I don't precisely know why there's such a big focus on fishing mini-games in various titles, but I have my theories. The first is Japan's great admiration for the sport/procedure, since most of their gourmet meals (notably, various types of sushi) and exports come from fishing. I suspect there's a great deal of cultural focus on it.
The other theories tie into the games they appear in themselves. In many RPGs (and Zelda) the fishing mini-game is a mainstay and the benefits tend to be from using the fish you catch as restoratives. Depending on the game, there are also auxiliary prizes in the form of miscellaneous items fished up from the water, as well as useful prizes (like money or equipment) from fishing contests and the like.
For this update, I plan to look how the fishing subgame is handled in some sample games. In fact, since instances of this minigame are so varied and multitudinous, they're practically their own genre. Within a genre. I've separated the three "types" of fishing game I'll be demonstrating by their pacing, from slowest to fastest.
Dark Cloud 2 (SLOW) - One of the greatest factors of this amazing game, and potentially the thing that saves it from the heavy amount of randomized dungeon crawling, are the strength of the extra-curricular activities. All manner of minigames and subquests prevail in this game, and are a welcome break from the oft-times tedium of bashing your way through corridors of cartoonish enemies. While Spheda (the golf game) is undoubtedly the king among these side areas, the fishing game is excellent too.
The minigame itself is fairly slow-paced, especially when compared the action-packed dungeon floor you just cleared, and so the game emphasises on this facet allowing it to work in its favor. When a dungeon is complete, the temperamental battle music that pervaded the stage disappears and is replaced with a relaxing tune. It is at this point when all the minigames for the floor are unlocked, and the player is free to explore the floor without worrying about any dangers. The fishing game works well with this relaxed tune.
The game itself is fairly simple. You choose your rod and bait (both of which are found as treasures or bought like any other item in the game) and choose a nice spot and cast out. Then it's simply waiting a while until you have a bite, a momentary few seconds of button-mashing to fish it up and you have a fish you have various uses for. You can fry it, turning it into a healing item for when you need it. You can place it in an aquarium and breed it, or build it up for competitions. Or you can simply sell it for a cash value relative to its rarity.
For another "slower", strategic fishing minigame, see: Breath of Fire 3.
Ocarina of Time (MEDIUM) - I had to mention one of Zelda's fishing games in here. While not as in-depth as some RPG fishing games (Zelda games focus less on items that aren't crucial to solving puzzles or exploring dungeons), there are the occasional fishing minigames within the world of Hyrule that manage to capture the game's energy and peerless gameplay. I use Ocarina of Time, though the limited version as way back as Link's Awakening (the older Gameboy version, thought by many to still be the best Zelda game on any console) is still oddly compelling.
The fishing game starts slow, but then speeds up considerably once a fish is hooked. It then becomes a battle of wills with the fish, and not one you're always going to win if you don't stay on top of it. You have to follow where the fish goes to let itself tire out before reeling it in.
I suspect the Wii's Legend of Zelda, Twilight Princess, to have an even more elaborate fishing game to capitalize on the controller's motion sensing capabilities. Unfortunately my opinion on it will have to wait, as I am still waiting for a Wii to arrive (like thousands of other people..).
Suikoden V (FAST) - OK, I'll admit to this being the main inspiration for this journal entry, since I'm currently playing through this fine addition to the Suikoden series [which I may cover in a review piece if I ever get around to it] and am hooked on this otherwise superfluous minigame.
This game, unlike the other two examples, is a bit more frantic and competitive, as you're directly pitted against three of your fellow Stars of Destiny in a fishing arena of sorts, with many fish swimming around in various directions. Instead of fishing at your own pace, you need to quickly fish up as many of the bigger fish as you can as your score is measured by the total weight of your catch. To mess you up, the larger fish shadows (i.e. the ones that look like they'll be worth more points) are more often than not booby prizes, completely worthless to the competition (but are often valuable items outside the minigame). The smaller fish shadows, though, are more likely to actually be fish, giving you this risk factor as you choose either to hunt for the smaller "sure things" and let your score slowly add up or keep going for the very rare larger fish which will no doubt land you a victory if you're able to find them.
What's sort of glossed over in that description is how fun and intuitive they've made the controls. Another factor most fishing games share is their relaxing slowness, which this minigame chose to distance itself from. While I've championed the slower-pace in the Dark Cloud 2 example above, I also greatly enjoy the faster, frantic version here. Both are fun additions to otherwise fine games in their own way.
For more examples of a "faster" fishing minigame, see: Mario Party 4 (and various other Mario Party titles), where a frenzied, competitive grab for the biggest fish is also the main focus.
I guess I can't end this update without mentioning actual fishing games. The ones that focus entirely on fishing as the main game and tend to be entirely too serious about it (like most sports games come to think about it). To be frank, I don't see the point in them when perfectly functional fishing games exist inside otherwise excellent games from other, more entertaining genres. I don't have much experience with them either, to be fair, with the exception of Sega Bass Fishing for the Dreamcast. That was only so I could try out the fishing controller that came with my eBay Dreamcast bundle, however.
