When the headline says that Dave the Diver meets Darkest Dungeon in Dive or Die – Children of Rain, I mean every word of it. This harrowing side-scrolling diving game from Drop Rate Studio takes some of the most potent elements from each game, smushes them together, and the result is grim, compelling, and strangely engrossing.
I recently replayed the original Darkest Dungeon after another DLC was released for Red Hook’s classic. So when I finally sat down and spent some quality time with Dive or Die straight after, I was already in the zone thanks to the Eldritch undertones, horror themes, and moody visuals. The atmosphere here is expertly realised.
The story in Dive or Die has you taking charge of a small encampment of survivors living on a mountain top after endless rain, conjured by the old gods, has wiped out most of humanity. You are what’s left, in these parts anyway, and you’ve got 40 days to turn the tide and save the species. Things are looking bleak.
Ragged and raw recruits arrive at your base every day, and many of them will be sent underwater on missions to recover materials, food, and other trinkets of the past. The diving is a big part of it and, in that sense, it’s somewhat reminiscent of Dave the Diver, although here you’re picking divers from a limited roster rather than having a jolly swim with just the one restaurateur.
Things quickly reveal themself to be altogether more deadly than Dave’s deep-sea dips, and it’s not just the limited breathable air that you need to keep an eye on. This submerged side-scrolling horror world is populated by twisted creatures who attack on sight. In fact, both the flora and fauna are out to nibble you to death.
You’ve got limited combat options; even if you’re only up against one horrible monster, your trusty combat knife might not be enough to keep you alive. If you do fall, at least tomorrow’s diver will be able to retrieve your stuff, which itself is quite a harrowing moment, as you revisit your fallen divers and grab whatever they were carrying at the time of death. It’s just a smidge soulslikey, and I liked the tension these moments bring.
The resources you find on your dives are used to upgrade facilities back above water, such as the infirmary, the lighthouse, and the town hall. You also need to manage your citizens, meet their basic needs, level them up, and have them operate certain parts of your base to make them more effective.
The way the diving feeds into the management elements is really nicely done, and the intensity of the gameplay marries well with the desperation of the colony. There’s a constant feeling that everything could go really wrong at any moment. This is a game about sacrifice and exploration in a truly nightmare world.
If you enjoyed the permadeath elements in games such as Darkest Dungeon and XCOM, then Dive or Die – Children of Rain is well worth checking out. Even more so if you also enjoyed the underwater sections in Dave the Diver. There’s even a demo on Steam that you can try if you want to dip a toe before diving in.
Dive or Die – Children of Rain is out now on PC (Win), and I played via access provided by publisher Dear Villagers and friends.
