We don’t really need to sing the praises of Dave the Diver: the rest of the internet has been doing that for us over the last year. First released on PC last June and following a few months later on Switch, this wonderful little game combines fishing, exploration and sushi restaurant management. It’s unlike anything else you’ve ever played, and once you’ve started you won’t be able to put it down.
But of course, if you’ve read anything about it since its launch 10 months ago, you’ll probably already know that. It’s been nominated for Golden Joystick awards, Game Awards, and last week it came away with a BAFTA (for best game design). It’s had “Universal Acclaim” on Metacritic, with an aggregate review score of 90 and a full sweep of positive reviews — including our own 9/10.
It’s a hard game to pin a genre on: Steam calls Dave the Diver an adventure RPG. But with management mechanics, fishing, optional collectathons and a whole lot more, this isn’t the type of game you can stick a generic label on. But that’s perhaps what makes it so good: it’s several things all mixed together; fused to create something new and exciting.
It won’t cease to surprise you, either. Stick with Dave the Diver and you’ll find yourself immersed in a cooking competition, going through the motions Cooking Mama-style. There’s also a music rhythm game to look forward to and even minigames as bizarre as seahorse racing. What’s not to love?
If you’re into action-packed shooters, Dave the Diver might not scratch that itch, granted. But if you like being surprised by a game and you’re open-minded about the genres you jump into, don’t hesitate to give this a try.
There’s no excuse, either — not if you’re a PS Plus Extra or Premium subscriber. In case you missed it, Dave the Diver is launching directly into the service, so you can play it as part of your subscription.
If you’ve played it before, there’s unfortunately no new content to look forward to. But there is at least haptic feedback, so you can enjoy full immersion thanks to the DualSense controller. It doesn’t exactly revolutionise the game but it is a very nice touch — and with it, we’d argue that PS5 is now the best place to play this creative little wonder.
