Yakuza Holiday

In a week of absolute insanity (tariffs on!  Tariffs off!  Sheesh.), there was one highlight--the release of the "Ichiban's Holiday" DLC for Dave the Diver!  I almost forgot about it amidst all the craziness (and, I don't think it has been particularly well advertised).  I played through it this weekend, so here are my thoughts.

What is it?

A short crossover DLC for Dave the Diver that features characters from the popular Yakuza series.  I am not familiar with Yakuza, but I know there are some folks out there who are big fans and will enjoy seeing some of the characters (and possibly some aspects of gameplay) related to the series.  It cost $6.99.

How much new content/playtime can I expect?

It's pretty short, so unfortunately, not a lot.  There is some downtime between missions/events, but the DLC is basically 1 mission and then a post-mission celebration/sushi bar scene.

Kasuga shows up with a mysterious guest.

Pros:

+ Even though the DLC is on the short-side (the real questions folks are likely to be asking themselves is whether they should spend $6.99 for a small amount of content), what does get added in is enjoyable and adds to the weird randomness of gameplay that is central to Dave the Diver.  A central part of the mission turns into a Street Fighter style fighting game where Kasuga and Cobra team up to fight their way through a horde of dolphin poaching pirates.  It's fun (and doable even if you immediately forgot the controls and just button mash your way through it like I did) and adds something novel to the gameplay.

+ If you are someone who is a fan of the Yakuza series you'll probably enjoy (and recognize) the characters who make appearances in the DLC.  There are several and a few tidbits related to the stories in the series.  There's also some karaoke...which is apparently a part of the Yakuza series.

+ New items!  Unfortunately it's nothing diving related, but instead are more cosmetic.  There's a new phone charm for Dave's phone (it's cute) and the addition of a cocktail shaker for the sushi bar.  Now Dave can mix up some fancier drinks for the patrons of Bancho Sushi!

Cons:

- As mentioned above, it's short.  Many people might balk at paying $6.99 for very little additional content.  If you don't want to pay that price, give it a wait and it will likely go on sale in the summer.  A lot of the DLC content has been crossovers, so they are definitely going after fans who might be more likely to shell out additional coins.

Recommendation:

$6.99 seems a bit steep for what you actually get, but as a big fan of Dave, I was happy to spend more time diving in the Blue Hole and running Bancho Sushi.  The new content is fun and throws in some new gameplay and there's definitely plenty there for fans of Yakuza.

It's a Good News/Bad News Kind of Thing

This week has really turned out to be a mixed bag for me.  I've basically finished playing through Two Point Museum (apparently you can just keep playing your museums forever and gain more stars--I still haven't discovered/unlocked all the exploration locations, so that's a bit of a reason to keep playing) and have been trying to puzzle out what to play next.  Weirdly, I've gone back to an oldie that I felt compelled to play--SteamWorld Dig.  Here's the good/bad that I'm feeling at the moment.

(The above video from Paul's Hardware lays out the GPU pricing insanity)

Let's start with the bad news and just get it out of the way.  I've been hoping and planning to build a new PC this summer and it is shaping up to be one of the absolutely worst times for a couple of reasons.  The first reason is the GPU nonsense that is currently happening.  Both NVIDIA and AMD released new generations of GPU's--you would think that would be great news; new, faster, better hardware!  Unfortunately actually getting your hands on one of these GPU's--or, even worse, one of the last gen GPU's--is an absolute crapshoot.  Both NVIDIA and AMD releases were immediately sold out (and ridiculously scalped) and stock has been very meager with little news about when to expect it to start rebounding.  So why not just buy a last gen CPU?  In anticipation of the new gen, they stopped producing the last gen and people started grabbing up all of those GPU's too.  As a result, the prices on older GPU's is absolutely insane--you're talking a 125% plus markup over MSRP on some GPU models!  Plus, with the announcement of new tariffs (including a 34% increase on the already 20% tariffs on China) it means that this might be the most expensive time to build a new PC.  Maybe I'll just have to keep my 6 year old PC stringing along...this means I'm definitely not going to be playing anything new, but that's okay.

