Sea of Stars’ fishing minigame is the quiet reprieve I need in big RPGs

destructoid.com:

Role-playing games can often promise a grandiose adventure, and there’s certainly been no shortage of those this year. Some of the heaviest hitters of 2023 are lengthy RPG journeys that advertise dozens upon dozens of hours of questing and storytelling. So it’s nice when a game like Sea of Stars lets me hang up my adventurer’s hat for a little bit of fishing.

I’m only a few hours into Sea of Stars, which is out today on PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, and PC. It’s a chill, interesting RPG that definitely has some love for the golden oldies, but also has some neat ideas of its own. Not surprising, given its the team that made a similar retro-modern fusion in The Messenger.

And while I could easily talk about the combat system and its intricacies, or the art and music, or some intriguing character writing for the extended cast, I’m here for the fish. The second I saw a lake with swimming silhouettes lurking below the surface, I knew where I was spending my time.

Sea of Stars‘ fishing minigame is found throughout its overworld, in designated fishing holes dotting the landscape. Just head in and you can cast a rod into the blue, looking to hook a catch.

The premise is simple, even if not obviously explained: keep the fish within your bounded lines while reeling them in. Tug too much while it’s outside, and line tension will build up to a breaking point if you let it. Oh, and if the fish leaps in the air, you can do a timed smack of the A button (or respective press on your controller of choice) to get a little stun-strike.

Talking to others who are much farther in than me, Sea of Stars fishing does not get much more complicated than that. Find a lake, cast a rod, get some fish. You can filet them up for cooking materials, or