Dave the Diver Review: Unlimited sushi? Hallyu-jah!
On Korea’s Jeju Island, it’s not uncommon to find restaurants boasting the freshest fish you’ll ever eat. Their claims are substantiated by the fact that the proprietors often catch the fish themselves in the morning and serve them up to hungry customers as soon as they find their way back to land. This culinary ritual is so deeply rooted in Korean culture that the typically female divers who practice it, called haenyeo, were “inscribed as a Unesco Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity“ back in 2016. It was one such restaurant that an unassuming video game director visited one day, where he was served not only deliciously fresh seafood, but inspiration for a brand new title.
Thus, Dave the Diver was born, a title made with a lot of love for Korean culture, video games, and honest-to-goodness fun. Developed and self-published by — you guessed it — Korean studio MINTROCKET (Nexon), Dave the Diver is described on its Steam page as “a casual, singleplayer adventure RPG featuring deep-sea exploration and fishing during the day and sushi restaurant management at night.” Exiting Early Access on June 28, 2023 with an overwhelmingly positive rating, Dave the Diver has already served up an insane amount of fun to 11,000+ players and counting.
Dave the Diver opens up on our titular character, Dave, enjoying a nap in the warm sun. His nap is suddenly interrupted when his long-time pal, Cobra, rings him up with a proposition. You see, a mysterious Blue Hole has appeared in the ocean, spawning fish from all over the globe in one conveniently localized area. Sensing a profit, Cobra called in Bancho, a legendary chef who plays by his own rules, and now Dave, the best diver this side of the Pacific, to open up a sushi shop right next to the Blue Hole. Never one to say no to sushi, Dave jumped at the chance to dive for the new business venture; little did he know how much he really signed up for!
I’ve previously stated that Dave the Diver is “two parts exploration, one part cooking“ and that’s… mostly still true. Dave’s days are broken up into three segments — morning, afternoon, and evening — where he’ll primarily spend his time diving for fish by daylight and serving them up by moonlight. As the game progresses, however, Dave finds himself perhaps biting off more than he knew he’d be chewing, as he ends up growing crops such as rice and vegetables, raising fish in a hatchery, and even taking on managerial tasks like hiring and training staff. And that’s just above water!
Under the sea, Dave the Diver lives up to his name by braving the briny blue each day to catch as much fish as he can carry. Some fish are easy enough to gather by the bushel, while others will require cunning to catch. Then there are those that would rather eat Dave than be eaten, which means Dave will have to fight for his right to continue living with quick-thinking and a gun he’s found (literally). Be careful down there, as things are wont to go wrong — oxygen may run out, ammo can become scarce, pressure can become too great, and Dave may soon find he’s over-encumbered with more fish than he can safely carry. There’s also the occasional boss battle to worry about too, naturally. As the saying goes, getting there is only half the journey — Dave needs to return to shore safe and sound for his dive to be considered successful!
As Dave progresses deeper and deeper into the Blue Hole, he comes across a startling discovery: an ancient civilization ruled by water-breathing seapeople. While this discovery might excite everyone else, Dave finds himself thoroughly exasperated as, like his fellow land-dwellers, the seapeople ask favor after favor of him. At least in their case, they have good reason to do so — something is threatening their very way of life, and if they don’t solve the mystery soon, there won’t be any seapeople left. No rest for the waterlogged, as they say, so down into the depths Dave dives to deliver them from destruction, then surfaces to sort out the problems of his fellow man.
Speaking of his fellow man, Dave the Diver is surrounded by a colorful cast of characters that lend their expertise to his endeavors. A weapons-loving weeb will create guns that can survive in the Blue Hole, while a farmer who waxes nostalgic over moray eel curry will assist Dave at the farm and hatchery. Each person who waltzes into Bancho (the restaurant, not the chef who runs it) will be so moved by the fare that they can’t help but offer their services, which translates directly to a new mechanic in one way or another. Farming, crafting, hatching, restaurant management, exploring, stealth missions, chase scenes, boss battles, card collecting, eco-points gaining, concert attending… you name it, it’s probably in Dave the Diver. Scope creep? Apparently not in the dev’s vocabulary!
It’s crazy to think that I haven’t even touched Dave the Diver’s aesthetics yet. Now, I’m a sucker for pixel art, and Dave the Diver is no exception. From its brilliantly colored fish darting in and out of view in the shallows to the ghostly, ethereal creatures found in the icy depths, Dave the Diver has painstakingly crafted each and every asset down to the very last pixel. And that music? Alluring where the sun shines, mysterious where it doesn’t, energizing when serving up sushi, and downright electrifying during boss battles. Make no mistake, Dave the Diver looks and sounds as good as the food it serves!
Dave the Diver truly is a wonderful game and has solidly established itself as one of my top 10 — maybe even top 5 — favorites released this year (insane when you factor in titles like Final Fantasy XVI and Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom). I am shocked that this game offers as much as it does — not because it’s not AAA, but because it’s just so jampacked with stuff to do. Additionally, I find it charming that the Korean influences are abundant, which tickled me and my (Korean) husband every time I called him over to check out something fun and familiar (the premise, the seapeople, and synchronized fanchants with glowsticks during a concert? Come onnnnnnnn that’s so KPop).
If I have one complaint, it’s in the QTEs, which happen during fish-catching scenes with big ‘uns like sharks. I get that it’s to inject a little excitement into what is supposedly a difficult fish to catch, but being unable to toggle those on/off basically means I can’t play without making a racket (plus they’re kind of jarring when they happen in an otherwise soothing game). If I’m being perfectly honest, had the dev team included a way to get rid of QTEs and adjust some other accessibility options, I could see Dave the Diver catching a perfect score; here’s to hoping the devs reel in some sorely needed settings soon.
Dave the Diver was crafted by video game visionaries with a pure love of fun. I have never seen a game jampack so much into one seemingly tiny title and somehow make it all work with the clarity of something smaller in scope. Dave the Diver doesn’t just deserve your attention, it demands it, and if you’ve been waiting for your sign to dive into this addicting game, I’m telling you now it’s time to take the plunge.
Final Verdict: 4.5/5
Available on: PC (Reviewed); Publisher: MINTROCKET; Developer: MINTROCKET; Players: 1; Released: June 28, 2023
Full disclosure: This review is based on a copy of Dave the Diver provided by the publisher.
