I bought my son a PS4 for Christmas (so he can play MLB The Show) and decided to check out the FREE games on the PS4 and came across Fishing Planet. I gave it a try on the PS4 but have since downloaded it to my PC. The weather here in the south has been cold and wet and I just don't feel like fishing in this type of weather, especially when the bite is so slow around here. So for the past week I've been playing some Fishing Planet. Here's what I've learned so far:
The Good
The game is free. You can purchase in game currency to buy gear, fishing licenses, and travel to different lakes as you unlock them. But the way the game is structured you can't just go out and buy all of the gear. New gear and new lakes are unlocked as you gain experience points and increase your player level. So no matter how much real money you spend you can't just jump out their and buy a MH rod and a spinnerbait and go fishing.
When fishing with lures you have the option of different presentations and speeds. For example, with jigs you can do things like swim, lift and drop, stop and go, and drag. I recently increased my player level where I could buy a top water lure that I can walk, straight retrieve, or pop. Depending upon how the fish are biting, sometimes a slow, straight retrieve works, sometimes a faster one gets the bite, and sometimes you just have to rip it. Sometimes the bite happens when you walk the lure at a specific speed. Like real fishing, you need to figure out what the fish want.
Like real fishing, sometimes the fish tries to hit the topwater bait and misses. You see the splash and a slight bump on the bait but the fish doesn't grab it enough to set the hook.
Weather and temperature are part of the equation as well. If you don't like fishing the slow periods you can fast forward to a more productive period.
I'm only on player level 16 which means my spinning and baitcasting rods are ultrlight or light. 6lb mono is the max test line available to me right now as well. That can make it challenging - and fun - if you happen to hook into a bigger fish. The other day I was bobber fishing for largemouth bass with small minnows and something (bass or bowfin) hit the line hard. There are meters that range from green to yellow to orange to red for your line, rod, and reel. As soon as the fish hit my rod meter went to red. I set the hook and about two seconds later I got the message that my rod snapped. I'm still wondering what was down there.
Fishing on light gear can take a while to reel a fish in. It took me about 6 minutes to reel in a 4 pound smallmouth. But once the hook was set I have never had a fish come off.
Like real fishing, you can get hung up and lose lures, but this happens at the lakes you unlock a bit later in the game. I got hung up once and kept trying to yank it free and ended up damaging my reel.
As for fish species, everything in fresh water is covered at the various lakes and rivers in the game. Bass, gar, salmon, trout, pike, musky, and the list goes on and on. I can't wait to level up and try different locations.
The Bad
In order to collect in game currency and increase your player level you need to grind. And grind. The first thing you should do when you get 7 baitcoin is to buy the lifetime, advanced license for your home Texas lake. Because it's your home lake there are no travel fees associated with it. You'll spend a lot of time grinding for currency on spotted bass here. Spotted bass give you your best bang for the buck since they are plentiful here and pay off fairly well at the end of the day. Casting spoons consistently land fish here.
To get in game currency you need to collect on your fish at the end of the day (5 a.m. in game or when you exit the lake) and for that you need a fish keeper or stringer. Keep upgrading these to maximize your daily returns.
The game is fun when you find a honey hole, and when the fish are biting you won't have to wait long for them to bite, even when bobber fishing. In the beginning you can level up pretty quick and purchase new gear. But as you level up it takes longer to get to the next level. To go after the bigger fish you need heavier gear, and you can't even purchase those items until you get to levels 26-28. Grinding for currency can be, well, a grind.
Traveling to a lot of the lakes and paying the travel fees and license fees gets expensive. You need a big fish keeper and a 3 day trip to get a return on your investment.
It's not cross platform compatible. So if you play on both the PC and PS4 your gear and attributes don't cross both platforms even if you register with the same username and email address. Each is their own game.
Conclusion
The game is a fun distraction and can be addictive. It's not real fishing but does OK for a simulator. It's much better than the Rapala game we have on our tablet. It's not a replacement for real fishing, but it's a good way to kill some time when you miss fishing and can't get out to the lake.
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