Haven

Haven is an indie RPG featuring two lovers, Yu and Kay, who set out for adventures on an alien planet where they are seemingly all alone. The two must live off the land, searching for food to eat and resources to repair the ship that is their only home. The premise of (yet another) sci-fi survival game may seem intriguing and unique with a loving couple at the forefront. However, Haven misses the mark in trying to mix genres, making for an experience that is dull at best and frustrating at worst.

Developer: The Game Makers

Publishers: The Game Bakers, Limited Run Games

Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC

Reviewed on: Nintendo Switch

Review Code Provided

Written by Chanel S.

Haven begins with couple Yu and Kay on the planet Source, without much introduction or explanation. As the characters converse, they reveal more of the plot and you learn they have come to Source to escape some vague oppressive government. Yu and Kay must struggle to survive on this barren land through crafting, cooking, and fighting enemies. They level up through bonding in their relationship, so the choices you make in dialogues matter. You can strengthen their relationship points in other small ways, such as cooking each partner’s favorite foods.

Yu and Kay are tasked with exploring islets around them, clearing each islet of a toxic pink “rust.” This material is used to repair “the Nest,” which breaks down in some kind of earthquake early in the game. The main characters soon learn they are not the only forms of life on Source, and a rudimentary, mildly entertaining turn-based combat system is introduced.

The combat is simple, involving 4 actions which are each mapped to a button: blast, impact, shield, and pacify. It’s a unique system that I haven’t seen often in a game, wherein you press and hold the respective buttons to execute an action. It was hard for me to get used to controlling both Yu and Kay’s actions, as it is somewhat confusing to hold down two different buttons for two characters at the same time. “Pacify” is the final move you use to end a battle, but the monsters don’t “die” in the conventional RPG way. Instead, they continue to roam the land as more peaceful versions of themselves, and you can even pet them! The lack of violence is a wholesome choice that I appreciate.

Early on, the game introduces you to the uncomfortable controls you will use to move in the environment. You are discouraged from walking, instead learning how to glide and drift above the ground using your futuristic anti-gravity boots. You can easily switch between controlling Yu and Kay, and the two can even hold hands while gliding, admittedly a cute detail.

Gliding is fun for only a few minutes. This mechanic soon becomes frustrating when the characters passive-aggressively nag me for slowing down or “forgetting to drift.” What’s the harm in stopping to take a closer look at things? For a game that purports itself as being an exploration adventure, it sure feels like Haven punishes you when you stop to take a closer look at things. Kay constantly piped up with “What the heck was that?” when I failed to perfectly execute a drift (it’s not easy to get used to) and Yu often complained that we were moving too slow.

After several hours, I sat there wondering, “Is this it? All I’m supposed to do is go around cleaning up, gathering rust, and picking berries?” (Yes, this busy work makes up the bulk of the gameplay.) I wandered aimlessly for about 30 minutes, until I figured out where I could gather the other materials needed to repair the Nest. The game doesn’t have much of a tutorial, which would be fine if it were more intuitive. It felt impossible for me to navigate without getting lost, as each islet looked identical to the others – one bare, lifeless expanse of grass and rock after the next.

Generally, Haven is lacking in quality of life features. Although the game has accessibility options, a much-appreciated, forward-thinking addition, I can’t see it being all that accessible to a disabled player. It takes several painful hours to unlock maps and fast travel that allow you to get around with more ease. It was confusing for me even to figure out how to save my game. Apparently, the game auto-saves between its agonisingly long loading screens. You’re going to spend a lot of time staring at loading screens just to move between islets or leave the Nest. (The only upside of this is that the loading screens feature adorable art of Yu and Kay.) The slow, poor performance of the game compounded by terrible controls makes it a chore to play.

Visually, the game has little to offer. Its graphics would barely have been passable in the PS3 generation, and it looks dreadfully low-res in handheld mode on Switch. This is especially noticeable in the Nest, where the camera switches to an odd first-person perspective. This allows you to walk around and observe Yu and Kay as if you were another person in the room. This only added to the awkward, third-wheel feeling I had while playing.

The idea of Haven sounds charming – a survival tale of a man and woman who must brave the rough and lonely conditions of an alien planet together, motivated by the power of their love! (...Or something like that.) Certainly, it would have been more enjoyable if the two characters themselves were less cringey. Moments between the couple that were meant to be sweet and heartwarming left me rolling my eyes.

The developers intended for Yu and Kay to be an honest, realistic portrayal of the ups and downs in a relationship. I found this to be untrue. I couldn’t imagine a couple under these stressors being so peppy and constantly cracking cheesy jokes. This part is subjective, but the humor is not for me. I was especially irritated by one adolescent joke about the couple’s bed sheets being… “sticky.” Watching Yu and Kay discuss this from a bird’s eye view made me feel like I was a voyeur, a third party who shouldn’t be there, rather than actually giving me a sense of personal connection to them. Nothing about this couple felt relatable to me.

Conclusion

Haven is the sum of many good ideas that were poorly executed. The game feels so unpolished, I am surprised it was released in this state. It doesn’t feel at home on a current generation console and is blown out of the water by any other modern RPG or survival game, including indie titles. I am normally willing to make concessions for games by small studios, keeping in mind their limitations. Yet Haven ranks so poorly in all aspects – gameplay, story, characters, graphics, and performance – that I can’t bring myself to be lenient and enjoy it. I’m not sure what Haven is trying to be: a survival game, an adventure RPG, or maybe a relationship simulator? It doesn’t exactly excel in any of those genres it attempts to synthesize. I am sorry to say I cannot recommend it, not even for a relatively affordable price point of $24.99 in the US or £22.49 for UK players.

1 / 3

Bad Game, Not Worth Your Time Or Money

Author: Chanel S.