Review: Sun Haven – A Star Within Its Field

For lovers of Stardew Valley, Rune Factory and Harvest Moon, Sun Haven is a game that’s waiting to be explored. I know what you’re thinking: another typical farming game comparison, Inanna? Really? Yes, and I’m sorry! But I’m not saying that they’re necessarily the same because of course they aren’t. Each game has something that makes it so wonderfully unique. Still, as someone who adores those types of games with all my heart, if you do too then you’ll just have to trust me on this.

Having released in Early Access back in June 2021, Sun Haven, developed and published by Pixel Sprout Studios, has received multiple large patch updates that all lead up to their recent full release. I’d first heard about Sun Haven through my best friend. She linked me to their Kickstarter, and I only had to take one glance at the page to know that I was sold. Once Early Access came out, I only played a few times, as I usually prefer to wait for a full release before playing any game. That being said, I went into Sun Haven’s full release mostly blind, and won’t be comparing it to its Early Access stages. While Sun Haven is advertised and designed to be a great multiplayer experience, I rode solo for this one.

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So many customization options

We start off with creating our character. There is an expansive number of customization options including seven races to choose from, each with its own perks and customizable features. You can be an angel, for example, and pick out your wings, or you can be an amari like me and choose cute ears and a tail. Along with that, there are ten starter professions to choose from that also come with extra items. If you want to be a farmer, you get four onion, potato, and tomato seeds. If you want to be a spell caster, you get some bonus spell damage and bonus mana. At the end of the day, whatever you choose doesn’t affect your gameplay aside from how you look and what you start with. My one issue with customization is the hairstyles. There are plenty to choose from, but most of them honestly look a little wonky. A lot of them don’t fit on your character’s head right at all, no matter what angle you’re seeing it from, and as silly as this may sound, the goofiness of the styles distracted me from the rest of my character. I went through and picked one that I thought looked cute, but because most of the hairstyles looked off, I did feel like my options were limited.

In Sun Haven, you start as a farmer who moves into a town called, you guessed it, Sun Haven. There, you take over an overgrown plot of land and are given a free starter home where you can farm, cook, craft, fish, raise animals, and so much more. As you’re starting and are getting to know the town and its people, you’re given small tasks at first. Harvest a lot of wheat, craft a couple of items for one person, or collect different items for another person. Soon enough, the town’s dragon, the Sun Dragon named Elios, calls you to him. He senses great potential in you, and he gives you his Blessing. As a dark shadow is cast over Sun Haven, threatening to destroy the forest and maybe even the town itself, it is up to you to put a stop to it.

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The Sun Dragon, Elios

Sun Haven’s main storyline has you traveling to two other areas, a village and a city, both with new characters to meet (and date!), new crops to plant, and new places to discover. There’s Nel’Vari, a forest village that’s home to elves and their dragon, Nivara. Then there’s Withergate, a city of full monster-folk, and home to their Moon Dragon, Dyrus, who was also the cause of the shadowy mess we’re dealing with. These new places each come with their own farmland to utilize and homes to stay in. What I’m most grateful for are the immediate transportation methods that are unlocked between Sun Haven and the other towns. I know that if I had to manually fight my way through the forests to get to Nel’Vari and Withergate every time, my gameplay experience would plummet.

Going back to customization, there are an amazing number of settings options for you to choose from, and there are a few favorites I need to bring up. First and foremost, day length. Yes, you can customize how long or short you want your game days to be. There’s an option for 40 minutes, 30 minutes, 20 minutes, and 15 minutes. So, while it isn’t completely up to you, having any option at all still feels freeing. The best part is that you can change this whenever you want. It’s the middle of the day and you decide you want to go to the mines, but time is passing too quickly? Change the length to 40 minutes. You’re doing mundane tasks and want to have a fulfilling day without it dragging on? Cool, pick 20 or 15. I don’t mean to fangirl over something that seems so simple but set time restraints can be both annoying and stressful, so it’s nice getting to pick.

