A romance story I actually kinda liked? Who knew? BACKGROUND:
This was another one of those games that I didn't know anything about and just played out of curiosity. Something something new experiences. PLOT: Haven is the story of two lovers who escaped to an abandoned planet in order to be together. Kay and Yu have fled their homes in defiance of the powers that be, making their home on the planet known as Source. They do their best to carve out a life for themselves, and together, they brave the unknown perils of this strange world. On paper, it sounds like the classic "lovers run away in order to be together" thing, which is a story I've heard told a dozen different ways. But instead on focusing on Kay and Yu's efforts to run away together, the game takes place after they succeeded. I found that to be an interesting twist, and it works well because you get to focus on what is easily the strongest aspect of this game's story: Kay and Yu's bond. Their dialogue (and their relationship in general) feels completely organic: they banter, they flirt, they bicker, and they do menial tasks together. You see grandiose displays of affection from both Kay and Yu, but the bulk of the game is seeing them show affection and intimacy in the smallest, yet meaningful of ways. It's honestly quite cheesy in a lot of instances, but I somehow don't hate it. Although the dialogue does the most heavy lifting in establishing Kay and Yu's relationship, the game builds upon it in more subtle ways. During gameplay, performing certain actions (even idling) can cause Kay and Yu to kiss or hold hands. Doing certain tasks like cooking or sleeping has the two working together or cuddling respectively. Hell, even the loading screen animations have the couple act out silly things, and it's charming. Kay and Yu are pretty likeable characters overall, though if you find copious amounts of banter to be annoying, you may feel differently about them. They're generally silly and fun-loving, but when things get serious, they can really show how much they care for their partner. Plus, Kay's a clever biologist and Yu's a brilliant engineer; I'm always into science-y characters. As you play through the game, you learn about the circumstances that led to Kay and Yu eloping: their homeworld of Apiary has someone (or something) called the Matchmaker that decides who gets married to who. It's... not a groundbreaking concept, but I suppose it sets the stage and provides ample context for Kay and Yu's actions. You'll also piece together a bit of Kay and Yu's respective pasts. Some of the things the two mention about the Apiary and their backstories certainly piqued my interest, but the game never really bothers to flesh anything out unless the main plot calls for it. All the potential lore is basically an afterthought, and considering that Kay and Yu left all that shit behind so that they could have a new start together, it makes sense thematically. You'll also be able to piece together the mystery of what Source actually is, and I'd say that's the more interesting subplot. Again, it takes a backseat to the romance, but learning the true nature of Source and how it ties into the Apiary was still satisfying. This subplot also builds upon the concept of Flow, which is this sort of energy source that can be harnessed and also connects two points of space together. At some point, you encounter the closest thing the game has to a conflict, which is the impending threat of the Apiary coming over to Source in an attempt to capture the couple. I'm not gonna go into specifics, but you are eventually thrown into a point where you have to decide the ending. One is explicitly the "good" ending and the other is ostensibly "bad". PRESENTATION: The game boasts a beautiful cel-shaded art style, and everything about Source looks gorgeous. The only real shame in this department is that they didn't do enough to make Source's locales look diverse; there are only a few distinct-looking biomes to speak of. The alien creatures, on the other hand, all look pretty distinct from one another, which is great. Other aspects of the game's visuals are also great, like the still art in menus and the loading screens. The loading screens are perhaps the standout here, as they depict Kay and Yu's relationship in a way that even the game doesn't show. The game's opening cinematic and the animation during the credits are also wonderful to watch. If you can help it, don't skip those. The soundtrack was a pleasant surprise. I was not expecting upbeat electronic-style music to accompany the game, but it works really well, and some of the tracks are pretty catchy to boot. GAMEPLAY: Haven is more of a story-driven game, so a lot of it is a visual novel-style experience (complete with different dialogue options for both Kay and Yu), but there is definitely some other gameplay outside of that. Primarily, you'll be exploring Source's surface, which is split into islets. You'll glide around gathering resources and other useful items that will come in handy for all sorts of things. The gliding feels really good, though the fact that the areas aren't that large kind of get in the way of how fun it is to zoom around. Very early in the story, the Nest (Yu's ship, as well as the couple's shelter) takes quite a tumble, and you'll need to gather materials to repair it. You'll have to search the island for salvageable parts, as well as gather a resource known as Rust, a mysterious yet versatile substance that's polluting Source. Though not a strict requirement, you can clean up Source's many islets of Rust by charging your boots with Flow and gliding over them. Flow is the main source of energy in the game, and you can gather some by gliding through paths known as Flow Threads scattered about the world. Apart from clearing out Rust, you can also use Flow to charge a Flow Burst, which can be used to unlock doors (among