How ‘Haven’ Breaks New Barriers With Brilliant Story and Beautifully Crafted Soundtrack
Haven is quite the indie game, an underrated gem that deserves to be part of your game collection. Created by The Game Bakers, the maker of the action game Furi, the two games are polar opposites. While Furi is fast and action-packed, Haven is more of a casual and calm experience to play.
Gameplay
You start the game out with the simple unfolding of areas, gathering resources, ship parts, and getting the hang of movement. The first tutorial area opens up, accompanied by beautiful music, and takes you to the nearby garden and waterfall as you make sense of the rocket-powered boots and gloves. Along the way, you encounter a mix of mini-games from speed glides to cooking, a visual novel, and turn-based battles.
Combat is a live-tactics sequence of coordinating the right moves to knock down and pacify the corrupted fauna. Timing will be a key factor to win and it is a nice touch to see the pair complement each other’s move sets. It is a simple rock-paper-scissors system that adds fun to the encounters and boss battles. While Yu might opt to use her arms, elbow, and knee to do a critical strike, Kay may use a shield to fend off any damage counters. The best combat sequences are when both strike an opponent equally.
Graphics
The visuals are as colorful as the watercolor art title screen. The colors are bright and the designs look like a graphic novel that plays as an adventure life-sim. The pseudo-words for names, places, and objects reflect the worldbuilding. The character designs feel simple and vibrant as model shapes give a sci-fi vibe. The art styles of flora and fauna give a sense of familiarity while being alien and unique.
Story
Yu and Kay’s relationship is the focal point of the game, Yu is a talented engineer whose expertise lies in navigating, fixing, and upgrading your tech. On the other hand, Kay is a biologist who complements Yu with their cooking skills and familiarity with nature. What begins as a simple run for replacing ship parts becomes an insight into Yu and Kay’s partnership. The subtle dialogue as they glide along the grass seas, the witty humor, and the concerns for each other’s wellbeing hint at the depth of their bond. While they are at home on a ship called The Nest, it is much like staying home and lounging with a partner.
Throughout the game, the couple will joke, banter, argue, and flirt around in set pieces that are voiced and acted well. Some interactions are naughty enough to leave things to the player’s imagination as the scene fades to black. Everything they show you in the game reflects a normal relationship based on mutual needs based on the character’s backgrounds. The dialogue between Yu and Kay carries the weight of the game as they speak of their lives in the present and past. Along the journey, you get the sense that it is not just a couple’s vacation or research trip but an escape from The Apiary, a caste society where Yu and Kay’s social standing and fates were predetermined at birth.
Pros And Cons
The story, writing and visuals put on the show, but behind all that is the music. The soundtrack composed by Danger evokes movement as the centerpiece. Each sequence of energetic EDM and synth beats adds to the flow state. The tone shifts according to the theme, mood, and time from upbeats to one of a relaxing road trip or an ambient mood of staying at home. There are periods of intensity and tension thrown into the mix to heighten the stakes involved when confronting the past and an uncertain future. My personal favorites are “Home,” “Move it Muffin,” “Ready When You Are,” “I Can’t Stay Mad at You,” and “Free Fall.”
Haven is a sci-fi-themed Romeo and Juliet or "The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl” story. It is a story of star-crossed lovers on an emotional roller coaster fraught with passion, danger, and lost hope that their love is kept going despite the shortcomings of repetitive enemies and a resource grind.
Verdict
Haven’s production is a love letter to video games. Everything from the art, the voice acting, and the music are created with passion. Isn’t that what love is worth fighting for?
The game is good on solo but best played as a couch co-op with a significant other, possibly even as a nice video game date. You can finish the game in 7- 11 hours, give or take. A second or third playthrough will unlock costumes, locations, and other endgame content that does not affect the main storyline.
Haven is out on all platforms.
Rating: 7/10
Developer: The Game Bakers; Publisher: The Game Bakers; Players: 1 or 2 Lan-play; Released: PC, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S December 3, 2020; Nintendo Switch, PS4 February 4, 2021; ESRB: M for Mature for Fantasy Violence, Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes, Use of Drugs; MSRP: $19.99
Review played on Nintendo Switch and PC
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