Dave the Diver is out on Nintendo Switch, which is an excellent factor for Nintendo followers, as a result of it’s among the finest roguelikes in current reminiscence. It got here out in early entry final October on Steam (virtually a 12 months to the day) and shortly turned a agency favorite on Steam Deck. It definitely did in my home, anyway.
It’s a recreation of two interconnected elements: the titular diving half, during which Dave dons a scuba swimsuit and explores a semi-randomly generated ocean with a view to catch fish, collect sources, and discover quest objects, and the restaurant sim half, during which Dave performs waiter in a shorefront sushi restaurant the place his morning’s bounty is served up contemporary daily for its subtle clientele.
Along the best way, you’ll encounter NPCs who enlist your assist with their ocean analysis tasks, which is value doing for further money, however this additionally takes you thru a wonderful most important quest that entails the research of an historical sea individuals and the remnants of their civilisation which might be strewn across the ocean ground. On its personal, the motion journey portion of this recreation can be value taking part in, as it might the surprisingly in-depth restaurant sim. The proven fact that they work in tandem right here to maintain all of the totally different bits of your mind lit up is its genius.
It’s the perfect form of Indie recreation, in that it’s a properly polished expertise that does loads with little or no and finally ends up being rather more than the sum of its elements. Through a mix of putting pixel artwork, very good (and genuinely humorous) writing, memorable characters, developer Mintrocket elevates a dependably moreish roguelike setup into one thing really particular. It doesn’t ever really feel like a merchandising machine, neither is it gentle on compelling causes to proceed: which, to my thoughts, makes it miles higher than the overwhelming majority of video games on this style. Every time a well-liked new roguelike (rogue-ish?) comes alongside, somebody all the time insists that this, lastly, is the one to win over individuals who have bounced off the style earlier than. Well, that is my a kind of. My Hades. My Binding of Isaac. Except it is nothing like these, it is simply too darn good.
And it’s an ideal match for the Nintendo Switch, as a result of as any Steam Deck gamers can attest, Dave the Diver works splendidly as a handheld recreation (and it’s about as technically subtle as a snorkel, so the Switch shouldn’t have any points operating it properly). I’ve been swapping between the Deck and my desktop with it, by way of magic of cloud saves, for months now, and it’s a kind of uncommon titles that feels completely suited to huge or small screens, by no means feeling compromised whether or not scaled upwards or downwards. One of essentially the most Switchy video games that ever Switched, then.
In this bountiful 12 months of fantastic video games coming at us from all sectors, it takes one thing really particular from the Indie aspect of issues to chop by way of. Dave the Diver can be a vastly standout recreation in another 12 months. It’s a sensation for a purpose, and the extra individuals who get to expertise it the higher.
In case it’s not clear, I actually actually adore it. Case in level, I put it on for 5 minutes to seize some screenshots and ended up getting sucked into it for like, an hour. Don’t inform Dom.
Dave the Diver is out now on Steam and Nintendo eShop.
