I said, time and time again, that I actually like
sport games. There’s just something I like in being able to practice a sport
you might not have the budget or the tools to play in real life. Personally, I
enjoy fishing video games. My only complaint is that most of them really want
to mimic reality by having realistic techniques, realistic-looking fish… I
dunno, I’d love to get a bit of realism out of the way, and turn what would be
a boring fishing game into a great experience.
Hello, Fishing Master: World Tour! This little Wii
game uses a dose of realism, what with many kinds of bait, many lengths of
fishing rods, and dozens upon dozens of real fish to catch. However, it also
has some crazy competition taking place all over the world, naggy rivals, legendary fish and
creatures that can be caught, special baits to catch those legendary animals,
and oh so much more. This game combines unrealism with realism, resulting in a rather fun
mix. As an example, you can catch METALLIC FISH! All you need… is a magnet as
bait! No, really!
We’re in for a crazy worldwide trip across all the best
fishing spots. Jump aboard our boat, we’ll make you see all kinds of weird
stuff!
The game’s story starts as our Animesque protagonist
receives a call from a lawn gnome, who can barely move and whose lips never
match what he’s saying. …Oh, pardon me, this is actually “Gramps”, or as he
says, you can call him Grandpa. Yeah, he does look like a lawn gnome, doesn’t
he? Or maybe he's Fishy, the missing eighth dwarf. Gramps embarks you on a majestic
quest around the world, a fishing competition where the best fishermen – and
fisherwomen! – will gain majestic rewards, as well as the title of Fishing
Master.
Wait. An old man, supposedly an expert in a certain
field of expertise, sends off a child into an adventure where he must catch,
and possibly document, all the species he discovers during his trip. Add to
this a kind of competition where the child can earn the title of Master. Now
where have I heard of that before…
…Nah, that’s not it.
Anyway, “Gramps” has decided to help the young angler
that you play in this game; he has made a boat available, with captain and all.
But the character needs a registration card, so you must choose an appearance
for your character (5 different bodies, three boys, two girls), and then you
give yourself a name. Being always ever so creative, I’ll call mine… Nicolas –
What the Hell do you mean, six letters maximum??? After which you must bring a
pet along; you have the choice between a puppy or a kitty. …I’ll go with the
puppy, I’m allergic to cats.
‘ATCHOO!
Sorry.
You also name your pet, and then select your State or
country of origin. I can’t even pick Quebec… And thus registration is complete.
You then show up in Nagoya Port, the first fishing spot, and meet the captain
of the luxury ship that will bring you across the world. Time to start fishing!
I hope you can throw it far! |
Hook, line and SINKER! |
But of course, it doesn’t stop there! You have a wide
selection of lures, from earthworms to plankton to waterweed… but at the start
of the game, you only have access to two lures, earthworms and lugworms. Where
do you get the others? There are shops in every region you visit, and you can
buy new lures there. With which money, you ask? …Not money, actually. See, at
the end of a day, the Captain will tally up your catch and give you points
based on the size of the fish you caught. Each fish has a base number of
points, and the captain will give that amount of points for each plus a bonus depending on the fish's size. You get lots of points when you catch big fish, and even more when you catch huge fish. And yes, those points are treated as money in this
game; you use these points to buy over 30 different types of bait as well as
new fishing poles with longer reach, better strength... Now, why all the shop owners in this game
accept points as money regardless of their location on Earth, that’s a question
for the ages. Is that it? Is the world of Fishing Master World Tour functioning
on a worldwide economy based around the points you collect when fishing? Like,
if I have enough points from fishing all this fish, could I buy myself an
escort? How many fishing points for a ticket to Six Flags’ La Ronde?
Whaddaya mean I can't go to the amusement park, I have to keep fishing?
Also, why are all the shopkeepers looking the same? I mean, unless some woman in an Asian country had nonuplets, and they all loved fishing, and they all set up shop everywhere around the world, and they're all identical...
Um... Dude? The pink fish are over there. |
Wait, rewind a bit. What’s that? “Plot-relevant catches”? Yep. It’s not
frequent, but it happens. As an example, you know, our ship’s captain? He lost
the friggin’ boat’s key. He can’t leave this corner of Japan until you retrieve
it. Clearly we are dealing with unprecedented professionalism here! It’s not in
Fishing Spot #2, Lake Yamanaka, but it can be found in Spot #3, Arashiyama.
