Haven

I first learned about Haven from a list of games leaving PlayStation Plus Extra in March 2024, (along with Tchia which I just played). It’s four years old at this point, pretty niche, and not my usual gaming fare, which explains why I never heard of it before. But it sounded interesting and I read a few positive reviews, so I decided to give it a shot before it left the service.

Being able to take a chance on games I wouldn’t normally play is one of the reasons I like PlayStation Plus. It’s funny how artificial scarity causes a sense of urgency, since if the game was permenantly available I probably would never have made the time for it. But I’m glad I did—it was a cute and chill adventure with a lot of romance.

Haven (2020)

Completed

The real draw of the game is the relationship between the two main characters, Yu and Kay. They’re a couple who have escaped to a deserted planet to be together, and the game is about developing their relationship and helping them survive in this strange new world. There are multiple gender options, all of which are fully voiced.

It’s a really chill game, with a focus on exploration and relationship-building. The art style and music are both great and complement the laid-back vibe of the game. There are basically four different types of gameplay:

• Flying around the world on hoverboots, exploring and collecting resources
• Real-time combat battles against hostile creatures, where you have to coordinate both characters to attack and block
• Moving a camera around the characters’ home base to interact with the characters, cook, craft items, take a shower, etc.
• Visual novel-style conversations between the two main characters

It’s an interesting mix of genres, and while I can see how that might not appeal to everyone, I thought it worked well. It’s basically a romantic visual novel with some light RPG elements and exploration to break things up and provide a structure for the story. Yu and Kay are interacting basically the whole time, not just during conversations. They banter while exploring, help each other in combat, and generally act like a couple in love.

I really enjoyed the dialogue between the two characters, which felt natural and fun. The voice acting was great, and the visual novel-style conversations fit the game and the characters well. The game does a good job of making you care about the characters and their relationship, and I quickly found myself invested in their story.

One of my favorite parts was the loading screens, each featuring a random image of the two characters together. They are all really cute and sweet, so I found myself looking forward to seeing a new one each time. It’s a small touch, but it added a lot to the game for me.

The hoverboots took some getting used to, but it added some friction to exploration compared to just walking around on foot. There’s some light resource gathering and crafting, but it’s not too deep or complex. Cooking different meals to see how the characters reacted was fun.

Combat was probably my least favorite part of the game, but it’s not the main focus of the game and didn’t really detract from my enjoyment. The goal is to synchronize each character’s actions to maximize damage and minimize damage taken, and pair the correct attack with the correct enemy. I kept forgetting which attack was best against which enemy; I realize that’s a me problem, but it was still frustrating.

Exploring the far fringes of the map got a little tedious by the endgame, but fortunately the game didn’t overstay its welcome. There are a number of optional areas to explore, which was nice when I stumbled into them.

The game was designed to be played either co-op or solo, but I only played it solo. I can see how playing with a partner would be fun, but I didn’t feel like I was missing out by playing alone.

Overall I really enjoyed it. The highlights for me were the characters and their relationship, and the gameplay was sufficient as a vehicle for that. The art and music were great, and the game had a really nice vibe to it. I’m glad I played it, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a chill, romantic game with a focus on story and characters.

I could use more romantic games in my life; if this is a whole genre I’ve been missing out on, I need to fix that.