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Can you introduce yourself? Can you tell us about you and your career?

Hi ! Pleased that the Haven team is back out spreading love ! I’m Ryan Highley, actor with a strong focus on voice performances, particularly in the gaming and entertainment worlds. I’ve been living in this line of work since 2018, after a long journey before actually going down this path. “Career” is a funny word, I’m not sure where this is leading but I was born into a family of amateur theatre, singing, and dance lovers, and I got involved in theatre myself from the age of six. But when it came to my studies, I kept things broad, at that point I wasn’t too sure of my career path. I chose what I felt was a neutral dscipline in sales, thinking I could market products in industries I was passionate about, like electric guitars or music XD. But sales didn’t suit me, and I found myself exploring various other fields. In 2018, I had a wake-up call and decided to drop everything to get into professional acting. I committed fully, turned my world around, and here we are today—the leap of faith paid off!

At the very beginning when you started working on Haven, what did you expect? Did you feel inspired by the original performances?

I only found out quite close to the recording date that the project I was working on was Haven. A sound studio now called Light Fader (Audio Workshop at the time) got in touch about the role. As soon as I knew, I dove into researching everything I could about it—I’m pretty passionate that way. Thanks to YouTube, playthroughs, teasers, and other content, I got a good sense of the world  and what would be expected of me. But no, I didn’t initially know it was about a romantic couple stranded on a distant planet after escaping a civilization. Learning that a core part of the characters’ experience was conveyed through intimacy really resonated with me, as I value that depth of vulnerability in my own life, not only in romantic relationships but in every interaction where people show their true selves.

For Haven, the original performances were genuinely inspiring—Janine Harouni’s interpretation of Yu and Chris Lew Kum Hoi’s take on Kay brought so much authenticity to the characters, it was both inspiring and a big challenge.

Would you say you can relate to that couple, or to your character?

Absolutely. There’s something very real and grounded about the couple’s relationship that I think many people, including myself, can relate to. The way Haven portrays intimate moments, conflicts, complaints, and healthy resolutions feels authentic, offering a balanced, healthy take on the ups and downs of couple life, which I really appreciate. Funnily enough, I actually relate a bit more to Kay’s personality in real life than to Yu’s, but there are pieces of Yu that felt like home too. There is something very balanced about the writing, the characters have such different backgrounds and still find common ground, there are several moments where they may hurt each others feelings, but resonable and mature problem solving brings them closer together. I’m glad it’s out there, somewhat giving us all a nice story to witness.

Your performance was matched with the previous recordings, did that change how you recorded in the studio?

Well, we are less and less asked to work in the same booth as our co-actors and more and more, we only get pre-recored lines. So, I do adjust to this, but it has become a broad requirement and skill. What was most unusual, is recording lines that were already set as a reference. This was a unique challenge, as there was such a strong commitment to preserving the original personality and essence of Yu—not only through the writing but also through Janine Harouni’s interpretation. It was essential that I stay true to her portrayal while bringing my own believable version. As always my shades of personality trickle through, but I believe I managed to keep the character’s intricacies and subtleties, but Janine brough a cheaky sharp tone I really liked.

Can you share a funny or memorable moment that happened during the recordings?

Wow, this does take me back a bit, there was definitely fun moments involved. The writing for these characters is genuinely funny, and the relationship between Yu and Kay naturally lends itself to playing around with certain scenes that capture those nice, everyday life moments. The recurring Appledew references, the little conflicts that turn into sweet resolutions, and the bad and good jokes all added to the joy of bringing this character to life. I think “Bloot” ended up being the main laughing factor both for myself and the studio as it came back constantly! It was an overall pleasure to work on, and those small, relatable moments made it memorable especially the cheeky ones.

Is there anything you want to share with us?

