"Fishing: Barents Sea"

"Fishing: Barents Sea"
Reviewed by: Carless Yen
Platforms: PC, XBOX, PS4,Switch
Publisher:Astragon Entertainment GmbH
Developer: Misc Games AS
Release Date: 12/13/2019
Price:29.99

Ever wanted the experience of fishing the Norwegian sea? Pulling in fish wow you look at the beautiful Looking up at those beautiful aurora borealis over Norway? Then Fishing Barents Sea probably has something for you. You are left with the task of following your families legacy when your grandfather passes and leaves you his officially licensed Hermes trawler along with his fishing equipment. You will start out really small but will earn officially licensed Scanmar Equipment as well. Will you be able to keep the families long history as fisherman a float. (Bad fishing joke) or will you fail miserably?

Fishing: Barents Sea is a simulation of real fishing so you won't be blown away with action at all times. A lot of the time you will feel it as a chore, as you should. It's the oldest profession in the world, and is really hard work. In a true simulation you should feel like this.You should feel you are grinding it out, and putting the effort in. The pay back in the overall experience is the feeling of a hard days work, and the bounty of what you were able to pull in that day. Not every day will be a winner, there will be some days that feel wasted where you didn't bring in what you expected and days where your boat is full of more fish than you could have ever dreamed. That is why I love simulations like this. When they can simulate the true work ethic and day of a actual profession. I know this will seem boring to some, not everyone has the same work ethic and not everyone will relate to that sort of grind. To some though it will be an addiction, I see a lot of Youtubers that have that same love for it all the time. They put weekly and monthly fishing episodes, and that shows the type of respect they have for this industry, and the game as well. I recommend checking some of them out as they are really done by some entertaining individuals.

You are able to purchase new boats I can't remember the exact amount. I'm going to say around a half a dozen. You can purchase these by how much time you put into sailing and collecting fishing licenses . That is a grind though so while you are out there your going to do some fishing I'm sure. To fish you play a mini game. The mini game changes, as you do different styles of fishing with different types of boats. They start off with really simple timing button hits, and then progress as you do to button combos. It is very easy to learn, but can be very hard to master. I love this aspect, because you will have to practice and learn. You aren't going to go out there, and just dominate your profession from the start. Like I said earlier the work and time learning will be put in and your bounty will be earned. It also keeps it from growing repetitive. Later on you can hire a crew to do this while you take on other duties. One of these is cleaning fish another job you can take on with a different style of play to keep from feeling the grind and repetitiveness.

The map is huge, and the different times of day and night really add to the beauty of the scenery behind you. I love the northern lights. I love how they look in this game. I'd say maybe the second best I've seen then in a title PUBG being the best. I loved running over the mountain in Vinkendi. and looking up at the aurora borealis while killing but let me get back to fishing. I believe it's a true recreation of the area, if not it at least seems that way. The area is just huge and can take forever to explore. One more way that the game beats the repetitiveness of the simulation. It could take hours and hours to truly explore the entire map, and in the winter the ice forms and blocks off certain areas. So you need to plan on where you want to explore based on the season as well. I told you it was a simulator the whole thing feels so real. It also looks beautiful. I've never seen a ocean look this amazingly beautiful on my One X except maybe in Sea of Thieves.

There is a DLC coming and I'm really excited they will add more boats as well as crab fishing. So I can't wait to get time to give that a play. There is also more styles I didn't cover because I could talk about this all day. Like trawling , I didn't even get into this, or the fishing radar system.This is a true simulation of fishing, and I could get into this for hours covering all the techniques and styles, but I'll let you go pick it up and experience it for yourself now. If you like hard work, and commercial fishing simulation you are gonna be addicted to this one.

Pros:
Beautiful Seas and Shores to explore
Realistic simulation of the worlds oldest profession
So many different boats, technique, and styles
Different mini games to keep the game feeling fresh.
Huge Map with different seasons that change it
It doesn't hold your hand can be difficult learning curve

Cons:
Some things could be explained more
The boats detail inside can be a lil bland.
Would like some coop added to fish with friends

Overall: 7.4

Fishing: Barents Sea is without question the best simulation for commercial fishing I have experienced. The real grind and learning experience of the profession really is portrayed in this game perfectly. So it might not be for just every one, but if you love the feeling of a good hard days work, and meeting a deadline or bringing in the haul. You are going to love Fishing: Barents Sea.

#astragon Entertainment
#Misc Games AS