I went fishing a few times with my dad when I was young and liked the thrill of catching fish but hated the hassle of having to get the hook out of the fish. With Ultimate Fishing Simulator on Nintendo Switch I can go fishing virtually and leave much of the hassle behind.
Bait them in
You might’ve expected it already but in Ultimate Fishing Simulator you go fishing. You cast your line in different locations to catch all sorts of fish. You’ll start out at a basic lake populated with common trouts. Finding the best fishing spots and trying out how far you should cast your fishing line can make a big difference in your success rate. The game proposes a few obvious spots on a map but you can also walk around freely to choose your own special spot. After finding your spot and casting your line the actual fishing begins.
Once your fishing float starts to move, get ready to reel in the fish. If you yank your fishing rod and hook the fish, you still have some work to do. The fish won’t just go down without a fight. When reeling the fish an indicator shows how much the fish is still pulling the line. Yanking too hard could break the line en let the fish escape which is obviously not ideal. The first type of fish you’ll catch won’t really give you much trouble but some harder to catch fish will surely do.
Sell or release
The aim of Ultimate Fishing Simulator is obviously to catch as much fish as possible. Each location features a few types of fish for you to catch. Getting to new locations and buying the different gear you’ll need to catch other types of fish will come at a price. Selling the fish you’ve caught will be the way to earn money but releasing them will grant you experience. Experience can be used to unlock all different types of traits which also aids you a lot in your journey to catch every fish possible.
Different locations, different gear
You could be fine with just a little bit of casual fishing on the first accessible lake but after a while, you’ll want to expand. Different locations offer different types of fish. Different locations could also mean the same location but now frozen over or in a boat on the same lake. And to be honest, once the line is cast and you look at the fishes, the location doesn’t really matter anymore. What matters most is the different gear you can buy. Each type of fish has its own ‘catch-preferences’ which all can be found in the game. Catching new kinds of fish should be exciting but sadly start to feel really repetitive way too fast.
Porting done wrong
To be honest, Ultimate Fishing Simulator tries to go deep but sadly misses the ball. The info about the fish and the amount of gear to choose from is very thorough but still sadly doesn’t translate in thrilling gameplay. The first few fish you’ll catch will feel excited but the fun diminished way too fast. Ice fishing and fishing from a boat kind of upped the excitement again but beyond that, this game felt stale. Beyond getting bored with the game, the menu was just infuriating. Ultimate Fishing Simulator for Nintendo Switch is a port of a PC game released in 2018. The menu might’ve worked on PC but was ported with no care what-so-ever for Nintendo Switch. Trust me when I say it’s a hot mess. Maybe touch controls could’ve saved this a bit but those are not implemented.
Conclusion
Ultimate Fishing Simulator does offer some fishing but is nowhere near to being ‘ultimate’. This port in particular feels purely as a cash grab and should ideally be avoided. Some hardcore fishing fanatics might get some enjoyment out of this game but I’m even doubting that last statement, to be honest.