Anyway, you get the key for him, and he can finally bring you to a completely
different place: ‘MERICA!
But before that, I still have a few more things to
explain. The captain will often have missions for you. You don’t really need to
complete them, unless they’re plot-relevant. These missions usually involve
catching a certain type of fish, sometimes in a certain amount. Of course, you get more points at
the end of a day if you completed a mission, so I suggest you try to complete
these missions as they appear. However, you can complete only one mission per in-game day.
And of course, there are plenty of things to help you
on this quest. In a fishing spot, you can press A to access a menu. There are
many options:
-The tackle box, where you can change your bait or
your rod. Note that you can already change your bait on the fishing spot by
pressing 1 on the Wii remote. However, this section is useful as it changes the
selection of fish in the current fishing spot when you leave it, allowing a few pink
ones to appear…
-Status, in which you can check your status details,
the titles you’ve earned so far, the missions given to you by your ship’s
captain, and finally your cell phone’s e-mails.
-The ice chest, in which you can see all the fish –
and every other thing, useful or not – that you’ve caught today.
-Your cell phone, on which you’ll frequently receive
e-mails. Those will give you advice on each fishing spot, such as which baits
work best here, what kind of fish can be caught, any oddities you can come
across…
-Letting your pet sleep for a few hours. Now, don’t
get me wrong, I’m sure it has a purpose. I just haven’t found it yet.
Basically, you skip a few hours, it also resets the fish in the current fishing
spot, allowing new ones to appear. I suppose that's all it's there for...
-Leave fishing spot: Self-explanatory.
By the way, why do you travel around with a pet?
Because, sometimes, when you run around the small patch of land from which you
cast your line, your dog or your cat can come across free bait to add to your
inventory. They can also grant a greater chance of combos that temporarily
paralyze the fish you’re trying to catch, or find other bonuses. So, they’re not ultra-useful, but
it’s still a neat little touch. Especially if they find a type of bait that you need.
Another mechanic in this game is the rotating
seasons. You see, the season changes every few days; first it’s spring, then
summer, then autumn, then winter, and so on. Some locations are unavailable on
certain seasons only, so plan your trips carefully. Also, some species of fish can
only be caught during certain seasons. This includes the pink fish, which are
highly sought after. This means a LOT of mechanics to take into consideration.
That’s why I like this game. It’s complex, but once you understand how everything works, you have a blast with it.
So, the second part of this quest brings us to
‘MERICA, the land of quirky card game inventors, shameless cheaters and burger
eaters. Oh, and plenty of normal people too. The first stop in America is, of
course, Hawaii. Here, your character is fishing on a boat, so you can’t trust
the fish shadows. However, you can try trolling (that is, aiming for the places
where there’s underwater movement, as revealed by splashes). Hawaii is probably the first location in the
game where all your fishing talents are put to the test. The captain’s mission,
here, is to catch a rather rare fish that only responds to certain kinds of
bait… basically, what’s gonna become the norm later on.
Oh, by the way, this is also the first place where
you can see and catch some truly epic creatures. As an example, the Plankton
bait isn’t very useful here, as it catches only one type of fish… but that’s
one fish that is guaranteed to put up one Hell of a fight, and a fish that’s
guaranteed to be huge: The manta ray.
I CAUGHT A TWENTY-THREE FEET LONG MANTA RAY IN
HAWAII. NO, REALLY.
AWESOME.
The next spot you unlock is San Francisco. If you
buy the Glove bait, you can catch a baseball there during summer. Also, this is
where you meet a smartass kid with a smug grin. I could call him Proto-Gideon
Graves, but I have a feeling that this will be our rival, the same way Blue was
Red’s rival. Hey, can I pick his name? I choose to call him Keith. Pretty
please, tell me his name is Keith…
“Keith” leaves after calling himself superior and
letting his smugness reach critical mass. I have a feeling it will be
extremely satisfying to beat this guy in the fishing competition. That or I can
throw my 23ft. manta ray at his face.
I guess I’ll spend Part 2 discussing the plot in
greater depth… See ya!
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