Neva
70 ratings
A Literary Analysis of Neva
By Fadewalker
A breakdown of the core themes in Neva and how it uses symbolism to reinforce them. This includes clarifications on some plot points that may have been unclear to some players.
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Foreword
Firstly, I would like to recognize a similar literary analysis guide to GRIS by Ocean Echo which inspired me to write this one. Seeing the positive reception to that literary analysis for Nomada Studios previous game and noticing some people struggling to interpret Neva, I decided to create this guide. The GRIS guide by Ocean Echo is available here: https://steamproxy-script.pipiskins.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2691387324

If you have not played GRIS and enjoyed Neva (for more than its combat, as GRIS has none), I recommend you also play GRIS and read that guide. Moving on...

It should go without saying this guide is ALL SPOILERS for Neva, so please play the game first.

Again, what follows are MAJOR PLOT SPOILERS. This has been your last warning!
Where do we Start?
Neva has a lot going on. Where do we begin our literary analysis? One would normally recommend starting at the beginning, but as we will see soon, that will lead us to some misinterpretations due to some clever storytelling tricks employed by Nomada Studios. Let us look at the sequence of events in the plot.

Our story begins as a corruption poisons nature. Alba, a warden against this corruption, stands her ground alongside a scarred white wolf and her cub. Alba cannot stand alone, and succumbs. The wolf does as well. There is a jump cut, and mysteriously the corruption is vanished, but the white wolf is dead. Did the wolf somehow sacrifice herself to defeat the corruption? Alba laments it, but is comforted by its cub and picks it up.

We see this shot in the opening cutscene and think we know what it means at the time.

Next we have Alba raising a wolf cub, which she calls Neva. The land is pristine, but a source of corruption is found in a field. The corruption spreads. The wolf cub matures over time, and both Neva and Alba become veterans of a devastating war against this corruption which almost consumes all nature. Alba has a nightmare of what might happen to those beasts which fall to the the darkness or are corrupted by it, including an adult wolf (similar to the one in the introduction) that will ultimately devour Alba, ending the dream.

Gradually, the corruption is pushed back and more of the world is pristine again. Yet there is one complication – the growing influence of a matriarch among the corrupted. She is idolized with statues, prayer, and worship. Eventually, Neva finds a mate and must go her own way. Now separated, Neva and Alba individually continue their campaign against the corruption and the land is nearly restored. Alba finally locates the matriarch’s seat of power, confronts her, and in Alba’s moment of greatest need Neva returns. Together they defeat the matriarch, though Neva is scarred and now appears like the white wolf from the introduction. There is a fade to black before we see what happens to the body of the matriarch.

The land heals and is once again pristine. There is no sign of corruption as Neva begins raising her cub, Bruma. As they explore and play as a family with Alba reunited, Bruma finds a corruption that poisons nature. The exact same events of the introduction are shown to us again, but now we see the matriarch rising from the corruption, Neva sacrificing herself to draw the matriarch in, and Bruma avenging her mother as they finally purify the corruption entirely by howling together one last song. Events continue as the introduction did after this extra sequence, outside a short extra sequence at the end.
The Illusion of Cyclicity
I have noticed many people complaining that they do not like the “time loop” present in the plot and find it defeatist and depressing. However, there is no time loop. The presentation of events intentionally baits us into a sensation of cyclicity. This is a deliberate attempt to mislead us. GRIS uses the exact same trick.

Both games begin in their final moments. They show us how the story will end, allowing our expectation of chronological presentation to settle us into a comfortable trust that we are seeing the start. This is further reinforced by an element of linkage between the introduction cutscenes and the next portion of the story. In GRIS, as she falls from the statue’s hand, we see her next falling through the clouds – not realizing that this was an initial fall into grief which nearly relapses near the end of the game as the statue crumbles (after being gradually reassembled across the entire game).

