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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
PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5
April 16, 2024
Genre(s)Adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

Dave the Diver is a 2023 video game developed and published by Mintrocket. The game combines both action-adventure and management gameplay styles as players explore deep sea environments to gather ingredients for a sushi restaurant. It was released for macOS and Windows in June 2023 following an early access release in October 2022.[2] A Nintendo Switch version was released in October 2023.[3][4] A version for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 was released in April 2024.[5]

Dave the Diver was acclaimed by critics for its gameplay loop.

Gameplay

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

Dave the Diver, in which players control the eponymous Dave, is a game with a pixel art aesthetic[6] that is divided into two main gameplay styles; diving into the sea during the day and running a sushi restaurant in the evening. Twice per in-game day, with the option to dive again during the evening unlocked later on in the game,[7] players dive into the Blue Hole in search of fish, sealife and various other materials.[6]

Dave is equipped with a harpoon gun for attacking and reeling in fish, and can use various guns, melee weapons, harpoon attachments and items that can be found during each diving session.[8] Dave has a limited supply of oxygen which further decreases if he is attacked by aggressive sealife and other obstacles.[9] If he runs out of oxygen before he can return to the surface, the diving session will end prematurely and only one resource that was found can be taken back.[8] Players can use gold earned throughout the game to improve Dave's equipment in various ways, such as increasing his weight and oxygen capacity or allowing him to dive deeper.[9] Players can also unlock additional means for catching sealife as the game progresses, such as fishing nets and drones.[7][8]

At the end of each in-game day, Dave helps sushi chef Bancho run the restaurant, using fish gathered from diving sessions to craft sushi and other menu items. Players must then serve these dishes to customers while serving drinks, cleaning tables and topping up wasabi.[10][11] Performing well will earn players gold and increase the restaurant's representation, unlocking new recipes, upgrades and cosmetics.[8] Occasionally, special customers and VIP guests will appear, requiring the player to gather specific ingredients to create their desired dish.[7]

Clearing these requests unlocks additional features, such as staff to assist in the restaurant and a farm to grow rice and vegetables.[9][6] The game features multiple side characters who offer side-quests and upgrades, events that appear during the in-game calendar, and various unlockable minigames.[7][8] To advance further, players will face multiple bosses, each with special powers, weaknesses, and ingredient drops.[12][unreliable source?] Players will need to solve puzzles to unlock new areas that contain different fish, which are valued at a higher price.

Plot

The game follows Dave, a diver who is approached by his friend Cobra into starting up a sushi restaurant venture with the skilled chef Bancho. Setting up location at the Blue Hole, a spot said to contain fish from all over the world, Dave is tasked with fishing for ingredients during the day, and helping Bancho with the restaurant at night. During his escapades, Dave comes across a race of sea people which leads him to the mystery behind the random earthquakes that have been occurring.[9]

Development

Dave the Diver was initially announced as a mobile game in 2018 by Nexon Mobile subsidiaries NeoPle and Studio 42 in collaboration with National Geographic to "bring awareness to all the beauty the ocean has and how it's slowly fading away,"[13][unreliable source?] before being reannounced in May 2022 as the first game by Nexon subsidiary Mintrocket.[14] The game's director Jaeho Hwang based the initial concept on a real-life restaurant on Jeju Island, whose owner dives for ingredients during the day and serves them during the evening. The development team's own diving experiences served as inspiration, along with games such as Torneko's Great Adventure, Abzu and Metal Gear Solid.[15]

Mintrocket found it challenging to balance the game's various mechanics so no particular gameplay element becomes repetitive, which they resolved through trial and error during early access.[16] The game entered early access in October 2022 was officially released for macOS and Windows on June 28, 2023.[17] An update in August improved accessibility support, allowing people to bypass quick-time events, among other quality-of-life improvements.[18] A port for Nintendo Switch was released on October 26, 2023[19] and ports for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 were released on April 16, 2024.[5]

Free downloadable content based on Black Salt Games' Dredge video game was released on December 15, 2023. The DLC adds a fog weather event in which the player can dredge for valuable items and catch unique types of fish.[20] A second batch of free DLC featuring crossover content from the Godzilla franchise was released on May 23, 2024. The DLC adds missions that, when completed, can unlock new recipes and decorations.[21] Further content updates are planned to be released in the future.[22]

A physical "Anniversary Edition" featuring crossover content from Guilty Gear Strive was published by Arc System Works for Nintendo Switch on June 28, 2024.[23][24]

Reception

Dave the Diver received "universal acclaim" based on 44 critic reviews according to review aggregator Metacritic.[25]

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.[7] Destructoid called the gameplay "engaging", and said the story was "silly, yet endearing".[27] IGN labeled it as an editors' choice and said it is "wholesome, wonderfully complex, and delightfully hard to put down".[8] Eurogamer said it was "wholesome, harmonious, and completely unwilling to settle", calling it one of the most generous games in years.[28]

