DAVE THE DIVER

This is demanding work, but the game’s distinct but complementary loops of playful labour are highly compelling. The satisfaction of completing a challenging dive without needing to be rescued, then watching the rave reviews on “Cooksta” pour in, is profound. Stylish, witty and exquisitely designed, Dave the Diver uses several hooks to achieve its goal, while establishing the relationship between the food we eat and the world from which its harvested with useful urgency.

Whether you're diving into the depths or managing a sushi restaurant, Dave the Diver is full of ideas and engaging from start to finish.

Dave the Diver is a surprisingly excellent game. Its beautiful pixel art is joined by plenty of activities, not very deep, but fun all the same. The weird underwater world is charming and invites discovery. The characters are interesting, with memorable quests. The tempo is a bit unequal sometimes, but the game offers plenty of content nonetheless.

There’s basically nothing to find fault with in Dave the Diver. Did I have trouble mastering a few of the cooking minigames, and an easy mode for the rhythm games would have been appreciated – but that’s a drop in the ocean compared to what it does right. Filling out the fish index, sneaking through a secret base, gambling in a merfolk casino – everywhere I turned there was something new to try, and all of it was built with care and wit. There’s a shocking amount to do here, all of it is worth sinking time into.

Dave The Diver will end up being one of those fundamental titles that people talk about in the same breath as Stardew Valley, where it achieves on nearly every front.

Games are often referred to as mixing the right ingredients and mixing the best recipe. But in the case of Dave the diver, the ingredients and recipes on the plate are the most important thing, not metaphorically, but completely practically. And the resulting food tastes so good that you will lick your fingers.

Every moment in Dave the Diver feels unique the first time through. The constant changing of side-missions, the cutscenes when upgrading weapons or fish dishes, and the eccentric cast of characters, all blend together so well into a game that, when viewed just from the surface, might seem shallow. But players willing to dive into the meat of the game will find even more enjoyment than they bargained for, especially with its official 1.0 release. It’s a single-player adventure with heart, good music (‘Hot Pepper Tuna’ will likely end up on a lot of people's personal playlists), and a cast of characters that feel right at home around The Blue Hole. Its eccentricities make it memorable, and Dave might be the kindest and most fun adventuring protagonist players encounter in the world of video games this year.

love everything about this game, the graphics, the music. Its all perfect..

The core loop of daytime spearfishing in the Blue Hole followed by nighttime sushi restaurant management is ridiculously addictive for the first dozen hours. The pixel art oozes charm, the cooking cutscenes are pure comedy, and the quirky cast gives the adventure a lot of heart. However, the second half suffers from serious feature bloat. Instead of refining its best systems, the game continuously throws half-baked gimmicks at you, including tedious stealth sections, farm chores, and clunky underwater boss fights that dilute the magic of the original loop. Still a very fun, memorable adventure with tons of personality, but it desperately needed someone on the team to say "less is more."

I find this game really addictive, enjoyable and fun. Once I start playing I don't want to stop.I enjoy trying to find fish and sort out the Sushi shop.However I felt the Sea People content was the weakest and kind of boring, annoying and game would be better without it compared to everything else. I don't like them and wish we could have a option to nuke them out of the ****'s also annoying that there is a limited save. Can only save when not diving. I ended up in the glacial passage, it was taking too long and you can't just exit the game so had to close it in task manager as I had other things to do and don't like leaving games running.I disliked having a 2nd branch of sushi shop to organise. No thanks, I just ignored it as I prefer to focus on one.Because of content I don't like I'd rate this game 7/10 and not 8 or higher.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Very nice and relaxing game that fits on Steam Deck, I played at a friend's and I liked it very much. Unfortunately, I regret it and I will not buy it myself, because there is no Polish language version and even though I know English, playing such games is very tiring in the long run.