Fishing is not a hobby I have ever taken up or tried in the real world and in the realm of video gaming the only virtual fishing I have taking part in was at a party with friends on the Wii waving a plastic stick around. So when the opportunity to review the latest version on Xbox One I was both intrigued and apprehensive. But curiosity compelled me to pick up a rod and cast off to see if this was a game worthy of reeling in.

The first thing to point out is that Dovetail Games Euro Fishing is not an arcade game, it is certainly designed to be a Fishing simulator and has a deep system designed to recreate the many depths that fishing use beyond put a worm on a line and casting it into a river. So coming into this game as someone who knows very little if anything at all about fishing, I would be definitely be needed a solid tutorial to teach me the basics and thankfully, this game has a solid tutorial to get you started.

The very first thing you do is to create your angler to use in the game. Sadly this is perhaps one of the most generic default character customization suites I have seen in a game. You can select the gender of your angler but then you have only a selection of default preset player models to choose from and quite frankly, each one looks as though they have just fallen out of a pub rather than who you would expect to go fishing on a weekend. Most are simply wearing a jeans and T-Shirt combination with the T-Shirt having the logo of one of the brands that appears in the game. It is a very underwhelming and limited character creation made worse by the fact that visually, the character models look more last generation console than something built for the new generation Xbox One.

Once you have created your character you get a quick tutorial teaching you how to cast a line in order to get you started. The control system is very fluid and easy to pick up the basics and suits a gaming controller really well. You start your casting with the left trigger and set the power you put into the cast with a meter bar and the right trigger. Clicking in the left thumbstick will switch between a short or a long cast throw and if you are unhappy with your cast you can hit RB and reset it to start again. These are the very basic principles to get you started but the game also has a very nice in-depth tutorial training mode in the Academy. Here you can learn more advanced fishing techniques after casting that will better prepare you for taking on both the single player and competitive multiplayer modes in the game. The lessons are easy to follow thanks to a really good voice actor explaining each technique clearly and concisely.

In terms of Single player modes the game offers various tournaments where you will take on several AI controlled players in timed competitions on different lakes. Ranging from trying to catch the most fish in the ten minute time limit or getting the highest total weight in fish caught. Winning these tournaments will allow you to purchase better equipment and bait to use in the game and you can earn XP by winning. This is a really great way to try out your understanding of the techniques and to learn the different nuances the game has such as learning which bait and lure to use on different rivers and to attract the best fish. I learned to appreciate the subtle details of fishing such as knowing where to position each of the three lines you will control at a time, the best way to reel in a fish without snapping a line and what bait to use depending on the river location and best place to set up on that river. The game really gets so much detail right that after speaking to players who do actually fish in the real world, were as impressed with that detail as I was as a new comer gaining a new appreciation for the art of fishing.

Challenges can be taken to master the various techniques and offer something for the serious angler to take on outside of the AI tournaments. I was impressed with just how much single player activity there was in the game and how it allows you to learn how to play at your own pace to pick up not just the fundamentals but the opportunity to master them as well.

Of course the ultimate goal is be the best angler around and so the competitive online mode will allow you to take on over players in similar tournaments as you played in the single player. It will test everything you have learned so far and having a good understanding of the techniques will help you. I found that you will encounter players of very different levels of skill in the online, and with matches lasting thirty minutes or more, this mode is as much about patience as it is about winning. Casting your lines and waiting to see if anything bites as you see the score board in the top left corner to see how the other players are doing can build that competitive side in you, and in the dying minutes of the match there really is a frantic rush to try to catch every fish you can in order to try to win or maintain your position. There were matches though where ten minutes would go by with little fish action and changing bait and set up location failed to change my position on the scoreboard but I can imagine this is all part of what real fishing is like, and why practicing all the techniques before heading online is key to doing well.

Euro Fishing really does get all the basics of fishing right to deliver a solid game to both experienced with fishing and those like me completely new to it. It is then a real shame that despite getting the gameplay so right, the game is let down by visuals that never really look better than a last gen console game and some quirky niggles that prove very annoying. I already mentioned the poor character creation option but the animation of player movements at times are very stiff and clunky especially when having to look after three fishing rods at a time. The frustration when you are trying to quickly select the rod that has a fish on the line and it takes several seconds for the game to respond and when trying to actually catch a caught fish in your net can also take far too long.