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".[29] Polygon said its myriad minigames comes together unexpectedly well, anchored by well-made cutscenes.[32] Cutscenes were further praised by players for its style and humour.[33] 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.[34] GamesRadar+ called it "a smash-hit success story".[35] Several major publications included it on their 'best games of 2023' rundowns, including ReadWrite, Game Rant, The Guardian and The Verge.[36]

Sales

Two days after its release, Dave the Diver was the fifth best-selling product on Steam. It had sold over one million copies within ten days of release,[37] and three million copies by January 2024.[38]

Indie label controversy

Although Dave the Diver's developer Mintrocket is wholly owned by Nexon, several commentators and publications have referred to the game as an "indie game",[39] and the game was nominated for the "Best Independent Game" categories at The Game Awards 2023[40] and Golden Joystick Awards 2023.[41] Although it did not win either award, the game's nominations in these categories raised criticism over how its inclusion potentially prevented other indie games from being nominated, sparking a debate on how indie games should be defined.[42][43][unreliable source?]

Responding to the game's nomination, Geoff Keighley, organizer of The Game Awards, stated "independent can mean different things to different people and it's sort of a broad term, right?"[44] Mintrocket have stated that they are not an independent studio,[45] with Taehwan Kim, Vice President of Nexon's New Development Headquarters which oversees the Mintrocket brand,[46] stating that Dave the Diver "may look like an indie, but that is not necessarily the case".[45]

Awards

Year Ceremony Category Result Ref.
2023 Golden Joystick Awards Best Indie Game Nominated [41]
PC Game of the Year Nominated
Best Game Trailer (Accolades Trailer) Nominated
The Game Awards 2023 Best Independent Game Nominated [47]
The Steam Awards Sit Back and Relax Won [48]
2024 27th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards Adventure Game of the Year Nominated [49][50]
Outstanding Achievement in Game Design Nominated
Outstanding Achievement in Story Nominated
24th Game Developers Choice Awards Game of the Year Nominated [51][52]
Best Debut Nominated
Best Design Honorable mention
Innovation Award Honorable mention
Audience Award Nominated
20th British Academy Games Awards Best Game Nominated [53][54]
Debut Game Nominated
Family Nominated
Game Design Won
New Intellectual Property Nominated
Narrative Longlisted [55]

Manga adaptation

A manga adaptation illustrated by Shinnosuke Tsuchida began serialization in the September 2023 issue of Shogakukan's children's manga magazine Monthly CoroCoro Comic on August 12, 2023.[56]

