I Played Haven The Game with my Wife

About two days ago, my wife and I completed the game, Haven, on our PlayStation 5 (also available on Steam)!

The game left us feeling pretty satisfied! From the world exploration to the realistic relationship between Kay and Yu, it kept us hooked all throughout the story! Now, warning that there will be some spoilers ahead!

Let’s talk about the trailer first. My wife saw the game on Deku Deals’ popular list, and thought it would be interesting to play. At the start, I didn’t really think it would be too interesting as the trailer felt a bit lacklustre since it did not really explain much about the game itself. But now, after playing the game, it is kind of obvious why it was made that way. I have no concrete advice regarding how to improve the trailer, but I am glad I picked the game up regardless!

The music is probably the first thing I noticed when playing the game. It is very calming, and fits the mood of the atmosphere very well! The Beginning of Something, Source, and Appledew Stew are some of my most favourite soundtracks. The first mentioned soundtrack evokes the feeling of uncertainty, the second one of being in another world, and the last one of being at ease and having found one’s own “home”. The game would not have been what it is without the music.

The game itself is about a couple who decide to elope to another planet, called Source, to be able to live together without the imposing opposition of their society, the Apiary. But, there are a lot of unsolved mysteries on Source, which have to be solved as more of the planet is charted on their radar. Despite its initial calmness, Source reveals numerous disturbances: earthquakes, a bizarre red substance known as “rust” that drives the local creatures mad, and evidence of a past civilisation, all of which leave the pair with much to ponder. The pace of the story is excellent, and reeled us in immediately.

Next, the world-building is a bit like a Metroidvania, but a very light one at that. The world consists of many small “islets” that can be traversed to using “flow bridges”, which links one islet to the next. Most of the unreachable places on the map can be reached using “flow threads”, which connect one part of the map to another part of the same map. It takes some skill to navigate these flow threads, but once one gets used to them, they’re VERY satisfying to use. In some places, the map is cut in pieces, which makes it so that one has to traverse to the other side of the map through another islet. The world is also very “free” and feels large, while simultaneously not being empty. I wish the walking speed was slightly faster, as the built-in hover system sometimes doesn’t make sense. For instance, when a flow bridge was just to our left, hovering pushed us too far forward, making us miss our exit.

Combat was a tad confusing at the start, where one can (initially) use four different abilities. Players can also sync their abilities to unleash stronger attacks. The confusing part was that it was not made clear how to unleash synced abilities, and it took a few tries before we managed to figure out how the system worked. Later on, once more enemy types became involved, the synced abilities’ execution format also changed somewhat. Vibrations being central to timing abilities could have been made a bit more obvious. Otherwise, the combat was fine.

Oink! Oink was a fantastic! Sources’ very own dog-like pet. That’s all 🐷

The sense of the “unknown” began to fade when the characters made contact with the Apiary atop the hill, marking a big moment in the story when a genuine desire for freedom emerged. This encounter also shed light on the nature of the Apiary society. Another significant turning point occurred with the introduction of Ozias, instilling a feeling of “oh shoot!”. This moment introduced an imaginary sense of time pressure, as it seemed Ozias could appear unexpectedly at any time. His disturbing personality felt very real.

The last book Yu read in her collection was also a nice addition to the overall story, showcasing that Yu and Kay’s world are very different to our own. The dynamics of their relationship also felt very natural, and was showcased at every opportune moment, including the moment when Yu and Kay created their own ending to the book.

Back to the topic of Ozias, a natural part of the story that emerged was the severing of the planet’s flow bridge. The emotions that flowed through us upon reaching this point in the story were somewhere in the range of “Oh no! We gotta make a decision!”, and we were fully immersed to say the least. The choice made upon seeing the dilemma about going back to the Apiary and surviving versus taking fate into our own hands and live by ourselves on Source was a direct reflection of what we as a couple would have done if we were in Kay and Yu’s shoes.

We chose the ending where we decided to sever the flow bridge. I’m relieved the game didn’t just end there; it continued to show what happened afterwards. Had it ended there, it would have felt incomplete. Even though the characters are now alone in the universe, they chose this path on their own terms, and that resonated well with both of us. Curiosity led us to check out the alternate ending on YouTube, a decision we somewhat regret. It presented a dystopian conclusion that clashed with our core values—similar to the unsettling feeling of eating pineapple on pizza!

Haven is a game about feelings, emotions, human values, and ultimately, love. Does love prevail against everything, or are there limits to what love can achieve? We enjoyed playing this game, and hope that any readers check the game out as well. We highly recommend Haven for couples who are looking for a relaxing adventure. That is all from me, thank you all for reading!

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