2024-01-08 13:04:05
Between diving fishing, restaurant management, and mini-games you name it, the game from the Mintroket studio offers very diverse and complete gameplay. Add a slightly offbeat second degree and some well-polished pixel art, and there you have it! A well-thought-out recipe to sink your teeth into.
If the game that we tested for you is not one of the new releases at the start of the year (it was released in June 2023), it returned to the forefront recently by surpassing the bar of 3 million copies sold worldwide.
Don’t let the pixel art and its nomination for “Best Independent Game” at the Game Awards fool you, Dave The Diver is developed by the studio Mintroket, a subsidiary of the Korean giant Nexon, owner of MapleStory and Dungeon & Fighter. It is difficult to see how a project supported by a company with more than 1.5 billion euros in turnover in 2021 might be considered “independent”.
In this game, we play Dave, a fisherman-diver (so far, it fits the title), whose old friend, Cobra, who always has more than one trick up his sleeve, asks him to cut short his vacation to come here. help launch his new sushi restaurant. In the kitchen, Bancho, a taciturn and gruff chef, but possessing incredible talent, concocts tasty dishes at nightfall with Dave’s catch of the day.
Apart from running the restaurant, Dave will meet many characters, with their own stories and quests to follow. Each one more cliché than the last, but it works. Between the stylized and exaggerated cutscenes, reminiscent of Ace Attorney, and dialogue filled with second-degree, the game makes fun of Dave, his friends, and just regarding everyone in this universe.
Bansho maitrise l’art du sushi
The gameplay revolves around these two stages: diving and fishing during the day, management of a sushi restaurant in the evening. It may seem simple at first, but Dave The Diver is extremely rich.
We move from managing our underwater oxygen, inventory, equipment and battles with underwater creatures, to managing staff, stock, recipe improvements and decoration in the restaurant.
Each environment brings its share of mini-games, sometimes amusing, quickly redundant, but almost all avoidable, phew. Visually, the mix between pixel art and 3D makes the game very nostalgic, with a welcome touch of modernity.
For those who like games with a routine, this is for you! Don’t panic for the others, there are constantly events, quests and bits of history that punctuate this routine (so you don’t get bored too quickly).
We navigate this universe via a mobile phone with multiple applications: an equivalent of Instagram, “Cooksta”, to bring in customers; a collectible card system for each fish in the bay, such as Pokémon; daily successes to help local environmental activists, and many other features.
Dave even called himself an archaeologist of the depths, exploring the remains of an ancient seafaring people who, according to legend, lived in the depths of the bay a long time ago… But what happened to them? And have they really disappeared?
Small downside for the music. If some are pleasant at first glance, they (very) quickly become redundant and end up annoying. Particularly the Cobra boat theme, which sounds like elevator music and quickly becomes unbearable.
A good trigger warning, also, for animal lovers: spear fishing can be quite disturbing. The fish struggle and clouds of blood color the sea with each touch. Vegetarian sushi isn’t really on the menu, and Dave takes down sharks, moray eels, jellyfish, clownfish and squid without any embarrassment. He plunders algae, shells, corals, wrecks and mysterious temples of the people of the deep. For the respect of the seabed, we will come back.
Fortunately, the mechanics of the game ease our conscience somewhat: we are in the Blue Hole, a magical lagoon where every day the fauna, flora and even the entire environment change and reset. Plus, Dave is fighting once morest evil industrial sinners, so no qualms: we’re on the side of the good guys! Well… if we forget that Cobra seems to be involved in shady business and that Bancho refuses to talk regarding his past…
According to the site How Long to Beat from IGN, which lists the time it takes to complete a game, Dave The Diver’s main quest lasts just over 23 hours. The most complete will take up to 46 hours to finish everything. We are therefore on an average game, for a very fair price of €19.99, perfect for those who do not want to spend months in front of their PC, but who still expect a decent lifespan.
Conclusion
With very diverse and complete gameplay, Dave The Diver from Mintroket studio offers an extremely rich gaming experience. We love the relaxing side of the routine, between fishing during the day and managing a sushi restaurant in the evening. All this is counterbalanced by events and quests that constantly bring new things. Be careful, however, this game is not friendly to animals, and Dave will spear fish and shamelessly plunder the Blue Hole, a lagoon where all the fauna and flora magically reappear every night. But the offbeat humor and the nostalgic and modern visuals, combining pixel art and 3D, soften the impact of the diver’s actions. Dave The Diver is a very good game, with an original concept and engaging gameplay. He even recently developed additional content in collaboration with Dredge, another fishing game that we really like.
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On aime :
The multitude of things to do
Un gameplay relaxant
Le pixel art
Humor and offbeat animations
The beauty of the ocean
We like less:
Slightly redundant fishing phases
A musical atmosphere that repeats itself quickly
Animal lovers, please refrain
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#Test #Dave #Diver #diver #thousand #talents
