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A Fisherman's Tale

A Fisherman's Tale

If you're looking for a VR game that takes advantage of the medium, look no further.

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HQ
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A Fisherman's Tale is one of those games that can only really be done in VR. It's a shorter gaming experience with relatively simple gameplay, but wrapped around the straightforward puzzles we find exciting visuals and an engaging narrative. Add a mysterious atmosphere, and you've got A Fisherman's Tale.

You play as a lighthouse keeper who has a small model of his lighthouse in the middle of his living quarters, and one day a small version of you appears in the window of the model. When you tear off the roof to take a closer look, suddenly the ceiling of the room you are standing in is ripped off, and above you can see a bigger version of yourself, roof in hand. Past the giant, we see the top of the lighthouse model we find ourselves in, and above that an even larger lighthouse. On and on it goes.

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The game does not go on for very long, but moments like these make the length of the game almost irrelevant. This is specifically because it all takes place in VR. A narrative voice guides us through the dreamlike adventure of four chapters and ensures that the already simple tasks aren't dragged out too long.

It's really okay, though, because it keeps the action going, and doesn't drag the narrative out unnecessarily. The tasks consist of, for example, replacing broken pipes to fix the sink, but almost everything is tied up around the model tower in the living room.

One can add or remove objects from the model building in order to resize them. For example, if you throw a bowl out of the window, the little guy in the model building will throw a tiny bowl out of his window and onto your floor. If you put a bowl down into the model, you get a giant bowl dropped on your head. It's quite fun, but it would have been cool if some of these puzzles were a little more challenging.

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Although we think this is a game that does well in a shorter format, we still think it could have been a bit longer, both in terms of more tasks and letting the important scenes last a bit longer. We were rushed through some important moments before we were ready at least twice. It is a bit of a shame, but not a big problem, and when the end credits rolled across the screen we were left with a good feeling.

In other words, A Fisherman's Tale is a very good VR game. It leans a lot on simple experiences, but the exciting atmosphere keeps it going. Innerspace VR has also included some nice features, like being able to extend your hands forward by using the grip buttons on the Vive controller. This means you don't have to bend down to pick up anything you've lost on the ground. Laziness maybe, but it definitely came in handy. In VR games, it is not uncommon for objects to disappear out of reach or your field of view by mistake, and this little feature greatly reduced that problem.

A Fisherman's TaleA Fisherman's Tale

There is no shortage of action games on the VR market, with games like The Space Pirate Trainer and Arizona Sunshine, both of which are fun, and there's no shortage of more puzzle and narrative-driven games either, but few are as enjoyable as A Fisherman's Tale.

It will be exciting to see what Innerspace VR has to offer in the future, because if this is anything to go by we certainly have good things in store!

HQ
08 Gamereactor UK
8 / 10
+
Many fun "eureka"-moments, engaging story and good use of VR features.
-
Too short, not challenging enough.
overall score
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A Fisherman's TaleScore

A Fisherman's Tale

REVIEW. Written by Robin Høyland

"There's no shortage of puzzle and narrative-driven VR games, but few are as enjoyable as this one."



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