Dave the Diver: First forays into unknown waters
At the beginning of Dave the Diver you are called by your old friend Cobra, who lures you with the prospect of delicious sushi straight from vacation. Immediately you set off and fly to the island to which Cobra has asked you. Once there, the actual game starts, which first offers a small tutorial with charming dialogs. Because before there is sushi, you msst the needed ingredients from the ominsen blue hole organize. The procurement of these various ingredients is one of the two main tasks in the game and resembles a bit of a Metroidvania mixed with Rogue Lite elements. Because, as you’ll be told right away, the terrain changes with each new dive. After the first fish are caught, it’s back to the boat. Afterwards, you go to the sushi restaurant together with Cobra, where you meet the chef Bancho.
Dave is the first character you’ll meet. In the future, you’ll work together to make the sushi restaurant a success, although Cobra doesn’t actually work.
Just as you are about to open the restaurant to get to know the second part of the game, an earthquake destroys parts of the restaurant. Since your cash register is currently still empty, the opening will have to wait for the time being, because it goes out on the water again to catch as many fish as possible during another dive. While the first time you automatically swam back to the boat after three fish, you can now explore the unknown depths as long as you want. There are two points in particular that you have to pay attention to at the beginning: the oxygen and your diving suit. While you can replenish the life-giving air by capsules and later also with shells, your suit can be improved only later between the individual dives. A well-intentioned advice from me: Always keep an eye on the environment and the values at the bottom left of the screen, otherwise you can run out of air faster than you think. Due to the constantly changing environment, my urge to explore was more than once so inflamed that I only managed to reach the surface alive with great difficulty.
Even if you basically only have to catch seven fish, you can already start collecting seaweed, wood or other resources that can be found at the bottom accessible to you. However, pay attention to another important value, namelyyour weight. In the beginning, you can only carry nine kilos without getting negative effects. This limit can be exceeded a little in exchange for movement speed, but that has its limit. Especially when you later advance to deeper waters, you should not be overloaded in the best case. Once you’re satisfied with your haul, you can simply swim to the surface to finish the dive. Finally, there is an overview of the collected items and fish, before you find yourself back on the boat. There Cobra immediately explains that you can go diving twice a day before you have to help out in the restaurant in the evening – poor Dave has to work very hard for his beloved sushi.
From the wetsuit to the shrine: The price for good sushi
One of the mini-games for pouring a drink. A nice change that the waiters will be able to use later on.
After this prelude, you can imagine that you are not only divers. Once you arrive at the restaurant, Cobra and Bancho will introduce you to the food business, another very fun aspect of the game. Besides the simple serving, you’ll also have to create the menu, for example, and later you’ll even take on a handful of other tasks. Once you have decided which types of sushi you want to serve first, the restaurant opens. From now on, you’ll not only have to bring Bancho’s freshly cooked food to the guests, but also serve them drinks. There is, depending on the drink, a different mini game. These are fortunately by no means strend and usually done in seconds, but provide for another little variety. The first evening as a waiter is still quite quiet due to the low profile of the restaurant and there are not many visitors, but that changes over time, I promise.
After your first shift in the restaurant, it’s back into the wetsuit and off to the boat, which is basically always your starting point . From here you can travel to the restaurant at any time, and in the course of the game to various other activities, but more on that later. Let’s stay in the restaurant for now, because here you’ll unlock a few more things within the first few days. After you’ve met Yoshie and provided her with a whole shark head, you’ll be able to hire your first new employees. Depending on how much money you spend on advertising, better and more applicants will come your way the following day.
Among them, you can now choose who you want to hire. During your restaurant management career, space will open up for three other active employees. A chef to help Bancho out,
Sometimes you will even find fish that you have never seen before in one of your many dives.
and two other waiters. Each applicant has different values, which say something about how well he is suited for which job. In addition, you can train your employees to increase their values and thus your success in the restaurant, at certain levels they unlock even more skills. If that’s not enough, you can also be creative and completely redecorate your restaurant, but only if you have the money. The occupation in the restaurant and especially in the creation of the menu was for me a very successful and fun change to the dives that sometimes lasted up to 30 minutes.