On the surface, Haven positions itself as a YA romance in video game form. From the colourful Animesque art to the upbeat technofunk soundtrack, Haven is certainly appealing to the senses. It is these elements what initially drew me to the work in spite of my misgivings, and by far and wide, the aesthetics are the best part of this work. Contrariwise, I was unimpressed at the immature-sounding dialogue and relationship writing, but YA works are out of my range, and so perhaps I am not the best judge in those regards.
But beneath the bright aesthetics and YA romance lies a deeply disturbing narrative message. The uncritical eye it casts upon its focus romance is already concerning; Such idealistic views are already extraordinarily incautious for a work to display, when real stories of abusive relationships are of a daily occurrence, especially and particularly for cisgendered heterosexual couples. Then, I was appalled to find the story takes a running leap beyond Unfortunate Implications by appropriating discriminatory concepts related to LGBTQI+ persons to a cisgendered heterosexual couple. And one of the villains is explicitly an LGBTQI+ individual. The story reads as a Heteronormative Crusader screed about how the real oppressors are LGBTQI+ persons. I honestly fail to find the words to adequately express my feelings toward this, at least ones considered friendly to advertisers on this website.
I suppose some could overlook that ugly messaging if the gameplay was suitably compelling, but there is little to speak of in Haven. The elements of exploration, combat, survival and Visual Novel each can be described as basic. Combat in particular grows tedious quickly. I found the gameplay too shallow to redeem the faults of the story. Haven would have been a likely better experience as a pure Visual Novel without the distractions, but would be still left a story containing repugnant messaging that is unacceptable and unforgivable.
VideoGame A heart of darkness beneath a smiling mask
On the surface, Haven positions itself as a YA romance in video game form. From the colourful Animesque art to the upbeat technofunk soundtrack, Haven is certainly appealing to the senses. It is these elements what initially drew me to the work in spite of my misgivings, and by far and wide, the aesthetics are the best part of this work. Contrariwise, I was unimpressed at the immature-sounding dialogue and relationship writing, but YA works are out of my range, and so perhaps I am not the best judge in those regards.
But beneath the bright aesthetics and YA romance lies a deeply disturbing narrative message. The uncritical eye it casts upon its focus romance is already concerning; Such idealistic views are already extraordinarily incautious for a work to display, when real stories of abusive relationships are of a daily occurrence, especially and particularly for cisgendered heterosexual couples. Then, I was appalled to find the story takes a running leap beyond Unfortunate Implications by appropriating discriminatory concepts related to LGBTQI+ persons to a cisgendered heterosexual couple. And one of the villains is explicitly an LGBTQI+ individual. The story reads as a Heteronormative Crusader screed about how the real oppressors are LGBTQI+ persons. I honestly fail to find the words to adequately express my feelings toward this, at least ones considered friendly to advertisers on this website.
I suppose some could overlook that ugly messaging if the gameplay was suitably compelling, but there is little to speak of in Haven. The elements of exploration, combat, survival and Visual Novel each can be described as basic. Combat in particular grows tedious quickly. I found the gameplay too shallow to redeem the faults of the story. Haven would have been a likely better experience as a pure Visual Novel without the distractions, but would be still left a story containing repugnant messaging that is unacceptable and unforgivable.