Overview: Haven is another fantasy roleplaying game very much in the vein of Castle Age. While it has no tutorial or “new player experience” at all, if you’ve played any of this type of game, you’ll find it simple to drop right in. This is either a good or a bad thing, depending on how badly you were hoping for something fresh and new.

To its credit, Haven is a reasonably well-executed game. The interface is simple to understand, and the “next action” hints are sufficient to take the place of a tutorial for the experienced player. The character and monster art is lovely, although the equipment icons lack charm. The basic “do quest, fill progress bar” mechanic is neither new nor particularly interesting, but the flavor text is pleasantly well-written and the addition of a Reputation system and a more robust stat and equipment system for Generals does add complexity.

The Boss fight mechanic is also not particularly new but it’s a fun system nonetheless, if spammy. The first boss at least can be completed solo, though, which should give you enough of a taste to let you decide if it’s worth roping all your friends in.

The player-vs-player system is also fairly simple and time-tested – a Duel option to compare your best General and Gear, and an Invade option to bring the weight of your social network to bear. There’s a ranking system attached that unlocks gear, giving you a reason to fight beyone sheer bloody-mindedness, but other than that, it doesn’t appear to be all that deeply enmeshed in the overall game.

Haven looks nice, plays smoothly, and, if you were looking for an RPG exactly like Castle Age, would suit you perfectly well. With all of the repetitiveness in other types of games, it shouldn’t be a terrible surprise when it crops up in RPGs too – not a genre noted for its originality anyway. If you like this sort of thing, you’ll like Haven – give it a shot!