It just takes the shine off a game that has focused on a well polished fishing experience but as someone who believes in gameplay over graphics, I can criticise the visuals for not being better but can appreciate the focus on gameplay. As someone who knew next to nothing about the sport of fishing, I have come away with more appreciation and knowledge about it thanks to this game. It has a great depth but a structure that invites the player in and teaches them all they need to know to get started and then offers multiple ways to practice and enhance those skills.

Dovetail Games Euro Fishing will really appeal to those interested in fishing and does a solid job of providing the experience you would want from a video game based on the sport. But I can’t see it having a broader appeal to those outside of fans of fishing despite its easy accessible nature. The presentation is similar to how other sports titles present their courses and tracks and at all times gives the sense that it takes fishing very seriously.

It would have benefited from a more open character customization suite to really personalize your character in the game and some effort to make the visuals more fitting for an Xbox One would have raised it up to a different level but the gameplay is spot on for what it wants to achieve and deliver to players.

The stories of Sherlock Holmes have always intrigued me, from reading his stories growing up to enjoying the adaptations on the TV over the years. Being able to enjoy the character across different mediums of entertainment has been thrilling but my passion for gaming always felt a little left out of the Holmes fun. That ended with the excellent ‘Sherlock Holmes Crimes and Punishment’ which delivered a truly inspired adaptation of Mr Holmes and Dr Watson’s adventures for the first time. When I learned that a sequel, The Devil’s Daughter was being released I was expecting more of the same. Sadly however, this time his adventures are not quite the stuff of legend to enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NF_d44z2k5w

On paper, The Devil’s Daughter reads like the perfect sequel after the groundwork by Crimes and Punishment managed to get so many factors right but it is very clearly right from the opening case that somewhere along the way, the developers either got carried away in ideas or simply lost what made the last game so much fun as a fan of Sherlock Holmes. Instead of a fluid and slick game that puts the player firmly in the role and world of Mr Holmes in Victorian London, The Devil’s Daughter is a mess of various ideas that feel forced and shoe horned in and for the life of me, I am unable to understand why they messed with a winning formula.

Each case is a mini episode where Holmes and Watson either happen upon or become involved in different situations requiring Holmes to use his detective abilities to solve the mystery and find the guilty. Anyone familiar with Telltale Games will appreciate the episodic feel to the cases, each with their own story and characters and with a good couple of hours of gameplay to each one. As you play through each case there is a main plot thread which will unfold via character interactions once Holmes returns to 221 B Baker Street. These moments never overpower the story being told in each case but do tie everything together quite nicely to tie everything you do in the game together.

The point and click style returns as the main gameplay mechanic but whilst before it was a natural system for how you need to investigate a scene to gather clues, this time round it just felt clunky and tedious at times. At a crime scene or new location you simply have to interact with everything to find possible clues, some will be obvious and some will require a good search to discover. Also returning to the game is the boosted sense modes that can be activated with the bumpers which enhance either the observation skills for finding clues or a detective mode that almost serves like the detective mode variant in the Arkham series and can help Holmes piece together clues. They can be an asset but will also feel rather out of place but if you are stuck in a location, these can often help highlight that final clue needed to move on and you will need to find all the clues in a location before the game will trigger the next step in the case. This can feel laborious at times and being stuck in a location simply clicking on everything in the hope of finding that last clue, even though you may have already worked out for yourself where you need to go next is one of many bug bears I had with this game.

But for me by far the worst change since Crimes and Punishment are the mini games that have been chucked in for good measure either with the intention of adding some filler to the gameplay or just to try and add an element of action which more often than not simply falls flat. In the opening case there is a moment where the player will take control of one of Holmes’ Baker Street Irregulars, tasked with following a suspect for Mr Holmes. This led to a twenty minute feast of pointless and eye rolling mini games that utterly broke the game experience. If you have ever played an Assassin’s Creed game and hated the follow a target missions, then you will appreciate why this sticks out for me. What should be rather crowded Victorian London streets suddenly become very empty as the suspect constantly stops every 30 seconds to check to see if he is being followed, forcing you to dive into cover. Then you all of a sudden have to by pass police standing in the street or dogs by finding a short cut around them for no other reason that to simply inject some false sense of action sequence that always feels out of place. This is then all topped off by the random need to shine the suspect’s shoes in order to blend in. Yes, there is a shoe shining mini game thrown in for good measure and you must do it correctly or you will fail. But even if you do fail, you simply carry on following the suspect so the whole mini game is pointless but not as pointless as if you do complete it successfully, you only end up shining one show anyway.

