I didn’t quite know what to expect coming into Haven, outside of it’s stylish look and focus on tethered co-op gameplay surrounding what seemed like a pair of lovers on the run. Little did I know that when I booted up the game I would be assaulted with one of the most incredible and visually stunning opening cinematic that I’d ever witnessed for a video game. It screams cool; it’s water-colored strokes and electronic music do wonders in sucking you into this grand adventure. It tells you everything and nothing all at the same time. It’s safe to say that Haven has the coolest intro of any game in 2020 and sets the stage for something special.
What you need to understand about Haven is that it’s about connections. This is a love story at its heart, something that very few games of any genre focus on outside of the occasional non-creepy visual novel that never gets mainstream traction. You understand this right off the bat as the game introduces us to its two main protagonists/lovers. In single player you have control over both, not only during gameplay but also during conversations as well, choosing actions and making choices through conversation. But this connection thread goes far beyond a pair of lovers and some Mass Effect-like dialogue choices.
Gameplay wise you control the the pair in tandem and can switch between them with the press of a button. On the surface Haven is looks like your traditional 3D adventure title that we’ve seen dozens of times before. You can run around freely and explore but the magic of the experience comes from the glide mechanic the game relies on. Holding down the Right Trigger lets the pair glide through the world, piercing the tall grass as you adventure around. It’s a fun and satisfying way to travel especially when we’ve become accustomed to slow walking in game like this.
Movement is smooth and relaxing. You can also use the Left Trigger to drift, making taking turns easier keeping stops to a minimum and flick the Left Joystick and you can pull a mid-air U-Turn to quickly change directions. Haven is all about continuous motion as well as interaction. You’ll find all sorts of things as you flow through the world you are on, collecting items and uncovering all sorts of cool things. Everything to find not only features fully voiced dialogue, but said dialogue is chalk full of choices that leave an impact on your duo in small ways.
You can gain experience by the way you answer questions presented to you by your partner in the form of Confidence. Your own play style will help to influence the sort of character you grow as. Making confident choices might up your confidence and so on. It’s not a huge or deep mechanic, but it adds to the overall feel and world that Haven presents the player. These mundane and seemingly innocuous things help you build a connection with these two lovebirds in surprising ways. I’ve always said that the devil is in the details and Haven does a lot of the little things right, where so many big games fall short.
But all of this gliding about has to be for something as just admiring the vistas can only sustain you for so long. That’s where Threads come into the picture. Threads are, well, threads. They are blue stings of light that you can hop onto and fly along. If you follow the Thread to its completion you’ll be rewarded with the games energy that you will need to power yourself up and do just about everything needed in the game from opening doors, collecting Rust, and fighting enemies. But it isn’t all about collecting Threads as you’ll also be taking care of each other in this story of lovers on the run. I really enjoyed this aspect as where most games would simply toss you a cutscene or some text moving the story along, Haven feels much more real about things.
Coming back to base might see you having to cook something to keep your strength up in between story dialogue. Each player can can collect food scattered around the world and make dishes like you might in Breath of The Wild. Again, it’s not as deep as that game but it adds up in terms of investment. The two characters come off like they genuinely care about each other, this being backed by some excellent voice work, but also because of your involvement in taking care of them. You might easily find yourself becoming invested in the two leads without even knowing it thanks to the subtle touches the developers added into the gameplay.
Graphically, Haven looks wonderful without pushing anything in terms of graphically fidelity. It’s cell-shaded in the style of something like Jet Set Radio, and I think it works incredibly well here. The simply graphics allow the colors to really pop. Even the loading screens feature a wickedly neat watercolor look that screams to be translated into a graphic novel or full-color manga. Everything just flows well together, from the municipal choices to the visuals, from the story to the characters, everything in Haven is small but clearly shows a lot of heart and passion behind. It. It’s the ind of video game that is easy to get lost in, especially when you have someone to play with. There aren’t many co-op games with couples in mind and Haven falls nicely into this spot. And because the game is by no means difficult, it might just be the perfect way to get you non-gaming or casual gaming partner to join you in a fun little adventure
Aside from the look and movement, what really helped to sell the game was the co-op combat Haven employs. During a given battle things shift into an almost RPG-sequence battle system. But instead of taking turns like in something along the lines of Final Fantasy, you control both characters in realtime, or individually in co-op. In single-player actions are mapped to the D-Pad for one character and the face buttons for the other. I suppose now is the time I should tell you that Haven was designed with a gamepad in mind, in case you are looking at the Steam release. During battle you simply press a button that corresponds to an action. Holding a button down charges the action and releasing it initiates it. And when larger enemies enter the picture duo move are required. With these you’ll both select the same attack and charge it up. Once this happens a spinning wheel will appear and you’ll both have to sync your selection to match the highlight section of the wheel to unleash a massive attack. This is all such a simple yet fun system that has you thinking about two characters at once.
