I keep searching in vain for the holy grail of fishing video games. One that simulates the feeling of being on the open water, casting out my line, and basking in the glory of nature without ever having to leave my living room.
While The Fisherman: Fishing Planet provides an entire world for anglers to explore, it sadly doesn't give us a compelling reason to stay on this fish-filled planet for very long.
Fish As Far As The Eye Can See
The Fisherman: Fishing Planet does have a pretty impressive amount of fishing bang for your fishing buck. There are several different breeds of fish to catch, lots of locations around the world to fish in, and tons of fishing equipment to adorn your fisherman or fisherwoman (the word "fish" is going to be used a lot in this review).
Players buy fishing licenses in order to travel to such exotic places as Missouri, the Czech Republic, or Alberta, and then try to complete various missions to get more credits or the alternate currency called "Baitcoin" to buy gear, bait, and more licenses.
In terms of fishing simulators, this is probably the most extensive and realistic one I've played yet. There's a lot to keep track of in Fishing Planet, such as which bait to use to snatch certain fish, the rod or reel that'll help you get a bigger and better catch, the time of day and type of weather that allows for the best bites, etc. It goes into such deep detail about the ins-and-outs of fishing that I could probably go out and catch a lake trout right now with what I've learned.
The Fisherman: Fishing Planet almost feels like a cross between a fishing game and Destiny, as there are various tournaments and timed events to take part in. Other online players will show up in your session to fish alongside you, although few of them ever interacted with me. Still, it was nice to have some company as I reeled in some smallmouth bass.
Some Problems That Should Have Been Tackled
With everything you can do in The Fisherman: Fishing Planet it could have been the ultimate fishing game, except for one nagging little issue: It's not particularly fun.
For some reason, your angling avatar moves like their legs are made out of concrete, and even when they run, they travel at the speed of an arthritic baby-boomer. To make matters worse, the actual act of fishing doesn't feel all that great. Everything feels too flimsy, and catching a fish feels like a slow, arduous process, especially with some of the harder fish you encounter later. Which I suppose is how fishing can be at times, so it continues the game's sense of realism, but it just felt boring and repetitive after a while.
There is a decent amount of difficulty as you encounter bigger fish in the later locations, but getting to some of these new fishing holes can be surprisingly expensive. Sometimes buying a license can cost thousands of your in-game dollars, and you might have to spend a significant amount of time obtaining as much sealife as you can to increase your funds. Add in the extra gear you need to be an effective outdoorsman, and what should be a soothing hobby becomes a very costly venture. That's not even taking into account the fact that some equipment can only be bought with Baitcoin, which can take forever to accumulate. Some fishing packs can be purchased with real-world money if you want, but I wasn't about to spend my cash on some digital tackle.
At Least The Fish Look Fishy
I played The Fisherman: Fishing Planet on the PlayStation 4, and the graphics and performance certainly didn't impress me. Now, this is a pretty niche genre, so I'm not surprised when developers don't have the budget to make the surroundings appear photo-realistic. But I feel like in a game where the goal is to simulate the great outdoors, it helps if the swamps and lakes you visit at least look interesting and inviting.
Thus, it's hard to get invested in this Fishing Planet when all the zones are pretty bland. While there are some unique spots, most levels look fairly similar no matter what part of the world you're in. Almost every character has the same dead-eyed stare, and the customization options are limited unless you want to spend some of your hard-earned money or the aforementioned Baitcoin. On the bright side, the actual fish look good, and it's easy to tell the difference between the breeds, so that might be where all the graphical attention was focused.
What should have gotten a little more focus was the overall performance. Considering this is simply a game about catching fish, there was a disappointing amount of stuttering, freezing, and loading. It never outright crashed for me, but this isn't a game that should be pushing my console to the limit. Maybe it runs smoother on a PlayStation 4 Pro, but on my regular PS4, it seemed to have issues with me catch my crappies.
I Think I Want To Visit A Different Planet
I only found out after playing The Fisherman: Fishing Planet that it was originally a free-to-play game that was turned into a $40 release afterward, which does explain the existence of Baitcoin a little bit. There is a substantial amount of content here that might make it worth the full price over the free version, although aside from a supposedly better in-game economy, I'm not 100% sure what else was added in. There is a lot to do, and I learned more about fishing here than I have from any other game I've played in the genre. I just didn't enjoy my time with it.
With its sluggish gameplay and expensive travel, The Fisherman: Fishing Planet turns a pleasant hobby into something that feels like a full-time job.
A PlayStation 4 review copy of The Fisherman: Fishing Planet was provided to TheGamer for this review. The Fisherman: Fishing Planet is available on Playstation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
The Fisherman: Fishing Planet