Goddess of Victory: Nikke, a third-person sci-fi shooter, is collaborating with Dave the Diver on an event. Launching on July 4, the event features the summer update, which is ideal for summertime as it introduces a brand-new underwater minigame that blends Dave the Diver’s gameplay with Nikke’s characters.
If you haven’t gotten a chance to play it yet, Goddess of Victory: Nikke is an RPG that can be played for free on PC, Android, and iOS platforms. You take on the role of a commander guiding the Nikkes, a group of troops, into combat against extraterrestrial invaders. To try to retake Earth, you can switch between Nikkes to fire their different guns or use their special powers to accomplish missions.
The action-adventure game Dave the Diver, which is Nikke’s most recent collaboration, sees you spending your days diving into a constantly shifting body of water and utilizing a harpoon gun to hunt fish of various kinds and sizes. After that, you work nights at a nearby sushi restaurant, choosing the menu based on the fish you manage to catch.
In honor of their new partnership, directors Yoo HyungSuk (of Goddess of Victory: Nikke) and Jaeho Hwang (of Dave the Diver) responded to a few inquiries concerning their shared background, future goals, and other topics.
Can you share the story behind Nikke’s collaboration with Dave the Diver? How did this opportunity arise?
Yoo HyungSuk: Korean developers created the video games Dave the Diver and Nikke. Since our Nikke team enjoys playing creative games in general and Dave the Diver in particular, we happened to talk about collaborating. Furthermore, Dave the Diver is a great example of a game that seamlessly blends several gaming genres with its casual management gameplay and diving features. Additionally, Nikke has consistently worked to provide players with fresh experiences by releasing a variety of casual minigames in distinct iterations, such as a tower defense minigame for its 1.5-year anniversary and a survival minigame for its first anniversary. Together with Dave the Diver, we intend to offer players unique experiences by using their knowledge and experience. Therefore, it is an honor for us to work on this joint initiative.
Were your team members familiar with Nikke before the collaboration?
Jaeho Hwang: Since a large portion of the team plays Nikke, it’s reasonable to say that we were both excited and worried to receive the request for partnership. This is due to the fact that the two games’ platforms and artistic philosophies differ greatly. In the past, Nikke partnerships have mostly concentrated on narrative and characters, so we were interested to see how this partnership may incorporate Dave’s gameplay into Nikke.
Nevertheless, upon obtaining the test build, we observed that the Nikke development team had expertly merged Dave and Nikke, resulting in an amazing synergy between the two games. We are even more thrilled about this collaborative event and are incredibly appreciative of it.
Goddess of Victory: Nikke has maintained a lively atmosphere since its 2022 release by frequently organizing cooperative events with other video games and anime, such as Nier: Automata, Chainsaw Man, and Re:Zero – Starting Life in Another World.
What’s the concept behind each partnership with Nikke?
Yoo Hyung-Suk: Our objective is to make the collaboration IP as enjoyable as we can. Although we produce these games and cultural stuff, our primary role is to consume games and cultural content. We value the works with which we collaborate, and we hope that Nikke will allow you to rediscover the original work’s goals and enjoyment. We anticipate more interesting and varied chances for future partnership.
Will Dave the Diver be hosting any unique events or activities to go along with this partnership?
Jaeho Hwang: Obviously, we’re going to include a boat skin with a Nikke theme into Dave the Diver. Kindly anticipate it!
Which gameplay or distinguishing features that can provide users a fresh experience are anticipated to be included?
Yoo Hyung-Suk: As a result of the two games working together, you’ll be able to see sequences with Dave the Diver and the Nikke characters together. And it will be fun in a different way to dive as a Nikke figure rather than as Dave. We created a brand-new minigame that mixes the traits of Nikke characters and weapons, incorporating the gameplay of Dave the Diver’s sushi restaurant and fishing company into Nikke. We think players will be pleasantly surprised by this.
What is your assessment of Nikke’s special edition Diver Nikke (Mast, Anchor, Helm)?
