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Normally, if I
commented with something along the lines of “There isn’t enough beer for this game,”
that’s a bad thing. However, when the central activity of the game is fishing, then it makes
perfect sense. You might be familiar with Natsume’s long-running series Kami no Nushi
Tsuri - known here in the west as Legend of the River King - a weird hybrid of fishing
and RPG with an unfortunate lack of beer. Given that precedent in translation, I suppose
Umi no Nushi Tsuri would have to be “Legend of the Sea King.” **** yeah, Seaking.
Anyway. A letter arrives one day, apparently informing this oceanside family that there’s
a video game filming right outside, which inspires the family member of your choice
to get off their butt and FISH. And in the River King series, fishing is kind of a big
deal. There’s a bait-and-tackle shop in town where you can spend your hard-won yen
to upgrade your rod, buy new sinkers, bobbers, hooks... and if you’re beginning to think,
“Man, this is kinda like Harvest Moon,” you’d be right! But Harvest Moon never had
RANDOM ENCOUNTERS. Yes, that scourge of JRPGs is back, as various wildlife will turn up
to just to bother you as you’re trying to get your fishing on, and must be dispatched
by taking aim and throwing rocks at ‘em. Crows, crabs, even... aww, man, I don’t
want to have to kill the cat! The internet will hate me! It’s just a kitty! It’s
my fault I smell like fish! Run away!
Awright. Now that I’ve run from that darn cat, it’s time to drop line in whatever
body of water happens to be convenient. After casting, you can kinda make out where the
fish are with your x-ray vision of fishing, so you might want to adjust your line a bit
to make up for the constant outward current. Once a fish bites, you’ve got a very small
window in which to engage the target - thus giving me terrible flashbacks to Pokemon Emerald.
At this point the display cuts to an underwater side-view, letting you see the adult death
struggle with the fish. The controls at this point are simple: Hold the “reel in” button
when the fish isn’t moving, and give up some line when it’s struggling. Try to pull
it in when the fish is active, and you’ll lose it (or, worse case scenario, break your
line). Successfully capture your prey, though, and you can sell it at the local fish market
and use the cash to upgrade your gear or travel to new fishing holes. There’s fishing in
most RPGs, usually relegated to a very basic minigame, but there’s enough complexity
here to easily carry a whole adventure. And if I don’t get some salmon RIGHT NOW, I’m
going to put my fist through a wall. ‘Scuse me.