This review contains spoilers, click expand to view.
Haven is a relaxing, charming, and laid back RPG that doesn't challenge the player, but instead invites them to enjoy a bright, colorful adventure full of emotional investment and fun memories.
The story of Haven is a mixture of emotional highs and lows, played out by two very enjoyable, fun, and comfortable characters. The two Protagonists, Kay and Yu, are lovers who have escaped the oppressive rules and societal norms of their galactic government called The Apiary, and have crash landed on a fractured planet dubbed 'Source'. Source is split into many pieces, connected by 'flow bridges' which serve as connecting threads between all of the fractured islets. Kay and Yu's mission is to collect parts for their ship, evade detection by the Apiary, and build a new life for themselves by collecting resources and clearing each of the islets that make up Source of 'rust'. Rust is, as Kay discovers, a form of flow energy that negatively effects organic life, but can be collected and used as a building material. The science of this is explained via sci-fi techno-babble.
The relationship between Kay and Yu is relentlessly cute, adorable, and feels very real. They fight, banter, bicker, tease, joke, cooperate, express insecurity and vulnerability, and generally go through all the ups and downs of a relationship. As the player, you can influence some of the dialog options, which can have a negative or positive impact on Kay and Yu's relationship. Conflict resolution, romance, lust, insecurity, and maturity are all challenges the player is faced with when controlling Kay and Yu's dialog.
The story and writing of Haven are both entertaining and heart-felt. The voice actors playing Kay and Yu deserve a lot of praise for making the entire game feel alive, charming, and fun to listen to.
The game does have a few hiccups directorially. Sometimes you feel a bit abandoned by the game having very sparse tutorials, and not giving you a ton of direction on what to do next. It's not hard to figure out on your own, but giving the player more clear cut objectives would have been nice. The map is also very dumbed down from where it could and maybe should have been. Islets don't have any detail on the map, and are instead little white blips with lines connecting them, representing the flow bridges. This makes traveling around a bit confusing, as the game doesn't tell you where you are on each islet, forcing you to guess at which flow bridge goes where. This can get annoying, but not so much as to make you put down the game.
The gameplay of Haven is, again, not challenging, but still fun. Kay and Yu have anti-gravity boots that allow them to glide and drift around Source with speed and grace. You can guide them to follow 'flow threads' which add charge to their boots and gives them energy needed to dispel rust, rebuff enemies in the open world, and unlock mini areas on the islets.
The combat is a mixture of advantage and time based strategy. You take a couple seconds to charge a ranged attack, melee attack, shield, or special power that allows you to expel downed enemies. If you're able to latch on to different weaknesses and patterns you should be fine. Combat isn't very nuanced, but offers an entertaining enough break in the exploration rooted gameplay. You spend most of your time in Haven exploring, cleaning areas of rust, and gathering resources.
You do need to eat and heal in the game. You can craft food, medicine, combat enhancements, and tools in the game to give you various advantages. The better prepared you are before you go out on a long trip, the more fun you'll get to have. If Kay and Yu are really hungry when in combat, timing becomes harder, and you do less damage. They'll let you know via dialogue prompts when it's time to set up camp and eat so they can perform better.
Graphically, the open world is bright, colorful, pretty, but not overly detailed. The characters are pretty simple looking, but only serve as avatars for the anime style depictions you see pop up when Kay and Yu are talking.
The music of Haven is beautifully atmospheric and complements the tone and feel of the story and exploration very well. I just wish there were more tracks to enjoy.
Overall, Haven is a great stress reliever and offered a refreshing RPG experience full of laughs and "aww moments" that made me invested in the characters and their journey. If you're looking for a cute exploration RPG that feels cozy and relaxing, yet rewards curiosity and quick thinking in a pinch, look no further than Haven.… Expand
