About Fishing Simulator:
One of the better fishing simulators I’ve tried in recent years, though it still has room to improve. If you want a game that is realistic in attracting fish, this won’t really scratch that itch. Despite having a handful of methods to lure, the fish don’t behave like they do in real life (catfish and Halibut are not bottom dwellers) causing the side effect of no real difference between using a drag/drop and straight cast/reel other than giving yourself variety. The straight cast/reel and the sit and weight bobber and bait will get the job done as long as the game determined the bait/lure is something the fish likes. In the same vein, since there is no real bottom dwellers, the ground baits seem pretty useless and there is not real difference how much line you put between your bait and bobber. The tutorial is also a bit backwards in this game, where it doesn’t describe how you attract the fish until you actually hook your first fish. This makes those that have no practical IRL experience in fishing hard to pick up the game at first. If you are one of those that have ZERO IRL exp, expect a bit of frustration because the tutorial is on average one or two steps behind what you need to know. Toggling between imperial and metric units does not toggle it in the encyclopedia, so if you are not able to do the conversion from metric or imperial on the fly, you’ll need google to give you a rough estimate of max sizes of fish. However, if you want a game that as a mix of relaxing/casual fishing that also has some exciting fights, this is a really good fishing sim to pick up, even if you only pick up base game. While there isn’t much AI differences between the species of fish, you will learn pretty quickly that some fish do have different levels of fight and some different behaviors. Salmon do sudden direction changes that almost snap lines, trout zigzag about, halibut and grouper will dive down and marlins will run to try and exhaust your line. But that is about the top of the complexity for this game. After you learn how a group of fish behave, you can easily determine what’s on your hook and roughly it’s size. At this point, the game has a far more casual and relaxing feel where you just pick the type of fight you want. Want a long, drawn out fight? Go Marlin or Grouper fishing. Want something that you just reel in? Go for Bass. You basically pick your difficulty once you get to around level 15.
