Nice Day For Fishing Review - An NPC Has Never Been This Cool

Fishing is the kind of thing that I would never do in real life, but I’m a sucker for it in a video game. I can’t tell you how many hours I’ve spent fishing in Animal Crossing, Dredge, Stardew Valley. Fish should be terrified of me. Especially now that I’ve played developer FusionPlay’s newest adventure game Nice Day For Fishing. 

In Nice Day For Fishing you play as NPC Baelin who lives in the town of Honeywood in an online adventure game. One day, the magician visits the town with a special item that causes all connection to be lost to the game’s server and turns Baelin into a great hero of Honeywood. Well, sort of. For some reason Baelin seems to be the only NPC that can take quests and fulfill them so he ends up a hero by default. But that’s okay! He’s happy to do it. That is, until a terrible monster attacks the town and destroys everything in the area. Now, Baelin will have to help the town, help rebuild it and venture far and wide to try and take down the monster so it cannot wreak any more havoc. 

When you first start the game, the mechanics are quite simplistic. Baelin is equipped with a fishing rod and the helpful town members that haven’t gone missing since the attack are more than willing to help him. Most quests require you to go fishing, to no one’s surprise and that’s where things get a bit more interesting. 

In order to fish, you’ll have to equip a specific type of bait. Normally, when hovering over a fish it will let you know what type of bait it requires. At the start you won’t have access to every type of bait but the more you progress, the more you’ll unlock, including a magnet you can attach to the end of your fishing rod to pick up treasure in the water. 

Once you cast your line and catch a fish, you’ll then be in a type of “battle” scenario. Each fish has a specific attack pattern you’ll have to learn in order to avoid losing the fish. Thankfully, you’re able to block and parry each fish’s attack. It’s not as complicated as parrying in something like a From Software game, but it can still be challenging against powerful fish that attack multiple times in quick succession. As you progress you’ll also unlock other items to help you with fishing like special potions or magic attacks. 

But things can get EVEN more complicated than that. Later in the story you’ll meet someone who is able to manipulate the currents in the water that will help you with reaching caves and areas that were previously unreachable. You just have to hover your line over one of the currents and it will follow the direction that it flows. This makes it so you can get special fish that you’ll only find in these hidden areas. Even more exciting location will open up as you progress until eventually it will feel like a completely different game from the cozy fishing adventure you started playing at the beginning.

My only gripe with the game is that, especially at the beginning, casting your line and landing in the location you’re hoping for can be a bit finicky. There were many times I was incredibly close to a piece of treasure, like nearly touching it, but I had to fully recast my line and reset to move a quarter of an inch closer in order to grab it. Also, certain fish move incredibly slow and all fish simply move left to right on the screen which also causes some finicky moments when fishing.

Apart from those bits, and the game’s penchant for a bit of repetitiveness, I really loved playing Nice Day For Fishing. As simple as the concept seems, there’s a lot of hidden secrets and special moments you won’t be expecting. But most of all, the writing for the game is genuinely funny and makes you appreciate the often overlooked NPCs of all the games we play. If you love fishing games, Nice Day For Fishing is a wonderfully unique take that I’d love to go back to again in the future.

Breakdown

Game: Nice Day for Fishing

Developer: FusionPlay

Publisher: Team17

Availability: PC, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch

Reviewed on PlayStation 5

Final Thoughts

Nice Day for Fishing is way more fun than it has any right to be for a game that is completely revolved around fishing. The concept of an NPC turned hero is so funny as are many of the game’s characters who had me laughing out loud throughout. Slowly discovering everything that the game has to offer is hugely rewarding and makes it impossible to put down. Certain mechanics can get a little repetitive, but it’s a very minor thing that didn’t do much to take away from the enjoyment. If you’re a fan of fishing games or grand adventures, grab this one and you won’t regret it.