Romantic co-op adventure Haven will launch on December 3rd

Opting for something quite different from their boss-battler Furi, The Gamer Bakers are just about ready to take Haven out of the oven. The romantic adventure about a couple who've escaped to an unfamiliar planet isn't without combat though. You can catch a bit of that, and some more hints about the story, in a new trailer that announced its December 3rd release date.

In the new story trailer, lovers Yu and Kay reminisce on how their narrow escape from a place called The Apriary could have easily gone awry. They've landed on some other planet and are now contending with their survival while battling against the robotic-looking enemies that they suspect The Council sent to bring them back. You can play alone or with a partner through local co-op or Steam's Remote Play Together feature.

Also in the story trailer are some pretty good shots of combat, which The Game Bakers have explained a bit in a previous post. "Combat happens in real-time, but you charge orders by holding buttons," they say. "Sometimes you have to react quickly to shield yourself, sometimes you have to time an attack performed by both characters, and sometimes it’s better to chain attacks, one weakening the creature and the other dealing the heavy damage. That combat system is thought to make you want to optimize your chain of actions so that everything flows, a bit like in a rhythm game."

Aside from combat, you'll spend time exploring the planet by gliding through its colorful environments side-by-side in a style that reminds me a bit of Thatgamecompany's Journey. Back at Yu and Kay's base, called the Nest, you'll cook food and other items to make them more efficient in combat. It's also where The Game Bakers say the couple's ability to level up comes from, rather than combat. "Cooking, sharing a good meal and taking a little break is when they grow, as characters and as a couple. It develops their relationship, and leads to levelling up."

Although it was a quite different style game, Adam Smith's (RPS in pieces) Furi review succinctly begins with "I love it". He later writes that "it’s a brilliant game that got lost in the shuffle somewhat, and if you like the idea of stylish bossfights with a whole lot of variety and some absolutely stunning visual design, you should check it out." He also specifically praises the soundtrack, which included electro artist Danger who has returned for Haven.

You can find Haven on Steam and GOG where it will be available on December 3rd.