Caught In A Wave Of Adventure
HIGH Cozy vibe and pixel art style.
LOW Gameplay can get repetitive.
WTF How many eldritch monsters can fit in one lake?
From a background extra to the star of the show, Nice Day for Fishing introduces humble fisherman Baelin who embarks on an adventurous journey to save his town from evil. In developer Jake Mackenzie’s words, this “quadruple A title”, developed by the popular Youtube channel Viva La Dirt League blends fishing, fighting, and fighting while fishing into an entertaining and cozy RPG.
Viva La Dirt League are known for their short comedy skits, which imitate NPCs in games. A while back they released a short film centered around Baelin, who is known for his looped lines like “Morning!”, “Nice day for fishing, ain’t it!”, and the occasional “Uh-huh”. Baelin’s monotonous life is disrupted when a girl named Willow journeys with him across the fictional kingdom of Azerim. Along the way, Baelin becomes self aware and grows like a player.
Nice Day for Fishing is loosely based on Baelin’s adventures, and the player controls him as he goes around completing quests for recurring characters from skits like Greg the Garlic Farmer and Bodger and Blacksmith. These quests are focused on fishing, finding materials, and fighting bosses. The controls are entirely on keyboard, with interactions using the letter and arrow keys. (No mouse).
The highlight of Nice Day for Fishing is the combat/fishing system. When the player hooks a fish, they have a limited amount of time to attack using the letter “E”. After a while, the fish attacks and the player must press the letter “Q” with correct timing to avoid losing health. If the player’s health drops to 0, their line snaps and the fish escapes.
This simple idea is made more engaging thanks to special abilities and unique fish. The bosses in Nice Day for Fishing are amusing to battle, with just enough challenge to stay enjoyable while still making the player work for it. For example, there is a Kraken that can stun and throw projectiles. The player has to use consumables and abilities at the right time to negate these attacks and dish out damage of their own.
There’s also a progression system between fishing trips that keeps the game engaging. As Baelin completes quests, NPCs will reward him with gold which can be used to purchase new items like rods, bait, and cosmetics. In addition to stat upgrades, these unlock new types of fish to catch and new abilities.
Another focal point of Nice Day for Fishing is the story. Without giving too much away, Baelin’s journey captures the adventurous feeling a good RPG should have. From sun-drenched shores to shadowy forests, the map is full of entertaining moments and the player meets many new characters along the way, with most NPCs having backgrounds and questlines that extend the lore even more.
Nice Day for Fishing is designed using simple 2D pixel art, giving it a platformer feel. The graphics are not focused on realism, but are instead used to create charm. The colors are detailed perfectly, and the lighting and background changes depending on the scene. These small details give Nice Day for Fishing a great atmosphere and an appealing visual style. The environmental design is also something that impressed me because the ecosystems and creatures are visually distinct, making it feel like I was entering new landscapes, even when I didn’t move much on the map.
Audio isn’t a major focus, but it’s solid enough. Hearing the Viva La Dirt League members voice their own characters is a pleasant addition for fans of the channel.
Nice Day for Fishing has clear strengths, it’s funny, unique, and charming. However, it can suffer from repetition since the fishing can get tedious. As the player progresses, fish only get harder to reel in, causing button mashing that sometimes lasts minutes. Also, although the environments are great, the map feels a bit limited due to the fact that I ended up visiting the same places over and over again. Lastly, story progression is a bit slow. Some of the quests felt like filler material and didn’t do much to advance the overall plot.
Nice Day for Fishing is a great mixture of humor, adventure, and chill vibes. If the player is a fan of Viva La Dirt League, there’s also many easter eggs and references to enjoy. However, even if they’re not, Nice Day for Fishing is still a lighthearted RPG adventure – just don’t expect anything too deep.
Rating: 7 out of 10
— Eddie Guo
Buy Nice Day For Fishing – PC – PS5 – Switch
Disclosures: This game is developed by FusionPlay and published by Team17. It is currently available on PC, Switch and PS5. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on PC. Approximately 8 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was not completed. There are no multiplayer modes.
Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated T and contains fantasy violence, language, mild blood, and suggestive themes. The player kills wildlife, fights monsters, and there is mild blood depicted in some fights.
Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.
Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game offers subtitles that cannot be altered or resized. Audio is mainly supplementary and does not directly affect gameplay, important dialogue is displayed on screen. I’d call this one fully accessible.
Remappable Controls: No, this game’s controls are not remappable. This game does not offer a controller map diagram, but the W,A,S,D, and space keys are used to move and the arrow and letter keys interact.
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