more straightforward story that covers several themes simultaneously, not only the changing nature of the parental relationship but also overt themes of environmental destruction. Once again, this story is conveyed almost entirely through art, sound, and animation.
The other important learning from grey It was more practical. One of the main reasons the game's development was so stressful and required such a long vacation after release was that the team was relatively small. In fact, only two programmers worked on grey at all, which requires spending many nights and long hours. Now that many Nomada members are a little older and have families of their own, work-life balance is a much higher priority. And thus one of the most important changes between grey and Neva It was deceptively simple: “we hire more programmers.”
