Summary
- Dave the Diver by Mintrocket integrates action-adventure with restaurant management gameplay.
- The game has received consistent updates and crossovers with various franchises since its launch.
- Upcoming collaborations include Balatro, Potion Craft, and mxmtoon coming later in 2024.
2023 was a year full of great video games, both indie and AAA, but Dave the Diver was one of the real standouts among them. The game, developed by Nexon subsidiary Mintrocket, is hard to place under one category since it's a mish-mash of different genres. On the one hand, it's an action-adventure game in which players dive to the bottom of the ocean in order to collect fish, sealife, and other resources, all while fighting against various dangers lurking in the deep sea. On the other hand, it's a restaurant-management simulator that tasks players with various activities, such as making sushi, cleaning tables, and serving dishes to hungry customers. These two gameplay loops are so different that it doesn’t seem like they’d fit together, but Mintrocket somehow managed to make this unusual combination work in Dave the Diver.
Ever since Dave the Diver was launched in June 2023, the game has been supported consistently with new content updates, including crossover DLCs. Back in December of last year, for example, Mintrocket announced that it was collaborating with Black Salt Games to add new content based off of the horror-themed fishing title Dredge to the game. So far in 2024, meanwhile, Dave the Diver has crossed over with several other franchises and video games, such as Godzilla, Guilty Gear Strive, and even Goddess of Victory: Nikke. These aren't the only crossovers Mintrocket has in store for this year, though, as the developer just announced during Gamescom Opening Night Live 2024 that three more collaborations are coming to Dave the Diver in the near future.
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Dave the Diver is Receiving Three New Crossover DLCs Later This Year
All Three Upcoming Dave the Diver Collaborations Explained
- Balatro
- Potion Craft
- mxmtoon
One of these upcoming Dave the Diver collaborations will be with the hit indie title Balatro. Released earlier this year, Balatro is a roguelike deck-builder from the solo developer LocalThunk that features a poker-themed card game in which players utilize special combos and abilities to take down opponents. Judging from the 50-second crossover announcement trailer that Mintrocket has released, it appears that this title will become a playable minigame within Dave the Diver, though whether it's a one-to-one replica of LocalThunk's deck-builder is still unclear.
The next title Dave the Diver is collaborating with is the alchemist simulator Potion Craft. As the name of the game suggests, in Potion Craft, players take control of a potion-crafting shop and are tasked with tackling all the challenges that come with it, from appeasing picky customers and harvesting ingredients to upgrading alchemical gear and inventing new concoctions. As for the Dave the Diver crossover itself, the Mushroomer from Potion Craft will be making an appearance as a new merchant in the game. Players will be able to purchase mushrooms from him to use in the dishes they make at their sushi restaurant.
The final Dave the Diver crossover, meanwhile, isn't with a video game, or even a pop culture franchise at all. Instead, Mintrocket is collaborating with the American artist and YouTuber mxmtoon. For those unfamiliar with her, mxmtoon is a singer-songwriter who's best known for her lo-fi pop music, vlogging videos, and ukelele-playing skills. Mxmtoon's debut in Dave the Diver, in which she'll serve as a new companion for players when diving, won't be her first venture in the realm of gaming, as the artist has done collaborations with certain video games in the past, such as The Sims 4 and Life is Strange: True Colors.
These Upcoming Collaborations Are Coming to Dave the Diver Very Soon
All three of these upcoming Dave the Diver crossovers are currently set for launch sometime in October 2024, though Mintrocket hasn’t given a specific date as to when they'll be added. Since there isn’t much clarity on the matter, it's possible that the Balatro, Potion Craft, and mxmtoon collaborations may be released gradually over the course of the month instead of on a single day. Either way, fans won't have to wait too long to experience the exciting new content Dave the Diver has in store for players with these upcoming crossovers.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 90 /100 Critics Rec: 100%
- Released
- June 28, 2023
- ESRB
- E10+ For Everyone 10+ Due To Fantasy Violence, Use of Alcohol, Mild Blood
- Developer(s)
- Mintrocket
- Publisher(s)
- Mintrocket
- Engine
- Unity
WHERE TO PLAY
Dive by day! Serve by night! The best diving, harpooning, action-adventuring, and sushi restaurant managing experience you'll ever have. DAVE THE DIVER is a casual, single-player adventure RPG featuring deep-sea exploration and fishing during the day and sushi restaurant management at night. Join Dave and his quirky friends as they seek to uncover the secrets of the mysterious Blue Hole.
Explore and unravel the mysteries in the depths of the Blue Hole by day and run a successful exotic sushi restaurant by night.
Dive into the ever-changing Blue Hole and use a harpoon and other weapons to catch fish and various creatures. Upgrade and forge equipment with collected resources and sushi restaurant profits to prepare for the dangers that lurk in the unknown. Running out of oxygen means leaving collected items and fish behind!
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5
- Genre(s)
- Simulation, Adventure
- How Long To Beat
- 23 Hours
- PS Plus Availability
- Extra & Premium
