Like a phenomenal and strange fish that has immediately risen to the floor, Dave the Diver is an surprising shock. Juggling two core techniques that work in tandem, it’s a sport that excels as each an exploration expertise and as a administration sim and does so in methods which can be intuitive and simple to select up. However, the actual triumph is a concentrate on novelty at each flip, with a close to-fixed provide of sudden twists, actions, and methods to interact with the sport, leading to a joyful and approachable journey that’s onerous to place down.
Dave is a scuba diver, summoned to an odd blue gap in the ocean stuffed with all method of marine life. He’s there to assist seize seafood for a neighborhood sushi restaurant and its eccentric however skilled chef, and he’s quickly drawn into the administration of the enterprise to an equal depth as his sea explorations. As these underwater investigations swim ever farther from the floor, new fantastical parts enter the equation, from sea individuals to prehistoric creatures, preserving gamers guessing on each the story and gameplay entrance.
The underwater dives are uncomplicated however attractive, leveraging a pixel-artwork aesthetic to current a substantial number of undersea life and a continuously shifting panorama of cliffs, chasms, and tunnels. With weapons, harpoons, nets, and extra, Dave should snag the tastiest morsels to deliver again to the restaurant whereas monitoring his air tank, avoiding hostile species, and gathering further provides. The easy aiming and capturing are pleasurable, and the gradual improve of apparatus gives a rewarding sense of development. But the seek for new sights and locales drives the enjoyable.
Back above water, Dave is wrangled into serving duties behind the sushi counter amid an offbeat solid of characters, a lot of whom drive house a theme that individuals are usually extra and higher than they seem at first look. Setting menu gadgets, hiring and coaching employees, and pouring drinks give solution to extra actions, like operating a farm and fish hatchery, competing in actuality meals competitions, and fleeing pirate boats to guard historical relics – most with an hooked up mini-sport or interactive part.
The continuous layering of those small however rewarding techniques transforms Dave the Diver into one thing distinctive. The flip backwards and forwards between diving motion and sushi restaurant administration is participating however would possibly change into rote have been it not for the fixed inflow of different new concepts to maintain issues recent. Taking wildlife photographs, halting invasive fish species, constructing new weapons, cataloging found creatures – all the pieces works collectively to push the journey ahead whereas remaining forgiving sufficient in complexity {that a} participant by no means feels overwhelmed.
Dave is an enthralling hero, affable and guileless however succesful, type, and keen to assist his mates. As the story grows extra outlandish, the bosses ever greater and extra unbelievable, and the story sillier, the grounded and likable lead stored me smiling. A few late-sport actions, together with some stealth and lightweight beam puzzles, don’t utterly hit the mark, however by that time, the funding is excessive, and it’s simple to push forward to the finish.
You would possibly query whether or not a sushi restaurant administration sim crossed with underwater diving is your cup of tea, however that will be lacking the level. Dave the Diver is a novel and memorable trip away from expectations, and it’s the actual fact that you simply don’t often play video games like this that makes it so satisfying.
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