Dave the Diver was a delightful adventure that may seem simple on the surface. While it’s true that the main focus of the game revolves around operating a sushi restaurant and ensuring Bancho the sushi chef is supplied with a variety of fresh fish for the dinner crowd, by the time the game’s seventh and final story chapter wraps up it will have evolved into something a bit more complex.
Kind-hearted Dave (the aforementioned diver) is persuaded by Cobra, Dave’s friend and clearly an “ideas guy”, into accepting a diving gig supplying fresh fish to Bancho Sushi – Cobra’s latest business venture. Things start off simple enough – with Dave relocating to the tropical Blue Hole and diving into its waters to collect his first fish haul – but he soon finds out that Cobra has additional plans for Dave. In addition to diving during the day, Dave must also work as the restaurant manager while Bancho prepares the order. At this point, the game settles into a comfortable routine with exploration during the day and diner dash-esque gameplay at night. Of course, it doesn’t end there…
Steadily, Dave is introduced to a goofy cast of characters who each can assist Dave in different ways and serve to introduce new game mechanics. Duff is an anime-loving body pillow-hugging weapons specialist who helps Dave construct formidable weapons for the more dangerous creatures lurking in the deep, such as sharks. Yoshie is a recruiter who shares a past with Bancho, and can help Dave with hiring staff for the restaurant to complete orders more quickly. Ellie is a biology student who convinces Dave to do all of her classwork for her by introducing him to Ecowatcher, a program that tracks items Dave has collected during his dives and sends milestone rewards. There’s more, but, most importantly, Momo is Bancho Sushi’s resident feline.
The introduction of each character is how the game introduces new content, which translates to more things Dave can explore while on a dive. It’s important to note that dives are not timed, and are only limited by his equipment. For example, Dave’s initial diving suit and oxygen tank can only take him so far until he’ll need to upgrade it in order to explore deeper. Luckily, Dave can spend money earned from the restaurant on upgrades and weapons and other things that can help make Dave more successful during each outing.
Most activities in the game are optional, like completing Ecowatcher objectives, but the main vehicles for game completion are raising the restaurant’s rank via Cooksta popularity (suspiciously similar to Instagram) and completing the game’s main story by helping Dr. Bacon discover the secrets of the mysterious mermaid-like Sea People. Every time the restaurant’s rank is raised in Cooksta, the diner dash gameplay gets increasingly more complicated so that Yoshie’s staff recruitment becomes more important. Each increased rank also increases the potential amount of money Dave can make to fund his deep sea adventures. The main story is equally entertaining as Dave meets and befriends the Sea People, which takes him on a journey that leads to several sea creature boss fights and eventually even saving Sea People civilization. Yeah, this game has a lot to offer.
There’s a lot to do in Dave the Diver besides just diving, and while I didn’t play all of its minigames extensively, I very much enjoyed most everything I did experience. I say “most” because a Bancho Sushi branch restaurant is opened towards the end of the game, and I think managing the branch as well as the main restaurant is a little too much. But other than that, I enjoyed diving and encountering a variety of interesting aquatic life and helping out the game’s wacky characters. As I love management-style games, I found the game hard to put down once I started. Dave the Diver was an adorable adventure that highlights good food and good company, and I’m very glad I played it.
