‘Another Fisherman’s Tale’ Review – A Captivating Sequel with More of Everything

We’re back for another dose of mind-bending puzzles à la Bob the Fisherman. The sequel offers up a longer, more emotionally complex story while packing in a ton of new puzzle mechanics that makes Another Fisherman’s Tale feel leagues ahead of the original in almost every sense.

Another Fisherman’s Tale Details:

Available On: SteamVRQuest 2, PSVR 2
Release Date: May 11th, 2023
Price: $30
Developer: Innerspace VR
Publisher: Vertigo Games
Reviewed On: Quest 2

Gameplay

Bob’s tall tales are taller than ever this time around, as the adventure swells to scale up to new emotional depths which reveal more about the real Bob and his family. I won’t spoil the story behind Another Fisherman’s Tale, because it’s really something you should unfold yourself. It talks about love, loss, responsibility, freedom—it’s way heavier than the first, and often strays outside of original’s safe storybook narration. Where you might have ignored some of the angsty Dad drama of the original Fisherman’s Tale, and just got on with the game’s smorgasbord of mind-bending puzzles, this time around the narrative takes more of a center stage, all while presenting new and innovative mechanics to keep you guessing.

The most prominent mechanic on display is the new ability to detach, replace and control your hands—like physically pop off your hands, trade them for more useful ones, and shoot them out to solve a variety of puzzles that only a little crawling (or swimming) remote controlled hand-beast might. Although you really only have two other hand styles regularly at your disposal besides your wooden digits, a hook for climbing and a claw for snipping, the puzzle variations are impressively wide.

Image courtesy Innerspace VR, Vertigo Games

While there are a ton of one-off puzzles to compliment, a constant throughout the game is the need remotely control your hands, which is done by twisting your motion controller in the correct relative direction and pressing the trigger to move them forward. You’ll be pulling levers, crawling your digits through circuitous routes, and grabbing key items before snapping them back to your arms where they belong. This took some getting used to, as oftentimes you’ll need to control your hands from afar while actually moving your body to different locations to get a better viewpoint, which can be confusing at times since your body’s relative position changes and your hands sort of wig out.

And with separable hands, you might as well be able to pop your head off too. Simply press two buttons (‘B’ and ‘Y’ on Quest) and you’ll launch your head forward to reach far flung areas for a better point of view. It’s basically plays out like a dash teleportation that follows a predictable arch as opposed to physically picking up your head ad tossing it around, which wouldn’t be terribly comfortable. More on comfort below though.

Image courtesy Innerspace VR, Vertigo Games

While I wouldn’t call any of the puzzles particularly hard, they’re always creative and rewarding. I had hints enabled, although you can turn them off in the settings, which mutes a few of Bob’s timely and helpful lines. Still, Bob isn’t overbearing in how or when he delivers hints, making him feel much more like a dad who wants you to figure something out on your own than a ‘helpful robot’ that just wants you to get on with the puzzle already.

My personal playtime was just under four hours, which puts it nearly four times longer than the original game. I didn’t feel like any of it was filler either, which is a testament to the game’s deeper story and puzzle variations that require the player to develop skills that are useful throughout—essentially everything I wanted from the original but didn’t get when it initially released in early 2019.

Immersion

The star of the show is undoubtedly Bob, who is brought to life by the whisky-soaked tones of the probably never-not-smoking French comedian Augustin Jacob. In my review of the first game, I called Jacob’s interpretation more akin to a kitschy short that you typically see before a proper Pixar movie—charming, but not enough.

Image courtesy Innerspace VR, Vertigo Games

Here we get a full-fat dose of Bob as well as a new cast of characters that are equally engaging, making it feel more like that Pixar adventure I wished it could have been in the first place. One thing that hasn’t changed though is the inclusion of a sweeping score, which perfectly frames the game’s linear, sometimes storybook style adventure.

While the story goes off the rails at points, snapping you back to reality, it isn’t a large, open world with a ton of freedom of movement, or even puzzle creativity. Another Fisherman’s Tale is compartmentalized into chapters, each of which have a number of linear areas to unlock. The physical variety of the spaces though makes it feel less like a long series of closed escape rooms, which might otherwise feel a little too repetitive. That’s simply not the case here, as you’re always left guessing at what your next adventure will be, and where you’ll go next.

