The first Fisherman’s Tale was a clever puzzler that made use of a recursive lighthouse as the crux of its problem solving. Now, in the sequel, you assume the role of the titular fisherman’s daughter. You have a cluttered basement loaded with some elaborate dioramas. It turns out that when you were a kid, your Dad would use these to tell elaborate, highly amusing stories. And the game comprises those tales.
The writing is exceptional, combining silly, off-kilter humor with sombre morbidity in a manner not dissimilar to that of What Remains of Edith Finch. The game effectively conveys a plethora of meaningful anecdotes about your parents and yourself, all without sacrificing puzzle quality.
The puzzles are great, offering up wacky scenarios with equally wacky solutions. While the first title primarily worked off a recursive environment inside a lighthouse, the sequel is all about using different “kinds” of hands to solve nautical puzzles. Need to cut a rope, but you only have regular human hands? Simply take one of them off and slot in a crab’s claw to snip the rope. While there are only a handful of different types to equip, there are plenty to make puzzles interesting.
Of note, your regular hand can be controlled when detached, so you can skitter through vents if need be, while a hook hand allows you to climb walls, and so on. The attachments are all fairly standard, but as they are your hands, you can only have two of them, so it’s up to you to figure out what the right combination is. The puzzles are never too difficult, but they’re just creative enough to make you think.
The environments are richly detailed and incredibly vibrant. The individual levels you complete, as well as your basement “hub”, paints the picture of one of the better looking PSVR2 titles to date. This is further elevated by a great soundtrack, featuring a wonderful original score and some excellent sea shanties.
PSVR2 helps makes the game look incredible, but things feel a bit let down by the PSVR 2 Sense Controllers. Attaching hands can be awkward as the round base on the controllers tends to get in the way, and controlling detached hands is less than precise in regards to turning and moving in a specific direction.
That’s a pretty minor problem in the grand scheme of things, though, and Another Fisherman’s Tale is every bit as worthy of your time as the first.
Comments (23)
Sweet! I enjoyed the first game on PSVR, so the sequel was always on the cards for me with PSVR2 👍
Will be picking this up today, alongside Walkabout Mini Golf... Good games to break up playing Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
This looks really good, I'd certainly love to give this a try soon. Great review, thanks Graham!
@gbanas92 I guess my questions for this are:
1) Do I need to have played the first to get some references in this one?
2) About how long is this?
3) Is the first one coming to PSVR2? Do we know anything about that?
Too much to play currently, so will continue to wait in the hope of a bundle with the first game.
This is coming out now, too?? Wow, people keep saying vr2 is doa and meanwhile I can't manage my backlog/wishlist!
@ztpayne7
1. Some of it would be helpful sure, but the references are mostly just visual callbacks. I wouldn't say having not played the first is an issue.
2. Probably about 2 hours? It's not terribly long, just slightly longer than the first one!
3. Not that I know of, though I'd definitely play it if they did that!
@gbanas92 thank you for responding!
Ugh just bought this.
Am I missing something or is this hot garbage?!
Controls are awful. Especially controlling the hands. Particularly when you need to turn around and walk the hand back towards you. Your hand is pointing to the 12 o clock, but sometimes it struggles to rotate past 9 o clock or 3 o clock. If you throw it a tad too far, it's often easier just to recall it. If it were a radio controlled car, I'd get a refund.
Talking of which, if using the snap turn, you only need to move the stick to 3 o clock and 1 second, and it will do a full 180 instead? Very confusing, as you want to turn 45 degrees to the right for example, but if you move that stick so much as 1 mm further than 3 o clock (easy on the PS5 controller due to the symmetrical stick layout) you end up facing backwards and lose your bearings.
Worse still, I load up the game, play through the starting beach area and get to the point where I'm on the pirate ship (not spoilers as this is shown in all the reviews).
I escape the cage, do a number of tasks in adjacent areas, and then end up in an engine room. At that point I have to go and do something IRL. Can't see a save option? Am I missing something?
When I come back later, I'm back in the cage again, having lost loads of progress?
At the moment I wouldn't even give this a 5/10.
Removed - trolling
@TrickyDicky99 dear God. You never stop.
@naruball
Tell me about it. Look at the situation here. We've got this dude, who's wasting his precious time trashing a video game technology he has zero interest in, while putting PSVR2 owners down for investing their own time and money into the thing. Speaks volumes about his character. Must be one unhappy guy. Best to click the ignore button.
