I ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ love this game.
This game is so hard to explain to people because how do you explain that the game is everything–and I mean EVERYTHING.
The basic concept is fun; a guy catching fish for, and managing, a sushi restaurant. But the game develops into so much more and dives into (haha) so many different genres in a non-gimmicky way.
I cannot get enough of the pixel art graphics. The game sprites and environments look AMAZING–I am actually in love with the artstyle. The animations are so good 😭 and have more personality than you could ever imagine.
The game's main story is great; the music is incredible; the game’s humour is top-notch (weaves in modern internet humour without the cringe); and all the characters are so unique, lovable, and fleshed-out (INCLUDING THE SIDE NPCS).
The rogue-like gameplay of the diving sections is SO ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ FUN like it is genuinely addicting. The alternating maps was a good design decision as it helps the game not become too repetitive/boring. Discovering the different fish species and bosses was the biggest fun factor for me. Fighting the bosses and hostile species was very very fun and the perfect amount of intense. The punishment for running out of oxygen is to lose all of your items except one, which is super harsh, but very appreciated, as it makes each successful dive feel more rewarding.
The restaurant management gameplay was way more fun than I had anticipated. It is really satisfying to see your restaurant's income continually grow the more you progress through the game. The fast-paced nature of the restaurant sections allow you to never get bored of it. Continuously unlocking more and more new dishes, and using the fish that YOU CAUGHT was such a different kind of satisfaction that I loved. The seasonal events were a super fun feature to spice up the game. The VIP missions were also very enjoyable, especially because they always had an interesting backstory attached. My only critique with the VIP missions is the lack of punishment when you don’t meet the mission deadlines (the deadline just gets reset/pushed back) as it makes the deadlines feature feel redundant.
Now, my favourite thing about Dave The Diver: the ♥♥♥♥ ton of random ass “mini games” that you get thrown into throughout the game. I absolutely LOVED this. The fact that the devs coded so many different genres of gameplay that would only be played for a few minutes by the players is actually mind-boggling.
EVEN BETTER are the several collabs this game has with other games and PEOPLE??? I cannot describe in words the flabber I ghasted when I experienced the [spoiler]Balatro collab for the first time. Balatro being my last hyperfixation and then it LITERALLY SHOWS UP IN MY DAVE THE DIVER GAME was genuinely insane and brought me so much joy.[/spoiler]
100%ing the game was lowkey gruelling [spoiler](♥♥♥♥ you Mjolnir)[/spoiler] but that's just how it be. My only cons with the game is the imo slightly anti-climatic ending/boss, that seahorse glitch, and how the game gets slightly grindy at times.
But those cons are NOTHING in comparison to how much I adore this game. This game is a masterpiece and I will never shut the ♥♥♥♥ up about it.