It's always nice to end on a good note, so now for the good stuff.  On April 10th, a new DLC for Dave the Diver is releasing!  It's a crossover story (which they seem to be doing a lot of...and I don't hate it!) with Yakuza and features characters from the series.  I'm not familiar with Yakuza, but I do love me some Dave, so I'm definitely looking forward to scooping it up and spending some more time exploring the Blue Hole with Dave and crew.

At least it's spring and the weather is starting to improve.  Happy gaming (and maybe some outside time) to everyone!

So Far, So Good

Dragon Age: The Veilguard released on Thursday--no, I haven't purchased it (it's a potential future investment) or played it, but I'm watching the chatter on a very active Dragon Age fan page.  I've also been semi-reading at least the headlines for reviews and they seem pretty good.  I figured that if it was an absolute dog that I'd know pretty quickly--so far folks seem content.  There have been some gripes (normal release day stuff like slow downloads) but it seems like things have mostly been smooth sailing.  I'm awaiting the impressions from first playthroughs from the fans--reviews are great and all, but I like to see what actual players say too.  If you are playing, I hope you're having a great time and you get that Dragon Age fix that folks have been waiting for.

The stage plays mxmtoon's songs during the week.

Me, I'm still re-playing Dave the Diver but am about to the point where I'm getting ready to move onto something else.  It's still great--(and this playthrough has gone exponentially better since I understood the upgrade system for food and have made way more money than on my first playthrough) and there are a few new events.  One event involves a budding music star who wants to dive with Dave to find green sea urchins for a special dish.  It winds up being an escort style mission where she searched for the urchins and you have to defend her from unfriendly fish.  Completing the mission rewards a new item, a speaker and microphone that can be placed in Bancho Sushi and the singer (mxmtoon--no clue who this person is in real life) will perform on the weekends.

The best event that has been added is the Dredge crossover.  Once in awhile a red mist will show up--this allows you to play a sort of Dredge mini-game where Dave can pilot the ship to special whirlpools and dive for aberrated fish.  The fish are the same as those found in Dredge and they are aggressive, so it's similar to a regular night dive.  The best part is that those aberrated fish can be cooked into special dishes for the hooded figures who appear in Bancho Sushi--they'll pay a premium for the dishes and any extra fish can be sold to the merchant (from Dredge).  You can make a decent amount of cash from this event, but it only appears once in awhile (I've only had it pop up twice in my current playthrough).

I did purchase the DLC Pilgrim Pack for Cult of the Lamb and will probably give it a go once I'm done diving with Dave.  Happy gaming eveyone!

It's Got Depth--Dave the Diver Review

I am constantly on the lookout for new, interesting, and positively reviewed games.  It was a bit of a surprise that a certain pixel graphic game with a simple title kept popping up.  Since the post-Stardew Valley glut of pixel games came out I've been a bit skeptical.  After consistently seeing overwhelmingly positive reviews, I decided to set my skepticism aside and give Dave the Diver a try.  It was a great choice and it has quickly become one of the best games I've played this year.

What is it?

The first thing that's worth stating about Dave the Diver is that comparisons to Stardew Valley are fairly off the mark.  They do share some characteristics, but I walked into Dave expecting a gameplay loop that was similar, and it's so much more than that.  My advice--drop any preconceived notions about what to expect.  The Steam tags describe it as a singleplayer adventure RPG and to me that's much more aligned with the gameplay.

Each dive is slightly different.

Each day is split into three phases--morning, afternoon, and night.  During the morning and afternoon Dave can take dives.  The game touts the fact that there are some roguelite elements--each dive the environments are slightly different.  Dave is equipped with a harpoon and dive knife and can utilize those tools to catch fish.  The Blue Hole where Dave takes his dives is also scattered with crates, objects, plants, and treasures that can be collected.  The RPG elements come into play because as gameplay progresses, Dave can upgrade his gear allowing him to dive to even greater depths, carry more items, and wield more powerful weapons.

