[h1] Summary [/h1]
If you take the game mechanics of Dave The Diver, the art direction of Darkest Dungeon, the cosmic, eldritch horror of H.P. Lovecraft, and mix it together under the guidance of the Rainmaker, you get Dive or Die: Children of Rain. After 19 hours of gameplay, I managed to complete a full run. I must strongly recommend this game to anyone and everyone who loves the Lovecraftian subgenre of horror, enjoys the exploration and tension it entails, and enjoys both time and resource management. One of the best Lovecraftian games out there to play! Extensive details below.
[h3] Narrative [/h3]
The opening cutscene when you first launch the game sums up the world quickly and engagingly. One day, black rain fell from the skies. The rain carried whispers that led to the Thirst, and agonizing insanity before death. It rained constantly for five years before the skies cleared and you’re greeted by The Rainmaker, a cosmic deity that turned Earth into an ocean of eldritch existence. Welcome Children of Rain to your new reality.
[h3] Objective [/h3]
Old Jack is the narrator of the game, and he is the one that tasks you with finding eight idols to offer to the Rainmaker. You have 40 days to find all eight idols or else the Flood arrives and wipes out the settlement and the rest of the world.
[h3] Gameplay [/h3]
The game has two stages for gameplay: The Dive, and The Settlement. When diving, you choose one [of three] location to arrive in the Abyssal Pool and explore for resources. You have limited oxygen, and a weak diver. Yet as the game progresses, your divers will improve leading to more fulfilling dives, and more locations explored quicker and better.
When a dive is successful (or not), you return to your settlement. It is a patch of land that was thankfully tall enough to not be flooded. With dilapidated buildings and only three survivors (Yourself, Old Jack, and ol’ reliable Saltman), you must rebuild the structures with resources from the Abyssal Pool. They can be upgraded later on with further resources for additional effects, bonuses, and mechanics. You must also keep your people fed and sane. Each building has a purpose, and each building has its value.
[h3] UI/UX [/h3]
The User Interface is minimal but highly functional. Diving shows your character stats, weight capacity, blessings, and equipment in the bottom-left corner out of the way most times. I personally find the default key binds functional and did not alter them, but the option to do so is available in the settings. The settlement itself is my favorite aspect of the game’s UX because each time you upgrade a building, it visually improves and expands. Always was a sucker for that stuff. Anyways, each building has its purpose and are distinct from each other in design. When you do select a building, you are met with a clean UI detailing everything you need to know about it. There is also a list of images to the left side showing each building if you want to swap between them quickly. However, it was difficult to discern which was which from visual alone. Overall, the UI/UX is straightforward, artistically sound, and responsive.
[h3] Progression [/h3]
You have 40 days to collect all eight idols and give them to the Rainmaker. At first, it feels like a daunting task with how little is successfully completed in the first set of dives. The slow progress speeds up once you get people manning buildings and improving their skills for that building. After each idol, you are tasked with exploring a new region. While you have access to most regions from the start, approaching them before you are ready leads to death, drowning, or loss of time. Resources vary between regions and blueprints are found scattered all over providing much needed upgrades. Successfully getting upgrades is satisfying because you know things got a bit easier for you on your next dive. People leveling up their skills have the same satisfaction for the same reason. By the late game, you feel powerful and that very little can stop you, but carelessness and complacency can leave your diver dead. Remember to stay vigilant.
[h3] Balance [/h3]
There is only one moment in the game where I felt cheated. Overall, the gameplay is fair, concise, and rather coherent. Each enemy has a set of characteristics that can be learned and dealt with to either kill or avoid them. The regions and obstacles are fair, well placed, and overall balanced. However, after my eventual success of exploring the eastern abyss (not the actual name of the region, go play yourself to find out), I found the enemies rather numerous and the area cramped for myself and each of them. I was pinned against a wall unable to escape when two blocked me from moving until death. When trying to recover the lost supplies, I learned there was an environmental obstacle in the dark that threw me back into the enemies leading to me getting trapped in the first place. I did learn my lesson and haven’t had a situation like that again. Perhaps it was less feeling cheated, and more being butthurt by the situation. Other than this mishap, each enemy and environment are balanced.
[h3] Video Design [/h3]
Let me say this with my whole chest: This is a beautiful game! Everything from the environment, the settlement, the backgrounds, the divers, the creatures, everything has the consistent beauty that reminds me of Darkest Dungeon due to its eldritch aesthetic. It is a beautiful game. Each monster is unique from each other. Each biome is clearly defined with its aesthetic. Even your equipment can change in visual (in the loadout screen) depending on the upgrades it has. Did I mention that I love when buildings have visual changes when they get upgraded? Absolutely love that stuff. The map in the library has a charming simplicity to it too.
[h3] Audio Design [/h3]
Let me say this with my whole chest once more: This is a beautiful game! Even the sound design is fantastic. The music gives you an eerie feeling per biome with an additional hint of whatever the biome aims to make you feel. It even changes when certain enemies start chasing you. Not only is the ambience beautiful and immersive, but each enemy has a distinct noise they make when they are doing their own thing and when they attack or spot you. They are distinct enough to know even with your eyes closed what is right in front of you. Great design and I strongly recommend a headset when playing so you can get directional clues from where approaching enemies are coming from. It also helps the music whisper to you much like the black rain would. Wear a headset for the Rainmaker.
[h3] Suggestions [/h3]
I believe I found a bug in the diver loadout portion of the game. After getting multiple upgrades for the oxygen tank, the total number of air on the character does not include all the additional bonuses. In the actual Abyssal Pool, it seems to be the correct amount? The numbers not matching makes certain dives have setbacks.
Another issue I noticed is that the bestiary in the library only shows the head of the creature. Perhaps an update where if you defeat an enemy X number of times, or evade an attacking enemy X amount of times, you get to see the full body of the creature in the library, as if it was catalogued because of so many experiences with it.
During certain events, there is an option for one character to be sacrificed by another character. The sacrificial subject shows their player card when hovering over the option, but it does not show the other character’s player card that gets the buffs or debuffs, just their name. Seeing a player card for both characters involved would help make a more informed decision.
The humming serpent that gives you journey to new locations? Love that guy. What I do not love is forgetting which serpent I already fed deeper in the Abyssal Pool. Perhaps some sort of icon over them or even a different color text to show that you already explored what his one had to offer?
