Hey all. I’m back with a rather quirky and comedic RPG. It’s my Nice Day for Fishing review.
Plot: The plot of this game is that you take on the role of Baelin, a random low level NPC fisherman in the fantasy world of an a massively multiplayer online RPG. Baelin’s world goes a little haywire when all of the human players in his fantasy world suddenly disappear, leaving only the NPCs to run things.
Because Baelin is an active NPC and not just like a shopkeeper, he is one of the only characters in the world who can potentially handle all of the typical problems that pop up in an MMORPG world. Things like monster bosses that are normally handled by human players are starting to run wild in the world, and it seems like Baelin is one of the only people who can step up and actually do something about it.
The story premise isn’t actually something new to me. If you read my columns, especially my Bookish Wednesday ones, you will find lots of stories that revolve around NPCs suddenly becoming empowered in one way or another. However, this is the first time that I’ve encountered where I can personally play out that kind of story in a video game instead of reading it in a novel. And Nice Day for Fishing is available for the Nintendo Switch, where we reviewed it, and also for the PC through the Steam platform.
Characters: Baelin is an NPC with only a couple lines of dialogue, which is all he needed in the MMORPG when there were human players there all the time. This is where the title’s name comes into play, since “Nice Day for Fishing” is one of the sayings he used to spout out whenever a human player came around. It’s highly amusing to see him respond to every piece of dialogue from other NPCs with those few lines of dialogue, since that is all he can say.
Honestly, the entire premise is kind of silly, and while I’m not generally into long running gags, I didn’t mind it too much in Nice Day for Fishing, which was a bit of a surprise for me. It is very well done. The rest of the characters are also entertaining, like the “Important Main Story NPC Sorcerer” who is an absolute narcissist with his dialogue.
Gameplay: Where Nice Day for Fishing differs from most other RPGs is the fact that Baelin really does stick to his only skill, fishing, to accomplish everything. That leads to some really bizarre boss encounters. This includes combat, since all fishing essentially becomes an RPG battle. In combat, you are encouraged to button mash the X button (or the equivalent on the PC if you are playing through Steam) to reel in opponents as the most basic means of “combat.”
Yes, it’s possible to just hold down the button instead of mashing it, but it takes longer and is less efficient. And when you’re relying on every second you can reel in a fish to avoid taking damage from anything over level one, it’s going to be something you do regardless of how much it can cause carpal tunnel. I’m unfortunately not getting any younger, and while I don’t have carpal tunnel in any true sense really, I don’t enjoy my hands being sore either.
Of course, there’s the timing mechanic to avoid taking damage from enemies, and it’s highly useful to “parry” a fish’s attempts to escape from damaging your line. It’s not the easiest thing to accomplish, especially for someone like me who can’t hold a rhythm to save my life. Oh, I can accomplish it, but it’s not a mechanic I enjoy because I can never perfect it. Those who also have trouble with rhythm gaming should take note.
Music: The music fits the title pretty darn well. The voice overs though are something that stand out and are highly amusing to hear whenever Baelin responds to a question with the titular “Nice Day for Fishing!” The voice cast did a great job.
Art: Nice Day for Fishing is fully done with a pixel art style, just like we recently saw with another fishing game called Cast n Chill. I really do enjoy titles that use this art style and both Nice Day for Fishing and Cast n Chill look great.
Overall: Nice Day for Fishing is fun and highly amusing, but it can be hard on your poor hands if played for long stretches of time for us adults, although kids will likely have an easier time.
For those who like: Fantasy, Comedy, Fishing and RPGs.
Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.