Dave the Diver is an indie adventure game developed by Mintrocket and features a mishmash of genres such as management and RPG infused with a relaxing all-around vibe. While Dave the Diver is marketed as a ‘cozy’ game, which it is, you will still need to contend with the occasional aquatic threats, specifically deadly (and often gigantic) bosses.
The story primarily focuses on the titular Dave as he helps capture fish for a quaint sushi restaurant. As you progress through the game, you will unlock various tools and upgrades that will allow you to dive into deeper depths to capture rare seafood. You will need those upgrades as well, and the game will throw a myriad of dangerous nautical beasts your way, with bosses posing the biggest dangers and challenges.
8 Klaus, The Great White Shark
Klaus is a Great White Shark that you will encounter after meeting a gutsy old lady named Clara, who is hunting Klaus to avenge her husband. You will find Klaus in a cavern that you can enter by going into a water vortex, with the boss fight triggering immediately after.
Klaus can be a handful once he starts going all out in the second phase. The trick is to keep your distance and not stop moving around the area.
Using a Poison Harpoon will also significantly help in this boss fight, as Klaus can be a bit hard to get a bead on, so inflicting poison can help pile up the damage as you dodge his deceptively fast vortex attack. Once you beat Klaus, you will be treated to a short but sweet cutscene featuring the tough-as-nails granny.
7 Truck Hermit Crab
The Truck Hermit Crab will require some strategy on your part, as your conventional weapons won’t be able to make a dent in the humongous construction truck that it uses as a shell. Focus on gathering O2 tanks before the battle starts, as you are most likely going to need as much of it as possible.
The design of the Truck Hermit Crab is pretty interesting and should give you a clue as to what to expect further in the game. Damaging the Truck Hermit Crab will require you to use what’s in the environment, but utilizing said object will be easier said than done as this giant lobster has other tricks up its non-existent sleeves.
6 Mantis Shrimp
This is an optional boss that you can encounter in Chapter 4 as a side quest. The Mantis Shrimp is one of the more outrageously designed bosses in the game that can be hard to take seriously, but you definitely should.
After you stop snickering at the giant Mantis Shrimp wearing equally enormous boxing gloves, you might want to immediately go for the weapon cache right beneath you.
You won’t be able to damage this boss as long as his guard is up, and you should also be extremely cautious once he starts winding his perfect "one-twos," as the Mantis’ reach is deceptively long and is lightning fast. Memorizing the Mantis Shrimps’ stance changes will allow you to anticipate what attack he’ll throw.
5 John Watson
Somewhat of a rival character and a recurring villain in the game, you will be facing off against the ill-tempered leader of Sea Blue a couple of times in the game. The hilarious irony of John Watson, an eco-terrorist who does more harm to the ocean and takes himself too seriously, is a perfect foil for the relatively chill and fun-loving Dave.
The fact that John Watson is also a full-blown hypocrite with a Messiah complex makes it all the more fun to beat him down several flights of stairs. Defeating him in your first encounter is all about being patient and waiting for the right opening to counterattack.
Your second meeting in Chapter 4 will be a bit different, as John Watson will now be equipped with a mech diving suit. Grab the baseball bat in the cache at the bottom, as it will be crucial in this boss fight.
You’ll actually encounter him a third time, but it won’t be an actual boss fight, and you finally get to see him get his just desserts. Or he becomes the just dessert, to be precise.
4 Giant Squid
The first boss you will fight is also quite memorable, with a nice buildup to your eventual encounter. You will first meet the Giant Squid as you hunt for artifacts left by an ancient civilization.
The introduction to the Giant Squid is a frightening one, which is odd for a supposedly relaxing game. You will only get to see its giant eyeballs, but the sheer size of them is enough to trigger anyone’s thalassophobia.
The boss battle is pretty straightforward and won’t give you too much trouble. It is in the setup and impeccable tension building that the Giant Squid truly shines and makes it one of the best bosses in the game.
3 Kronosaurus
You will probably be celebrating when this ancient aquatic dinosaur makes its grand entrance, but that will be short-lived once it shifts its attention to you. The Kronosaurus is not only as big as a freight train; it also hits like one, and if you’re not careful, you can be knocked out even before you finish hatching a strategy.
The Kronosaurus might just be the hardest boss in the game, as while it only has a handful of attacks, one of them is extremely hard to avoid, and all of them can shave off a huge percentage of your oxygen. Maintain focus, dodge, and keep throwing everything at the Kronosaurus, and you’ll finally be able to send it back to its extinct classification.
2 The Giant Gadon
From typical giant aquatic monsters to full-blown Lovecraftian nightmares, the Giant Gadon seems to be from a totally different game that got mixed in by the developers. This chained monstrosity is already pissed off with the experiments it had to endure, and now you come barging in and waking it up from its slumber. Obviously, it won't be happy to see you.
This encounter is less a fight and more of a run-for-your-dear-life scenario. You will need to navigate through the dark halls and get past obstacles while the Giant Gadon is giving chase in a manner similar to Little Nightmares.
The gist of this boss "fight" is to keep moving and don't screw up the QTEs.
1 Yawie
As the final boss of the game, Yawie pulls out all the stops and is one of the longest boss fights in the game, as you need to overcome four phases to defeat this ancient monster.
Yawie is a colossal Anomalocaris, which translates to "abnormal shrimp," with its weird combination of a shrimp head and a centipede’s body. So, yeah, it’s pretty good nightmare fuel if you think about it.
Fortunately, you will receive a new weapon to contend with Yawie, which will also transform this boss fight into a side-scrolling shooter. Keep firing and dodging anything Yawie throws at you, and use all the abilities you have unlocked as you see fit.
The remaining phases are relatively the same except your new weapon will get a powerful (yet slow) laser beam attack, and Yawie will also throw some curveballs right back at you, so stay on your toes.