Welcome to EXPlay, (Explain & Play) the review series where we care not for scores but tell it how it is when it comes to every game we get our hands on, whilst also taking the time to include some lengthy gameplay, to give you the reader, the chance to shape your own impressions and views whilst watching and reading.
In this explanatory review, we’re covering Dave The Diver by developer MINTROCKET:
Dave The Diver (The Explanation)
Dave the Diver by MINTROCKET is available to play on the Nintendo Switch. After putting in a good amount of time into the game, I am ready to tell you my thoughts and encourage you to purchase the game. Although I could just simply tell you to stop reading, and go and purchase the game. Still here? Are you waiting to read my thoughts and find out if Dave the Diver is a game you may be interested in? Then read on.
Dave the Diver has three different gameplay loops in one game. Each varied area of Dave the Diver is unique and comes together in this pixel art-styled game. Each character, UI element, and location in the game is fully realized in creative art with a striking, unique style.
As I mentioned earlier there are roughly three sections to Dave the Diver. The first section is the diving area where you will be able to complete two free dives each day. There is a morning and afternoon dive which allows you to collect fish and materials that help with the bar and upgrade system respectfully. More on this section a bit later.
Secondly, there is the nighttime bar section of the game. This area benefits from Dave’s assistance at the island restaurant. He takes the day’s surplus of fish and converts them into meals. This generates revenue, enabling Dave to upgrade his equipment.
Lastly, Dave the Diver pulls these two systems together of diving and running a bar. He creates a hub area on his phone where various apps will help keep you spending money to upgrade equipment, read reviews on the bar, and more.
Dave begins his journey after contact with a friend, Cobra, who encourages him to use his expertise in diving to search the waters around the island. In the initial stages, Cobra will teach Dave how to dive and maneuver in the water, as well as how to fish using a harpoon. The controls in Dave the Diver aren’t complicated but you may yourself overwhelmed with all the options of using a knife, harpoon, and later guns and other weapons.
The diving areas in Dave the Diver are procedurally generated and change with each dive. As the game progresses and you gain new abilities your dives can become longer and the types of fish you encounter will change. With each day you will notice various underwater inhabitants with a mysterious story introduced. There was a researcher I encountered as well who wanted me to discover more information about this civilization and turn the area around the island into a tourist trap. There were other people I encountered as well who either were ready to sell upgraded weapons and ammo or help to grow the booming sushi restaurant.
Shortly after the initial tutorial stage of diving, I was brought to the sushi bar. A violent eruption happened and I was standing alongside, Bancho the sushi chef, and Cobra my partner in a now dilapidated restaurant. Obviously, in gameplay terms, the next step was to rebuild the sushi bar by diving for materials and fish to cook up each night and make money for repairs. This is the unique cycle of gameplay that Dave the Diver puts you in. You need to make money so you need to catch fish each day. With each fish or material you find in the depths, Dave’s overall weight allowances offer a small amount of space. Each dive also uses oxygen which you can find reserves underwater to increase your breathing abilities and other upgrades to extend your dives.
This cycle of hunting and gathering each day, and then cooking meals and serving them to guests each night is the main draw in Dave the Diver. At night when guests come to the restaurant they may make requests for various types of meals. Finding the ingredients and providing the right food will boost the restaurant’s overall appeal and draw more crowds to the bar.
As guests arrive at the bar you may need to serve them a drink. Dave moves around the bar in 2D left and right motions serving guests drinks or picking up dishes Bancho has made that guests ask for. Each day, after your dives, you need to create the bar’s menu. The restaurant’s menu comprises the types of fish you have discovered and meal combinations based on the items you found and the types of fish you caught. As you make progress in Dave the Diver, you unlock more and more types of dishes, as well as, ones that bring in more revenue.
With each day the money you make can be poured back into upgrades. You can choose to upgrade the bar to make it unique to you. You can also upgrade Dave’s equipment, weapons, and other categories as well. Your phone soon becomes filled with various apps that keep you in touch with NPCs that give quests. These quests could range from finding certain items in the depths, catching a type of sea creature, or finding clues about the mysterious inhabitants of the lost city under the water.
If you are looking for a unique blend of RPG mechanics, with a “Cooking Mama” simulator, and restaurant management sim, this game is going to fill that void for you. I honestly don’t know if I have ever played a game so unique as Dave the Diver. There is more here to discover than I could possibly ever cover in a single EXPlay and I can assure you that you won’t be upset by the gameplay that can be found in the depths or in the bar of Dave the Diver.
Dave The Diver (The Gameplay)
Game Specifications:
Developer: MINTROCKET
Publisher: Nexon
Platform: Nintendo Switch (eShop)
Category: Adventure, Role-Playing, Simulation, Action
No. of Players: 1 (Single System)
Release Date: NA| EU: October 26, 2023
Price: $19.99
File Size: 2 GB
Nintendo.com Listing