Anyways, i really enjoyed the first Fisherman's tale. It one of the more magical VR experiences that left a stronger impression amidst the lower budget forgettable indie affairs, with it's beautiful art style and just it's bizarre dream-like scenario. This one looks like it's going to render the original obsolete in every way imaginable.
That aside, I wish more PSVR2 games required the player to dit down and use a duel sense controller for a more traditional VR experience, while gaining stereoscopic 3D, life sized characters & environments and being transported into the game world itself. I mean heck, they could Port over Mega Man 11 as a VR 'Side scroller' with the following benefits above while playing identically with a controller as you would on a flat screen. And of course the game's play-style would remain the same, as in you'd see what you see on a TV(not through the eyes of mega man obviously).
@NEStalgia
You and me both
Resident Evil: Village
Moss Book 2
Another Fisherman's Tale
Red Matter 2
Hello Neighbour
Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord
Pistol Whip
Resident Evil 4 Remake VR
Pixel Ripped 1978
Hellsweeper VR
Paradise Hotel
Organ Quarter
The Last Clockwinder
Walkabout Mini Golf
Tin Hearts
The Light Bregade
What the Bat!
StarWars: Galaxy's Edge
Horror Bar - (Unless I'm mistaken)
Cosmonius High
etc
And I really hope they port over Vertigo 2..Leaving it left for dead on Steam VR would be a crying shame. And of course an Astro Bot Port and new sequel, Resident Evil 7(They could even VR-ify RE2 & RE3 Remakes)along with the much lauded Half Life Alex.
@NeonPizza Yeah I've seen others lament that trend in VR to focus ONLY on first person, hand-control stuff and not offer more traditional controller games but in full 3D. Hopefully that changes at some point. I get that the hand controllers are entirely unique gameplay you can't get elsewhere, and it really is the unique gameplay feature you can get only in VR, and that's technically what "VR" is (playing 3rd person isn't really virtual reality, it's just 3D surround TV) but there's a lot VR could add to those traditional games.
Then again, I'm now an NMS addict like the WoW addicts of old, so what do I know....I just hope wearing out my controllers won't result in losing the whole kit, because NMS will surely wear out controllers with all that L3 clicking to run!
I'd also actually quite like some more controller games.
Afterall my favourite PSVR2 game is GT7.
In my cramped space, those hand control games just don't work. I have a very narrow place to stand, and for example after throwing my head up on a shed and trying to lean around a beam or something and look where I was driving my hand, I kept going outside the narrow boundary and it pausing the game.
One of the reasons why games such as this frustrate me, although that's not a defence of the general poor controls in this game.
I just received my PSVR2 but after playing resident evil village I’m a little bit nauseous. Do any of you guys have tips on the following:
1. Image is sometimes blurry. I adjusted it multiple times through recalibration but sometimes it’s still a little bit blurry (especially RE: village)
2. How to get over this feeling. Does it get better? Or have I just spent 600 euro on a vomit machine (mind you this is my first time VR).
3. Is it me or does VR feel more like a workout than expected? Horizon feels like I’m literally climbing mountains (in an exhausting way haha).
Happy weekend you guys
@Sanquine
1. So the calibration will be helpful only up to a point. Make sure to have the headset on the main menu of the PS5 (I find this the best place to mess around because there are so many more words on screen than normal. Easier to tell how in focus everything is!) and start messing around with basically all the knobs on the front of the headset haha. There's a "scroll wheel" that dictates the spacing of the lenses horizontally, move that around until it feels tight, but not painful on your head. And then after that, start moving the front of the headset up and down trying to find the "Sweet spot" where everything is more in focus. It's infamously a very narrow space where everything looks right with headsets, and PSVR2 seems to have an even smaller sweet spot than normal!
2. It SHOULD get better. VR sickness can be disorienting when it's brand new, but as the brain gets more comfortable with how it's being tricked, you should start to notice the nausea being less of a problem. For some people, it never goes away, but if it's something you intend to do basically every day, you should start noticing it get less problematic within like....2 weeks? Not completely gone, but at least better. I don't personally get motion sick much, and I was completely adapted to VR in about a week when I first started? It seems to vary quite a bit person to person! But once you've adjusted, it's so worth it! VR is marvelous, and I love it!