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If you get bored, try filling the museum

Speaking of simple mechanics that make me ecstatic: there’s no stamina. You can hack away at trees or mine to your heart’s content without having to worry about passing out from hitting one stone too many. The lack of stamina in addition to being able to customize your day’s lengths is such a breath of fresh air from the usual constraints we have from these types of games. I know people often correlate these two mechanics with stressful gameplay, so I’m happy to say that’s something you won’t need to worry about in Sun Haven (though you do still pass out at 12 am, so still keep an eye on the clock!). There are a few other features that get annoying at times, like seasonal pests that will dirty your farm until you get rid of them, or seasonal effects that will destroy your crops, but thankfully you can turn those off in the menu.

If I have to commend Sun Haven on something, it has to be how gorgeous these towns are. With its beautiful pixelated art style, every inch of these towns is fun to explore, and they have so much to offer in terms of unique experiences. Not only does each town have its own crops, but they also have their own currency, shops, and special areas. There is so much to endlessly explore between the three towns, and this gives you a lot of expansion on gameplay. The different soundtracks each town has also adds to the experience. They all have music that differentiates each area from one another and makes them feel more alive. There’s also the skill tree to explore. There are over 200 unlockable skill perks from mining to farming to fishing and more. Some skills, I’d say, are for later on when you don’t need the more useful ones, and there are other skills that, after having a taste of them, I know I wouldn’t be able to live without. They make your farming and mining experiences so much easier, and I appreciate that a lot.

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A season pest, Weedil

The storyline itself was also really good. It was simple, yes, but that’s what made it so great. It worked perfectly for the world that we reside in, and it isn’t a solo quest, either. There are plenty of moments when the people of Sun Haven help to complete quests, and there are a few points throughout the story where you’re given an option. Your biggest choice is near the end—do you want to do this peacefully, or will you fight for Sun Haven with all you’ve got?

As much as I enjoyed my adventure, I can’t say that it was completely free of frustration. One of my biggest complaints would have to be the amount of fetch quests Sun Haven throws at you. I found myself sighing a lot when I would have to go to one person, then another, then back to the first person, then to the second person yet again, all to advance the storyline. There were times when it made some sense, but a lot of the time, the back and forth genuinely felt unnecessary. You also aren’t allowed to sleep until 6 pm, which is a shame. That’s not to say that there’s nothing to do to pass the time, because there’s always plenty to do. There are just points in Sun Haven where I wanted to simply advance to the next day, and the fact that the option was taken from me was disappointing.

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My farm in Nel’Vari

Time also doesn’t pause in instances where I really think it should. When you’re in a crafting menu, or the skills tree, or your inventory, time keeps going. I often forget it does this because that usually isn’t the case in other games. It makes me feel like I need to rush to get things done, and I can’t take a moment to sort my inventory or chests because then I’m just wasting time. Another big gripe I have is that when you kill an enemy and they fall, if their body hasn’t completely fallen through the ground and you walk over it, you still lose health points. There are so many instances where I’ve almost died because of walking into fallen enemies, and that was a frustrating experience.

I also want to briefly touch on the romance aspect as well. There are fifteen romanceable characters throughout the three towns, all with distinct personalities and visuals. It was exciting and fun getting to know everyone, and every other day there’d be dialogue options to get to know them better. The relationship building felt very progressive and was done in a way I haven’t experienced before. I always felt that I was a part of the conversation instead of it being one-sided. I was a tiny bit disappointed with the dates, though. I felt like it could have been more of a cutscene rather than just more dialogue for a short amount of time. Other than that, though, it felt like I was a part of the community.

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A date with Vaan

Sun Haven is a fantastical and mythical adventure full of amazing atmosphere, fun soundtracks to enjoy, and many areas to be explored. There’s no way I could touch on every fun little detail to be discovered, so I recommend that you discover them yourself. Adventure is out there, farmer, and it’s calling your name.

Inanna played Sun Haven on PC with her own copy.

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