Free Couples Update adds same-sex partners to Haven
A love story for all.
A free Couples Update adds same-sex partners to Furi developer's RPG Haven.
The game's narrative focuses on the relationship between Yu and Kay as they explore a vibrant, alien world.
Now, with this update, players can choose to play as their preferred coupling: either a woman and a man, two women, or two men.
New designs for both characters have been implemented, although there are similarities no matter which gender is chosen.
As creative director Emeric Thoa explains in a PlayStation Blog: "Looking at the new Yu and Kay, you will notice that Kay and Yu look very similar across all playable versions. There are two reasons for that: first, they are the same characters in the story, they have the same personality, backstory, and life. And second, for technical reasons, we had to keep the same body size, hairstyle, and body shape."
The game now features new 3D renders of both characters and redrawn 2D assets, as well as new voices by Lexie Ann Kendrick and Ryan Highley.
"We've also made sure the written dialogue is right for each couple across the eight languages Haven is available in, and lines with explicit or implicit gender references have been modified to appropriately reflect your selected characters (if Yu says 'Mister' to Kay... that doesn't work with a woman anymore)," says Thoa.
Interestingly, the game was originally going to include eight couples to explore a diverse range of relationships. This was scaled back for the original release, but this Couples Update has allowed the team to touch on some of those ideas.
"The story of Yu and Kay is that of two personalities, two lives tangled with each other, that players would come to know and fall in love with during the game, and we've been asked many times 'Will I be able to choose the gender of my characters in Haven?'. We're very proud to be able to provide the lovers' story in two new ways that more players can identify with," says Thoa.
Haven is available now on PlayStation and Xbox consoles, Nintendo Switch and PC.