Haven
Developer/publisher The Game Bakers
Format PC (tested), PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox Series
Release Out now (Switch 2021)
With its lockdowns, social distancing, and constant demands of isolation, 2020 was often lonelier than the Xbox Series’ launch line-up. So Haven’s elevator pitch of an interstellar romance, where the focus is on the joys of two people being together, is initially love at first sight. Yu and Kay are a couple hiding on a planet of floating islands. You explore the various islands in search of resources, although mostly you’re reading text and experiencing these two young lovebirds bond. Haven invests a lot of time showing the mundane pleasures of being in a relationship: playing card games on a lazy afternoon, trying to hold a conversation with your partner while cleaning your teeth. If you’ve been arguing with your significant other about the ethics of resting your cold feet on them in bed to warm up, this could be right up your street.
Except clichés and nonsensical cheesiness are constant (“Love can do miracles!”), jokes miss far more often than they hit, and clumsy writing leaves us wincing as poor voice actors have to sell dialogue such as ‘especially you, Yu, you are resplendent’. It doesn’t help endear us to two leads who are hard to fall for. Yu’s over-reliant on sarcasm, which doesn’t get old at all. She’s kind and supportive in some scenes, sickeningly sweet in others, but also often strangely cruel to Kay.