![]() ![]() The dialogue is naturalistic and tender, and the occasional moments where the two of them flirt are the best in the game. What begins as a slightly grating portrayal of a normal couple in abnormal circumstances soon turns into something truly special, as the two of them banter and share inside jokes one moment, and discuss their worries in bed the next. However, the combat takes a back seat to the real main character of Haven: the relationship between Yu and Kay. Combat-as-two-person-rhythm is an innovative and often rewarding experiment that ties in nicely with the narrative, but it perhaps needed a little more polish to really work. It often feels like the enemies have a little too much advantage over Yu and Kay. They also resurrect if you don't pacify them fast enough, turning some tricky fights into more of a frustrating race against time. ![]() As the game goes on, it gets harder and harder to have a good time in these battles, as the enemies get stronger, and only take damage from certain attacks, or at certain times. The combat is designed a little bit like a rhythm game, with "Impact" as a melee attack, "Blast" as a ranged attack, "Shield" to protect both characters from attacks, and "Pacify" to rid the creatures of Rust once you've knocked them out.Ĭombat is all about timing your attacks, shields, and attempts to pacify the creatures, which feels like a fun puzzle at first. Foraging for recipe ingredients, healing items, and bits to fix up their spaceship/home are the main goals of the game, as well as fighting off the Rust-infected animals that dwell on each island. Yu and Kay's new nomadic life means that they have to fend for themselves out on Source. Most of the space-islands they travel to are corrupted by the mysterious pink goo that they call "Rust", and in Super Mario Sunshine-style, they can clean it up by flying over it (again, as long as they have Flow in their batteries), collecting Rust as they go for crafting purposes. Yu and Kay can fly, as long as they have enough Flow in their batteries, and they can follow long, winding Flow Threads to reach new areas and collect more Flow. That magical electricity is called Flow, and it dominates the game as both a source of energy and a method of movement. Having escaped the Aviary – a futuristic colony in which the "u" in utopia has fallen off to reveal that it was a dystopia all along – Yu and Kay live alone together on Source, an archipelago of space-islands connected by magical electricity bridges. Although it's not about the pandemic (and it's been in development for much longer than we've all been trapped inside), Haven is a game that came at exactly the right time, because its message is all about two lovers, alone together for the foreseeable future. ![]()
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