Game Check: Dave the Diver – Pixelated Dive Action in Early Access – News

After the realistic simulator SubROV—Underwater Discoveries (to the game check) and the sobering build-up game Aquatic (to the game check) I am drawn under the water surface again: In Dave the diver I catch fish during the day and serve them at a sushi restaurant in the evening. In addition, the local characters clamp me in for smaller and larger quests. Although Dave the Diver is still in Early Access, after 14 hours of fun and varied I still haven’t seen all the content of this pixelated 2D action-adventure.

The swordfish provides you with a decent amount of loot, but before that you have to defeat it in a man-to-fish fight.

Diving, hunting, selling sushi

Together with the NPCs Bancho and Cobra you set about rebuilding an old sushi bar. Bancho is the chef and Cobra is a shady businessman who owns the boat on whose deck every dive begins. Dave takes on the task of catching enough fish to entertain the guests at Banchos Sushi Bar.

To do this, you dive into the depths of the nearby sea up to three times a day. Initially only equipped with a standard harpoon, you focus on the small fish. You pay attention to your oxygen supply, because if you run out of it, you will find yourself on Cobras’ boat and most of your loot will be lost. The same fate befalls you when you lose out against aggressive fish species like barracuda or sharks. Under water you will also find ingredients for your kitchen, crafting materials, helpful gadgets and oxygen barrels that will extend your dive.

In the evening, the sushi bar is waiting for you. Depending on the catch you determine the menu order, depending on the account balance you buy new furnishings. Once that’s done, you open the restaurant and bring your guests the ordered sushi dishes. You serve some visitors a green tea or a draft beer beforehand, in between you clear away the used dishes and grate new wasabi. With the income you can improve your diving equipment, embellish the sushi bar, hire new staff or train the existing ones.

In the evening the sushi bar opens and you become part of the service team.

Mini-games, small and big stories

Dave the Diver is packed with mini-games: pouring drinks, clearing plates, harpooning bigger fish – just to name a few. The mini-games are constant, but only short interludes that are well integrated into the game and loosen up the action.

Especially in the first few hours you get to know new characters all the time. Most of them are grossly exaggerated, like the computer nerd Duff, who supplies you with weapons or upgrades them. You will also receive quests from the NPCs that you complete on your dives. For the main story you are looking for a mysterious underwater people, the Sea People, on behalf of a researcher. The side quests also enrich your dives. Sometimes a guest wants a special sushi dish, sometimes a militant environmentalist intercepts you or a dolphin asks for help.

Things are not always peaceful under the water surface. For one thing, the act of getting fish is a rough day’s work. In addition to fighting hostile species, you will also engage in multi-phase battles against story bosses as the story progresses. This doesn’t make Dave the Diver into a racy action game, but it does deviate from its cute, feel-good gameplay time and time again.

When fighting larger fish decathlon-Memories awake.

Early Access construction sites?

The Early Access version of Dave the Diver is very stable for me. However, the game is currently only available in English. A German version is to follow for the release. Since the key assignment is not yet freely configurable, the mouse-keyboard combo was not an option for me as a left-hander. That’s why I played Dave the Diver exclusively with the controller. In my opinion, this variant is the better choice anyway. So far, the Early Access version contains the first three chapters and not all game elements have been unlocked yet. However, the previous content already offers you some entertaining game time.

You can use your smartphone to access shops, the social media app Cooksta and much more.

Conclusion

Dave the Diver is already a lot of fun for me. The individual game systems are simple, comprehensible and wonderfully playful, almost arcadian. Dave the Diver is good for a quick lap in the evening – which often turned into a much too long session because I just wanted to quickly complete a quest to find out how the story about the Sea People continues or what the mysterious guest in lost at my sushi bar.

Since new game elements and characters are constantly being added and the game world is constantly opening up, the gameplay remains varied. I also like the pixel look, which is complemented by wacky comic clips. The title doesn’t take itself seriously, skilfully plays with well-known stereotypes and sometimes serves the entire range of kitsch and drama. But I can’t blame Dave and everyone else involved in this video game, instead almost every idea brings an amused smile to my face.

• 2D action adventure for PC
• single player
• Beginners, advanced
• Price: 19.99 euros
• In one sentence: Varied and playful diving adventure with a story focus.