Image courtesy Innerspace VR, Vertigo Games

Set pieces are thoughtfully designed, and the cartoony nature of the game looks generally very good, even on the game’s most humble target platform, Quest 2. Object interaction is very basic, although that doesn’t detract too much since it’s mostly levers and a smaller momentary puzzle bits we’re dealing with here. As a result, there’s no inventory to speak of since all tools will be presented to you as needed, and thoughtful poofed back into existence in case you lose them.

Comfort

Another Fisherman’s Tale has what we’d now consider the standard swath of comfort settings, which will let most anyone play with relative ease. There are moments though that personally make me feel a little iffy—not hang my head in the toilet bad, but I’ve played VR long enough to know my triggers.

In lieu of cutscenes, the game loves to do sweep your POV around slowly, which is mostly fine, although much of the time you’re being shrunk down so scenes can appear bigger. I generally dislike this lack of control, even if it only happens maybe once per chapter. There are also moments when your POV will be upside-down, however this too is a pretty rare occurrence. All things considered, it’s a pretty comfortable game that basically anyone can play without feeling anything but few momentary bits of weirdness.

‘Another Fisherman’s Tale’ Comfort Settings – May 11th, 2023

Turning
Artificial turning
Snap-turn ✔
Quick-turn ✔
Smooth-turn ✔
Movement
Artificial movement
Teleport-move ✔
Dash-move ✖
Smooth-move ✔
Blinders ✔
Head-based ✔
Controller-based ✔
Swappable movement hand ✔
Posture
Standing mode ✔
Seated mode ✔
Artificial crouch ✖
Real crouch ✔
Accessibility
Subtitles
Languages
English, Italian, German, French, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese
Dialogue audio
Languages English, French
Adjustable difficulty ✖
Two hands required ✔
Real crouch required ✖
Hearing required ✖
Adjustable player height ✔

Another Fisherman’s Tale Reels In A New Gameplay Trailer

Another Fisherman’s Tale received a new trailer today, showcasing its core gameplay mechanics on Quest, PC VR and PSVR 2.

Announced by Innerspace and Vertigo Games last month, Another Fisherman’s Tale is a direct sequel to 2019’s A Fisherman’s Tale.  Following a previous glimpse at its new VR mechanics, this latest gameplay trailer showcases how the detachable limb system works. Between swapping your hand for a crab’s claw, stealing someone else’s hand for a biometric scanner and using an old fashioned pirate hook for grappling, your own body will become part of the puzzle. You can watch the trailer in full below:

We love the original game in our A Fisherman’s Tale review, calling it a “perfect storm of gameplay, immersion and narrative.” We believed it ended too quickly after just 2 hours, though this upcoming sequel thankfully promises a longer 5-6 hour campaign. Continuing the story of Bob the Fisherman, Another Fisherman’s Tale sees you playing as Nina, daughter of the original game’s protagonist that begins investigating her father’s past. Here’s the official description:

Another Fisherman’s Tale continues the story of Bob the Fisherman, crafting a magical and moving narrative about the meaning we create in life by building and rebuilding our authentic selves. Developed from the ground-up to maximize the capabilities of modern VR tech, Another Fisherman’s Tale introduces a set of all-new core mechanics: this time, the player’s own body is the primary puzzle to be solved, creating unconventional gameplay based on dismantling and rebuilding their in-game form.

Another Fisherman’s Tale arrives on PSVR 2, Meta Quest 2, Meta Quest Pro and PC VR platforms this year.

‘Another Fisherman’s Tale’ Shows Off More Mind-bending Puzzles in New Gameplay Trailer

InnerspaceVR is bringing its sequel to the VR puzzle adventure A Fisherman’s Tale soon, aptly named Another Fisherman’s Tale. And now both InnerspaceVR and publisher Vertigo Games have released a new gameplay video showing off just what awaits. Detachable body parts, galore.