3. It varies from game to game, but isn't it awesome!? I use a lot of rhythm games intentionally as supplemental forms of exercise. If you like music games, Pistol Whip is incredible, and you'll be exhausted if you play it for a while haha. Same with Beat Saber once the PSVR2 upgrade is released!
@NeonPizza Hard agree! Definitely not enough experiences like that. The 2 Moss' definitely being the strongest examples of that for me
@gbanas92
Totally! Moss 1&2 and AstroBot: Rescue Mission are the only three Quality VR titles i can think of that break free from the first person VR shackles.
There was another on PSVR1, but it eventually got canceled. It was called Star Child. Visuals were very impressive. But it controlled like some first wave PS1 2D platformer. But, it was a brilliant VR showcase of what's possible for a Sidescroller Metroid-like experience in VR, and because of that it made the 'vanilla' platforming and simplistic controls a lot more forgiving.
Demo is available on PSVR1 btw >
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDkfVVNkFTs
Once I've stopped playing Mini Golf I'll tale a look at this
@NeonPizza Yeah, Astro Bot too! Oh I remember Star Child! That reveal trailer had an earworm of a song haha. Definitely wouldn't mind seeing more games experimenting in that particular region of gaming. Especially given how good some of the ones who have tried it have been
@gbanas92
1. thanks will follow up your advice
2. Glad to hear that! Was not really that sick but felt woozy
3. It’s super awesome. Is pistol whip also on PSVR2? Do you know if the saints and sinners games are good?
@gbanas92
We definitely need stronger variety and more traditional styled gaming experiences instead of everything being in first person 'first person' VR with motion based hand controls. I still want that of course, but the novelty wears off after doing it so many times and in the end you just want great games That aren't first and foremost reliant on funky indie visuals, S3D and motion controls. Those are all important, but there's numerous VR titles that feel very samsey.
Aside from a side scroller mega man sequel in VR, they could even do it with the recent remaster of Klonoa. Imagine how surreal it would be to feel like you're IN those dreamy imaginative stages, with a sidescroller spectator view of course. Typically what happens in this case, like with StarChild is that if you were to look to the very far left and right hand side and especially behind you, it's usually mostly black with minor environmental effects since you're supposed to be purely focused with what's in front of you.
But i guess it depends. Moss 1&2 usually have a lot going on all around you, being the slight overhead/3rd person Diorama-like VR experience that it is. Problem with Moss though is that it would be nowhere near enjoyable if it were flat screen-ified. I don't think either would even be worth playing on a flatscreen...Both games are heavily reliant on stereoscopic 3D and pitting the player in the world, in conjunction with motion based interaction like in M2. Moss 2 btw, is a wonderful VR showcase for anybody curious to jump on board.
I still feel like RE: Village VR should have an alternative control scheme that allows you to use the duel sense controller while aiming with your head like in RE7 VR. As much as i enjoy using motion based hand/arm aiming, while being able to use a flash light in one hand while holding a handgun in the other, and even grabbing items inside my jacket, it isn't perfect. there's the odd motion jank from time to time and I'm sure it might get tiring for many who would rather just want a more traditional gaming experience, but in VR while gaining S3D, life sized characters & environments, and feeling like you're IN the game.
@Sanquine Yeah woozy sounds about right. Definitely sounds like pretty standard VR sickness, so I'd expect it to get at least a little better each subsequent time you play!
I haven't played the newest Saints And Sinners myself, but I played 1 on PSVR1 and was very impressed with it. Surprisingly immersive and detailed in how you can interact with the world. If the PSVR2 versions are anything to go by, I'd say they're very much worth your time!
And yep Pistol Whip did indeed get ported over to PSVR2!
@NeonPizza Honestly I don't know if I agree that flattening out Moss would make them not enjoyable. I think they would absolutely lose some of their impact, but I think if I were only ever privy to a non-VR version of those games, I would still love them.
They're exceptional examples of what we're talking about in regards to VR though of course!
I think RE: Village it might just be some degree of being lost in translation since the game wasn't entirely built with VR in mind (even though I'm sure they knew they were gonna be making a VR version before the game launched). Incorporating a number of alternate control schemes seems like such an easy way to allow for people to be immersed in just the way that they choose
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