Earlier, we shared with you our preview of Marvelous Inc. and XSEED Games’ upcoming game, Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma.
After checking out the two latest Rune Factory demos, we then moved over to check out another game being developed by Filet Group and published in conjunction with XSEED Games and Marvelous USA; the upcoming platformer called The Big Catch.
As we were booking appointments for PAX East, The Big Catch immediately caught our eye from its visual design and its Sly Cooper/Mario style gameplay. The more I looked at the trailer and the key art, I was reminded of the PS2 era of games.
Games from that era weren’t about being the most polished and visually appealing game, but rather about providing fun platforming mechanics, heart-pounding combat, and intriguing open worlds.
The idea of swinging around the world using a fishing rod seemed comedic yet fun. The music gave a Legend of Zelda meets Final Fantasy kind of vibe. How big of a catch can we land? What inspired the game, and will there be fishing mechanics? These are just some of the questions we had going into the meeting.
As someone who sometimes fails at platforming games nowadays, The Big Catch seemed like it might be a fun game to play, but a daunting task. Going in, we were curious how much of a role the fishing pool would play with platforming, exploration, and combat.
For the demo, we really did not get to experience much combat, but rather focused on the platforming elements. By using the fishing pole, you can grab onto different objects. With fans, you can hook them with your rod and catapult yourself forward or higher; you can also use the lore to pull objects.
The pole is also used for combat, but we only attacked the collectible fish. The majority of our demo was spent figuring out how the platforming mechanics work
In the demo I got to explore the level and tried to figure out where we needed to go in order to lower a bridge. Jumping into a later point vs starting with the tutorial might have been a mistake, but it was still a fun time even if we didn’t get very far.
The game looks really good so far from a demo standpoint, but the graphics do need a bit of polish before the actual game releases.
In a way, it looks like they are trying to go two different ways with the art, but can’t decide on the final art direction. The level design itself looked and felt good, with a variety of puzzles and different paths to take in order to reach the next destination.
In a way, this reminded me of what I loved about classic platformers such as Sly Cooper, Jak and Daxter, and Psychonauts. The game’s platforming concepts are fun, but they need to be fine-tuned. In multiple parts of the demo, it felt like I was fighting the game’s mechanics rather than my poor platforming skills.
Now this isn’t to say the game is bad, but rather I’m bad at adapting after years of shooters, soulslikes, and MOBAs. If you are looking for something that will remind you of something from your childhood, you will want to check out The Big Catch.
The Big Catch is currently in development for Windows PC (via Steam).