Revealed today at the Future Games Show (FGS) Spring Showcase, the new trailer shows off some of the upcoming VR puzzle game’s mind-bending universe, which this time is said to use the player’s own body as core puzzle mechanic, tasking you with detaching and replacing key body parts to solve puzzles.

Check out the trailer below:

InnerspaceVR says the sequel brings a new chapter to the story of Bob the Fisherman, “weaving a magical and moving narrative about the meaning we create through building and rebuilding our authentic selves.”

In it, the studio says players will do things like throw Bob’s hand across a ravine and then make it crawl to retrieve an object, or send your head elsewhere for a different point of view.

Limbs are also modular, as you replace them with a variety of objects to unlock new skills, such as a pirate hook hand to let you scale walls, a crab’s claw to cut through a rope, and a fish’s tail to improve your swimming ability. Puppeteering hands will also let you pick up distant objects, items and tools.

InnerspaceVR says Another Fisherman’s Tale will be a five to six hour adventure, putting you in the shoes of Nina, the daughter of the series protagonist. Here’s how InnerspaceVR describes it:

“Recollecting Bob’s grandiose stories of pirates, sunken ships, treasures and mystical locations, Nina begins re-enacting his adventures and dives head-first into an imaginative world of memory and fantasy. Will she be able to separate fact from fiction and uncover the hidden truth behind the fisherman’s tale?”

And yes, it appears French comedian Augustin Jacob is reprising his role as the game’s smokey, baritone narrator.

Another Fisherman’s Tale is slated to launch in Q2 of this year, coming to PSVR 2, Meta Quest 2, and PC VR.

‘A Fisherman’s Tale’ Sequel is Coming to All Major VR Platforms Later This Year, Trailer Here

A Fisherman’s Tale (2019), the VR adventure from Innerspace and Vertigo Games, is getting a sequel, launching on all major VR platforms this year.

Aptly called Another Fisherman’s Tale, the episodic tale is bringing you back for another round of mindbending VR puzzles which the team says lets you use your own body, detach and control your limbs, and find new attachments to progress.

“Discover the truth as you journey through beautiful and unique locations, brought to life by the makers of A Fisherman’s Tale. Get ready for a captivating VR experience unlike any other,” the description reads in the game’s announcement trailer.

A Fisherman’s Tale puts you in the boots of Bob, a fisherman who lives in a strange, recursive world centered around a dollhouse-sized lighthouse. In the sequel, you return to the story as Bob’s daughter Nina for another round of mind-bending escape room-style puzzles.

We liked the smorgasbord of VR game mechanics in the original, although a big sticking point was its overall playtime, which we clocked in at just around one hour in our review of A Fisherman’s Tale. The sequel is slated to take around five to six hours—promising to offer up plenty of adventure to keep you scratching your head.

Creative Director Balthazar Auxietre of Innerspace VR stated that the goal was “to renew the gameplay and the storytelling [of the first game] while keeping key elements of a universe that has obviously reached the heart of VR gamers.”

He added that the studio’s recent experiences allowed them to “pursue a new level of ambition for the A Fisherman’s Tale franchise, thanks to the multifaceted gameplay and the diversity of the models’ worlds. Everything is in place for a new adventure that will take us across the virtual oceans.”

At the time of this writing, the 2019 A Fisherman’s Tale garnered a user rating of a 93% ‘Very Positive’ rating on Steam, and a [4.5/5] star user rating on Quest.

Another Fisherman’s Tale is slated to arrive sometime this year on PSVR 2, Quest 2, and PC VR headsets via Steam and Viveport.

Humble Bundle’s Fall VR Emporium Deal Includes $154+ of Games

Humble Bundle

2020’s Humble Bundle Fall virtual reality (VR) offer arrived a little late in the season but that’s not the case in 2021, a little early in fact. The Fall VR Emporium Bundle has just gone live where you can get up to seven titles for an incredibly low price for a limited time.

Humble Bundle

This year’s VR bundle features quite the crop of VR videogames with Arizona Sunshine, House Flipper VR, Until You Fall, Zero Caliber VR, A Fisherman’s Tale, Paper Beast and Wands all featuring. As always there are various options depending on how much you want to spend and which titles take your fancy, it isn’t quite pick ‘n’ mix but it is close.

