“I’ll just do this last dive, then go to bed.” It’s a lie, and I know it. It’s always just one more dive, one more restaurant shift, one more VIP guest. Before I know it, an hour has passed. Every time an in-game day finishes, I get ready to stop playing for the night, then someone rocks up in a boat with yet another task that sees me exploring the depths of the Blue Hole. There’s no doubt about it: Dave the Diver has me hooked.
Dive in
There was a lot of buzz about Dave the Diver when it launched for PC in June 2023. I was intrigued, but ultimately never pulled the trigger and picked it up. But following its BAFTA win and release on PS5 (and PS Plus), I finally gave in.
In Dave the Diver, you play as Dave, a diver—no surprises there—who ends up working at a sushi restaurant next to the Blue Hole, a deep mass of water home to a vast array of fish. By day, you dive into the hole’s depths, collecting fish, exploring, and completing tasks set by the madcap characters you meet. By night, you run the sushi restaurant, selling the fish you caught and managing staff to grow the restaurant’s reputation. Essentially, it’s a management sim meets adventure-RPG.
I’ll be honest—initially, I didn’t get the fuss, but with each dive, I grew more intrigued—and submerged. Dave the Diver’s pixelated art style is beautiful, and on PS5, the DualSense controller makes it even more immersive. Each time you dive, the gamepad makes bubbling sounds and vibrates as you plunge into the depths. When you hook a fish with your harpoon, you feel the strain of it tugging against you.
While your main objective seems to be hunting down fish for the restaurant, you encounter bizarre characters who ask you to find certain objects in the depths or VIPs who ask for particular dishes. There’s always a task to complete and a secret to uncover, whether it’s completing missions, trying to fill out your Fish card collection, or tackling bosses. As you make more money from exploration and your restaurant, you can buy gear upgrades to explore deeper and catch bigger fish. Or, you can invest your hard-earned money into the restaurant to improve the staff.
Fully submerged
Above all, what I enjoy most about Dave the Diver is that it doesn’t take itself too seriously. Characters have names like Dr. Bacon and the cutscenes are downright ridiculous—and hilarious. In one cutscene, a restaurant inspector uses a stethoscope on a fish, while Bancho (the restaurant’s head chef) has a variety of laugh-out-loud scenes where he preps sushi in over-the-top ways.
Dave the Diver is beautifully executed and the perfect game to kick back with for the evening. Just don’t expect to go to bed at a reasonable time. One more dive will always beckon you.
Dave the Diver is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, and Switch.
