Haven

Haven is the rare game that excels at making its characters seem believable and human, especially when it gives them nothing more to do than just being themselves. The end result may feel a little familiar for anyone who’s lived through the past year, but that doesn’t make the game any less worthwhile.

Part of me wants to say Haven is my game of the year, but I should probably let the post-play buzz die down first. What I do know is that Yu and Kay will stick with me for a long time.

Along with being one of the most gentle and soothing games of the year, Haven is also gaming at its most compassionate.

Haven is an uplifting and positive tale of a young couple setting out to make an alien planet their home. Yu and Kay are a likeable pair as you watch their relationship strengthen, the world of Source is a gorgeous place to explore, and the soundtrack is great as well. While the overarching story could be deeper and battles could be streamlined further, Haven is a game that offers a chilled out escape.

Haven tells a tale of love and freedom in an intriguing alien world, beautifully depicted and sided by a great electro soundtrack. A game to try, even if you'll need some patience to move past the first, too slow, couple of hours.

Travelling around Source is a pleasant and chilled experience, if a little bland at times.

What Haven doesn’t quite perfect in its gameplay, it makes up for with a beautifully crafted, surprisingly human relationship, accompanied by a brilliant soundtrack and gorgeous presentation.

At the end of the twenty hours required to complete it, Haven is confirmed as an intimate and daily love story, which rejects the pomposity of the epic to settle on the sweetness of adolescence. And it's a rarity in the gaming world.

Losing yourself in Haven on the Xbox is a sedate joy. You can wile away hours, clearing Rust from the world and pocketing alien produce. Then it’s back to the Nest for a night’s kip and one of the more endearing romantic relationships in video games. But as you skim across the surface of the Source, you’ll be left wishing that Haven could have trusted you a little more, and let you dive deeper into its shallow systems. It may not quite reach the heights of its inspirations, then, but Haven is an alien holiday that might just blow your troubles away.

Even when I was frustrated, I was impressed by the touching and thrilling moments Haven creates. I enjoyed the genuine connection between Yu and Kay, and jetting off into the unknown with a pair of hover-boots is a blast. But this otherworldly adventure extends itself too far beyond its strengths. Sometimes the rough patches are worth working through, but like any relationship, sometimes you’re just giving more than you’re getting.

Despite its technical hangups, Haven has passion and charisma to spare thanks to some clever writing and an honest portrayal of a devoted relationship. There are rough patches when you get stuck on confusing terrain or come up against a temperamental adversary, but the journey is mostly as difficult as you want to make it. Keeping these wanderers together is a pleasant challenge, and re-assembling the puzzle pieces of their past has a satisfying payoff.

A charming surprise and should mark the genre of adventure game thanks to the quality of the writing, the few mechanics borrowed from RPGs, the possibility of playing as a duo and its accessibility.

Haven is a special game that is hard to recommend, but hard to miss. If you want a good honest look at star crossed lovers, and you have someone to play it with, definitely consider dropping some time into this lovely world.

This is my dilemma with Haven, then: as a chill-out RPG with a beautiful world to explore, it’s a pleasant experience that really helped me relax in the evenings after a rough day. But it has a story, a story with a real threat that is swept aside, and a central couple that, while sweet and believable, never grow beyond their typical “hot-headed girl” and “meticulous research boy” characteristics. Even as I was rebuilding my ship and growing plants, I didn’t feel like I’d gained anything or learnt anything new about the characters. If I were to return to Source, it would be to give my pet lizard Oink a little scratch on the chin, or to see the breeze blow through the grass and experience a brief moment of calm in this currently chaotic world.

Even if it fails to depict the different aspects of and mature love story, Haven has undoubted qualities and its artistic side will make a wide range of players fall in love.