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- Developer: Dovetail Games
- Publisher:
- Genre: Simulation
- Release Date:
- Platforms: Xbox ps4 pc
- Reviewed on: Xbox one x
- Game Supplied by: Lick PR
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[su_accordion][su_accordion] [su_spoiler title=”About” style=”fancy”] Your journey into the world of angling starts here! From a beginner to fishing pro, you can improve your skills, upgrade your equipment, and master each gorgeous venue to beat your friends in multiplayer and live tournaments. Travel over 65mph in your boat across gorgeous bodies of water, looking for the ideal fishing hole. Test your skills on over 2000 acres of breathtaking lakes, such as Florida’s Lake Johnson, Lake Boulder in Upstate New York, the famous Gigantica Main Lake and a challenging stretch of the UK Canal! Use your boat’s GPS and Sonar to locate fish before choosing the right tactics to successfully catch them. Go after 18 different species of fish with hundreds of items of equipment including licensed tackle from some of the biggest names in fishing. Using our advanced AI and fish behavioural system, each species behaves differently — reacting to water temperature and bait choice — meaning you will have to choose your strategy carefully to help you land your prey. Take part in live tournaments against opponents from around the world with the aim of becoming a Fishing Sim World champion! Players can also opt to fish with friends in 4-player multiplayer, comparing catches on real-time leaderboards. [/su_spoiler] [/su_accordion] [/su_accordion]
With a slight change in name the Dovetail fishing sim is back with some big scaly upgrades, For those familiar with the previous dovetails fishing sim you are going to feel right at home.
So what is new this time around.
The big one, the fish, we not only have all fish from the previous game but we have the new additions that came to us in dlc the catfish, koi carp and that big old bass we all chase and feel delight when we reel in.
I think this was a obvious move we could have all seen coming as with any game really, but it’s still a massive plus for me.
With the new fish has also come new techniques, this time around you can’t just cast out and hope you catch the species you are after. No now there’s some actual tactic behind it, if you want to go hunting those lake monsters you need to think like a fisherman and take the advice provided.
A Bass will be hanging around in formations and cover so if you go casting into open water don’t be expecting too much, but if you go to an island with lily pad coverage and cast right along the side of it you could be reeling in your next trophy, I think this is a wicked mechanic to have included as much as i loved Euro fishing however it lacked a certain substance, that is the thought process i get when i go fishing IRL. This time around it felt much more authentic and it draws you in. When you spend the time finding the perfect spot and have real thought behind your set-up every hard fought catch feels that little bit more rewarding, Especially when you catch that boss fish you have been chasing for your trophy.(Oh yeah boss fish are still in)
The next best addition in my opinion is the lakes, i know lakes are not new, but these are not small lakes im talking huge open bodies of water that can take your breath away.
How do you traverse these huge lakes did you say? Boats, your own boat, that you can put skins on! Such a welcome feature that again helps you strategize and expand on your play style and beyond that it helps to draw you further in, i can’t express enough how consuming this experience was. My first time playing i thought get a quick fish in before bed, next thing i know it’s 1.30 am and im still playing on the same lake!
With all that in mind the only feature that took me a while to master was the strike, no more auto hook when that fish nibbles you need to quickly pull your rod up to hook it, this seems simple enough but when that game has done little to show you how, it’s quite hard and this moves me to that first big con. Tutorials, i know a lot of games usually just go “skip il figure it out along the way” but this again is not for a casual gamer, watch the tutorials. I hope you noticed i said “ watch” as thats the con, the tutorials are videos that don’t make you practice any of the shown mechanics, the strike in particular took me a couple of watches to master, and with no way to skip to parts of it, if you need to see the last minute again your watching the whole thing again, i wish they had just made you play through maybe 5 catches showing you how to use basic features and what everything means, rather than a pretty poorly made tutorial video.
Now the graphics, it is stunning, the world is gorgeous again it’s at that fine point where you just want to spend hours playing, and as much as the aesthetic may not mean so much to some people who are more here for the challenge to me fishing is a 2 part hobbie part one is catching fish part 2 is sitting back letting all your worries melt away and enjoying the ambience, and right there is where fishing world sim shines.
Even if you are having a hard time catching fish you will love looking around and taking in the world around you it’s truly in my opinion one of the single best things about this game. The only thing that could use some tweaking is the characters, not only is it the same cast from the last game but it feels like they have simply ported them, no texture improvements nothing, its the one thing that lets fishing sim world down in terms of visuals.
Supporting a stunning world we have some pretty good ambient sound, it’s nothing groundbreaking but it doesn’t fit well with the environment and setting.
Its something i feel you won’t overly notice when its there but you would feel its absence if it was not included. None the less it is there and it has been done well.
Lastly the game itself, it’s fun and very competitive, i get the feeling it has been angled massively to push you into online tournaments. This isn’t something that will bother me but i know there are still people out there who prefer a nice story / quest line to follow on their own away from online play and that is lacking the solo portion feels more like a training ground for online play.
The online play itself i think is wicked, live online match fishing is a great experience and about as close as you can get to the real thing without leaving the comfort of your home.
SUMMARY
All in all fishing sim world is exactly what it says on the box a fishing simulator, is stunning challenging and a great all round experience.
The only things that let this down are the tutorials and that i wouldn’t call it accessible to the more casual audience, but that to me could be fixed in way of better tutorials and guidance.