Nova Antarctica Review – A Treasure Beneath A Difficult Surface

I am a fan of anything related to the polar regions of our planet; from the bluish water to its fauna, Antarctica is, for me, one of the most unique-looking places on Earth. Nova Antarctica perfectly captures the uniqueness of the southern continent and integrates its fauna into both its gameplay and storytelling. As Antarctica is also an extremely cold and unforgiving place, the survival elements of Nova Antarctica capture that hardship very well in some areas, while in others they leave a bit to be desired. 

Developed by RexLabo, Nova Antarctica is set in the very distant future (900 years after an environmental collapse) where the player must investigate a mysterious signal at the South Pole. The story is where much of the game’s charm and uniqueness lies. It is a short game divided into a handful of stages; each stage offers a semi-open world with additional gameplay features, such as side quests and collectibles, which reveal lore that enriches the overall narrative. These include hologram-like memories that add a great sci-fi vibe to the game’s experience.

A big part of Nova Antarctica’s storytelling is connected to animals. For example, in the first stage there is a side quest where you must find a cat’s mother and in one section of the main story, you also must help a penguin. The art style of both the animals and the environment help with the immersion and in connecting deeper with the story. The cutscenes for these quests are genuinely wholesome and full of emotion, especially for players who love animals. These quests are sometimes tied to survival elements and can lead you to other areas of the stage; however, this is where some of the game’s problems begin. 

Nova Antarctica includes many survival features, such as gathering resources for crafting and a dynamic weather system with its own consequences. Players must actively craft devices to heal and restore stamina. Other tools can also be crafted to help withstand the harsh conditions, such as tents or even bases. While these survival elements sound great in concept, they are not well executed in the game. Nova Antarctica does not feature manual saves or automatic saves during a stage, only saving after completing an entire stage. This design choice removes much of the motivation to explore open areas or accept side quests. On multiple occasions while I was exploring or engaging in side content, snowstorms occurred, and the level offered very few places for refuge or enough resources to craft one. The storm mechanic also felt inconsistent, sometimes killing the protagonist immediately, while other times it took several seconds to drain HP.

Imagine spending almost an hour in a stage gathering resources and completing side quests, only to be eliminated in an instant and forced to restart the entire stage, including the tutorials. Another issue with the save system is that sometimes when respawning on a stage, all my gathered resources from the previous stage were lost. This makes completing side content nearly impossible and even finishing the main quest barely achievable. In addition to these issues, there are audio problems. At times, parts of the audio would disappear, and at others it would cut out completely. 

While Nova Antarctica is an emotional and visually striking journey, several issues—particularly the save system—hold it back from being a stronger experience. If these problems are addressed in a future update, through the addition of manual saves or autosaves during stages, the game could become a much more enjoyable experience. The animations and interactions between the protagonist and the animals can be genuinely moving. The blend of survival mechanics and emotional storytelling shows a great deal of potential, but as it stands, it can feel discouraging to invest so much effort only to be defeated by the unsolvable inconsistency of certain gameplay elements. 

Walter reviewed Nova Antarctica with a provided review code. This review is based on the version of the game available at the time of writing and our score will not be changed.