4.5/5 ★ – DanteSnowcone's review of Dave the Diver.

Every time I thought I was nearing the end, Dave the Diver had something new and exciting to offer. On top of being a great sea exploration game and a fun restaurant manager, it’s incredibly charming, beautifully designed, and made to last. The gameplay is extensive, but never complex. There are a lot of things to do in a day, and they’re all rolled out steadily so that the player is comfortable with what they’ve learned before they have to try something new. And as far as I can tell, every system works well. From combat to crafting, fishing and farming, it’s easy to figure out and complete any task. The hardest part is remembering them all, and I do think that there are sometimes too many things to do in a single day. There doesn’t seem to be anything forcing you to complete everything at once, but there’s no incentive to rush through a day so it’s very easy to get sucked into doing a million little tasks. I did get a little burnt out playing this way, so I guess my advice would be to be comfortable just ending the day when you feel like it. Dave is definitely one of my favorite protagonists in recent gaming. He may be a pushover, but he’s a big softy, he loves to help and he looks for the best in just about everybody, even when almost none of them deserve his magnanimity. I had a great time leading Dave through treacherous waters, fighting monsters and gathering resources, all so he can serve sushi at his restaurant. He puts 110% into everything he does, and he deserves the world. Playing his story is a treat. The combination of visual design, lighting and music does so much to sell the beauties and horrors of the ocean. The mix of pixel art and 3D graphics in this game is very well done — it almost has an HD-2D feel to it at times. It’s cartoony, but it has bite. The Blue Hole isn’t quite as random as Cobra’s opening pitch had me believe, but it does feel alive, and each area is distinct in its atmosphere. It seems like there’s a significant postgame here. I finished the story in 28 in-game days, but they had only just begun to roll out some previously unseen mechanics like chicken farming and unique fish hunting. They also added a bunch of DLC but the only one I got to try before I finished was Balatro — and yes, now I’m obsessed with Balatro. But more on that another time. I would say that this game has universal appeal, and I could recommend it to just about any type of gamer and expect them to enjoy it. I think it could benefit from some sort of mechanic that keeps things moving a little quicker, such as a more meaningful time system or separate health and oxygen meters, but the player is still in full control and decides what to catch, what to serve, and who to help at all times. This is clearly a competent dev team, and I hope they have more to tell in Dave’s story in the future. Time Played: 30 hours Played on Steam Deck