Working on this game felt incredibly real, and I truly admire the extra time and effort the developers invested into the Couple Update not knowing exactly where this journey would lead. It was a bold choice that allowed more people to connect deeply with the narration. I myself, am proud to have contributed in my own way. This is also the way Lexie Kendrick and I got to meet. We caught up for coffee a few months after recording, it was great to meet female Kay ! (haha). Since then I’ve been busy in many other games and projects, but I suppose my latest big news is a youtube series called CATS: The Conspurracy with Devora Wilde, it’s in an RPG show called Rôle’N Play, all fun and games.

I can’t wait to see what the Game Bakers will be “baking” for the future! Thank you and Happy Season of Pride !

Koyorin is the character designer who created our favorite couple for Haven. In 2022, when we decided to bring you the couples update, we reached out to them to create the new versions of Yu and Kay. They were happy to pick up their pencil again and create these new yet familiar designs of our lovebirds! We reached out to them again for this community week, to ask if their creative process was different when working off of existing characters.

What were the constraints when creating the characters?

Hmm, as I recall generally I was directed to retain the same general vibes for their hairstyles and facial features—largely for the purpose of animation/rigging, but I think we had to be wary not to make them look too much like completely different characters from their original counterparts. While I did iterate a few times on different takes, the versions that made it to final were the most balanced between the originals and something new.

In your last interview, you mentioned when working on characters, there are non negotiable elements to character’s designs when reworking them. What are the elements that were fixed and those you could change in creating the gender swap?

In this case, I was very excited to create new versions of Yu and Kay, so I was really keen to make them stand out haha. At certain stages there were requests to make them more 1:1 with their originals (whether it was the hairstyles or outfits), and although I did test them as requested, I also created new ones alongside them that were altered/adapted versions of their original outfits (which are the ones you see implemented in the game)—not because the originals did not fit them, but because I felt like it distinguished them a bit more and made the options feel more like actual options. I totally understand the direction to do a 1:1 and the desire to retain the original designs, but with the new hairstyles it felt like it also called for a new outfit to support the overall updated look—since Yu and Kay weren’t originally designed to have multiple choices in mind, it felt right to bring more variety through this side of things too! I just hope I wasn’t too pushy about it during the process haha, but I feel that it was the right decision in the end.

Only a little bit! But because they were done under the context of being implemented into the final game, it didn’t feel like fanart as much as it just felt like the next step of the process. It was the next step for Yu and Kay’s growth of their characters, and I was really happy to be a part of it!

If you’re not familiar with their work, Koyorin’s fanarts are legendary. FFXIV fanart, follow Koyorin! koyorin.com

Did you decide on the current design quickly? Or were there other designs that stayed in the run for a while? Are there any you still think about?

For outfits we settled quite quickly on the newly designed ones but it took a tiny bit of convincing haha; I wasn’t originally asked to make drastic alterations to their outfits but I presented them anyway because I felt rather strongly about it. Afterwards we settled on it relatively quickly. For the hairstyles and Yu’s face it was a different story since we had to bounce around a bit between some options. Looking back on the sketches, I think for Kay we ended up going for the right hairstyle—it has similar energy to Kay’s original look while bringing along a new feel (though we cut back the length of the sides to bring more similarity/technical reasons). For Yu, there was actually another hairstyle I felt a little more attached to, but I understand why it wasn’t picked. It was still quite similar to Yu’s original hair, though it was a little messier and spunkier and still had a ponytail; but it was missing the metal ring and I think that ended up being a dealbreaker for that option.

Are there elements in the gender swapped designs you wish were there originally?

I think overall I’m still happy with the four designs independently! While there are things that I would change if I were to design Yu and Kay from scratch today, I think the only alterations I would “carry over” from the swapped designs to the original designs are very small things, such as removing a metal piece here or there. The most noticeable 1:1 change I would probably carry to the original (which is a conscious decision I made when designing the swapped version) is probably just changing Kay’s left glove from a bandage wrap to a normal glove—not that I felt the bandage wrap was a bad look, but it was a really minor detail I sometimes forgot about until later haha.

Anything you’d like to tell us?

