Haven

 Haven

Available on: Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows.

By Ilia the Wanderer

If you're a fan of great storytelling and unique design, you need to check out Haven. Set on a fractured planet in the far future, you play as two young lovers who must explore the vast chunks of the planet to help repair their spaceship. Along the way, you'll get a chance to discover more about not only the main characters but also the surprisingly deep lore of the game.

The art style is absolutely stunning, a perfect mix of comic book art, western-anime styling, and cel-shaded graphics. The unique style perfectly fits the vibrant colors of the game as you explore through the vast map, discovering secrets and helping to cure planet chunks of the rust-crystal infestation that has taken over and turned the native species into hostile monsters.

While it may take some getting used to, Haven's combat system is unique and exciting. A combination of turn-based and traditional live combat, you control both characters as they work together to defeat whatever enemies you come across in your journey. One thing to keep in mind is that this ain't Pokemon. Once you start a fight, you can't just run away. The game is far from challenging and is meant to be a relaxing experience; it even tells you this when you start a new game. But, if you really suck at RPG games, you can tweak some settings to make the fighting a lot easier. As long as you play through the story at a good pace and don't try to blitz your way to the end, you should find that you are always in a fair-matched fight.

Speaking of which, Haven's story is what makes it one of the best RPGs of 2020. Because at its core, once you look past all the fighting, exploration, and resource gathering, Haven truly is a game about love.

As you progress through the game, you'll need to level up your abilities. And to do that, you must explore the beautiful relationship between Kay and Yu.

Always heartwarming, sometimes rather suggestive, and sometimes rather raunchy. The game isn't afraid to talk about the growing romantic relationship between the two main characters, sometimes in ways that stray into NSFW levels of dialogue. While the game is brilliantly written in general, they did a great job at making the love between the two characters feel honest and beautiful, something not a lot of games pull off with this much success.

I've played the game on my Series X, One, and Switch and have enjoyed it each time. While it obviously runs better on the Series X due to the 4K ability graphics and higher framerate, the other versions are still really good. The Switch version does have a few drawbacks, the combat inputs will occasionally not register for some reason, and the movement controls feel a bit stiff, but it's still a great way to enjoy Haven when I'm not at home.

If you like exploration-RPG games with beautifully crafted stories, do yourself a favor and get Haven. You won't regret it.