Jaeho Hwang: We’re happy to see the endearing female diver characters in Nikke as Dave the Diver doesn’t have many female characters. Specifically, Mast’s costume received a really positive response from the squad. Wetsuits can be charming and sexy, it turns out! Perhaps Duff will come to like the characters created by Nikke above those created by Leah!
What were some of the most difficult obstacles you faced when creating the game, especially in relation to the Dave the Diver crossover?
Yoo HyungSuk: We worked very hard to faithfully present Dave the Diver in the Nikke world. It was both difficult and satisfying to create a fun Dave the Diver experience for mobile devices, since Nikke is accessible on both PC and mobile platforms.
How did you manage to blend Nikke and Dave the Diver’s different approaches together so well?
Yoo HyungSuk: While Dave the Diver and Nikke’s gameplay may appear to be very distinct from one another, there are some similarities between them. For instance, there are some shooting components in both games. This time, we’ve integrated Dave’s underwater weaponry with the distinctive features of the weapons wielded by Nikke characters, enabling users to operate various Nikkes and enjoy a unique diving and fishing experience. We tried to create a visual experience that was distinct from Nikke, so we stuck to Dave the Diver’s original artwork.
Could you discuss your design concepts for this collaboration’s minigame?
Yoo HyungSuk: Nikke’s minigames tend to offer a more casual experience, while Dave’s game content is extensive and comprehensive. As such, the design process’s challenge was to combine Nikke’s distinctive components with a simplified framework that preserved the spirit of the original gameplay. We believe the final product will be enjoyable and offer you a new gaming experience.
What more can Nikke gamers anticipate from this partnership?
Yoo Hyung-Suk: The cooperative minigame allows you to capture different kinds of fish. You can play a fishing minigame in the Nikke event field separately. We think comparing the different kinds of fish you can catch in each minigame would be entertaining for a lot of you.
What factors were taken into account when creating the new minigame for Nikke?
Yoo Hyung-Suk: Goddess of Victory: Nikke is primarily an arcade shooting game, but we’ve always made an effort to provide a variety of entertaining features, such as co-op mode, puzzle games, exploration, character development, and narratives. In order to give every Commander a more varied and comprehensive experience, we have created a wide variety of minigames.
In what ways does this minigame and collaboration differ from your previous experiences?
Yoo Hyung-Suk: While the minigames we have created up to this point have been quick-witted and simple (like roasting skewers), Dave the Diver is actually a more involved game. We have combined the two games’ settings in this partnership so you can fully experience the enjoyment of Dave the Diver in Nikke. In addition, we plan to expand the range of interesting and varied genres that the Nikke minigames offer.
The summer update includes more new content than only the Dave the Diver partnership. It goes along with a summertime event called Beauty Full Shot, where you go on a beach vacation with the Nikkes.
How does this partnership fit with the theme of the summer event, in your opinion?
Yoo Hyung-Suk: We will be launching Beauty Full Shot, Nikke’s summer event, in conjunction with our collaboration with Dave the Diver. The narrative of the event centers on the player (commander) and a few Nikkes who are on holiday by the sea. We’ve planned a range of activities so you can make the most of your summer break by going undersea and to the beach. We hope that everyone may enjoy a cool summer with Nikke and Dave the Diver.
The developers of Nikke and Dave the Diver have promised to keep fans updated on both games and hinted at future releases.
What kinds of joint ventures do you envision coming up?
Yoo Hyung-Suk: Nikke has already participated in a number of collaborations and will do so going forward. In particular, this year’s partnership strategy is a surprise. Watch this space for additional developments!
Recently, Dave the Diver commemorated its anniversary. Could you briefly outline the main initiatives and important ambitions you have for Dave the Diver going forward?
Jaeho Hwang: A DLC containing the new story of Dave the Diver will be made available. We are putting a lot of effort into developing it, and we’ll do our best to provide pertinent information as soon as we can. Furthermore, we are internally debating the potential of revealing more of each character’s backstory in the game because a lot of people enjoy the characters in Dave. Please continue to watch!