In Neva, the scarred wolf in the beginning was always Neva. This is why the corruption “mysteriously” vanishes despite having seemingly defeated all foes (both the wolf and Alba). There was something we didn’t see: Bruma capitalizing on her mother’s sacrifice and ending the fight. Also like GRIS, this is a case where there is nearly a relapse after the entire game is spent accomplishing a task – in this case, defeating the corruption. When we next see Alba raising a wolf cub, our expectation of chronological ordering tricks us into trusting the cub is the same as the one in the introduction. But no, we are now seeing Neva as a cub, and the cub in the introduction was actually Bruma – just as it will be in finale.

I encourage you to watch the opening cutscene again, and then look closely at the environment in the Summer season if you do not believe me. During the opening (and ending!) cutscene, there is a mountain which is neatly split into two peaks. During summer, it is instead a mountain with a single peak that bears a crack. It remains in that state through Summer up until the cutscene that follows the defeat of the matriarch in Winter. At the end of Winter, we see the crack has split into two peaks during the chaos of the final boss fight. This is conclusive proof of the intended chronological order.

Here is the mountain in the opening and ending cutscenes. Not the dual peak. This is the same in both cutscenes.

Here is the mountain in Summer. Note the single peak, but with a crack that will later be split into the dual peak. It is like this throughout most of the game.

Here is the mountain as seen after defeating the final boss. It now appears as it will in the final cutscene - and as it did in the opening one.

Moreover, when watching the opening cutscene again, you will likely notice that the wolf cub is NOT white! It’s fur was simply a very pale shade of gray. We overlook this detail at first because it seems insignificant – both wolves are “nearly” white and that is good enough for us to start drawing some (incorrect) conclusions when we then cut to Summer and Alba is raising a white wolf.

Another clue is provided by the sketches that accompany the end credits. These show the entire life story of Neva, and this time in the correct chronological order. Moreover, the events now extend slightly earlier into her life, showing Neva as an almost newborn cub. Over the course of a few sketches, we see Alba luring her in with the temptation of a fruit, offered as a treat. This shows Neva was somehow lost or orphaned – she had no mother and was only adopted by Alba. This further proves that Neva had to be the mother and not the daughter in the introduction cutscene (since Neva never knew her mother).


This collection of sketches finally tells us the true story of Neva's adopting by Alba. Neva was found alone, huddling and shivering beneath a large-leafed plant in the rain, before being tempted out with a fruit.

Ultimately, we can actually discover the fate of Bruma and the consequences of Neva’s sacrifice. By collecting all the lily flowers (for the Blossoming achievement), a secret cutscene is unlocked which can be found by climbing the main tree in Spring. This cutscene shows Bruma as an adult raising a large litter of pups alongside Alba. Alba is notably older in the cutscene, with a different, more mature hairstyle. This further demonstrates that there is no cycle, as many years seem to have passed and Bruma remains unharmed. Bruma is not doomed to the fate of her mother in some unending time loop. Rather, Neva’s sacrifice has built an idyllic happy future for her daughter and grandchildren.

The secret cutscene. Bruma and Alba live happily ever after, growing old together with Neva's many grandchildren.
On Parenting
Neva has two core themes. We will now speak of the first, which is parenting.

This is definitely the more obvious theme. Alba acts as an adoptive parent to Neva. GRIS has skill/hidden achievements related to the five stages of grief. Neva has another “set” of narrative ones like the grief “set” for GRIS. In this case, they are core tenets of parenthood.

Provide, Loving, Mentoring, Empathy, Comfort, Curiosity, and Longing seem to make up this set. They involve doing the things a parent should do, and that are most important for a child’s upbringing. Starting with such basics as providing food and showing love, and moving up to more complex ideas like mentoring the child not to show hate but instead empathy, these create a sequence that ends with the hardest part of all – allowing the child to move on with their lives. This brings us to Longing, when Alba must part ways and only reminisce of the cub she raised.

Additionally, the story achievements give us the stages of a maturing child, symbolized as the growth of a flower. It starts with Germination, gradually reaches adulthood through several steps, and then reaches Pollination. In this stage, Neva meets her mate and, well, the symbol here is pretty straightforward. The final story achievement is Seed as we see Bruma for the first time. Bruma is the seed. The new child, that will go through the same stages of growth.

