Sun Haven is a fantasy farming sim developed by Pixel Sprout Studios. It is a multiplayer game that has dragons, magic, RPG elements, and many more. Filled with fantastical elements and beautiful visuals, Sun Haven proves to be a worthy addition to your gaming library.
In Sun Haven, you will take on the role of a young farmer. You will inherit a rundown farm from your grandfather in a fantasy world. It looks eerily familiar to Stardew Valley. However, it does enough to stand out and become a worthy competitor.
What is Sun Haven?
Sun Haven was first released as an early-access game back in 2021. As discussed earlier, Sun Haven is a fantasy farming sim. It even has a main questline with a final boss at the end of the story. It features a multiplayer option with up to 8 players being able to play together. Call out your friends and farm together in this wonderful fantasy world.
In terms of gameplay, Sun Haven offers a deep and engaging experience. It offers an experience that should keep lovers of both farming simulators and RPGs hooked for hours on end.
There are a variety of different activities to engage in. You can farm, fish, fight, mine, smith, cook, and craft in Sun Haven. The addition of magic and abilities makes it a fresh experience. Moreover, the game offers progression as players work to upgrade their weaponry and unlock new abilities to handle combat.
One of the standout features of Sun Haven is its crafting system. The game offers the ability to craft a wide variety of items. You can craft tools, weapons, furniture, and decorations for your farm. This adds an extra layer of depth to the game and encourages players to experiment with different crafting techniques.
To separate itself from the crowd, Sun Haven’s combat system is a perfect balance of good combat and cozy gameplay. There are multiple options you can choose for your play style in terms of combat. Your options range from swords, bows, and magic to accommodate all play styles you might have.
While using magic to fend off enemies is a great option, using magic is severely limited by your mana pool. Combat magic abilities cost a lot of mana, and the skill tree options to increase your mana are not enough. Be careful if you want to rely on magic for combat.
Sun Haven’s Character Customization
When creating a character, there are multiple customization options offered by the game. There are a total of seven races to choose from: Human, Elf, Demon, Angel, Amari, Elementals, and Naga. Each of these races offers unique perks and abilities.
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.
While these do not dictate the way you play the game, it is a great feature to have. Each race will have differing appearances that are fully customizable. For example, if you opt for the demon race, you can customize your wings, horns, and tail.
More Features
The first thing that I loved about this game is that there is no stamina bar. You can go hacking trees for hours and hours without having to worry about your stamina. However, you will be forced to rest before midnight if you don’t want to end up in the hospital.
Another customizable option is the day length. While it sounds simple and nothing important, the option to shorten or lengthen the day is important. You can customize how long the day will last from 15 minutes to 40 minutes. Additionally, you can adjust this option any time you want.
Sun Haven also has an extensive skill tree with a total of five categories. The categories are Exploration, Farming, Mining, Combat, and Fishing. There are so many skills available, and it is up to you what you want to get.
The game has a romance aspect as well. There are 15 romanceable characters throughout the three towns, all with distinct personalities and visuals. Moreover, after every other day, there’d be dialogue options to get to know them better.
The relationship building felt very progressive, and it is way easier than Stardew Valley. Instead of being restricted to two gifts a week, you can give a gift daily. Dialogue options are also available to make you feel included. I felt that I was a part of the conversation instead of it being one-sided.
Sun Haven – Honest Review
The game is a solid addition to the farming sim genre with fresh elements waiting for you to discover. The gameplay is fun, addictive, and cozy, and you will surely spend so many hours playing this game.
The art style is graphically beautiful with a soothing soundtrack to back it up. With its beautiful pixelated art style, every inch of these towns is fun to explore. Each of the three towns has distinct soundtracks to make you feel at home.
With solid gameplay, a combat system, and a beautiful art style, Sun Haven is a perfectly good game to play. Although, there is still room for improvement to make it go from good to great.
The PC version of Sun Haven does not offer full controller support. While you can play it on a PC with a controller, some controls are clunky and are not optimized properly. Until it is fixed, I recommend that you play the game with a mouse and keyboard.
There are so many characters in the game, but only 15 of them are romanceable characters. Moreover, the romance aspect of the game has dates after you unlock specific numbers of hearts. While the idea is good, the dates are severely disappointing.
The multiplayer experience is also buggy and clunky at the moment. It will be surely fixed in the future so it isn’t that big of a deal. If you want to play Sun Haven with your friends, expect that there will be bugs in your playthrough.
Overall, Sun Haven is a fun and addictive game that is a fresh take on the farming sim genre. With its beautiful graphics, engaging gameplay, and fun adventures, it is a perfect addition for farming lovers. I rate the game a solid 8 over 10. If the bugs and issues get fixed, it is surely a 9 out of 10 game.