When I was asked about working on this particular update, I was super happy to hear about it—and I was even happier to see the amount of people it reached and connected with. In addition I’m also very happy and thankful that people are still finding joy in Haven today and that we’re able to share some of the behind the scenes with people! I don’t know how much I can talk about publicly but Haven’s creation was very expansive and very exciting—there’s a goldmine of things that the team and myself came up with that didn’t make the final game but still give me so much joy to look at. So I just want to say thank you to everyone who has played Haven, everyone it’s reached, and the community that is still excited about it to this day! I hope we can continue to share things about it in the future!

For this community week, we reached out to Koyorin for some news on their work and to ask for some character designer insight!

Koyorin is a freelance character designer and illustrator, and Haven’s incredible character artist.

Can you tell us about what you have worked on since Haven? How about any future projects?

Since Haven, I’ve been tackling some freelance projects here and there for various applications; mostly animation/video game character designs but sometimes just illustration work too! I work with a lot of indies and smaller developers, but occasionally contribute to some bigger properties when offered. In terms of future projects, I still have some ongoing projects with long-term clients, and I’m also working on a personal project that I hope to be able to share this year if I can fit in the time to work on it more!

You do a lot of fan arts, can you tell us more about what drives you to a specific character?

Haha well, first it’s usually the character’s design itself that draws me to a particular character. But also if they’re written in a compelling way/well characterized, and have a strong personality, then that’s even better.

Your work translates characters into your own style while keeping their recognizable design elements. What’s the process in doing so?

Hmm, I think the most important thing is figuring out a character’s defining elements, and then from there deciding how much I can adapt their designs to my style. Those defining elements then become non-negotiables and have to remain the same even in my style. For example, if there’s a specific way their facial features or hairstyle must appear, or if there’s clothing elements or props that I must make sure are visible in the illustration, etc. Then if those things are in place, then the rest is fair game pretty much!

Koyorin’s Malenia x CEL 240 fan art

What’s your favorite Haven illustration you’ve done?

It’s tough to pick! I think one of my favourites is the one with Yu and Kay sitting on a rocky outcrop laughing and smiling, and there’s a large sprawling environment behind them, with a huge cliff. I believe it was used for the “Sweet Little Things” update as well. I really like that one because I think at the time of development, I was getting the hang of painting backgrounds a bit more and that one captured a certain sense of atmosphere and scale; then combined with Yu and Kay in the foreground I think it made for a charming piece. Otherwise, I also really like the Yu and Kay character selection illustrations I did, as well as the promotional artwork for the couples update! I think they capture their personalities quite well, in my opinion.

What’s your all-time favorite illustration of yours?

I’m not sure I can really decide, haha. I’m really critical of my own work, so my personal work beyond 1-2 years ago looks worse and worse to me every passing year. But I think that’s okay, because it’s simply a part of growth and improvement, and I would be more worried if I never saw any of my work with a critical eye. With that being said, if I had to pick a recent illustration of mine it would have to be something more recent that has some of the recognizable elements of my work (ex. bright neon colours or heavy contrast), such as my pieces “glass”, “succubus // 4” or “showtime”. I think for those specifically, certain elements just came together well.

What are some things you’ve learned from character designs on your different projects?

I think some of the major takeaways from the projects I’ve been a part of, is how to interpret a character’s personality, and bring that into their design. Even though it sounds like a simple thing, whenever I’m tasked with designing a character I try to think of various parts of their lives and how they might react in situations presented to them outside of the context of their game/animation. Working from there, as I did with Haven’s cast, has typically given me a greater understanding of the character and how to represent that visually.

Is there anything else you’d like to tell us?

I had a great time working on Haven and I hope people are still enjoying it today! It was a hugely pivotal project for me in my life and career, and I’m super proud of what the Game Bakers and I accomplished together, so I hope people are still having fun with Yu and Kay today too!

More of Koyorin’s work on Twitter Instagram Artstation or their Patreon