Alba and Neva each contribute their own elements to the parenting theme in this way. There is a cycle after all – but a cycle of life, not death. Corruption is not a cycle, only a stain, and one we can defeat. That is what the game wants to tell us, and why it tricks us into believing there is a cycle until we sit down and think. Only then do we realize we saw a cycle in the wrong thing, and that the real cycle is one of new life always being born of the old.
Exploitation and Corruption
On the topic of the corruption, it is the core principle of the second theme. The second theme is exploitation and violence.

Exploitation can take many forms, and Neva shows us several. The most obvious and initial form is the exploitation of nature. The dark corruption flowers upon pristine wilderness, sapping its color into darkness and choking it out. Greedy black hands try to claim what they can. Then, strange black figures wearing faceless masks indulge themselves of this forbidden fruit, plunging their faces into the very blossom of corruption to gorge themselves on what it has stolen from nature. Their preferred attacks are to grasp with wanting, needy hands. These apparitions are an allegory of faceless, uncaring human indiscretions.

The corrupted feast.

It should go without saying that there is an environmentalist message being communicated here. There is a cost to indulging in excess, we are being shown. All our societies must harvest nature for what we have, and this sort of excess and indulgence leaves behind little of the beautiful world that we rely upon to sustain us. In the end, this can only end badly for us.

And so it does, as we see a new form of exploitation. The strong begin to exploit the weak as we face more powerful enemies. We now see exploitation of people by other people. Our first nonstandard enemy forms when one of the standard enemies sees a foe it cannot defeat (Alba and Neva) and decides to grow in power by betraying its allies. It grabs the other standard enemies and pulls them into itself as they flail in resistance. It becomes corpulent and grotesquely bloated, but now serves as a more formidable foe we must face. This shows us what happens when people that can get away with it exploit other people around them through manipulation or other means.

A particularly cunning corrupted emerges; it betrays its allies for personal gain, at the cost of becoming more monstrous.

But this is only the beginning of a terrible chain of exploitation. Its ultimate form is consummated by a matriarch. Referred to as the “Queen of Corruption” in the soundtrack files, this katana-wielding crowned ruler forces the other to erect massive idols to her and to abase themselves before those idols as her power grows. Like the other nonstandard enemies, her power comes from having subsumed and consumed her lesser which writhe within her shadowy cloak. She makes them willing servants, until they offer themselves unto her as sacrifices, which she greedily devours. Atop the pinnacle of corruption in Winter, we see her true form as she gorges herself and feasts upon these lessers. This is the exploitation of the masses. When a government or corporation exploits people, they can do far greater harm than mere individuals. Worse, they can even make people bow before the system even as it devours them due to a misguided sense of patriotism or acceptance of “the way things must be.” This is what we see in a literal form with the Queen of Corruption.

The Queen of Corruption makes her first appearance! Already, we can see how she exploits those she sees as beneath her as they writhe and flail in her robe of shadow after being incorporated into her.

Idols are erected. The Queen of Corruption manipulates those beneath her until they worship her despite the horrors she will wreak upon even her loyal. Notice the prayerful stance of her minions.

...Horrors such as the harvest of Winter, when she will glut herself on her sycophantic followers. Notice how they keep praying to her even as she feasts upon them, utterly devoted.

The Queen of Corruption is a literary foil to Alba and Neva. Alba is a good adoptive mother. Neva spreads life and sows colorful flowers with her bark and howl. But the Queen of Corruption is a cruel mother, that sows the black blossoms of corruption with her very touch (as seen when she scratches Neva). She creates life, but not to let it grow for its own sake. She sows life only in the expectation of a return. She is a manipulative mother and a perfect tyrant. The flowers she lets grow are only so that her worshippers can feast and fatten themselves upon its corruption, so that she may in turn feast and fatten herself upon her worshippers.
The Nightmare
The nightmare is one sequence that confuses many people even once they have grasped the fact there is indeed no cycle. What is the significance of the “Withered Wolf” (as the soundtrack files title this fight)?

