There was a time I would have loved just one Fishing RPG but now they’re coming thick and fast.

The latest, coming from FusionPlay is perhaps the quirkiest, most meta one yet. Nice Day for Fishing is about as tongue in cheek, Monty Python esque a game in 2025 as you’ll find.

From its ludicrous live action trailer, to the back and forth banter you have with the main character, Baelin and the entire town of Honeywood. Or, at the very least, the all powerful sorceror who claims to be the real town’s savior.

This game doesn’t do things traditionally. For one, you’ll be using things like garlic and pine nuts as bait for fish. You’ll also be able to attach a magnet to collect chests from below and even use wave currents to access seemingly unreachable areas.

There’s even a fun easter egg where you can use a wriggling Worm as bait. A lovely nod from Team 17.

And the theme gets weirder as rather than actually just catching the fish, you’re actually kind of…in a battle with them? Cast out your line and grab onto a fish, at that point you mash buttons and cast spells in order to lower their health bar and bring them closer to the surface. But be careful, if they turn and face the other way, any button mashing takes down your line’s health and your stamina.

At that point, you actually have to defend the fish’s attacks with blocks and even parries that reduce the health you’ve lost and even quicken how much you can get back on the offensive.

It kind of works, but is also a slog at the same time. The game quickly becomes a bit of a button masher, especially when you try to reel in the higher level fish. You’ll also find when casting a line out, you’ll often catch fish you don’t want and when you try to line up with currents, you get pulled in directions you don’t want to go. It quickly becomes a bit tedious.

Then there’s the boss battles. Which also kind of freshen up the action a bit and require some strategy as you have to repel against projectiles and ‘fight’ against some truly ferocious creatures. It’s a cool way to break up the action at least and adds an interesting dynamic to the story as you grow and rebuild the town.

On top of that, you’ll be able to go walking on foot or by boat to check out new areas and level up the town to keep a sense of progress going through the game. Which is necessary with all the backtracking you’ll find yourself doing. Of course that happens a lot in RPGs but this felt all the more blatant and obvious here.

And look, I’ll be honest, I don’t really know or follow the crew who are behind the madness of the game – I’m aware of them and their cult following – and to be honest, I think a lot of the in-jokes, humor and flair is only really going to be picked up by that community. This game feels very much for them, and that’s great!

Of course, I still had some fun here and got a good chuckle out of some lines and enjoyed some of the gameplay loop. It’s an interesting idea and definitely has a charm and sense of humor to it that you can easily get swept up by. It’s a little bit Terraria with its style but also lends a lot from the likes of Stardew and Starbound.

But it’s also a game that you can enjoy for a while and feel like you got your fill after a short while. It does keep iterating on the format which is nice and there is some real creativity in the bosses, the spells help keep the balance of gameplay fresh and thinking on your feet as you claim each fish does at least keep you playing.

Ultimately, though, the game has a good sense of humor to it that keeps you laughing – despite some jokes wearing a bit thin after a while – and mechanics that do a surprisingly good job of keeping the game interesting. A surprise package, to be sure.

Verdict

Nice Day For Fishing is a surprising package of humor and interesting ideas that are outlandish and unorthodox. Repetition does rear its head often though as the game generally becomes a mix of fetch quests and backtracking, and there’s some frustration with the catching of fish as the game degrades into a bit of a button mashing contents, but the aesthetics are generally eye-catching and despite it being tailored content to a fanbase, there’s cool attempts to keep the game fresh so anyone can enjoy it.