It is that level of head scratching mystery of why these mini games were put in where they are and the sheer number of them that just comes across as farcical at times more than they entertain. On streaming the first case the reaction from those watching went from laughter to questioning what the hell was going on. Everything outside of searching for clues becomes a mini game eventually. If Holmes needs to ease drop on a conversation, despite being less than three feet away, a mini game of using both controller sticks to keep to icons in circles is triggered and last for two minutes only to succeed and hear a short line of dialogue. The same game is also used for when Holmes having to navigate across a beam and in order to keep his balance you have to again, use the thumbsticks to keep two icons in the circles. They are simply annoyances to the gameplay which if used only a few times would be acceptable but to have so many just comes across as lazy designing.

The list of annoyances grows further as the animation for Holmes feels stiff and clumsy which some of the mini games actually highlight even more such as if Holmes is in a chase or being chased and connects with scenery and you have to repeat that chase. The voice acting is borderline atrocious at times with some very ham delivery of dialogue lines and exchanges between characters that feel wooden and almost telephoned in. It is all so very noticeable and could be forgivable if not for the other list of annoyances that blend together to add to the mess The Devil’s Daughter is as a game.

I was really disappointed in this title after really enjoying Crimes and Punishment. This feels like a brain storming meeting by the developers got out of hand and every single idea someone had was given the OK. If they had simply stuck to what worked in Crimes and Punishments and focused on telling good Sherlock Holmes stories via the cases it would have been a far better experience. As it is, it simply misses out what was such a winning formula for a Sherlock Holmes game and resulted in being a mess of ideas that counter each other instead of complimenting them. The problems with animations and voice acting stand out more than a piece of paper found on the floor that simply says “I am a clue”. The game still allows the player to deduce the outcome of a case based on how they interpret the clues and this could mean getting it very wrong or very right but it is a result that will stand. The case stories despite venturing into a supernatural world at times can be enjoyable if it was not for the mini games that stall and break the flow of the narrative.

Sadly Sherlock Holmes The Devil’s Daughter tries far too hard to incorporate too many gaming mechanics when it already had the best delivery system for a Sherlock Holmes game. I would recommend Crimes and Punishments to those looking for a solid Holmes gaming experience but if you can see past and put up with the nonsensical and poorly executed mini games and average voice acting, The Devil’s Daughter does offer some good puzzles and crimes to solve.

But it does not take Toby the bloodhound to sniff out why this game is such a let down.

The worst part of gaming is having all the hope and excitement you have for a video game you have been following for months before its release, simply fail to live up to your expectations and hopes. The absolute worst is when that game not only lets you down but then becomes the personification of every thing you dislike in games. Sadly this has happened to me a few times in 2016, but the worst culprit of this is Mighty No 9.

Mighty No 9 has had a very troubled road to release. It has suffered three delays to its release, the above trailer did the very opposite of what it was supposed to do by insulting the anime community with a throwaway line that actually angered its fan base instead of building any excitement for the game. My own hopes for this were for it to be a modern Megaman with some old school gameplay but with a modern fresh twist and presentation. What I did not expect was to find it to be a terrible execution of a classic game genre and an experience that actually had me counting to ten on numerous occasions to prevent me hitting that “delete” option on my PS4.

Mighty Number 9 is set in a world where robots are used for just about everything in modern day life. An incident causes a virus like reaction in all robotic life turning them against humans and in particular, the hero team of the ‘Mighty Numbers’, a group of enhanced combat robots. The players take on the role of Beck, Number 9 in the group who must fight his way through eight main stages in order to both stop and rescue his fellow Mighty teammates and learn what caused the virus and save the world.

The opening stage serves as a nice introduction to the gameplay and world of Might Number 9. Beck has the ability to shoot enemies, jump and climb platforms to navigate stages. Beck also has a dash move that can be used to help jump greater distances and avoid enemy attacks. Beck’s party piece is the ability to absorb the energy and power of enemies after enough damage has been dealt to them. Beck can earn boosted firepower, shield and movement speed and all three will help the player progress through the stage before reaching the main goal of each stage, the boss fight where Beck must fight and defeat each of the other Mighty Numbers Team.

