Dave The Diver: You Are What You Fish (And Serve)

By Mintrocket - https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/1868140/capsule_616x353.jpg?t=1688092032, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=74176167

For my first game of 2024, I chose to play Dave the Diver. I found it difficult to define what kind of game Dave the Diver is. I think Dave the Diver is mainly an adventure game with some RPG elements. You spend your day fishing at a place called the Blue Hole; catching fish for the nearby sushi restaurant and collecting resources for various upgrades. In the night, Dave the Diver turns into a business simulator where you must manage the sushi restaurant, with everything from setting the menu to serving customers on a nightly basis.

I have established the gameplay loop of Dave the Diver; use your diving gear to find fish/ingredients in the day, use the fish/ingredients for your nightly restaurant menu, sell to customers and make money, use that money to upgrade your gear, then go back in the water to find more fish, rinse, and repeat. While you are doing this, you are taking part in the main story of the game and completing the main story missions, as well as completing any side-missions that offer rewards of their own. I found the basic gameplay loop to be calming for me, especially in the early-to-mid game. I enjoyed exploring the depths of the Blue Hole and catching all the different kinds of fish.

As you progress through the main story, there are new gameplay elements and mechanics that complement your exploration of the depths, as well as help you with managing your restaurant and stocking your ingredients. I did find Dave the Diver to be a bit overwhelming with the quick introductions of some of the mechanics, but I was able to get the hang of them. What I feel to be less forgiving about this game is that I found certain mechanics about Dave the Diver that the game does not explain at all, such as auto-supplying ingredients for your menu items, and dispatching your workers to get certain ingredients. Also, for a game with a simple gameplay loop, there is a healthy-sized portion of minigames and side content to sink your teeth into, which I thought was impressive for a game that I initially thought would not have much to offer me.

The visuals and the audio of Dave the Diver were decent, but nothing outright outstanding. The pixelated style of the visual presentation was cool, and the soundtrack ranged from beachy hits on the surface to foreboding doomy numbers when exploring the deep sea. The characters had some personality of their own, and the witty and sometimes hilarious dialogue was nice to see as well. I got an overall light-hearted aesthetic from playing this game with minimal stress.

Overall, I liked playing Dave the Diver. I found exploring the depths and serving customers in the restaurant to be satisfying, and I enjoyed the variety of gameplay throughout my playthrough. However, when you perform this gameplay loop many times, the game starts to become stale. With all the different gameplay mechanics and side content, Dave the Diver starts to overstay its welcome by the end of the main story, and I was waiting to finish the story and stop playing this game. I still recommend playing Dave the Diver, but maybe pick this game up on a sale or something.