You aren’t killing anything, rather you are working to pacify enemies, but that doesn’t mean you won’t be taking damage. This. Is where eating comes into the picture back at base, but also health packs that you can equipment in your inventory when out adventuring. This is all RPG-lite and I think it works well in terms of the overall game. It’s a great casual RPG experience that could really help draw in new fans to the genre that might be turned off by overly complex bars, charts, mana pools, and strategic positioning; Not to mention the slow turn-based nature of most RPG titles. Haven does a great job of simplifying everything while still teasing those deeper RPG mechanics. Add in a clean and simple upgrade system for gear and you really do have the perfect introduction to and RPG for those wanting to see what all the fuss is all about.
By know you’d expect me to absolutely love Haven, and I really wanted to, but that just isn’t the case. A common thread (no pun intended) throughout this review is that while Haven does a lot of things right, those things it does just aren’t very deep. Everything feels very surface level outside of the story. Combat is neat at first but with only two attack options it’ll quickly become stale. This is even more apparent when Duo Attacks come into the picture as both players will simply be picking the same attack until the enemies are defeated. If attack A doesn’t work then simply try attack B. The Shield option is unnecessary as I never saw the point of one player taking the damage when losing an attack phase is far more damaging.
Then there is the tethered player mechanic. It’s a lovely idea that doesn’t have enough meat on the bone. The world is broken up into a number of small islands for your to explore. This lends itself perfect to co-op but is never taken advantage of. You are always connected at the hip and can never break away to individually explore the small play areas. There aren’t any location that require a specific character to use or to get through. Haven feels incredibly limiting in this regard as it screams to let the pair break away for small bits to explore, coming to together again to complete tasks or move onto another island. Haven does break you up at points but it just gives you solo control until you meet up again.
And then there is the World of Source that Haven takes place on. It’s a lovely place full of cool creatures and striking colors, but one that quickly becomes a bore. This is because the game relies heavily on backtracking. It’s a fine idea but because each island is so small you’ll spend so much of the time in loading screens as you jump from area to area, and many times you’ll end up on islands you didn’t mean to as everything starts looking similar. You can tag a location but it stays on the map and no onscreen indicator pops up leading you to think you are on the right path when you aren’t. It can get pretty confusing at points with frustration thanks to all the loading in-between.
Look, I really do love this experience, I just with the gameplay wasn’t so surface level. You have something special but it never goes much beyond its initial gimmick. The tethered combat is neat but lacks depth, the movement is slick and fun but the constant loading slows it down. This means that what kept me invested was the story that Haven presents. As someone who thrives of narrative-focused adventures, that was more than enough to keep me glued to my computer till 4am. I wanted to see what happened next; I wanted to find out what happens to our leads; I wanted to explore Source and uncover its mysteries. This things are more than enough for me even if I wish the gameplay was a lot deeper and more involved.
Haven is a solid experience that while simple, isn’t afraid to take chances, even if it never doubles down on those chances. There are few examples of other games that can be compared to Haven, the closest in terms of style would have to be Sayonara Wild Hearts, another fantastic title in its own right, but none in terms of the gameplay. In the end, I’m just happy that we are still getting tons of unique video games hitting major platforms in a time where most AAA titles feel so heavily committed created. Haven isn’t afraid to march to the beat of its own drum, something that should be commended. It might not be for everyone but for those people that love unique story driven experiences, and especially those with partners who also love to game, Haven should totally be experienced and won’t cost you two copies of the game to try out.
Pros:
+ Great Story
+ Unique Tethered Gameplay
+ Slick Style
Cons:
– Limited Gameplay
– Loading Screens For Days
Final Score
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