A Fisherman's Tale is a unique take on the VR puzzle
adventure formula. In the game, you
inhabit the body of a living puppet – as you experience key moments of the
fisherman’s life, through the eyes of the pupper inside of a model
lighthouse. From seeing the initial
trailers, you would be intrigued to find out more about story of this title, as
not much actual gameplay was shown prior to release. And being honest, this would cause many to
not have high expectations for this game or even dismiss it altogether – but
that is where A Fisherman's Tale would be able to shine and be an unexpected
surprise once you dive below the surface.
The story’s premise is simple, a Fisherman stranded by a
storm in a lighthouse, when he has a twist of reality experience with a tiny
puppet. In the lighthouse, you
experience an inception level event that only could brought to life using the
power of VR. As you look up you see
multiple levels of reality, putting the sense of scale into perspective.
Interaction is achieved through the use of 2 PS move
controllers which represent the players left and right hands respectively. In true VR fashion, you have a pair of
disembodied floating gloved hands to complete the experience. There is no full locomotion here, as all
movements are done through teleportation by using the move button and selecting
the desired warp location. There is 45
degree snapped turning mapped to the X and O buttons and the triggers are used
for picking up objects and clenching fists and option selection. There is no Dual Shock 4 support at all.
Now that the controls have been covered, let’s move on the
graphics. The graphics are crisp and
clear for the most part with objects having high resolution textures and sharp
edges. Unfortunately, there are some
times when anti-aliasing is noticeable.
The world is vibrant and colorful in some places and dark and dreary in
others, with each level feeling unique and distinct to each other.
Being a puzzle adventure game, there are a variety of
puzzles that must complete in order to progress the story. The puzzle here are actually well thought out
and fun to complete. They make full use of VR medium, sometimes in very
interesting ways – interweaving in the overall narrative. However, don’t expect too much of a challenge,
as they are simple to solve and hints can be enabled for additional help if
needed. In most cases, you can see the
solution steps ahead of time, and simple trial and error can be enough to
figure things out.
Voice acting and sound design is nicely done. With the both English and French voice dub
being done by the same actor. The
overall mode and tone portrayed by the narration helped sell the overall
experience and having voice acting that is actually good, which is a rare find VR
games, is a nice addition indeed.
Despite of all its positives however, the one disappointment
with A Fisherman's Tale is that it wasn’t longer. The entire game can be completed in under 2
hours. Maybe 3 or more for achievement
hunters seeking to get all trophies and the platinum. Whilst the story is self-contained and
reaches a satisfying conclusion, at the end you do feel yourself wanting more
time in this world and stories that could be told.
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| A Fisherman's Tale (Lighthouse Entrance) |
All in all, A Fisherman's Tale is an exceptional experience that can only be fully appreciated in VR. It’s a definite much play for fans of point and click style puzzle games and alternative method story telling experiences.
