It may seem odd to hear that a fishing and sushi restaurant management game is inspired by the "Metal Gear Solid" series. But after playing "Dave the Diver," it makes sense. Sure, you spend a lot of time fishing and serving food, but there are also several stealth sequences in the game, including one where you have to slip past a pack of armed goons on patrol.

Huge cardboard boxes also make an appearance: ...... Although, of course, Dave is not as good at that sort of thing as Solid Snake.

I recently had the opportunity to speak (via email) with Dave the Diver's game director, Jeho Hwang, and asked him where the initial idea for Dave the Diver the Game came from and what his influences were. [It's like the Hawaii of Korea. 'There was a restaurant by the ocean there, and the owner would catch fish in the morning and cook them for dinner. When I saw this, I knew I could do something interesting with it, so I started designing a game based on this concept." [The restaurant was not the only source of inspiration for Dave the Diver; several members of Mintrocket's development team also came up with game concepts based on their own undersea experiences.

"Many members of the development team go diving on vacation and come back with new ideas to implement in the game. One of our team members is a scuba diver as a hobby. Last year she went to the Maldives and created a manta mission for the game, inspired by a video she shot herself."

As for the other games that inspired Dave the Diver, there were quite a few, and they were not necessarily the games you might imagine.

"When I was younger, I really liked playing a Japanese roguelike dungeon game called 'Tarun's Great Adventure': a spin-off of the Dragon Quest series. I thought it was a lot of fun because the gameplay involved going into a dungeon that changed shape, bringing back materials, and developing a town."

The influence can be seen in Dave's spearfishing expedition that takes place in the mysterious waters known as the Blue Hole. In this extraordinary undersea world, the map layout changes and the items found in it are randomized so that each dive is a little different and you never know exactly what you will find or where you will end up.

Fans have also cited underwater games like the beautiful and relaxing "ABZU" and the dangerous "Subnautica" as inspiration for "Dave the Diver." It may sound strange, but I really like games like "Metal Gear Solid" and "Like a Dragon" that combine mini-games and management elements with solid gameplay. They have inspired me a lot.

Fan also told us that he enjoyed another fishing game, "Dredge," which was released this year. Dredge" combines fishing with a Lovecraftian horror story. When not working on "Dave the Diver" (or diving themselves), they also try to find time to play "The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom," but "it came out right before the release, so I didn't really have time to play it," Hwang Mr. Hwang.

"Now that I'm a little less busy, I may finally have a chance to get deeper into the game."