Reviewed by Addie Panveno
I was really excited when I first read about River King. Brought to you by Natsume, the makers of the Harvest Moon series, River King was made to be the unofficial fishing extension of the popular farming sim. I have always found something relaxing about raising virtual turnips on my own farm, and found the fishing aspects of other games like Dark Cloud 2 to be challenging and fun. River King sounded like a game that would be right up my alley.
And it would have been, had this game not been a complete disaster!
First, let’s talk about the price. After trying several stores that didn’t even get single copy of the new title (which should have been my first hint), I finally found a copy. I was shocked, but I’ll admit, pleasantly surprised, that a brand new copy only had a $14.99 price tag. This should have been my second hint, but a low price doesn’t always mean it’s a bad game, right? So, I purchased it anyway.
River King: A Wonderful Journey runs on an engine similar to the Harvest Moon games… but maybe from a few consoles back. The graphics seem thrown together and the menus are so overly simplistic, I kept feeling like I was missing something.
The game itself involves helping your neighbors complete various tasks to build up fishing and cooking points. You fish along the way, with dozens of varieties for you to catch, collect lures and bait, and participate in mini games such as trivia with woodland creatures, but none of it is very interesting or exciting.
The actual fishing is controlled with a single button, and can actually be done without having to look at the screen if you have the vibration on. This allows you to do more exciting things like eating a sandwich or painting your toenails. The fish AI is so horrible that they can often be found swimming in circles and standing next to you on the beach. Because certain fish can only be found in specific areas, I often found myself walking more than I was fishing. This got old really fast. Is your basket full of fish? You have to walk back to town. Run out of bait? You have to walk back to town. You get the idea. And as the game progresses this only gets worse. With no in-game map, I kept getting lost which only added to my annoyance. Longer distances to perform tedious tasks with very little reward. It all feels like filler.
River King also has nearly no audio. There is no music to speak of, and the sound effects consist of the ambient sound of running water (which just made me want to pee) and this annoying beeping sound that was meant to signify your character’s walking. Sometimes during the underwater shots you would get the sound of waves, but sometimes you wouldn’t, without any kind of explanation.
All I can say about this game is “what were they thinking“? River King comes off like a completely unfinished title. Had they actually put the time and effort into this game like they do with Harvest Moon, it could have been a classic and possibly the beginning of another great gaming franchise.
This game had so much potential, which makes the long list of flaws that much more depressing.
One thing is for sure… I’d rather be fishing.