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Wii

Japan

Family Fishing

by Michael Cole - July 25, 2011, 8:40 pm EDT
Total comments: 1

TYP explored the waterways of XSEED and Prope's resort island in an early demo build. Did he find a new favorite fishing spot? Read to find out!

Around E3 2011, NWR had a chance to play an early build of the Japanese version of Family Fishing for Wii (a.k.a. Fishing Resort in America). Fishing Resort is being developed by Prope and will be published in America by XSEED. Currently planned for a Fall 2011 release, this unexpected title just may be worth biting on.

Fishing Resort places you on a resort island and tasks you with exploring and fishing in both the ocean and lakes for a variety of aquatic animals. In the demo we played, we walked around on foot in town, rented a bicycle for quicker access to the beach, and then cast off from the shoreline and from a kayak. Players can customize their Mii-like avatar, and catching fish earns you points to spend on clothing and additional fishing gear. One of the game’s goals is to go on missions to collect specimens for the town’s aquarium, and although we weren’t able to explore it, preview footage showed you are able to walk around the aquarium at your leisure and look at the various exhibits. The preview footage also showed a wide variety of climates, from bayous to ice fishing. The island’s non-playable characters and crafted locales were reminiscent of Mario Golf on the GBC and GBA, with a laid back atmosphere not unlike Endless Ocean.

The fishing mechanics themselves were intuitive, if a bit simple. You cast with a fling of the remote and reel with the nunchuk, and can shake the remote to entice fish. Both bobbers and lures were available for our shallow water ocean fishing, although, being early in the game, our character only had one type of bobber, bait, and lure. When a fish bites, you yank the remote to set the hook, and then must tilt the controller and reel in strategically to minimize line tension and land the fish. 

The main game is clearly designed such that you will become “stronger” over time by gaining better gear. As such, we found ourselves fighting fiercely against fish from the shore, only to discover our epic battle was against a sardine or shrimp. The XSEED representative and preview footage assured that there are indeed larger fish to fry; one portion of the video showed a marlin. Fish are ranked by size and letter grade, which influence how many points you earn. The XSEED representative said there will be at least sixteen locales to fish and over 200 species to catch.

The preview footage also indicated there will be some quirky side-games. In one multiplayer mini-game of note, the camera shows a cross-section of a body of water, with players standing side-by-side on one side. Players cast their lure to a target on the other end, and must reel in their lures carefully so that their lures sink and rise within a desired path in the water.  

Overall, I found the demo quite an enjoyable romp. The gesture for casting was surprisingly finicky, but otherwise, the motion controls for reeling and steering the fishing rod felt pretty good. The music that played when fighting a fish was overly repetitive in the demo, but hopefully that will be improved in the final game. Prope isn’t aiming for a realistic fishing simulator, but from what I played, as a fishing game it felt quite authentic. Hunting for good fishing spots and patiently placing your bait was simple, laid-back fun, and the light RPG elements seem to do a decent job of fleshing out the experience. Whereas Twilight Princess was an adventure game with a little bit of fishing, this game can be thought of as a fishing game with a little bit of adventuring. The formula looks promising, as long as it will not ask players to fish for anchovies and krill for 20 hours before getting anywhere.

Check out some off-screen footage of the game below.

Talkback

JasonMaiviaJuly 26, 2011

Looks to be one of the better fishing games ever made for any console.  The exploration bits makes it cool, like We Ski & Snowboard.

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Family Fishing Box Art

Genre Simulation
Developer Prope

Worldwide Releases

na: Fishing Resort
Release Nov 22, 2011
PublisherXseed Games
RatingEveryone
jpn: Family Fishing
Release Aug 04, 2011
PublisherNamco Bandai
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