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Dave the Diver

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Dave the Diver
Developer(s)Mintrocket
Publisher(s)Mintrocket
EngineUnity[1]
Platform(s)
ReleasemacOS, Windows
June 28, 2023
Nintendo Switch
October 26, 2023
Genre(s)Adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

Dave the Diver is an adventure game by Mintrocket. Players control Dave, a hard-working diver, as he collects fish, solves quests, and manages a sushi restaurant. It has elements of management, action-adventure, and role-playing video games. It was released in June 2023 for macOS and Windows, with a Switch version released in October 2023.[2][3]

Gameplay

Later in the game, players can unlock the ability to dive at night.

Players primarily control Dave, a deep sea diver who is talked into managing a sushi restaurant and supplying it with the fish they need. He fishes at a spot called the Blue Hole whose geography and fauna change daily. Players can collect resources to upgrade or craft new items for Dave to use, such as diving gear and weapons to use in boss fights against giant underwater creatures.[4] Dave's air supply is decreased faster as he becomes overburdened, and he becomes more susceptible to predators, such as sharks. Being defeated in combat causes Dave to drop all his cargo except one item as he is rescued.[5]

Dave is asked by others to perform various favors, quests, for them involving exploration, research, or finding rare items. As players retrieve items lost at sea, they can use Dave's contacts in his cell phone to find buyers. Dave can go diving twice a day, once each during the morning and afternoon;[4] later in the game's progression the ability to dive at night is unlocked. In the evening, he manages the sushi restaurant. Players can unlock recipes to cook, attract influential customers, renovate the restaurant by adding decorations, hire employees, and more.[4] An in-game app called "Cooksta" keeps track of the restaurant's popularity and rating and can unlock further upgrades. In addition to the main gameplay modes, there are also a number of minigames unlocked through the course of the story, including a rhythm game and Tamagotchi style app. The graphical style uses pixel art.[6]

Development

Dave the Diver is the first game from Mintrocket, a subsidiary of Nexon. The initial concept came from a real-life pub on Jeju Island. The owner is a diver who fishes during the day and runs the pub during the night. The more fantastical elements were inspired by the manga Blue Hole. Mintrocket found it challenging to balance the game's various mechanics so no particular gameplay element becomes repetitive. They said they resolved this through trial and error during early access.[7] It entered early access in October 2022, and Mintrocket released it for macOS and Windows on June 28, 2023.[8] An update in August improved accessibility support, allowing people to bypass quick-time events, among other quality-of-life improvements.[9] An update in December will include content from Dredge.[10] Further content updates are planned.[11]

Reception

Dave the Diver received "universal acclaim" based on 44 critic reviews according to review aggregator Metacritic.[12]

Praising the game's complexity, yet calling it "utterly relaxing", PC Gamer's reviewer said it already made his shortlist for game of the year as of June 2023.[4] Destructoid called the gameplay "engaging", and said the story was "silly, yet endearing".[13] IGN labeled it as an editors' choice and said it is "wholesome, wonderfully complex, and delightfully hard to put down".[5] Eurogamer said it was "wholesome, harmonious, and completely unwilling to settle", calling it one of the most generous games in years.[14] Game Informer praised it for being able to handle being both an exploration experience and management sim and said it was a "unique and memorable vacation away from expectations".[15] Polygon said its myriad minigames comes together unexpectedly well, anchored by well-made cutscenes.[18] Cutscenes were further praised by players for its style and humour.[19] VideoGamer.com said "there's always something to do" without it ever seeming like busy work, which they called "refreshingly different" from the games as a service model.[20] GamesRadar+ called it "a smash-hit success story".[21] Several major publications included it on their 'best games of 2023' rundowns, including ReadWrite, Game Rant, The Guardian and The Verge.[22]

Indie label controversy

Several commentators/publications referred to the game as an indie game and the game was nominated by The Game Awards 2023[23] and Golden Joystick Awards 2023[24] in the "Indie" categories. This raised criticism about the game being labeled as "indie", including The Gamer arguing "Dave the Diver couldn't be less independent".[25][26] Geoff Keighley, organizer of The Game Awards, defending the nomination stating that "Independent can mean different things to different people and it's sort of a broad term, right?".[27] Mintrocket stated that it is not an indie studio[28] and Taehwan Kim, Vice President of Nexon's New Development Headquarters, which oversees the Mintrocket brand,[29] said to "indie feel"[clarification needed] that Dave the Diver, "may look like an indie, but it's not necessarily the case".[28]

Sales

Two days after its release, Dave the Diver was the fifth best-selling product on Steam, and within ten days, had sold over one million copies.[30]

Accolades

Awards and nominations
Year Ceremony Category Result Ref.
2023 Golden Joystick Awards Best Indie Game Nominated [24]
PC Game of the Year Nominated
Best Game Trailer (Accolades Trailer) Nominated
The Game Awards 2023 Best Independent Game Nominated [31]

