I have been priviledged to follow this game from it's blocky beginnings to it's wonderfull improvements. For more precise review details and to give you an idea of how The Fishery has evolved, please visit [url=https://davirichar.wixsite.com/reviews]David's Reviews[/url] where I posted all my comments and reviews since version a0.101 of The Fishery.
[h1]The world[/h1]
The Fishery has a vast and large open world that feels free and uncluttered. It's easy to navigate and does not feel combersome. You also feel the freedom of nature being able to roam arround the vast opened spaces without too much limits. You start in your cabin with a little lake to test your controls and fishing mechanism. You can travel with your car to 1 lake, for now, the author states that more will come later. It's fun to not have a seperate map and overly complexe driving mechanism. You are greeted with a simple list of locations, 1 for now, with information on the type of fish available, the price for gas and some basic information. Once you click on the lake, you are being brought there instantly. So no hassles, simple, yet effective way to give a feeling of size and freedom to the game.
[h1]Controls[/h1]
The game features the all mighty "WASD" controls to move your character arround. The "E" key to activate a few things, "1" to get your fishing rod out and "X" to choose your bait. You use a combination of right and left mouse buttons to do your fishing. The game's controls feel awkward because of this mixture. Some things could clearly be controlled solely by the mouse while as others by the keyboard. The author has updated some aspects of the interface which makes thing less blocky or modular. The help in the game is basic and the author has improved on the tutorials but for now it's still basic and in need of a bit more love. Although the game feels awkward to control, the controls work fluidly and the game feels responsive. You won't get stuck or feel slowed down anywhere. While some other games harrass you with mandatory things to do and long animations in the user interface, This game has none of that, simple, effective but still classy and responssive. I think the authour should give us a chance to customize our controls or maybe make some of them more intuitive. For example, the "1" is pretty far away from the movement keys while as the "X" key is positionned in an awkward position when moving. This makes us constantly look at our keyboard to reposition our hands properly.
For the mouse controls, I think some simplification could be done. We use the keyboard for moving and the mouse is not used anywhere else than for clicking on the overlay screens and for fishing. The left and right mouse buttons are never used simultanously. I think the mouse controls can have more work but with the new fish system, things are getting easier.
[h1]The fishing mechanism[/h1]
There again, the author goes simple. There is not head-breaking controls. Although the mouse controls are quite special and need some get used to, the mechanism is pretty simple to understand. Right mouse button throws your line in the water and goes further the longer you hold the button down. A small "DISTANCE" meter helps you visually to cast your line. A little floated dissapears after a few moments telling you it's time to pull your line. Right there, a mini fish fighting mechanism appears where you must time your RIGHT mouse clicks properly to try and pull your fish out. There is a nice reeling system to fight the fish trying to get it out. Some more work has to be done to adjust a few things but the author makes the futur promissing.
[h1]Sounds and music[/h1]
For the music lovers, I'm telling you, there's no music yet BUT this does not mean that the game is boring. The author filled this emptiness with some very nice, subtle naturesque sounds which make you really feel inside a forest and gives a nice immersion to the Fishery's world. I personally do not like music in most games and I am not bored with the sounds of the nature in The Fishery. I do find that there is a lot of sounds missing for user-interaction. Hovering buttons and changing bait type in the bait buying screen and other subtle elements could use some fine-tuning and a bit of love. The lack of sounds and sound effects still don't feel to empty because of how the game is played, mainly fishing quietly, peacefully, hearing the birds singing. I also think the game could make use of some positional sounds like frogs or the occasional duck quacking, some flies or bees, some wind and leaves rustling. Seeing how early the stage of this game is and that it is still VERY playable and enjoyable, I think the futur will simply get this sorted so I am not affraid of seeing futher devolopement soud-wise.
[h1]Graphics[/h1]
I have a pretty shared view concerning this. I LOVE that this fishing game is pixel-graphics. No fancy trying to look like true to life sceneries. Just a plain old retro top-down sandbox pixel-graphics game that makes you feel like you are really playing a game on your spare time. The style is simple with some commonly seen graphics. The trees and some other elements add some nice touch and look good. The down point is actually the lack of elements in the game. The areas feel empty and big. There is no diversity and colors. Although we are mainly in a forest, we should actually see a variety of shades of green, some brown and slight yellow and red touches here and there along with additional elements like weathered tree trunks, mushrooms, flowers and leaves. The game feels flat and needs more attention. I was priviledged to be part of the early game process where I had seen some rabbits hoping arround at the biginning but now, there's almost no life. An ocasional bird could be welcomed flying by, some pesy flies and insects, frogs and maybe a worm peeping here and there. We need something to make us look at other things that just the plain lake. The lake color is also too blue, looking like I am fishing in the ocean, but this is still in early access so I have very strong trust in the excellent quality of the upcomming versions because I have seen where the game came from and it has been a very huge enhancement. The author is also very attentive to comments which makes things easy and interesting to test and work with.
[h1]Gameplay[/h1]
You are not rushed or pressured by anything. At any moment you can exit the game which will save your progress. This is actually very welcomed and makes the game unstressfull and fun. There is a simple leveling up mechanism which brings a sense of moving on in the game. You gain experience by fishing, who knew!!! The Fishery, a fishing game, give's experience when fishing. Pretty logical and actually well thought. I love that the leveling up is actually not complicated. Things get interesting in HOW you level up. Although the fish catching is simple and actually welcomed in it's simplicity, you always have one major decision to take. Sell your catch or release your catch. Selling gives you experience and money while as releasing gives you no money but way more experience. This brings a nice touch of what you want, money, or experience. Money is used for bait and driving your car while as experience unlocks other baits which in turn unlocks the possibility of catching other species of fish which can sell at higher prices. I really love that you are not wasting time in trying to find merchants or constantly moving back and forth to your house to do stuff. You take your decision and there you go, money in, experience in, on with the next fish!
A very fun game to discover as the new releases come in with a responsive author attentive to his player's comments and suggestions and easily accessible through The Fishery's discord channel.
