If you could go on an adventure, where would you go, what would you do, and what tales would be told? Adventure is about the fun and freedom that it brings. But what if you could be part of the story being told? Would it be as fun as it was puzzling? It’s always fun to think about what type of adventures we could go on and the things that we would try to do. But does developer, InnerspaceVR bring the adventure of its predecessor in new ways? Let’s find out with Another Fisherman’s Tale for PlayStation VR2.
Another Fisherman’s Tale, the sequel to the award-winning A Fisherman’s Tale, is a new mind-bending VR puzzle adventure. A poetic story with unique VR puzzle mechanics. Detach, Replace, and Control your hands, solve puzzles, explore new locations, and discover the truth. So before you go out exploring, there are a few things that you should be aware of. First, find your favorite place to sit. You earned the right to be comfortable. Second, clear your mind. There are puzzles here and you want to make sure you have no distractions. Third. make sure those Sense controllers are charged. You will be using your hands and you don’t want to be in the middle of a puzzle only to have to take a break when you are on the edge of solving it all because you forgot to charge them, do you? Fourth, I am not going to spoil anything for anyone and will only be showing footage from the earlier parts of the game. And finally, just have some fun. With all that said, let’s continue…
If you have played A Fisherman’s Tale, then you know how special that game is as it allowed you to see things from a different perspective. Now, that we have the sequel, it’s interesting to see how the developer took what worked and added to it. When you first start, you are welcomed to the Settings and Play Area menu. If you are going to play seated, make sure you mare the box for seated play. Once you have everything else the way you want it, it’s time to start the adventure. Just as in the original, you will play the role of Bob the fisherman. If you remember, Bob loves to tell the tales of his adventure and this time around, you get to hear the tales from Bob as he is telling them to his daughter Nina as she is reminiscing about her Father and the tales that he told as she was growing up. But this time around as you are playing as Bob narrates, your body parts can and will be used as part of the puzzle-solving which is an interesting idea and works for the most part.
But what the developer has done here is added cut scenes in between the chapters, where you learn that Nina is not a little girl anymore, as she has grown up and is missing the times with her Father. You can tell she is trying to hold on to every memory and even though she knows she has to do certain things, it’s the emotions that you can tell are hard for her as she is trying to hold them in and remember those good times she had and she does this with models she has that were and continue to be a special bond between Father and Daughter.
Throughout the game will you need to use the different parts of your body to help solve puzzles. At times, this can become a little challenging when you need to launch your head to get a better view to move your hands around to pick up certain items. When you launch your head, the haptics in the PlayStation VR2 shakes which adds to the immersion. But once you have the item in your hand, you can bring your hands back with the grip button to hopefully solve so said puzzle or at least get you in the right direction to solve the puzzles you will encounter. But, there will be times when just your normal hands will work. Luckily, hands can be swapped out with different “hands” such as the crab’s claw at the beginning and your head can be used to unlock doors challenging you to think outside the box on how to solve the puzzles.
Let’s talk about the graphics and sound. Another Fisherman’s Tale looks good on PlayStation VR2. Seeing the way your body parts and the way they interact with the environment around them is clear, colorful, and enjoyable. Even the subtitles were elementary on the eyes with no blurriness. With the sound, hearing the conversation between Bob and Nina, as well as Bob’s narration sounded great and had feeling and emotion, which is important. Hearing the smallest of the creaks and your footsteps as you move around to the music that didn’t overpower the gameplay sounded really good with the Pulse 3D Audio headset.
There are just a few things that I would love to see. First, an update to the turning mechanics. They do work here, but at times, it can take getting used to moving the hands and some players may find it more challenging than needed. Second, more use of the haptics of the Sense controllers. And finally, there needs to be a third game in the series. The developers have something special here and I can’t wait to see what is next.
Another Fisherman’s Tale takes what it knows and launches itself into a different way of thinking while keeping itself grounded in its roots. It’s not afraid to change things up and bring the player back into the fun of its story and puzzles. In life, we all have our favorite memories of growing up and doing fun things with our parents, and in return, we try to retain those values and pass them on to the next generation. But sometimes, it’s the more simple times in life that we sometimes can forget what can put a smile on our faces.
Another Fisherman’s Tale is out now for Quest 2/Pro on the Oculus Store, PlayStation VR2 on the PlayStation Store, and Steam VR. A review code was provided.
To learn more about Innerspace VR, please visit their site, like them on Facebook, follow them on Twitter, and subscribe to their YouTube channel.
To learn more about Vertigo Games, please visit their site and make sure you like them on Facebook, follow them on Twitter, and subscribe to their YouTube channel.
In case you missed the trailer, please enjoy. Until next time, I am going to try these puzzles again.