References

  1. ^ Saver, Michael (December 27, 2022). "Made with Unity: 2022 in review". Unity Technologies. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
  2. ^ "'DAVE THE DIVER' Official Early Access Announcement". Steam News. August 24, 2022. Retrieved January 21, 2024.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ Faulkner, Jason (June 30, 2023). "Dave the Diver PS5, PS4, Switch, Xbox Release Date: Is It Coming to Consoles?". GameRevolution. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
  5. ^ a b Scullion, Chris (April 2, 2024). "Dave the Diver is coming to PlayStation Plus Game Catalogue this month". Video Games Chronicle. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
  6. ^ a b c 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. ^ a b c d e 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.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Northrup, Travis (June 26, 2023). "Dave The Diver Review". IGN. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
  9. ^ a b c d Smith, Kevin (November 10, 2023). "Dave the Diver Review". RPGamer. Retrieved June 9, 2024.
  10. ^ Parkin, Simon (September 2, 2023). "Dave the Diver review – an irresistible deep-sea adventure". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved June 9, 2024.
  11. ^ Gerblick, Jordan (July 7, 2023). "Dave the Diver, an indie RPG about deep-sea fishing and slinging sushi, is the vibe of the summer". GamesRadar+. Retrieved February 9, 2024.
  12. ^ "Boss Fight Guide". IGN.com. Retrieved May 2, 2024.
  13. ^ "Dave The Diver Trailer 19 November 2018". Facebook.com. Nexplay. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
  14. ^ Walker, Emsey P. (May 11, 2022). "DAVE THE DIVER - Announcement Trailer". GameGrin. Retrieved June 9, 2024.
  15. ^ Livingston, Christopher (July 25, 2023). "Dave the Diver was inspired by a real oceanside seafood restaurant… and Metal Gear Solid". PC Gamer. Retrieved June 10, 2024.
  16. ^ "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.
  17. ^ "Dave the Diver". Gematsu. November 8, 2022. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
  18. ^ 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.
  19. ^ Romano, Sal (September 14, 2023). "DAVE THE DIVER for Switch launches October 26". Gematsu. Retrieved June 9, 2024.
  20. ^ Rebekah Valentine (December 7, 2023). "Dave the Diver Is Getting a Free Update Crossover with Dredge Game Awards 2023". IGN. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
  21. ^ Hwang, Jaeho (May 16, 2024). "Dave the Diver: free Godzilla DLC arrives May 23". PlayStation.Blog. Retrieved June 9, 2024.
  22. ^ Rachel Kaser (September 18, 2023). "Dave the Diver's director on the breakout indie hit of 2023". VentureBeat. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
  23. ^ Brian (February 28, 2024). "Dave the Diver Switch physical release revealed for Japan, includes Guilty Gear Strive collaboration content". Nintendo Everything. Retrieved February 28, 2024.
  24. ^ Romano, Sal (March 8, 2024). "DAVE THE DIVER physical edition for Switch launches May 30 worldwide". Gematsu. Retrieved June 10, 2024.
  25. ^ a b "Dave the Diver for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  26. ^ "Dave the Diver for Switch Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  27. ^ a b Christine, Choi (September 26, 2023). "Review: Dave the Diver". Destructoid. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  28. ^ 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.
  29. ^ 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.
  30. ^ Christopher Livingston (July 12, 2023). "Dave the Diver Review". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on September 30, 2023. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  31. ^ Erskine, Donovan (July 14, 2023). "Dave the Diver review: Fishy business". Shacknews. Retrieved October 13, 2023.
  32. ^ Parkin, Jeffrey (June 29, 2023). "Management sim Dave the Diver shouldn't work as well as it does". Polygon. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
  33. ^ Ngan, Liv (July 4, 2023). "Dave the Diver players can't get over how extra its cutscenes are". GamesRadar+. Retrieved July 7, 2023.
  34. ^ 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.
  35. ^ 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.
  36. ^ Parkin, Simon (December 25, 2023). "Games: Simon Parkin's five best of 2023". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  37. ^ 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.
  38. ^ LeBlanc, Wesley (January 3, 2024). "Dave The Diver Surpasses 3 Million Sales". Game Informer. Archived from the original on January 3, 2024. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  39. ^ D'Amato, Lee (November 15, 2023). "There's One Big Problem With Dave The Diver's Best Indie Nomination At TGA 2023". ScreenRant. Retrieved June 10, 2024.
  40. ^ Fanelli, Jason (November 13, 2023). "The Game Awards 2023 Nominees Announced, See Them All Now". GameSpot. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
  41. ^ 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.
  42. ^ Wilde, Tyler (November 17, 2023). "Should facts or vibes determine whether an 'indie game' is really indie?". PC Gamer. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  43. ^ Sledge, Ben (October 9, 2023). "Does It Matter If Dave The Diver Is An Indie Game Or Not?". TheGamer. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
  44. ^ Winslow, Levi (November 27, 2023). "TGA's Geoff Keighley Weighs In On Dave The Diver Nomination Controversy". Kotaku. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
  45. ^ a b "[인터뷰] 데이브 더 다이버에 담긴 '넥슨의 초심'" [[Interview] 'Nexon's original intention' contained in Dave the Diver]. 게임톡 (in Korean). November 20, 2022. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  46. ^ "프라시아·데이브 지휘 '김대훤' 부사장, 넥슨 떠난다" [Vice President Kim Dae-hwon, led by Prasia and Dave, leaves Nexon]. 전자신문 (in Korean). November 6, 2022. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
  47. ^ Makuch, Eddie (December 7, 2023). "All The Game Awards 2023 Winners Revealed". GameSpot. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
  48. ^ DiCarlo, John (January 2, 2024). "Steam Announces Winners of 2023 Steam Awards". GameRant. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
  49. ^ "27th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards Finalists". Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  50. ^ Chandler, Sam (February 15, 2024). "The D.I.C.E. Awards 2024 winners & finalists". Shacknews. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  51. ^ Sinclair, Brendan (January 16, 2024). "Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Baldur's Gate 3 top GDC Award nominations". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on January 16, 2024.
  52. ^ Bankhurst, Adam (March 20, 2024). "Game Developers Choice Awards 2024 Winners: The Full List". IGN. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
  53. ^ Stewart, Marcus (March 7, 2024). "Here Are The Nominees For The 20th Annual BAFTA Games Awards". Game Informer. Archived from the original on March 7, 2024.
  54. ^ "20th BAFTA Games Awards: The Winners & Nominations". British Academy Games Awards. April 11, 2024. Retrieved April 12, 2024.
  55. ^ "The 60 Best Video Games of 2023". bafta.org. British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Retrieved March 26, 2024.
  56. ^ 久田晴 (August 8, 2023). 海洋探検＆寿司屋経営の人気ゲーム『デイヴ・ザ・ダイバー』コミカライズが「コロコロ」で8月12日から連載決定。主人公「デイヴ」や寿司シェフ「バンチョ」たちの姿をギャグ満載で描く. denfaminicogamer.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved January 19, 2024.
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