I first sat all the way down to play Dave the Diver anticipating just a few hours of informal fishing enjoyable. 30 hours of recreation time later, I’m realizing that Dave the Diver goes a lot deeper than you’d count on from a $20 title. Its writing is hilarious, its artwork is easy however beautiful, and its gameplay scratches my exploring/accumulating itch in a approach that’s supremely satisfying.

Dave the Diver was developed and revealed by Mintrocket, a brand-new subdivision of Nexon. Although Dave the Diver is the primary recreation from Mintrocket, Nexon has an extended historical past of principally free-to-play on-line video games like Maplestory and Blue Archive. Dave the Diver is neither free-to-play nor on-line although, and it affords an entire expertise for the worth of the field.

Dave the Diver (PC [Reviewed], Nintendo Swap)
Developer: Mintrocket
Writer: Mintrocket
Launched: June 28, 2023 (PC), October 26, 2023 (Swap)
MSRP: $19.99

Dave the Diver’s premise is easy. You’re Dave, knowledgeable SCUBA diver presently having fun with a tropical trip. Out of the blue, your greatest buddy Cobra calls, inviting you over for one of the best darn sushi of your life. Unable to withstand, you hurry over to search out that there is no such thing as a sushi…but. Cobra desires to open up a sushi restaurant, and he wants your assist to handle it and catch fish.

From there, the gameplay is an addicting loop of exploring the Blue Gap, a mysterious undersea area stuffed with fish from world wide. You’ll work with the sushi chef Bancho so as to add new fish to the menu, handle your restaurant to enhance its score, and even do some farming. Whereas all this is occurring, there may be an overarching story involving an enigmatic misplaced civilization of Sea Folks.

The story is foolish, but endearing. The sport as an entire doesn’t take itself too significantly, and it’s not afraid to use clichés or use over-the-top visible gags. It’s stuffed with references to web memes, anime tradition, and hilarious writing throughout. The cutscenes are true artistic endeavors and I refuse to skip a single one.

Every one of many NPCs is memorable. Bancho is technologically inept, however a grasp sushi chef. Duff, your weapons supplier, is a basement-dwelling anime lady superfan. Sato, who collects buying and selling playing cards based mostly on the fish you catch, is straight-up an grownup Ash Ketchum. I didn’t need to search for any of those characters’ names. I keep in mind all of them as a result of I really like all of them.

Diver by day, restaurateur by night time

You’re capable of do two to a few diving journeys every day: as soon as within the morning, afternoon, and night. These diving excursions are used to collect supplies, cooking components, and naturally, fish. Fishing is finished primarily with a harpoon that may be aimed within the 2D area round you. As you proceed enjoying, you unlock varied varieties of weaponry to dispatch bigger, extra aggressive creatures. There are additionally nets and traps, supplying you with some flexibility in what methodology you need to use to seize your quarry.

The Blue Gap is ever-changing although, with completely different landscapes each time you dive and random gadgets present in every chest. No two dives will go the identical approach. Dave the Diver isn’t a roguelite, but it surely may assist to go in with the identical “take what you get” mindset that roguelites encourage.

Your oxygen meter doubles as your well being bar, and taking injury drains your oxygen. Return to the floor earlier than you run out, or discover one of many many oxygen canisters scattered across the Blue Gap. For those who run out of oxygen underwater, Cobra will rescue you, however you’ll solely get to maintain one of many gadgets you acquired throughout your dive. It sucks to lose a bunch of fish, however I’ve by no means felt pressured to load a earlier save due to it.

Any fish you’re taking again to your restaurant might be served to clients within the type of sushi or different, fancier dishes. I loved designing my very own wacky menu based mostly on what components I’ve and my clients’ tastes. The restaurant opens each night to serve clients and earn cash. As you get busier, you’ll have the ability to rent staff that will help you with cooking, serving, and buying components.

The diving portion and restaurant administration portion of Dave the Diver work collectively to create a healthful, satisfying gameplay loop. You discover and fish in the course of the day and run your restaurant at night time, making extra money to purchase extra upgrades so you’ll be able to catch ever extra unique fish. I all the time grin after I see that I’ve overwhelmed my all-time gross sales file or caught my largest fish. However I do know that I could make extra cash and catch even greater fish. And so I hop again into the water regardless that I actually ought to cease enjoying and go to mattress.

That’s not all, although. There’s so, a lot extra to Dave the Diver than simply diving and working a restaurant. You may open a fish farm, a vegetable farm, and a seaweed farm. You may race seahorses, gamble, play rhythm video games, and even increase a Tamagotchi-like digital pet. Every of those occasions are launched step by step over the course of the story, stopping you from getting overwhelmed at the beginning.

Most significantly, you don’t have to partake in these actions. Certain, farming will allow you to get extra components for particular recipes, however you don’t recurrently have to sustain along with your farm with a view to progress the story. If the administration side turns into an excessive amount of, it’s completely high-quality to disregard these further mechanics till you really need them.

Deceptively easy, supremely satisfying

My one core criticism of Dave the Diver is that just a few of its gameplay components are poorly defined. There have been a small handful of moments throughout my playthrough the place I wasn’t positive methods to correctly pour a beer or why my seahorses have been seemingly disappearing. Nonetheless, these points have been rare and straightforward sufficient to beat. The boss fights and puzzles are usually pretty straightforward for these with online game expertise. Dying to a boss respawns you at the beginning of the combat, permitting you to attempt once more instantly. There are a few puzzles that don’t spoon-feed you the right reply, which I recognize.

In a world stuffed with worry and uncertainty, Dave the Diver is right here to supply a lighthearted story and fascinating gameplay. It doesn’t attempt to comply with developments or emulate huge AAA titles. It doesn’t have an in-game store to attempt to get you to spend extra money. It’s merely a foolish, enjoyable recreation a few diver named Dave, and I can’t put it down.

Additionally, you’ll be able to pet the infant whale. 9/10 would pet once more.

_{[This review is based on a retail copy of the game purchased by the reviewer.]}