You can go for the one item bundle which is Wands, where you have to pay at least £0.72 GBP. Then there’s the four-item bundle with Zero Caliber VR, A Fisherman’s Tale, Paper Beast and Wands for a minimum of £10.64, But is you don’t have any of these titles then you may as well go for all seven at the minimum purchase price of £10.83.

If you’re new to Humble Bundle the whole point is that this is a charitable offer, encouraging you to pay a little more – why not round up to £20 for example? – for a good cause. It’s not a solitary cause you might not be interested in either, you can select which organisation receives your funds (there’s GamesAid, Women in Games International and many more) and how much is split between the publisher, Humble Bundle and the charity.

Humble Bundle

There are definitely some choice titles in the selection such as Schell Games’ roguelike sword fighter Until You Fall and Pixel Reef’s delightfully out there puzzler Paper Beast. Both are VR experiences everyone should have a go at.

The Fall VR Emporium Bundle is available now through to 1st October 2021. For further updates on the latest VR deals – like the Oculus Quest Larcenauts one tomorrow – keep reading VRFocus.

Vertigo Is Publishing Innerspace’s Next VR Game

Arizona Sunshine developer Vertigo Games is publishing the next title from Maskmaker studio, Innerspace VR.

Vertigo announced the news on Twitter this week. Few details were revealed other than that Vertigo has agreed another publishing deal with the developer. The pair have, of course, already worked together – Vertigo published 2019 VR puzzling gem, A Fisherman’s Tale, first on PC VR and PSVR and then on Quest a little later down the line. Innerspace also developed and released a VR arcade game, Corsair’s Curse, under the Vertigo Arcades label.

For its next game, however, Innerspace made a deal with MWM Interactive. The result was Maskmaker, which launched on PC VR and PSVR headsets last month. We recently charted the developer’s history in an installment in our Upload Access series. Vertigo, meanwhile, recently expanded its publishing line with frantic VR puzzle game, Traffic Jams, and is also publishing a new hand-tracking game for Quest called Unplugged, which looks like Guitar Hero for air guitar. The long-awaited After The Fall, it’s follow-up to Arizona Sunshine, is also due this summer.

No details on the project have been revealed at this time. Maskmaker is just a few weeks old and we’re still hoping that Innerspace might be able to bring it to Quest, so it’s likely to be some time before we hear about what’s next.

What game do you think Vertigo and Innerspace are working on together? Could it be a sequel to A Fisherman’s Tale or could it be something new? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Best Puzzle VR Games Available For Oculus Quest 2

Looking for some mind-bending puzzle games to play through on Quest 2? Here are our picks.

The Oculus Quest library is only growing larger and stronger by the day with a few options available in most genres. For puzzle fans, we’ve put together this list of some of the best in the genre available on Quest. Some are inventive and creative, some are mind-bending and challenging, but there should be something for everyone.

Here are our picks for the best puzzle games available on Oculus Quest.

A Fisherman’s Tale

Before its more recent game Maskmaker, Innerspace released the acclaimed A Fisherman’s Tale on Quest in 2019. It’s a short yet incredibly charming puzzle game, with ingenious puzzles will make you rack your brain until you finally reach that critical ‘a-ha’ moment that feels so satisfying.

A Fisherman’s Tale was nominated in our Best of VR 2019 Awards for the Best PSVR Game/Experience, Best Quest Game/Experience, Best PC VR Game/Experience, and overall Overall Best VR Of 2019. You can read more in our review.


Cubism

Cubism is a deceptively simple game. Each level features a 3D wireframe shape into which you have to fit different Tetris-like block pieces. The puzzles get harder and the pieces more complex – it’s a slow and measured puzzle experience.

Even better, the game’s recent updates include 120Hz and hand tracking support. The latter in particular is a near-perfect fit for Cubism – all you’re doing is picking up pieces and placing them into the wireframe, but it’s enough to create a sublime hand tracking experience. This isn’t a ranked list, but if it were, Cubism would be my personal #1.

You can read our review of Cubism here (written before hand tracking support was added) and read our impressions of the hand tracking update here.


