Haven, a Game of Romance and Adventure - Q&A with Emeric Thoa

Haven is a game that stood out at the various trade shows we’ve seen it at. While a stylish RPG is always a welcome addition to our gaming library, the fact the game focused on the bonds of the two characters as a romantic couple gave it more weight. The fantasy of being in space, fighting monsters, and researching strange new planets really seems quite secondary to the very human connection. Haven is the type of game that could bring people together, especially couples who enjoy co-operative games.

While the game has been out on Steam, PS5, and Xbox for a while now, Haven is now launching on PS4 and Nintendo Switch, arguably stronger platforms for an RPG like this. As usual with games we have an interest in, we reached out to the team at The Game Bakers for additional insight into development. We were graciously given the time of Emeric Thoa, Creative Director of Haven who answered these via email. Only light editing and formatting has been done on our part.

1). What were the overall goals of Haven?

E.T. - You mean for us as a project? Our goal was to make a unique game about love, about love as a lasting relationship. Our intention was to create a game experience that made you fall in love with the characters, that made you love them as if you knew them.

2). How has the global pandemic affected the development of Haven?

E.T. - It affected the voice recording a lot, we had difficulties in getting the actors together and to record in the studio when all countries were locked down. It also affected QA as the external teams were working remotely and didn’t have devkits at home (especially for next-gen). And it also affected us, as working from home with kids (for some us) is never an easy task.

3). Has working on Haven had any particular or notable impact on any of the dev team?

E.T. - It was a difficult project to design. Sometimes, trying to make something simple and subtle is much harder than making something complex and deep. It was a struggle for a couple of years and the team will remember that for sure. But once it found its shape, it became much easier and positive. Working on “love” with a happy couple as main characters can be very joyful. The dialogs are funny and Yu and Kay are very relatable, so once we had that, the team became very “nice”, like, everybody is nice and kind in the team. It’s a delight to work with them all.

4). What was the driving force or inspiration to your artistic choices? The intro cinematic in particular is absolutely stunning, what was the process like making that?

E.T. - The opening is the direct continuation of the game art direction. It’s dynamic, it’s vivid, full of life and energy, yet it’s clean and light and sensual. The game art, the game design, the music brief and the opening art share all the same brief. After that, it’s Takatsu-san’s magic (Yukio Takatsu is the opening’s director).

5). There aren’t many cooperative RPGs out there. What things did you take away from and what things did you want to change about how cooperative RPGs were played?

E.T. - I wouldn’t say that Haven does anything for co-op RPGs as a genre. All the decisions are made uniquely for this particular game where you play a couple in love. It’s made to care about that couple and to make the couple of players interact with each other. The dialog system for instance, which forces the two players to agree on a dialog choice, triggers discussions on the couch.

6). It seems that the global pandemic has put a huge strain on many relationships. How did the modern reality of being in a relationship play into the overall design of Haven?

E.T. - To be honest, we were already finishing the game when the pandemic struck, so I can’t say it’s a game “influenced” by that. But it ended up being a game that can be tied to current events. But I want to see that from a positive point of view and say that, even locked down on a distant planet, you can have fun and be in love.

7). Are you hoping that couples play Haven? What sort of things do you hope those players take away from this experience?

E.T. - Lots of couples have already played Haven and I hope many more will. They find Yu and Kay extremely relatable and end up loving them. And most of all, they have fun as a couple. My biggest satisfaction comes from couples who usually never play together but on this occasion get an opportunity to play something “about them”.

8). Why was Haven developed as a narrative RPG and not another genre? How do genre conventions play into the goals of Haven?

E.T. - It actually started as an action game, then became a point and click, then evolved into a JRPG. But it was always meant to be a JRPG. This was to me the genre that fit best the intention to talk about intimacy and feelings. We need well-written dialogue, good actors, and good facial expressions.

9). Haven has gotten a lot of praise at conventions and shows. How did that feedback shape the game’s development?

E.T. - Positive feedback is always helpful, it gives us motivation. And feedback from demos helped, but most of the feedback we gathered from playtests (observing players play complete sessions of the game in front of us). This is critical to polish the game, make it understandable and less frustrating. We did over 200 hours of playtests, watching people play alone or in co-op.

10). What games are you playing? If you have time for them of course.

E.T. - Recently, I’ve played The Pathless from Giant Squid, which is very chill and similar to Haven on many intentions. I’m currently playing Yakuza: Like a Dragon. It’s my first time playing a Yakuza game and I’m discovering it’s basically a realistic Persona game (which is great). And finally, I’m in love with Luigi’s Mansion 3 which I co-op play with my five-year-old daughter.

Haven is available now on Xbox, Steam, PS4, PS5, and Nintendo Switch. More information can be found on the official website. Screenshots and trailers are official materials courtesy of The Game Bakers. A digital Switch copy was given to us for a future review.

Still curious about what goes into game development? We have more interview content both on our website and on The Forever Classic Podcast with more to come. To learn about Shantae as a character, read the thoughts of creator Matt Bozon. We also had the entire dev team of Skellboy on the podcast and on a later episode, we had Brandon Braun on to talk about the wholesome Frogsong.

Alex McCumbersFebruary 3, 2021