Dave the Diver (2023) [PC] review

The sound of the ocean
Soothes my restless soul

-Bruddah IZ Kamakawiwo’ole

I have spent days, literal days, waffling on what type of review to do for Dave the Diver. Do I write a simple review and give just a little taste of what awaits players interested in exploring the briny seas, or do I be literal to the title and take a deep dive? I honestly struggled to decide because, for a game with a simple gameplay loop, there is just so much. So much. This game is filled with far more than fish. I waffled on how much would be required to reveal in a full critique versus how much would spoil the twists and turns the game takes you on. Ultimately, though, I’ve decided to keep it simple and let you find out all the deeper details on your own playthrough. After all, half the fun of diving is the discovery of the unknown.

I’ll just come out and say it: Dave the Diver is a masterpiece. Probably one of my top games of 2023. It spent the better part of a year in early access and it shines with the effort put in by both the dev team and the players who supported them before the full game released. For one thing, it’s got some of the most incredible pixel art I have ever seen, especially in the cutscenes. The variety alone is incredible. You’re not seeing the same animation over and over when you upgrade your sushi or learn a new recipe. They’ve made two to four cutscenes for every recurring event, and each one has the same amount of passion put into it. You can also skip them if you so choose, and you won’t hear me complain about skippable cutscenes.

You play as the titular Dave, an eager-to-please deep sea diver who has been summoned by his friend Cobra for a simple job. Cobra’s friend, eccentric sushi chef Bancho, is opening a restaurant, and he needs fish. Dave is the guy who’s going to supply them. Bancho’s sushi style isn’t limited to the traditional menu options of tuna and salmon. Any and every fish is free game, from the smallest clownfish to the meanest sharks, and every shrimp, eel, and seahorse in between. You dive into the ocean, appreciate their beauty and majesty, and then impale them on your spear for dinner.

At the most basic gameplay loop, you spend your day diving into the beautiful waters of the Deep Blue Hole, an ever-changing underwater paradise. You have two dives a day to bring back whatever you can for the dinner rush. Using a mix of a harpoon gun and regular guns, in a style reminiscent of the hunting in Oregon Trail, you bring back all the fish you can carry for Bancho to open that night. You will probably kill more than you can carry. You can overstuff your pockets a little, but eventually you’re struggling to move. Keep an eye on your air supply; that’s your health, and every aggressive barracuda will take a bite out of it regardless of how much you’re carrying. If you can’t outswim them, you’re going back empty-handed.

After you’ve spent the day hunting, it’s time to open for dinner. A sushi chef can’t be expected to work the floor himself. Instead, Bancho puts you in charge, delivering orders, filling drinks, cleaning plates, and keeping the wasabi container filled. After all, you can’t have sushi without that little spicy green dollop. Eventually you can hire other workers, but at the beginning, it’s just you and Bancho against the world. But what about our good buddy Cobra? Oh, he’s supervising. Checking the food quality. On break. Just sell the sushi, Dave.

As you progress through the game, the basic loop stays the same, but the world around it expands exponentially. Hire and train workers for the restaurant. Open a fish farm to breed eggs in and a regular farm to grow rice and veggies. Go on dangerous night dives. Special guests at the restaurant demand special meals. And then there’s the rumors of the lost fish people civilization lurking somewhere beneath the waves. By the end of the game, your cell phone is stuffed full of apps for improving your gear and restaurant, for playing games, for tracking fish you’ve found. Every day provides something new, special events to work towards, and different varieties of fish to catch. Even the restaurant’s resident cat, Momo, has some secrets to uncover. The story itself is filled with different mechanics and minigames to mix things up. You never know what you’ll be doing next.

If I had any complaints, because no game is perfect, I’d have to say that there are ideas that are briefly touched on that I’d like to see used more, especially with antagonizing forces. Early in, you encounter poachers harassing a pair of dolphins. You have a single encounter with pirates about midway through the game. A handful of boss fights are against another human. They set up a lot of potential for antagonist storylines to follow, but only one gets used across the story. The rest just kind of disappear. Perhaps a future DLC will explore more of these potential villains, perhaps not. I’d love to see more though. The Blue Hole feels rather empty of people during the day for such a bustling tourist destination.

My second, and bigger, complaint about Dave the Diver?

It will make you crave sushi.

Plan your dinners accordingly when you sit down for a few dives.

Special thanks to Mintrocket for serving us up a copy of Dave the Diver for this review!

PIXEL PERFECT