References

  1. ^ Saver, Michael (December 27, 2022). "Made with Unity: 2022 in review". Unity Technologies. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
  2. ^ Peters, Jay (October 25, 2023). "Dave the Diver is one of the year's best games, and it's still great on Switch". The Verge. Retrieved October 29, 2023.
  3. ^ Faulkner, Jason (June 30, 2023). "Dave the Diver PS5, PS4, Switch, Xbox Release Date: Is It Coming to Consoles?". GameRevolution. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d Livingston, Christopher (June 29, 2023). "After only 3 hours this fishing and restaurant management RPG has rocketed to the top of my GOTY shortlist". PC Gamer. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
  5. ^ a b c Northrup, Travis (June 26, 2023). "Dave The Diver Review". IGN. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
  6. ^ Gerblick, Jordan (December 2, 2022). "Have you tried… building a sushi empire in pixel art heaven with Dave the Diver?". GamesRadar. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
  7. ^ "How Unity and Early Access helped make Dave the Diver one of 2023's biggest indie hits". GamesIndustry.biz. August 15, 2023. Retrieved August 18, 2023.
  8. ^ "Dave the Diver". Gematsu. November 8, 2022. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
  9. ^ Chalk, Andy (August 18, 2023). "Dave the Diver gets a major quality of life update and the players love it: 'Tears in my eyes,' one dedicated fan says". PC Gamer. Retrieved August 18, 2023.
  10. ^ Rebekah Valentine (December 7, 2023). "Dave the Diver Is Getting a Free Update Crossover with Dredge Game Awards 2023". IGN. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
  11. ^ Rachel Kaser (September 18, 2023). "Dave the Diver's director on the breakout indie hit of 2023". VentureBeat. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
  12. ^ a b "Dave the Diver". Metacritic. Archived from the original on September 29, 2023. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  13. ^ a b Christine, Choi (September 26, 2023). "Review: Dave the Diver". Destructoid. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  14. ^ a b Donlan, Christian (August 14, 2023). "Dave the Diver - a dizzying game of many parts, and a journey into deep wonder". Eurogamer. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
  15. ^ a b Miller, Matt (July 12, 2023). "Dave the Diver Review A Refreshing Departure". Game Informer. Archived from the original on September 30, 2023. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  16. ^ Christopher Livingston (July 12, 2023). "Dave the Diver Review". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on September 30, 2023. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  17. ^ Erskine, Donovan (July 14, 2023). "Dave the Diver review: Fishy business". Shacknews. Retrieved October 13, 2023.
  18. ^ Parkin, Jeffrey (June 29, 2023). "Management sim Dave the Diver shouldn't work as well as it does". Polygon. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
  19. ^ Ngan, Liv (July 4, 2023). "Dave the Diver players can't get over how extra its cutscenes are". GamesRadar+. Retrieved July 7, 2023.
  20. ^ Borthwick, Ben (July 5, 2023). "Dave the Diver is the most charming game of 2023, and a must play". VideoGamer.com. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  21. ^ Cryer, Hirun (June 30, 2023). "Dave the Diver, a chill RPG about fishing and sushi, is one of 2023's biggest Steam success stories". GamesRadar+. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  22. ^ https://www.theguardian.com/games/2023/dec/25/simon-parkin-five-best-games-of-2023
  23. ^ Fanelli, Jason (November 13, 2023). "The Game Awards 2023 Nominees Announced, See Them All Now". GameSpot. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
  24. ^ a b Loveridge, Sam (November 11, 2023). "Here are all the Golden Joystick Awards 2023 winners". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on November 13, 2023. Retrieved November 13, 2023.
  25. ^ Wilde, Tyler (November 17, 2023). "Should facts or vibes determine whether an 'indie game' is really indie?". PC Gamer. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  26. ^ Sledge, Ben (October 9, 2023). "Does It Matter If Dave The Diver Is An Indie Game Or Not?". TheGamer. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
  27. ^ Winslow, Levi (November 27, 2023). "TGA's Geoff Keighley Weighs In On Dave The Diver Nomination Controversy". Kotaku. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
  28. ^ a b "[인터뷰] 데이브 더 다이버에 담긴 '넥슨의 초심'". 게임톡 (in Korean). November 20, 2022. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  29. ^ "프라시아·데이브 지휘 '김대훤' 부사장, 넥슨 떠난다". 전자신문 (in Korean). November 6, 2022. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
  30. ^ Ngan, Liv (July 11, 2023). "Indie RPG and sushi restaurant sim Dave the Diver reaches 1m sales". Eurogamer. Retrieved July 11, 2023. Dave the Diver has been making waves since its full release on Steam last month, and the indie game has sold over 1m copies in its first 10 days.
  31. ^ Makuch, Eddie (December 7, 2023). "All The Game Awards 2023 Winners Revealed". GameSpot. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
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