While the Switch has had quite an amazing array of games, whether indie or otherwise, come out for it over this generation, there’s no doubt that in the area of sports title it has been lacking. While normally people would have this sort of complaint for more popular team sports like football, baseball, and others, I’ll admit that what I’ve really been thirsting for since the system’s launch has been a decent fishing game. Sure, there are quite a lot of them out there, but most of them have been middling at best, with many simply being awful. When I heard about Nice Day for Fishing, with the promise that it would be a fishing-based RPG, I’ll admit that I was quite excited by the possibilities.

Granted, while I do enjoy the game’s humor I’ll admit that getting things going is a little slow. There’s some silly worldbuilding going on to start, with you playing the part of what would seem to have normally been a goofy one-track NPC character amidst a town full of heroes. When things go very wrong with an ancient evil having been unleashed, fate has different plans though, as with all of the heroes being wiped away the lowly fisherman appears to be the only hope. What follows is absolutely a unique ride, adhering mostly to your typical RPG tropes, but with an odd fishing-oriented focus, and weirdly enough it works pretty well!

Of course, the first question should be how well the fishing is handled, and on the whole I’d say it’s pretty satisfying as long as you’re open to a different sort of experience. Each fish you try to catch ends up working out like combat, with you being able to hold down your attack to wear down your enemy. The further you go, and the tougher the fish get, the more involved you’ll need to be, learning to parry their attacks to minimize your damage and cast spells that can be very helpful in a pinch. You’ll also often need to use a magnet on your line for retrieving sunken cargo and treasures, and when you need to begin using ocean currents to get to tough spots it gets to be quite a challenge, but also very fun. While it does take a bit too long for the training wheels to get removed, you will finally get to a point where you’re free to decide how you want to proceed with upgrades, and at that point it gets to be even more engaging.

Overall, I’d say the games this reminds me of the most are Golf Story and maybe some elements of Dave the Diver. It’s constructed in a clever way, making for an adventure that doesn’t feel quite like anything else I’ve played… and that’s always a plus. While it may not be precisely what fishing fans have been waiting for, I really think that the care put into making it work out as a form of combat works nicely and really sucks you in. I can see where people who could struggle with the timing needed to parry attacks effectively (especially in periodic boss battles), would get frustrated since they’re essential to keeping you alive, but with a bit of grinding and the right equipment you should be able to compensate pretty well overall. In general, I found it hard to put this one aside, determined to try to catch that next deep sea fish that has managed to elude me, or figure out the sweet spot to nab some chest on the seafloor. Not everyone may agree it’s a hit, but if you’re a fan of RPGs or fishing, this feels like a creative and well-implemented good time.