other things). Aside from being a source of Flow, the aforementioned Flow Threads can take you to otherwise inaccessible areas if you fly through specific ones. You don't really use Flow for anything else, but I do like how the gathering of it is tied to the fun movement mechanic. In addition to Flow and Rust, you can also gather various fruit and medicinal herbs. You use these to cook food and make healing items. The latter is straightforward, but food has a couple more uses. Aside from also being a source of healing, there's also a hunger meter to manage, and eating together builds Kay and Yu's relationship (more on that later). Source is a relatively peaceful place, but it isn't devoid of enemies. On occasion, you'll run into wildlife infected by Rust, and in order to help them out, you'll have to fight them first. Initiating an encounter throws you into a simple real-time battle system where you control both Kay and Yu simultaneously. They both have access to the same commands: Impact (a melee attack), Blast (a ranged attack), Shield (self-explanatory), Pacify (used on downed enemies to free them of Rust), and Charge (which allows you to use battle items), and each character acts independently of one another. Battles tend to be a matter of timing your commands right (as you have to hold the button until the meter is full to execute the command), and beating enemies is a matter of figuring out their weakness. It's not complex by any means, but it is trickier than it looks. Despite the simplicity, I found the battles to be somewhat engaging. Figuring out the perfect rhythm of when to execute your moves is a fun exercise, and while the variety of ways to hurt enemies is sadly limited, it's satisfying to discover their weaknesses and build your game plan around it. At some point, you're able to execute Duo moves, which require Kay and Yu to use the same command at the same time. In addition to taking the time to charge the move, you'll also have to time when to let go of the button, making it slightly more challenging to use. It's generally worth using because it does decent damage, but it comes with the drawback that you're pretty vulnerable while charging since neither character can use Shield. If either Kay or Yu go down, you have the ability to use the Help command, which can revive the downed character with a little bit of health. If both Kay and Yu are knocked out, they simply travel back to the Nest, where you have the opportunity to lick your wounds. In rare instances, you can get a game over, but saves happen at every area transition, so it's not really punishing either way. Speaking of the Nest, that serves as your base of operations. This is the primary place where you can craft battle items, cook food, prepare healing items, and sleep (staying out at night is a bad idea). You can camp at certain areas outside, but the actions you can perform there are more limited, so it's generally better to go back to the Nest whenever you can. The crafting itself is pretty limited, as there are only a handful of components in the game, and there are only so many combinations you can make. It would have been neat if there were a bit more diversity to the resource selection, but it's not a big deal overall. Exploring is a bit cumbersome at first, but you'll eventually unlock a map (which is only sort of helpful because it's not really a full map) and a fast travel system in form of a friendly flying creature. The fast travel can only be accessed at certain points, requires cooked food in order to activate, and you can only travel to points that are clear of rust. These limitations aren't that big a hurdle in the grand scheme, and the fast travel is so convenient that it's usually worth the trouble of using. Whether you're eating food, winning battles, or encountering special cutscenes, Kay and Yu's relationship will deepen, and this is tracked with its very own bar. Once it fills up, you get a special cutscene, and after that, both Kay and Yu's stats will increase. It's basically this game's take on experience points, and I like that it's tied to the game's main focus. To be honest, the gameplay gets kind of repetitive after a while, as it's the same loop of gather shit, craft shit, eat, sleep, repeat, with the occasional battle sprinkled in. I kind of wish there were more to do and more to explore, but despite the repetition, I still got some enjoyment out of doing these things. If you prefer a wider variety of things to do, there's sadly not a whole lot you can do, as even the optional stuff is more of the same. Haven can be definitely played solo, but it also has a co-op feature that lets one player control Kay, while the other controls Yu. Not that I would know anything about it, but this seems like a perfect game for players to enjoy with their significant others. VERDICT: Against all odds, Haven is a romance story I actually somewhat enjoy. Kay and Yu are both endearing characters with an intimate and honestly sweet relationship, and I actually quite liked watching that relationship grow and change with what they encounter on Source. Though I would have preferred the RPG-style gameplay to be more complex, I still enjoyed the bit of exploring you can do and found the battle system interesting. If you like story-driven games, and if you're particularly big on romance tales, you should definitely check out Haven. The game itself is easy to get into and is more on the casual side, so you can focus on the story no problem. Plus, if you have a significant other you can pass the controller to, you can enjoy the game that way. On the other hand, if you have a particular distaste for romance, you may end up finding this game insufferable. Here's Haven on Steam: Haven on Steam (steampowered.com) - end -
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June 2024
Derryck
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