Floor Plan 2

Floor Plan 2 feels like a VR episode of The Muppet Show, not just in the hilarious absurdity of its world but also in the constant, invigorating ingenuity of its puzzles. It is a logic-based puzzle game in a completely illogical world and one of the best recent releases on the Quest platform.

Read more in our Floor Plan 2 review.


Puzzling Places

This game takes the staples of 2D jigsaw puzzles and brings them into VR with a new element — all of the puzzles are 3D models of real-life places, brought to life through highly detailed photogrammetry captures. The 16 included puzzles range from landscapes to individual objects, each with accompanying ambient sounds that build up as you solve. It’s a slow, meditative but also appropriately challenging puzzle game that offers a similar yet fresh take on traditional jigsaw puzzles.

You can read more in our review.


 

A Rogue Escape

This is a tough, short (1-2 hours), claustrophobic puzzler that will set you stuck in the cramped confines of a submerged submarine. There’s no hand-holding here, resulting in an immersive yet excruciatingly slow set of submarine-based puzzles. If you’re looking for an incredibly short but difficult experience, then this might be the best option.

You can read more in our A Rogue Escape review.


Tetris Effect

If you’re a fan of Tetris, then Tetsuya Mizuguchi’s Tetris Effect is an absolute must-play. It launched first on PSVR and PC VR before finally making its way over the Quest platform in 2020.

It is exactly what it sounds like – it’s Tetris in VR. However, it’s matched with a spectacular, powerful and at times hypnotic amount of visual and audio flair. While these visuals have had to be pared down slightly for the Quest release, we still deemed it the definitive version of the game across all platforms – the lack of tethered wires on Quest remains priceless.

You can read more in our Tetris Effect Quest review.


I Expect You To Die 2

Five years on from the release of the original, I Expect You To Die 2 is a game that executes a specific style of grueling puzzle game incredibly well. It’s a trial-and-error affair where you’ll spend an hour testing things, only to realize that the solution was obvious and right in front of you the whole time. It’s the mark of a quality puzzle — one where the solution is hidden not through obscure design, but through your own short-sightedness — but it can also mean a slow burn and periods of heavy frustration.

You can read more in our review.


The Room VR: A Dark Matter

The latest installment in The Room series is also its first installment in VR. This isn’t a mobile or PC port either – The Room VR: A Dark Matter is made entirely for VR from the ground up.

Developer Fireproof hasn’t lost its penchant for incredibly clever and creative puzzles in the transition. Read more in our review.


Myst

This seminal PC game made its way over to the Oculus Quest late last year. It’s an upgraded and all-around solid port of the original PC title that will have you reaching for a notebook or a friend to help work your way through the tough puzzles.

It’s a game everyone should play once and the Quest 2 port provides you with a modern but faithful way to do so. You can read more in our review.


Angry Birds VR: Isle of Pigs

While the Angry Birds franchise started on mobile, its first foray into VR is a completely natural transition and results in an extremely fun VR puzzle game. It’s an intuitive VR title that’s perfect for VR beginners and veterans alike.

The campaign levels do veer slightly to the easy end of the spectrum, but it’s also a game primarily targeted at kids. This isn’t to say it’s not enjoyable for all ages though, and the custom level builder and online sharing functions mean that you’ll be able to create and play more levels long after you’ve finished the campaign.

You can read more in our review.


What are your favorite puzzle games on Quest? Let us know in the comments.

Massive ‘Sh*t Just Got Real’ Sale At Green Man Gaming Discounts Tons Of PC VR Games

A massive Sh*t Just Got Real sale went live on Green Man Gaming with tons of PC VR game discounts including The Walking Dead, Superhot, LA Noire, and more.

Note: They can and will run out of keys and not every deal lasts as long as others. For example, as of the time of this writing at 12PM PT, the deal for The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners only has six hours remaining and Star Trek: Bridge Crew is currently out of stock despite being on sale, but may become available again eventually.