The Withered Wolf... a product of parental anxiety.

The events of the dream are not shaped by the true events of the future... they are shaped by Alba’s anxieties as an adoptive mother. In fact, I’ve observed a curious phenomenon. I’ve noticed other people ask “how can Alba know that Neva will one day be scarred?” and had the same question. However, upon replaying this sequence, I discovered the “Withered Wolf” actually bears no scar (see the screenshot above) in any shot I could find. (If anyone can find a screenshot demonstrating otherwise, please share it, but I now believe this is a "Mandela Effect" situation.)

This is a false memory, caused by our inaccurate assumptions playing through the first time when we are led to believe the “big wolf” in the introduction is Neva’s mother rather than Neva (as we have now demonstrated to be the case. The fact Alba actually fails to foresee the scar Neva will bear further hints that this isn’t a premonition but merely a product of Alba’s anxiety as a parent.

What parent does not fear what their child may one day become when they must eventually let go? Particularly, what parent does not fear for the effect childhood violence might have upon their child? Neva is being raised in a warzone against this corruption, and as an active participant in the war. It is a noble war, indeed, but how can Alba be sure that Neva will know when to stop when the war is over?

And make no mistake – this is an allegory for war we have just endured at this stage in the game, as that is the form that our theme of exploitation took during the last sequence. The dream sequence happens in Fall Part 3, and the Fall season begins (in Part 1) with platforming sequences against a backdrop of suspiciously spherical boulders in the distance that explode with the sound of distant bombs going off. The symbolism for falling bombs is quite transparent. This is further reinforced by Fall Part 2 showing devastated wastelands, charred and blackened as if blasted by bombs.

Alba fights this version of Neva which is possessed by the corruption, sprouting it from her mouth like the other possessed animals. This is Alba’s greatest fear – that Neva will become the very thing she seeks to fight. Neva will be corrupted by the ways of the world simply by growing up in this violent and exploitative world where the only rule seems to be that the ones who survive are those who climb upon the backs of their lessers.

But in this greatest darkness of her anxieties, Alba’s only comfort is the light of the real Neva in her dream form. Only by calling Neva’s name does Alba relieve the darkness of this nightmare, creating light once we unlock this ability. And when the dream Neva fails to save Alba (how can she, anyway, since she would be killing her “future” self?), it is the real Neva of the waking world that grants comfort to Alba as she awakes in terror.

How can Alba prevent the outcome she foresaw? Through those tenets of parenting communicated by the achievements. She must mentor Neva to not hate the enemy despite what it’s done, to show empathy, to long for what is lost. She must provide comfort when Neva needs it, so her heart does not harden.

Alba succeeds in teaching these lessons. This is why Neva is prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice at the end of the game, and why the corruption is defeated. It is a lesson for us that the path to a better future free of exploitation and violence will come through raising the next generations with the right lessons and by providing them with what they need (physically, mentally, and emotionally) no matter how hard the world works to take it away through war, violence, and exploitation.
Healing and Recovery
In the end, when the Queen of Corruption makes her one final assault to try and reclaim the empire she has lost, it is not Alba or Neva’s skill with blade and bite that saves the day. It is simple love.

Neva, realizing she cannot win, takes the blade. Bruma, acting not out of a desire for victory or with hatred, acts with the pure and unconditional love of a baby for its mother. Bruma strikes the final blow that neither Alba nor Neva could land. It is fitting that the Queen of Corruption never sees it coming, because that unconditional love is something she would never understand. Her nurturing is always conditional, always for self-gain when the harvest comes in deepest Winter.

Bruma strikes. The Queen of Corrupted never saw it coming.

