Racial Features??? (Contains Spoilers)

[Squidnaut]

I'm nearly done with all of the content present in the game so far, and one of the things I've noticed is the complete lack of immersion the game offers when it comes to character race. Dont get me wrong, the ability to play as a snake woman in a farming sim is absolutely fantastic; (and believe me, was the selling point that hooked me,) but unfortunately there are some qualities about the game that break the immersion for me in that aspect. While I am aware that the game is incomplete, I really hope that the devs will add something for us monster lovers.

Here I'm going to break down some of my gripes about this, but take it with a grain of salt because I do adore this game.

Racial Abilities?

Part of the draws of Sun Haven is that its a fantasy RPG farming sim, but as things stand now, some of the fantasy elements it boasts tend to fall short. In most RPG games that offer different playable races, these races come with their own benefits and drawbacks, or even some race-exclusive abilities. Unfortunately, this is not something that is present in Sun haven yet. Whether or not this is by design, or simply has not been implemented is unclear, but I hope for the latter; and considering we do only have three combat spells in the game at the moment, I believe this to most likely be the case.

Customization

As things stand now, the only real reason anyone would have to pick any of the races is purely an aesthetic choice. That being said, there are less and less options for customization when it comes to the races beyond the Human, Elf, Demon, Angel races. For those of us who favor the Naga, Amari, and Elemental races, customization for these characters are severely limited, with some of the models being downright hideous. Looking at you, reptilian Amari.
That being said, this could also be chalked up to the order in which they were added to the game/ have been worked on thus far.
Personally I think that Sun Haven could also greatly benefit from a color sliding option when it comes to a characters features, much like Terraria, for example. If you aren't convinced, go ahead and make a Naga character and select yellow for their racial features. Get back to me once you've burned your retinas. :)

Interactions with NPCS

One of the most immersion-breaking issues present in the game for me is that all Monster/Elf characters treat you as if you are human. Say you're playing as an Amari/Demon/Naga, etc, and you stumble into Withergate. Many of the characters will call you human. While I think its fine for the character to be treated as an outsider to town, I do wish there were some way your racial choice impacted dialogue with certain characters. Perhaps, characters of the same race could comment something about your homeland, etc.

Plot inconsistencies

PLEASE BE ADVISED BEFORE READING, as this section is going to have a lot of spoilers about the story, so please don't read this if you just started and you don't want to know what happens yet.

Part of the plot of Sun Haven, we'll call it the Withergate Arc, does a really great job of establishing the relationships between humans and monsters. As we know, they don't usually get along, especially because most races other than human and elf have been completely subjugated by humans, and overall treated with racism and hostility wherever they go. Several characters such as Xyla and Donovan even make remarks about how unsafe their lives were before Withergate was founded. The monsterfolk went so far as to accept help from Dynus, who then covers their city in endless night to protect them.

Personally, I play a Naga character, and I see no reason as to why she wouldn't just align herself with Dynus rather than Elios, as the story offers no real reason why the character would be loyal to Elios, asides from getting a free farm to grow stuff and make money. I've seen a few people griping about the difficulty of completing Dynus's altars, but personally I disagree. I do not believe that the altars are any more difficult than say, Stardew Valley's bundle system; and I fully support the grind. That being said, I would love it if after completing them, you were given a chance to ally with Dynus. This might be a crazy idea, but I believe that its perfectly reasonable for a person to look at all the information on the world's politics, and other races interactions with eachother, and say "Y'know what?" **** them humans."


TL;DR.

I think the game could benefit from:

• Adding racial features/abilities
  
• Allowing the character's species to be something of note in dialogue
  
• Making some of the design elements of certain races more aesthetically pleasing
  
• Giving the character a reason to care about the human town. asides from that one cute doctor.
  
  What do you guys think about this? I'd love to see some opinions from other players who love the game <3

[palto_cosis]

I have the same feelings

[Ginjii Raishin]

Just popping over here from the Discord. They have no plans for any racial abilities or passives to avoid "meta" or people feeling like they're missing out because of being one race or the other.

As for aesthetics, they've adjusted a few since EA launch and added a bunch. I did copy your post to the suggestions channel though.

Just thought I'd pass along the thoughts they've expressed over the months several times to avoid disappointment if they don't change some stuff.

Hope you're having a great day 🤙

[Squidnaut]

Originally posted by Ginjii Raishin:

Just popping over here from the Discord. They have no plans for any racial abilities or passives to avoid "meta" or people feeling like they're missing out because of being one race or the other.

As for aesthetics, they've adjusted a few since EA launch and added a bunch. I did copy your post to the suggestions channel though.

Just thought I'd pass along the thoughts they've expressed over the months several times to avoid disappointment if they don't change some stuff.

Hope you're having a great day 🤙

Hey! Yeah I actually got on their discord after making this post and was able to ask these questions as well. I understand their reasoning, but I do disagree with the decision to not implement racial abilities. I believe that there are ways to make these features balanced, and I hope that they may reconsider this eventually. Even so, I still love the game and I do respect all of the hard work and effort the devs have put into it. ^^



I wish I would have remembered discord exists before making this post, but I do stand by my statements, asides from the character customization gripes.

I hope you're having a great day too, friend

[Squidnaut]

Originally posted by palto_cosis:

I have the same feelings

Its good to know I'm not alone in this way of thinking!

[King]

sounds good to me

[Aquatia]

I agree with this as well. I made myself an Amari feline and that was only because there was little if no customization for the Amari doggo. I was still dissatisfied with the Amari feline as well because you can only color the tail and not the ears to match. Really it made no sense to me to offer that.

As for the aligning with Dynus, I agree with that too. I mean you are already able to be rude and such to the other npcs so why not give an option to switch sides.

[Squidnaut]

Originally posted by Yukia Bizarre:

I agree with this as well. I made myself an Amari feline and that was only because there was little if no customization for the Amari doggo. I was still dissatisfied with the Amari feline as well because you can only color the tail and not the ears to match. Really it made no sense to me to offer that.

As for the aligning with Dynus, I agree with that too. I mean you are already able to be rude and such to the other npcs so why not give an option to switch sides.

I agree. I feel like being rude to certain NPCS should have an impact. I was mean to Lynn on the train and then we got to town and she still was so nice to me.

[LadyAhiru]

Is my game just bugged or are the racial benefits gone and now every race has the same!?

[Atlessa]

Originally posted by LadyAhiru:

Is my game just bugged or are the racial benefits gone and now every race has the same!?

... did you really have to raise this OVER TWO YEAR old thread from the dead to ask that question?

[Ippii]

i agree, the only reaction to playing a demon i had so far was the opening comment on the train by lynn and the dragon.

i do like the look though, this game seems to leave a lot of the roleplaying to you own headcannon for your character. which is sad because it seems adding it wouldnt be major.

[brionl]

If you're playing as a Demon, there are a couple of different dialogues when you get to Withergate. But yeah, it mostly doesn't make a difference.