Developed by Innerspace VR and published by Vertigo Games, Another Fisherman’s Tale is a wonderful sequel to the equally amazing A Fisherman’s Tale. Sticking to its roots, Another Fisherman’s Tale is also a VR puzzle-adventure game where you will launch your hands and head around in different scenarios to solve puzzles and progress in the game. For this review, we played the Steam version of Another Fisherman’s Tale using a Meta Quest 2 headset connected to a PC and used via SteamVR and the Airlink feature of the Meta Quest 2 headset. This is our review of Another Fisherman’s Tale in which we launch our launch our head in the air and settle it on a bird’s nest.
Another Fisherman’s Tale is a pirate-themed action-adventure game in VR and it should be enough to tell you that this will be a pretty cool game. But still, we will be moving into the review further. Innerspace VR states that Another Fisherman’s Tale is a direct sequel to the original title so the story is a continuation from the first game, and you will find familiar voices right from the start of the game if you have played The Fisherman’s Tale. You step into the shoes of Bob who is trying to unravel Nina’s past while following his own footsteps. As you relive Bob’s story, you will revisit some of his adventures and while doing so, you will search for the truth about Bob’s past, one puzzle at a time.
While on paper, Bob sounds like a completely normal pirate who loves exploring the seas aboard his very own ship but actually, this is not the case. Bob has a body that can launch everything it has around. You can launch your hands around to reach areas that your body cannot reach, and you can launch your head to place it on higher areas and look around at spots that are normally not possible. This makes Bob really good at solving puzzles no matter how hard they are. Using the two trigger buttons, you can launch both of your hands around yourself and then call them around by pressing the bumpers. Launching is not just the end of it as you can move your hand around as well after launching it from your body. It looks a little freaky, but it gives you a completely unique way of solving puzzles.
Naturally, the puzzles in Another Fisherman’s Tale are built around this unique gameplay mechanic and you will be launching your hands around and moving them around to grab things, press buttons, and use different other mechanisms for unlocking areas and progressing in the story. The main story of the game has six chapters, and each chapter is based in a different location where you will complete different parts of the chapter to complete it. The story is not very long and even if you take your sweet time with every puzzle, you can easily complete the game in around 6-7 hours. After playing the game once and knowing the solution to every puzzle, you can speed through the game in around 4 hours easily. This is not too much but a decent time for a VR game.
Puzzle solving is at the heart of Another Fisherman’s Tale and nearly all of the scenarios in the game require you to solve one puzzle or another by using your hands and head. Apart from your hands, your head also plays a vital role in puzzle solving because it has eyes, and launching your head around the area will give you a fresh perspective on how you are looking at a puzzle. Sometimes, the solution is not in the line of sight, and you have to launch your head around in order to find the right spot and solve the puzzle. This not only is a cool mechanic, but it offers you a brand-new perspective of every location that seems fairly limited when you first arrive at it. Another Fisherman’s Tale is not an open-world game, and each location is fairly small and linear so chucking your head around is surely a welcoming change of pace and view in these locations. Another cool mechanic of the game is that you can switch your hands around with some cool accessories like a crab claw or a pirate’s hook and use them for solving different puzzles.
Since the puzzles keep getting advanced in each location you arrive, sometimes your hands will not do the job and you will need a new attachment to solve the puzzles. In these locations, you will need to attach different attachments that you find in the world around you in order to assist you in puzzle-solving. For example, you will use the crab claw to cut open parts which are tied together by ropes and the pirate’s hook will allow you to attach it to hook points and reach areas that are not accessible by any other way. Similarly, you will also equip the wrench hand which will allow you to turn around knobs and devices which cannot be opened with your normal hands. These attachments are really cool to use in the game and since you are playing the game in VR, it actually feels like your hands are changing like that of a modular screwdriver’s head. You can go for both hands or just one hand based on your liking and the puzzle requirements.
Another Fisherman’s Tale also features a beautiful art style, and the level design is pretty cool as you will explore sunken ships, swim underwater, swing around hooks, drive wacky contraptions, and try your best to keep your body together. The visual art style does look like Sea of Thieves since both games are based around pirates and ships, but Another Fisherman’s Tale comes with its own unique visual charm and you will like the overall aesthetics of the game. Apart from the good visuals, the soundtrack of the game is pretty good as well as a properly themed soundtrack will keep you entertained throughout the game whether you are exploring or solving puzzles.
There are different options in the game to make the VR aspect of the game comfortable for a lot of players. From making the game more accessible to players who might suffer from motion sickness there are various settings to make the overall experience more comfortable. The options menu gives you different sliders such as movement options, which include both free movement and point-and-move options, movement intensity, and a lot more options. You can customize these settings according to your own liking and how comfortable you are while playing VR titles. The Steam version runs great if you are using Meta Quest 2. I used the controllers that come with Meta Quest 2 and it worked just great although I will recommend that you use a long cable to connect your headset to your system because head movement is plenty in the game and you do not want your headset pushing on your PC.
Another Fisherman’s Tale is a great and calming VR experience that does not want you to rush anything and gives you plenty of time to play the game at your own pace. The puzzles are fairly straightforward and not a single puzzle in the game will make your mind go liquid. This easy-going approach to puzzle-solving, great gameplay mechanics, and a cool visual style really makes Another Fisherman’s Tale a great VR title for your collection. It works fine with Meta Quest 2 and even if you buy the Steam version, SteamVR ensures that you can enjoy the game with your favorite VR headset without any hassle.
Final Verdict:
Another Fisherman’s Tale is a beautiful narrative-adventure VR game that deserves to be part of your VR collection because of its solid puzzle-solving and introducing one of the most unique ways to solve the puzzle. Launching your hands and your head around is really satisfying and gives you a weird sense of freedom. Imagine having this freedom in your real life but since that is not possible, you can experience it in VR thanks to Another Fisherman’s Tale. You will love simple puzzle-solving and just exploring the beautiful art style of Another Fisherman’s Tale. If you love playing VR games and are on the hunt for a cool, new puzzle-solver, look no further than Another Fisherman’s Tale. It definitely deserves your attention.
Final Score: 7.5/10
