PlayStation Plus Just Added the Wildest Fishing Game Ever
Try PlayStation’s catch of the day.
You might think you get Dave the Diver just at a glance. The 2023 not-indie hit starts as a simple fishing game, albeit one where you dive into the sea with a spear to catch your prey rather than sticking to the safety of a boat. But that’s just the first step in a process that will soon have you serving customers in a sushi restaurant, participating in a cooking competition, and more. PlayStation owners now have a new way to see everything the multifaceted Dave the Diver has to offer, as it comes to PlayStation Plus on April 16.
Dave the Diver garnered some unexpected attention last year when it was nominated for Best Indie Game at the Game Awards. Many, including Inverse, pointed out that, since it was developed by a subsidiary of the massive conglomerate Nexon, it’s about as far from indie as it gets. Director Jaeho Hwang actually shares that opinion, as he told PC Gamer last month.
Dave the Diver makes its PlayStation debut on PS Plus.
"If you ask 'Is Dave The Diver an indie game?' I would say no," Hwang said.
But indie or not, Dave the Diver still has the experimental spirit that’s more commonly associated with independent projects than with blockbuster games by well-known developers. Even at its most basic, it’s already an inventive new twist on fishing games. Each time you head to sea to make a catch, you dive in with a spear gun and an oxygen tank with limited air. That makes its gameplay loop surprisingly similar to games like Steamworld Dig, which challenges you to delve into the earth to dig up gold before hauling the goods back to the surface.
With a boat full of fish, you then head back to Chef Bancho’s sushi restaurant, where you’re tasked with taking patrons’ orders and delivering tea and sushi before they get impatient and leave. Even if that were all Dave the Diver had to offer, it would still be a satisfying culinary quest — but that’s barely skimming what the game has to offer.
Dave the Diver is packed with oddball characters who give the titular Dave new ways to interact with the world in and out of the water. Meet up with photographer Udo and he’ll set you on a quest to photograph rare sea life. Talk to anime fan Duff and you can play in a rhythm game starring an in-game pop group. On top of that, there are seahorse races to participate in, ancient underwater ruins to explore, and more surprises that are best to uncover on your own. With that kind of variety, Dave the Diver feels like a bold experiment in how many different types of gameplay a developer can cram into one title without ever destroying the game’s identity. As Dave the Diver proves, it might be more than you’d think.
Fishing for deep-sea horrors is a walk in the park compared to dealing with impatient customers.
Even with so many minigames already in Dave the Diver at launch, more has been added in the months since it was first released on PC. Announced at The Game Awards, Dave the Diver was updated to include a crossover with cosmic horror fishing game Dredge last December. The free update brings spooky vibes to Dave the Diver, with creepy new fish, sinister NPCs, and even a new way to pull up treasure from the ocean just like in Dredge.
Dave the Diver gets an even more surprising crossover soon. While the exact launch date hasn’t yet been announced, another free DLC will bring Godzilla into the game in May. Yes, the Godzilla. It’s not clear what role the king of monsters will play in Dave the Diver, but it’s safe to say it’s going to get trickier to run a successful sushi restaurant with a giant lizard stomping around.
Dave the Diver has already made waves since its launch on PC and Switch in 2023. Now, its PlayStation launch is opening up the one-of-a-kind game to a whole new set of players just in time for its biggest update yet.
