Mobfish Hunter Review

Mobfish Hunter, a violent fishing game that clearly takes inspiration from Ridiculous Fishing, will obviously be framed up against Vlambeer's title - especially because of the Ninja Fishing debacle. However, a year later, Appxplore finds itself in calmer waters: Ridiculous Fishing has had its chance to live as its own product, and making any iterations have far less harm. Still, Appxplore made sure to make two key changes: its play sessions are far swifter, and the progression is built around the traditional free-to-play grind. Thus, this will likely only appeal to veterans of Ridiculous Fishing and those who prefer games with a more drawn-out progression.

This is still a game of violent fishing: players toss down a lure, trying to avoid fish on the way down, with tools available to survive collisions or power through some fish. Once the bottom has been reached, or a fish has been hooked, then the lure comes back up to the top. The deviation here? Players' lures turn into offensive weapons on the way back up, killing fish they hit until the top is reached. There's no "launching fish in the air" to shoot them phase, so the game is streamlined. Money is earned for the kills, which can be used on upgrades along with temporary boosts.

Certainly, the pacing of game sessions is rather swift because any fish are all eradicated on the way back up, so it's a much swifter and more symmetrical experience, though I do miss shooting fish with a rocket launcher. The game is free-to-play so there's temporary boosts to buy and overall a slower pacing, along with an energy system (albeit one that recharges fairly quickly) to deal with. It's definitely more of a grind, and a lot more repetitive because of how much slower upgrades and new areas are made available.

Now, the game being far more repetitive and a grind than Ridiculous Fishing is not inherently a bad thing for some people. I prefer the well-formed progression of Vlambeer's hit, but after some debate about the game and whether it would have done better as free-to-play, one response I had was interesting: some people prefer the free-to-play grind. This is a position I can understand: Ridiculous Fishing pushed players to its end game fairly quickly. I could see where some people would enjoy having a game that lasted longer, and made them earn their rewards. If so, Mobfish Hunter serves as both a swifter and longer-lasting experience.

I prefer the pacing of Ridiculous Fishing, but I could find where people would enjoy what Mobfish Hunter is offering as well. For its free price, it might just satisfy those who have maxed out in Ridiculous Fishing and have some anger to unleash on underwater denizens.