You can find every game in the sale here or the ‘Top Picks’ from Green Man Gaming here. In total there are 63 games discounted including some deep price cuts as low as over 80% off. When you buy a game on Green Man Gaming it’s not a shady key reselling site, it’s just a storefront for Steam keys provided to GMG. It works like the Humble Store. After buying a game on GMG, you get a Steam key and access the game just like you had bought it on Steam directly.

Here are some recommended picks based on the sale price relative to the game’s value, in my opinion:


 

The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners (-40%, $24)
Store Link | Our Review

 

Borderlands 2 VR (-66%, $17)
Store Link | Our Review

 

A Fisherman’s Tale (-40%, $9)
Store Link | Our Review

 

Zero Caliber (-46%, $13)
Store Link | Our Coverage

 

LA Noire: The VR Case Files (-58%, $13)
Store Link | Our Review

 

Superhot VR (-52%, $12)
Store Link | Our Review

 

The Survios Collection (-82%, $28)
Raw Data, Sprint Vector, Electronauts, CREED, Battlewake
Store Link | Reviews Linked Above


Do you plan on picking anything up in this big PC VR sale? Let us know if so down in the comments below!

Innerspace’s Maskmaker Looks Gorgeous In First Official Trailer, Confirmed For PSVR

The first footage of Innerspace VR’s follow-up to A Fisherman’s Tail is here. Check out the first Maskmaker trailer below.

Announced last month, Maskmaker is published by MWM Interactive and due for release next spring. In the game, you meet Prospero, an artist that makes magical masks. He tasks you with solving the mystery behind his creations, sending you on an adventure across eight new environments.

The footage introduces an intriguing hook for the experience. At first we can see a gorgeous little town for players to explore but, when they bring their hand to their face, they can remove a mask and find themselves back in Prospero’s workshop. It’s a concept similarly explored in titles like Virtual Virtual Reality, but we can’t wait to see where Innerspace takes the idea.

For now all we know is that, if it’s half as successful as its last game, we’re in for a treat. You’ll also learn to craft your own masks that you can then use to different effects within certain levels.

The title’s now listed on Steam, which confirms support for the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and Valve Index headsets. MWM Interactive also confirmed that it’s coming to PSVR, too. There’s no word yet on possible a Quest version though, based on the art style, we’d hope it’s not out of the question. A Fisherman’s Tale managed a pretty adept Quest port after launch last year.

What did you make of the Maskmaker trailer? Will you be picking up the game up when it launches in spring 2021? Let us know in the comments below!

The post Innerspace’s Maskmaker Looks Gorgeous In First Official Trailer, Confirmed For PSVR appeared first on UploadVR.

Maskmaker, A New VR Title From A Fisherman’s Tale Studio, Releases 2021

Video game publisher MWM Interactive announced that it’s partnering with Innerspace VR, the studio behind A Fisherman’s Tale, to release a new VR title in 2021. The game will be called Maskmaker, set in the magical workshop of a man named Prospero.

A Fisherman’s Tale was one of our favorite games from last year — when it initially launched on PC VR, we called it “a perfect storm of VR puzzling.” The game came to the Oculus Quest system later in the year with a first-rate port, and it ended the year as a nominee in multiple categories for our Best VR of 2019 awards.

We’ve been eagerly awaiting news of a follow-up from French developers Innerspace VR, and today we learned from publisher MWM Interactive that the studio’s next game will be Maskmaker, set to arrive in 2021. According to MWM, the game “transports players into a magical mask workshop to meet Prospero, the maskmaker who tasks them to solve the ultimate mystery behind his masks. As players travel between unique environments, they learn more about Prospero and this strange land, frozen for a moment in time. ”

Maskmaker VR Game

From that short description alone, it definitely sounds like Maskmaker is going to follow the weird and quirky narrative style that the studio ran with in A Fisherman’s Tale, with some tantalizing puzzles to boot. We also got a peek at some key art, embedded above — it looks appropriately mysterious and a little bit spooky. Color us intrigued!

There’s no word on release platforms just yet, but PC VR seems a safe bet, with potential for Quest and PSVR ports down the line if we had to guess, like with A Fisherman’s Tale.

The post Maskmaker, A New VR Title From A Fisherman’s Tale Studio, Releases 2021 appeared first on UploadVR.