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What RPG has the best fishing mini-game?

Cactuar

Cactuar

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Nov 30, 2018
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latest

For some reason, developers (mostly the Japanese ones) love putting fishing mini-games in RPGs, it's a tradition that goes further back than many even realize. But the question is, who did it best?

I can't list them all, but fishing has been prevalent in either all or at least one game of series such as Breath of Fire (probably the most famous example, and one of if not the first to do it), Pokemon, Legend of Heroes, Final Fantasy, Dark Cloud, Atelier, etc., and some in the "If you consider these RPGs" like NieR: Automata, Zelda, and Monster Hunter.

I think Final Fantasy XV may have the most in-depth fishing, but is it the best? I particularly love the button mashing of Trails of Cold Steel, because I'm a quick-time fan, but I don't know that I'd call it the best.

What say you?
 
Thiago

Thiago

One Winged Slayer
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Oct 27, 2017
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I like the simplicity of Persona fishing, specially 4.

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Mzril

Mzril

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Oct 26, 2017
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I actually wish some of these fishing minigames were better fleshed out.

In that regard, I vote Okami. It fits very well into the core mechanic of the game, and the challenge is there.
 

Deleted member 179

user requested account closure
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Oct 25, 2017
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Final Fantasy XV. So many fish, so many spots, it was so much fun. First one to take me back to Ocarina/Twilight Princess fishing.
 

TwinBahamut

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Jun 8, 2018
1,360
Breath of Fire still wins for me simply because it offers fishing that is both really complex and fun, but also very practical and rewarding. Farfrom being an isolated minigame, the stuff you get from fishing is often very useful and valuable, and it even takes advantage of its own setting to hide shops in the murky depths of fishing ponds.
 
mnk

mnk

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Nov 11, 2017
6,305
Fantasy Life, because it's given just as much importance as every other aspect of the game.
 

SkyOdin

Member
Apr 21, 2018
2,680
Breath of Fire 3 and Final Fantasy XV both have really fun fishing minigames. They avoid the randomness and tedium of some other attempts at fishing minigames, instead offering a fully-fleshed out game into itself.
 
Coinspinner

Coinspinner

Member
Nov 6, 2017
2,152
Breath of Fire 3. It had depth and it provided useful items. It's mandatory at one point, which is unfortunate since not everyone wants to go fishing in their fantasy RPGs, but since I liked it that was fine for me. Breath of Fire 4 built on that greatness but managed to mess up in two critical ways. 3 lets you see all the fish in the water, even if you can't tell which is which species. It also lets you completely deplete that fishing spot until you exit and reenter. This lets you remove all of the other fish in the vicinity so they don't bite while you try to lure the one you do want, and helps you be certain that there are no other types of fish in that spot. 4 had an infinite supply of useless fish that would bite on a wide variety of lures, so even with the right lure, the right location, and the right depth it was still often random which fish you got.
 
PlanetSmasher

PlanetSmasher

The Abominable Showman
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Oct 25, 2017
115,496
I was gonna say Breath of Fire 3 and it looks like you already covered it. Good call.
 
DJ_Lae

DJ_Lae

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Oct 27, 2017
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Edmonton
Wood Man said:
I was addicted to fishing Stardew Valley.

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Same.

It's one button with some timing - kept simple and fun.

No pulling in the opposite direction of the fish, no letting the line go slack, no mashing multiple buttons to haul the bastard in. I appreciate what FFXV did in its fishing minigame, but it was too much.
 
TeenageFBI

TeenageFBI

One Winged Slayer
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Oct 25, 2017
10,226
Is Stardew Valley an RPG? It has a great minigame. Very easy to play but it still allows for interesting fish behavior.
 
sinny

sinny

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Oct 28, 2017
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FFXV, in fact it was a fishing game with a single player rpg as a bonus.
 
SupremeWu

SupremeWu

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Dec 19, 2017
2,856
Not the best but I enjoyed Battle Chasers' take on it, kind of an isometric puzzle game but iirc it had some great rewards

FimTlmE.jpg
 
sredgrin

sredgrin

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The truth is, secretly, they are all bad.
 
SilverArrow20XX

SilverArrow20XX

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Oct 25, 2017
5,450
Final Fantasy XV.
I never get tired of it and it actually has a pretty high skill ceiling.
There's a lot of nuance in the way you react to how the fish moves to keep your line from taking damage.
Some of those endgame fish are very difficult without food buffs.
They even made a full VR game on it, though the mechanics are quite different.
Honestly, I probably spent half my playtime fishing.
 
ZangBa

ZangBa

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,040
Gonna go with Dark Cloud. You could buy some really nice upgrade gems, weapons and other stuff I think with the points you get from fishing. It was a pretty easy way to get the stats you needed to evolve your weapon.
 
bixente

bixente

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Jan 27, 2019
2,248
I know It's not considered an RPG, but I spent loads of time fishing in Ocarina of Time. So relaxing.
 
Zyrox

Zyrox

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,618
Gotta give it to FFXV. I love how there was a genuine learning curve to the mechanic. When I first got the sidequest to fish the legendary fish and I got it on the hook I lost my line very quick. I was like "How are they expecting you to fish this thing? I wasn't even close. This shit is impossible." But I didn't give up and paid attention to the mechanics and after a while I got the hang of it and caught that sucker.
After really learning the system even catching this fish became really managable. I later caught tons of these with ease just to get Noctis' fishing level up.
Really enjoyable minigame overall and surprisingly satisfying to learn.
 
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