Right from where we left off. Dave has saved the day, defeated Yawie, restored the Divine Tree and saved the Blue Hole.

If you’re like me, you never wanted the game to end. So you continue to play the loop, completing every remaining morsel to completion because you never wanted the game to end.

You’re way past cooking cucumber dishes and venturing into foggy missions into Dredge to earn gold. Otto’s farming contract has been paid off for the next couple of years, you’ll never need to buy another vegetable seed or compost as you’ve bulk bought like you had a membership at Makro!

Your two restaurants are practically running themselves, you’ve hired every staff member in the rolodex, they are all trained up and sent out daily for spice until their eyes are glowing blue.

You’ve already figured out that you can bulk send fish to your restaurants, and I’ll pretend like I never stupidly hand-picked fish by number from the fish farm almost until I completed the game.

Nowadays the Thresher Shark and the Narwhal are laughable as you casually catch them for sport with your Steel Net Gun and Modified Hush Dart. Days have begun to slow down as you live out your retired days playing Balatro, searching for your remaining Godzilla figurines and waiting for another visit from the Mushroomer.

Until that beautiful day…

18 June 2026.

After a panicked visit from Dr Bacon in his boat and a frantic phone call at the restaurant, Dave, Cobra and Bancho leave behind the Blue Hole for an entirely new adventure.

This time, the trio head to Ultara Village deep within the Setah Jungle, where a mysterious dinosaur has washed up on the shores of the village lake.

Your mission is to uncover exactly what happened.

Alongside your famous trio, many of your favourite characters from the Blue Hole gradually return throughout the adventure until the gang is finally back together.

There are plenty of new villagers to meet as well. You’ll spend time helping them with side quests, discovering their favourite gifts and slowly earning their trust.

One of my favourite quality-of-life additions is that once you’ve discovered a villager’s favourite gift, a small heart icon appears over that item whenever you speak to them, removing all the guesswork.

New additions such as the wonderfully eccentric Muna and your new gunrunner help the expansion feel fresh while still maintaining the charm of the original cast.

One of the biggest gameplay changes is how time now progresses.

Unlike the Blue Hole, where most of your day revolved around diving, Ultara introduces a visible clock that continues moving whether you’re on land or underwater.

Your day now becomes a balancing act between exploring the lake, completing village objectives and venturing into the Setah Forest.

As evening arrives you’re automatically called back to Bancho Grill before squeezing in one final night expedition. Stay out too long and Dave will definitely feel it the following day.

Bancho once again opens a brand-new restaurant, but this time things work very differently.

Freshwater fish can’t simply be served as sushi, so grilling becomes the heart of the new menu. You’ll gather herbs, fruit, flowers and meats across both land and water to constantly improve your dishes.

The fish farm has disappeared too.

Instead, you’ll spend time helping Otto maintain crops while defending them from hungry pests.

The restaurant staff are fantastic once again, featuring plenty of brilliant crossover cameos that I won’t spoil here. Some even bring unique serving abilities that genuinely affect how efficiently the restaurant operates.

Things quickly descend into controlled chaos as you’re trying to perfectly grill skewers while simultaneously swatting monkeys away before they steal your customers’ meals.

The upgraded weapon system is excellent.

Instead of constantly swapping equipment, your gun now behaves like a Swiss Army knife, allowing you to switch between shotguns, rifles, sniper rifles and net guns while upgrading along two separate progression paths.

I also loved the expanded melee options.

The boomerang quickly became my favourite thanks to its versatility once ammunition runs low.

Thankfully the pickaxe is no longer treated as a collectible item, meaning you can freely gather resources without sacrificing combat effectiveness.

Combat on land also receives a huge expansion, introducing RPG-style equipment, armour, abilities, healing items and progression systems that constantly reward exploration.

Fast travel has also received a complete overhaul.

Forget the Beluga Taxi.

Dave now happily scoots around the village on a tiny red scooter, which genuinely made me smile every single time I used it.

The new world map also feels like a natural evolution of the Sea People Village navigation system, making exploration feel much more structured.

Underwater, the previous collection of scooters has been replaced with a single rechargeable version powered by pink crystals found throughout both environments.

It quickly became one of my most valuable pieces of equipment.

As expected from Dave the Diver, the mini-games remain one of the biggest highlights.

I particularly enjoyed the shooting range and duck hunting sections throughout the forest, both of which felt surprisingly polished.

Meanwhile my son constantly stole my controller whenever the animal stacking and horned beetle competitions appeared.

There’s even a rhythm-based guitar mini-game that feels like a love letter to Guitar Hero.

The fish in Ultara Lake completely change how you approach underwater exploration.

You can’t simply rely on old strategies anymore.

Different species swim, defend themselves and attack in completely unique ways.

Some even dodge your attacks like Neo from The Matrix.

The larger fish are immediately more dangerous and the boss encounters require actual preparation before heading into battle.

I quickly realised how much I’d relied on the Steel Net Gun towards the end of the base game.

This expansion reminds you why catching fish was so satisfying in the first place.

Unlike the original game, you’ll spend almost as much time on land as you do underwater.

Whether you’re completing favour missions, gathering materials, fishing from the shore or engaging in tactical RPG-inspired combat throughout the Setah Forest, the developers have clearly invested heavily in making the surface just as enjoyable.

Tactical combat isn’t normally my favourite genre, but I found myself warming to it far more than I expected.

By the end of the game it genuinely felt like the developers had succeeded in making both halves of the experience equally rewarding.

The Jungle feels far closer to a full sequel than traditional DLC.

Rather than simply adding more content, the developers have built an entirely fresh adventure that introduces memorable characters, meaningful gameplay improvements and new mechanics while refining almost every aspect of the original game.

It constantly celebrates different genres including simulation, Metroidvania, puzzle games, tactical RPGs, rhythm games and platformers, yet somehow manages to blend them all together into one cohesive experience.

Very few expansions feel this ambitious.

This one absolutely does.

• Massive expansion that genuinely feels like a full sequel.
• Streamlined weapons, improved combat and excellent quality-of-life upgrades.
• Bancho Grill remains just as addictive with plenty of fresh mechanics.
• Brilliant variety of mini-games and memorable new characters.

• Tactical RPG combat and the increased focus on land exploration may not appeal to players who preferred the cosy, underwater-focused gameplay of the original.

Yes, the expansion is available on Xbox Series X|S.

Yes. The expansion continues directly after the events of the main story, so you’ll get the most out of it after completing the base game.

Not officially, but it feels much closer to a sequel than a traditional DLC thanks to its new mechanics, locations and story.

The expansion adds a substantial amount of content, with dozens of hours available depending on how much side content and restaurant management you complete.