Ace Angler: Fishing Spirits

Ace Angler: Fishing Spirits combines the Zen of fishing with an arcade-esque gameplay loop that'll keep players coming back for more. Not every game mode is a hit - with Shark Fever and Ace Angler Party standing out as duds - but Ace Angler+, Legend of the Poisoned Seas, and the core gameplay loop more than make up for it. There is a massive variety of fish to catch, with several different stages and Rods to unlock as well. The actual fishing mechanics aren't explained too well in-game, but they're intuitive no matter the control scheme. Load times are on the long side and the gacha elements needed for unlockables aren't exactly welcome, but they're not deal-breakers, either. At the end of the day, it's just fun to sit back and experience a more action-packed take on fishing. Ace Angler: Fishing Spirits offers fishy fun for everyone.

It can be entertaining, but you’ll probably want to play something else once the novelty wears off a year later. Due to the catering of this particular audience, the fact that there are no signs of this arcade cabinet ever coming West in an official manner, and the fact that a good chunk of Ace Angler: Fishing Spirit’s game modes are a matter of luck rather than skill makes this just a very frustrating game overall unless you aren’t bothered by the randomness of it.

Ace Angler: Fishing Spirits is strange. The fishing is easy to learn but difficult to master due to the lack of tutorial or feedback system. The coin concept is off-putting enough until someone has a surplus of coins to play with. The story mode does a better job of easing you into the game mechanics because it removes the token mechanic and provides focused goals. The minigames and online play are fun, but they're terrible for the overall goal of the game. The coin-pushing game is a very slow burn unless you get lucky. There is an audience for this type of quirky game, but you need to have enough patience to learn the system.

This is a fun and challenging little collection, but the fact there's no English dubbing really holds me back from giving it a higher score, and the inclusion of the virtual coin pusher also gives me pause. It's probably better to play this with older kids who don't mind hearing Japanese dialogue. [Issue #63 – January/February 2023, p. 69]

The biggest problem with Ace Angler: Fishing Spirits is that it all feels too thin. For all the different modes, it all mostly comes down to luck. You can tell this was derived from a game that is only one step removed from gambling. It puts on a decent performance of making you think you have a say in the outcome, but you really don’t. Perhaps as a lower-priced affair I could see this working better, but at the price point it’s targeting there just isn’t enough meat on the bones here in any sense. If you’re a big fan of the arcade version, you’ll likely be happy to have the game at home with all kinds of extras. I can’t imagine many others finding a lot to love here, however.