Haven (2020)

My girlfriend and I finished the game again. I was surprised how well the game holds up to a second playthrough. I was a bit wary that playing it a second time I was going to be more annoyed by all the little things one ignores when enjoying a game, but to my surprise, I wasn't! To be fair, we both rolled our eyes in unison at the long-ass crafting animation and having to craft items one by one, but it's a minor quibble.

Yu and Kay are as likeable as ever. This time we played with female Kay and I loved how well the devs "transitioned" (for lack of a better world) the character. There was one line of dialogue that wasn't correctly translated (Yu calls her "king", or something like that), but otherwise she is my canon Kay for now on.

I don't want to declare victory yet, but It seems like HAVEN is the game that broke the motion sickness curse on my wife. We've been playing this together and really enjoying it.

It's probably the way it handles the camera, you don't need to use the right stick to move it when you're sliding thru the world, it moves automatically behind the characters like it was a racing game.

Ok The Game Bakers, I see what you did. I might just have to give your game a second chance and see if it revises my overall take:

You can now choose your Yu and Kay and play as a same-gender couple in Haven ❤️ The free Couple Update is available right now on every platform! Haven is also 40% on most stores.

All stores: https://t.co/mN3sUcRSee
More Info: https://t.co/cTkjeVIOBn pic.twitter.com/C480FGGUjn

— The Game Bakers (@TheGameBakers) March 3, 2022

The more I play the less I like about Haven. Outside of its deeply uninteresting mechanics, there are too many off putting elements, from Kay’s tendency to mansplain, to the fact that the game constantly tried to force me to play as Kay instead of Yu, to weird food shaming bits, to a story that is strangely about the persecution of a straight couple by the game’s only real antagonist who happens to also be its only Queer character. That’s a head scratcher for me and something that really undermines the themes that seem to be central to the game.

I appreciate the fact that people look to this game as some sort of serious step toward representing relationships in a mature way, but I feel like It makes too many missteps along the way to be truly enjoyable. A lot of Kay and Yu’s relationship feels very immature at times, and very co-dependant in ways that I’m not sure represents the healthiest of relationships. Arguably they are supposed to be young and fresh in-love, but the game feels written by people who also don’t have a deeper or more complex understanding of relationships, or at least not one well articulated.

Mechanically the game is not well balanced for two players, with co-op feeling very one sided. I think there’s an automatic assumption about skill disparity between co-op partners that implies a limited perspective by the devs. I also feel it implies an assumption that the second player will both need and appreciate being relegated to a less involved, less active participant in the game.

I think Haven’s devs had good ideas and were well meaning, but I think the resulting work is less endearing and less successful than I think they hoped it would be.

The co-op is not quite what I expected. The second player really doesn’t have a lot of control unless you’re walking. Once the first player stars zooming around the second player is dragged along without much freedom of their own. Possibly good for a co-op pairing where one person wants a much more passive role, but that’s not my idea of actual cooperative play. I think despite the presence of co-op, Haven is probably better played solo as a result.

So far I’m also lukewarm on the characters and story. Maybe I’m just getting old and curmudgeonly but the relationship dynamic is a bit cheesy and saccharine. It’s also pretty heteronormative and while there’s nothing wrong with that there are so many stories like that out there I tend to need something to really make it stand out from the crowd. There does seem to be an attempt at a nuanced representation but thus far it hasn’t landed effectively. Also Kay is kind of a patronizing dick, but at least that shows an attempt to give the characters a sense of real issues and limitations. It feels like there is potential here and Haven might deliver on that but little so far has wowed me beyond standard visual novel fare.

The game is pretty, and traversal is ok enough that it feels good. It doesn’t feel as fluid and satisfying as something like The Pathless, but it’s adequate. Combat isn’t great but is serviceable. I can see it potentially getting tedious in its repetition. Mostly I just wish co-op was better balanced and didn’t leave the second player feeling left out of the action.

After much technical difficulties on my side, me and my girlfriend finally started to play this game. It's super fun! While the devs say it's mainly intended to be a single-player experience, the co-op works really well. Especially for our setup. My girlfriend is not versed in video games at all, to the point that is hard for her to coordinate more than 3 button presses at the same time. So I can usually take the rains of the traversal, which has some tricky parts, while she collects stuff.

The writing is really good. It's funny, and sexy and mature. This game made me reflect on the fact that not many video games portray long-term relationships. Romance is mostly relegated to the initial courtship part and then... it's "happily ever after".