Nice Day For Fishing (PS5) | REVIEW | Catch Of The Day?

Team17 is back on the scene with another worthwhile indie inspired experience. This time they are tackling fishing, and using said theme as the core gameplay mechanic. The game or RPG in question, being that of Nice Day For Fishing, baits the audience with a unique fantasy adventure featuring a kingdom called Azerim and a little village within known as Honeywood that is filled with self-aware NPCs. This includes a particular fisherman named Baelin who just so happens to find himself as the lead hero of this fishy tale. 

As Baelin, a fisherman with a catchphrase one-liner about it being a nice day for fishing you'll find yourself minding your own business while making your routine rounds in the town of Honeywood. During said routine you are caught up, rather unwillingly, in the resident sorcerer's shenanigans. This leads to the unleashing of a Lovecraftian horror, and the disconnecting of all the online adventurers. In turn leaving the town of quest giving NPCs in a dire predicament. Without adventurers they have no one to fulfill their quest requests, and without them doing so they cannot rebuild their town from the destruction that was inflicted upon it. This is where Baelin steps in as the sole adventurer, a freak result of the unleashing of the sorcerer's ancient scroll and it's old god.

Baelin, being the basic fisherman NPC he is starts off with a basic rod and string at his beckon call. A tool with which he'll make his first catch, and will eventually build up to the heroic fisherman that the town of Honeywood never knew it needed. Through NPC quests, and repeated fishing across three main areas of interest you'll use your catch, and spend your pay to ready yourself for the tougher fish and Lovecraftian bosses that lie in wait within the depths of Azerim's lakes and seas. You will, in this quest, utilize different baits, different rods, and different rod attachments as you visit town vendors to gain added wares in the form of equipment, quest items, and even boats among other things. 

Out on the lakes and out to sea making use of your rod and reel is only half the battle as you'll need to master individual fish techniques as well. This entails figuring out blocking, parrying, healing, damage dealing, and mastering the useful skills learned from the friendly island elder god and the resident sorcerer. Each fish that you fish for quest givers or said elder god poses a different threat, and more often than not requires the use of multiple mechanics and items to pull the catch onto your boat. Be it a specific bait or specific skill. These fish, when caught, are ranked upon catch, and can be sold, given to a quest giver, or taken to the elder god to learn new useful skills that will come in handy later on. You'll also find that your rod acts as a means to fish for key materials, treasures, and key items that will be useful in quest completion. 

The end goal in this fish focused turn based RPG adventure is to ultimately get back all the lost adventurers through battle after battle of tug-of-war style fishing beholden to meters (Stamina, Line Health, Fish HP), applied mechanics, and the quests that have you engaging in such adventurous activities. Doing so will require dealing with tedious tasks from quest givers, fishing for EXP to level up, and facing the bosses that block your path along the way. Leveling up, as one might expect, builds up your three main stats including health, defense, and power, making fishing easier per level gained. The additional hats and rods you can buy from town vendors also adds stat boosts to Baelin for a price. Even treasures dropped from the bosses our found in the murky depths can yield equipment superior to what you currently yield.

The Presentation ...

Nice Day For Fishing is a 2D pixel constructed RPG platformer with a fishing gimmick. It features pint sized pixel people who act as both the NPCs, and adventurers. Even the old gods, and fish are perfectly pixel crafted giving them a distinct identity. In conversations NPCs each come with their own avatars done up in pixels as well as tacked on hints of voice-overs among the folk-like instrumental tunes that play in the background. As an indie it is a retro inspired experience through and through complete with more modern features.

The Verdict ...

With tongue-in-cheek humor and self-aware pokes at the RPG genre Team17 manages to create a comically captivating world in Nice Day For Fishing. Everything from character interactions to the gameplay itself creates a pleasant, and almost casually challenging experience once you learn the ins and outs of the given mechanics. It is a game that isn't so off putting through it's challenges that you'll quit in frustration, and in it's lenient learning curve it allows you to enjoy the story as it unfolds, quest after quest. If you haven't played it yet on PC I highly recommend you give it a chance on console. It will release on the 29th of May for the PS5. It is a worthwhile addition for fans of the indie RPG genre!!!