A bird falls from the sky, landing belly up, followed by another. And another. And another. Soon, a writhing wave of inky black creatures washes over them, trapping a woman in a red cloak and her two wolf companions within. When it passes, the elder wolf lies dead, its cub nuzzling sadly at its body.
Putting an animal in danger is kind of a cheat code for drawing big emotions out of your story’s audience. Neva, the latest game from Gris developer Nomada Studio starts with an animal’s demise and reminds you as often as possible that your remaining canine companion could suffer the same fate at any moment, right until an ostentatiously heartstring-tugging finale. There’s nothing wrong with that necessarily, but Neva seems to take for granted that its adorable wolf will be enough to keep players invested, even in the absence of much else to hold onto.