Catching fish is one of the central activities because at night Dave helps out in Bancho Sushi--a small, struggling sushi restaurant.  The gameplay in the restaurant portion is more management oriented--you get to pick the menu (based on the fish caught previously) and help serve drinks and food to the customers that arrive.  Eventually you unlock the ability to hire more staff and then the management gets slightly more complicated as you need to balance training and placing them where their skills are best suited.  You want to do a good job in the restaurant portion because the money made each night determines the ability to purchase upgrades (for Dave's gear and for running the restaurant).

The part that surprised me the most was that there's a central story and boss fights--the Stardew Valley comparisons that I had read made me think the game was mostly about the daily gameplay loop.  The story is fun and provides more depth than I was expecting.  It also helps give the game more playtime--I completed the story at around 35-40 hours--not too shabby for a $20 game.

Pros:

+ A cast of goofy, fun characters that grows as you progress through the story.  Each character offers something different to help Dave or provides more tasks--Duff, the anime-girl loving weapons expert can craft and improve Dave's weapons; Sato teaches Dave about collecting Marinca cards (a Pokemon-like collecting task--each fish you catch or photograph unlocks a new card--Gotta Catch em' All); Leah offers up Ecowatch objectives to gather certain items to unlock rewards...and there are many more!

+ The gameplay and story takes a lot of surprising turns.  You might find yourself in a boss battle with a giant shark or completing rhythm game-like QTE's as part of a character sequence.  They're always fun and provide a lot of variety to the gameplay.  Random characters arrive at the sushi restaurant throughout the game and will provide opportunities where certain ingredients need to be gathered.

+ Low requirements.  Even if you have a PC that's on the more potato side of things, it should run like a charm.  I had zero performance issues.

+ The daily loop gets more complex and there's more management as gameplay advances.  Eventually you unlock the ability to grow fresh vegetables and manage a fish farm to supply ingredients to the restaurant.  Both require making decisions around where to spend resources and what crops to grow/fish to stock.

+ Plenty of collectibles and side goals.  There's Marinca card collecting, seahorse racing, catching rare fish, and completing Ecowatcher goals (which include things like collecting certain plants or eliminating invasive species).

+ Diving is fun and challenging.  Each depth (which must be unlocked through upgrades to Dave's diving suit) has unique fish and features--there are also aggressive fish (such as sharks) which must be avoided or killed.  The diving environment does change slightly with each dive and certain unique biomes can appear on a dive.

+ Boss fights that are challenging, but not too tough.  This is where I think some people who are walking into the game with Stardew Valley expectations might be a bit surprised.  The game is mostly a casual affair, but some of these sequences might be tough for gamers hoping for a truly casual experience (there is a menu option to automate button tapping sequences--this might help some people).  Some of the boss fights are optional, but others are part of the story.  The nice thing about the boss fights is that you don't get penalized for dying (if you die on a dive you can only loot one item and must return to the boat--basically you lose a chunk of time during the day and almost all of your items).

Dave's boat with a lightning skin unlocked from an event.

+ Personalization options for the restaurant and Dave's boat.  As you progress you unlock interior decorations for Bancho Sushi and can choose the look of the restaurant.

+ Tons of upgrades and unlockables to choose from.  You can opt for powerful weapons--good for dispatching aggressive fish--or net guns/tranquilizer guns which are better for catching and capturing fish in good condition.  Each weapon has multiple branches of upgrades so you can pick the options that best suit your preferences.

+ Gameplay continues beyond the end of the story.  There are some pretty lofty goals related to the sushi restaurant that will keep you playing.

Cons:

- Certain parts of the gameplay aren't explained very well and you might find yourself having to Google.  There aren't a ton, but occasionally you might find yourself stymied about some aspect of the gameplay.  I had to look up what the little arrows on the seahorses (one side activity is seahorse racing) meant because I don't think it was ever explained.  I also didn't understand how enhancing dishes in the sushi restaurant worked and didn't do it for a long time (which impacted the amount of money I made).

Recommendation:

For only $20, Dave the Diver is an absolute bargain.  The game has a surprising amount of depth and so many fun, unexpected moments.  I would highly recommend grabbing it--even at full price, it's well worth it.  It has been one of the best games I've played this year (and I'm still playing it).