Hey all! Just finished playing through a semi-cozy, beautiul, side scrolling action/adventure game called Neva. I like a lot of games, but this one truly just clicked with me. I just finished it this morning and want to recommend it for anyone out there who needs a fun game rec.

The animation is beautiful, the music is gorgeous. The story seems very Princess Monoke/The Neverending Story-themed, but I love both of those so I enjoyed it.

You're this sword-wielding woman, traveling with this giant wolf-like creature with antlers--it's not explicitly explained but they're very much like a forest guardian/spirit. This big ol' nasty Ghibli-esque corruption begins to take over everything, and you and the baby forest guardian, Neva, must fight it off. Neva gets larger as the seasons progress and gains more power and abilities as you progress. There's a hack/slashy element to it, as well as some puzzles that can work your brain a bit, but aren't too wild (I mean if I could solve them, you've got this!).

The game design is fantastic, and as mentioned, it's very beautiful, I love the story, the gameplay, it's a real solid game for me.

If you'd like another rec for it, this is a short yt short of a review by MadMorph (the person I got the rec from initially and who I personally enjoy watching, so take that for any an all it's worth) Why you should play this game - NEVA

If you wanna watch a PRO gamer play through it, MadMorph does that as well, but if you'd like to watch a bumbling little dork play, I streamed it all here Neva - Summer

Let me know if you ever give it a shot! You can play on Steam, Switch, PS4 or PS5