That is where Mighty Number 9 truly began to let me down, the end stage boss fight. Now I was expecting the traditional Megaman style gameplay, mostly due to the fact that Keiji Inafune was producing the game, and the stages themselves delivered on that. As a side scrolling shooter platforming game, Mighty No 9 delivers solid and challenging levels to experience but what just killed my enjoyment all came down to the boss fights. Each Mighty Number robot has powers based on a theme so Mighty No 1 is Pyro and powers are all fire based, Might No 2 is Cryo and has Ice abilities. The main aim is for Beck to defeat and free each one from the virus that has twisted them to turn bad and absorb their powers so that Beck can switch between them to help defeat the other Mighty Numbers.

But for some reason the developers decided to add a Dark Souls style cheapness to the fights and even on Normal difficulty, the boss stages are the most frustrating fights I have ever encountered in gaming. Trying to learn their attack patterns requires the same level of trial and error that the stages utilize but it is a frustration that simply drained all the fun this game should be about right out of the experience. There is no learning curve to the different boss fights, they are simply tough and cheap. Take Pyro for example, the logical choice after completing the opening stage is to go for the first Mighty robot on the list. The game starts you with just two lives although more can be earned through the level, and if you die you will have to replay that section all over again and if you use up all your lives you will have to restart the entire stage no matter how far into the level you were. So when you encounter a boss fight where the boss can instantly kill you with a single move, those lives can vanish very quickly. Luckily in the game options you can increase the amount of lives you have to the maximum of nine but even that amount is not enough for some of the battles.

The game does allow you to tackle the stages in any order you like, so if you find one too difficult you can try another but the game is just so harsh and unforgiving with the boss fights that the chore and grind of constantly trying out different stages really starts to build the throwing the controller rage. The first boss I defeated was Cyro after trying and failing for a full hour to defeat Pyro, in the hope that obtaining her Ice powers would give me the edge against him but sadly, it did not make any difference at all. That level of cheapness is bewildering to me, especially playing on what should be normal difficulty. Making a game challenging is a good thing, but when you put so many gameplay walls up to stop progression without even offering a glimmer of allowing the player a chance to win and feel as though they are succeeding, its all a waste.

As well as the main story campaign you have the Ex Modes, a set of challenges that unlock as you progress in the game and can range from simply getting to the end of a level in the fastest time but without the ability to shoot or dash to defeating all enemies in the fastest time. Your results are then uploaded to an online leader board where you can compete with the community or friends. I found these to be fun to play and give something else other than the main campaign to focus on if you have a competitive side to you.

The three delays in the release of Mighty No 9 were put down to many things, and the last delay was explained as being the result of needing to clear more bugs from the final version. So when I started to experience game freezes and crashes my eyes just rolled back into my head. The game would often freeze whenever Beck would explode as a result of a hazard. Now no game is free of such issues and sometimes it can be the fault of the console and not the game itself but it happened so often in my playthrough that it had to be the game itself. The worse crime however was during two different total game crashes, upon starting the game again I was presented with a screen that no gamer wants to see, the ‘Save file is corrupted and must be deleted resulting in losing your progress’ screen. The first time this happened I was only close an hour into the game and so restarting was not a real issue but it was the second time it happened, wiping out three hours and four rescued Mighty Numbers that made me stop and take a pause. Day One updates can often help clear such issues and I am very much hoping this is the case with Mighty No 9 because for me right now, the game is close to unplayable. From the game crashes and losing saved data to the insanely difficult boss battles, this game has been a huge disappointment for me after following it since it was launched as a kick-starter project in 2013. The length of time that this has been in development and the number of release delays has set off alarm bells for many fans and sadly my experience has not been a good one with it.

I really wanted to like Mighty No 9, current gaming is crying out for a game just like it but with the issues I feel the gameplay has being compounded with the loss of save games and crashing issues, I will need to see if the first update for the game makes it stable enough to pick up and try again. I have no problem with challenging games as long as they also use a balanced fairness to the gameplay, but when you are just being cheap in order to create that challenge, you lose me in that frustration. Gaming is supposed to be fun, and sadly Mighty No 9 is anything but which is a true shame for something that had so much potential.

But for me, Mighty No 9 is portrayed as a fun accessible game but the reality is something far less about being fun and all about failing on its delivery.