And with that final blow struck, Neva does not lunge to bite. Instead of lashing out and biting, she howls, singing with Bruma one last song of healing. Her howl is purifying and life-giving. We have seen it sow flowers before. Now, it turns the Queen of Corruption into full bloom and she transfigures into the form of a blossoming tree. She does not strike down the Queen of Corruption. She heals the Queen, until she is regrown as something new and harmless. The true end of war could not come with a blow, but instead had to come with understanding, healing, and a chance of redemption (as a beautiful tree) even for one as wicked as the Queen of Corruption.

Even if we must resist and fight for a better world, it is not that fighting which will bring it to us. Resistance is only a tool to open the door for acts of kindness and love. It is love and healing that will create a better world. Otherwise, we create the future seen in the nightmare if we cling to revenge and cycles of violence.
A Note on GRIS
There is a connection to GRIS in this game. The underworld is the central temple of GRIS, and when we enter this nightmare sequence, some sound design elements from GRIS return to reinforce the connection. At the end of GRIS, we saw our protagonist climb into the stars, reaching into the sky above that world – a sort of heaven. She had fallen from that realm above at the start of the game.

The temple from GRIS. After playing GRIS, it is hard to see it like this, even if we later realize this was a dream sequence.

It seems the overworld of Neva is that heavenly realm, now poisoned by a corruption. The corruption, like the grief of GRIS, takes the form of a black oozing matter which can reshape into people and monsters.

At the end of GRIS, we saw that oozing grief nearly consume the entire world of that game, and this is how we dream of that world in the nightmare sequence. It seems GRIS took place in a sort of netherworld of grief and loss, beneath the heavenly overworld of Neva. The black corruption is the same in both games – grief and loss weaponized as a means of control to exploit the masses by the Queen of Corruption, as well as her predecessor, the King of Corruption (the title given to the first boss of the game in the soundtrack files) defeated at the end of Summer Part 2.

So it is that sometimes the person who opens the door for terrible deeds is not the one who truly masters those wicked ways as we see here. Moreover, the King of Corruption was struck down instead of healed into a beautiful tree. Is this the reason the Queen of Corruption was able to rise? Is this what Alba and Neva had to learn to avoid through their hero’s journey – that even the enemy must be granted healing when the battle is won to end cycles of violence?
In Closing
That’s all I have to say. I hope this helps some people understand parts of the game they might have struggled to interpret initially. There are many complex interwoven themes and some intentional misdirection intended to force you to sit down for a long time after the final cut.

I really enjoyed this game and hope this literary analysis can help you maximize your own enjoyment from it, too.

8 Comments
"Михацъ" 10 Jul @ 5:40am 
Thank you very much for the literary analysis of such a wonderful game. I didn't really understand what and how during the game, but after your explanations I began to look at the plot of the game differently. It's amazing. This is why I love games from Nomada Studio. They have a lot of meaning, as well as artistic beauty. Really thank you for the explanations. The game is definitely flying into my favorites, and the management deserves a like and respect for the work done!
Easlithinki 15 Feb @ 12:41pm 
"For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?" Matthew 16:26

Dang, I was wondering if NEVA was related to the meaning of that verse, and now I know it is. Thank you for this analysis! I generally tend to struggle a bit when it comes to interpreting stories told by mostly visuals, so things like this that are both straightforward and descriptive while not being extremely complicated are very appreciated. Thanks again.
BlowFish 27 Jan @ 11:46am 
Amazing analysis! Wow!
Ctdsx 11 Jan @ 1:26pm 
Thank you for writing this down for us!
clm_08 11 Jan @ 7:23am 
Wow, thank you. I did't understand that the beginning scene was the end of the game, I've been tricked to think that this was Neva's mother.
Great analysis !!
Stella Valentine 4 Jan @ 3:43am 
Just finished the game, cried hysterically. immediately ran here to read your analysis, hysterical crying resumes. Absolutely love your analysis.
Layben 2 Jan @ 7:16am 
Great analysis.
SolarFlare 29 Dec, 2024 @ 3:55pm 
This was nice! I really enjoyed the game too. I agree with this!