This is the first fishing game I have ever played, previously thinking that they would be boring and lacking depth. While this game does not have a whole lot to do, I'm impressed by what it did with so little. This feels like exploring Peach's Castle in SM64 with all the small secrets there are to find, which reward you with either new species of fish to catch or a new lure to attract fish with. The aesthetic of this game does a lot of the heavy lifting in making this game appealing, so if it doesn't appeal to you, you probably won't like the game. The progression of the game is also pretty quick and it can be beaten in about 4 hours, so there is not much grind at all.

A pretty neat short fishing that is a little confused as to whether it wants to be a horror game or a fishing game which it does not fully succeed in either.

From the idea of it just being a fishing game it almost accomplishes this by having a wide variety of fish to catch and there being a satisfying loop of catching and earning money. The routine of strategically catching certain type of fish in order to upgrade your lure to go to deeper depths in an inherently satisfying concept. The first time I fished in the large part of the lake and I saw a dark hole in the middle I was motivated to get the upgrades needed to see what fish are there. It's honestly pretty satisfying to meander around the lake looking for fish. The soundtrack really adds to atmosphere with there being a few looping ambient tracks that either put me at ease or made me tense. The fishing was the best aspect of the game for me as it was relaxing to just have something on tv while I depleted the lake of the fish.

The other angle the game tries to go for is horror which is not nearly as successful. Going into this game I knew it was a horror type game but this really only occurs at the very end. The game does a good job of building up the feeling of isolation with some of the ambient tracks making it sound as if you are not alone on this lake. As you continuing playing though you realize that there is no danger and that all the uneasy elements is just set dressing. I really think there was a missed opportunity from having the horror stem from the fishing being more messed up the further down you fish as for the most part the fishing is pretty normal. The game builds up to an ending that while it is unnerving does not really feel that earned and feels like it goes from a 0 to 100 on the horror scale.

I enjoyed my time with this game but I was disappointed with how little actual horror there was. If they fleshed out the fishing more I could easily see this be a pretty fun fishing game. Like what if instead of just buying new lures and rods you could also change the look of your tent or buy items that help catch fish quicker. From a horror angle, having more messed up fish was the bare minimum.

PS: I think having to wait for the final door to open is bad design. I just barely missed it then I had to wait two in game days for it to open again which is just annoying.

PSS: I absolutely adore the clay animation art for the marketing and I kinda wish they had more elements like that in the game.

Great game! It has a little unsettling ambience, but at the end, the experience is really cozy, i missed more meat in the plate, because completing the game can take quite some time, but it´s more of a experience, you don´t have to play the game, you chose in your own free will to play it, so enjoy, don´t think to much and fish. Didn´t understand some mechanics like the cooking and the ending... well.. It´s complete asscheeks but I know that almost all of this type of games have these sort of endings.

Esse é o primeiro jogo do Bryce Bucher que joguei depois de muito ler/ouvir sobre sua reputação em atmosfera focada no horror, o que fez minha expectativa ir às alturas.

Mysteries Under Lake Ophelia realmente tem uma atmosfera incrível, mesclando a nostalgia low poly misturada com a sensação desconfortante de estar sendo observado.

No jogo você é um garoto sozinho nos arredores do Lago Ophelia, apenas equipado com uma simples vara, uma boia de pesca, e um livro de peixes. No começo já se nota um game design bem construído pois o cenário apresenta diversos locais com água e variadas dificuldades.

Minutos depois aparece outro personagem que é uma espécie de loja do jogo, oferecendo diversos upgrades em troca do dinheiro obtido através dos peixes.

A partir daí é só grinding pra aperfeiçoar o seu equipamento e explorar novas profundidades do lago. O tal mistério se desenvolve com as histórias que o vendedor te conta e com a estranha luz submersa que ás vezes surge no meio do lago quando anoitece.

A gameplay é fortemente inspirada no minigame de pesca de The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time e o livro de peixes que se atualiza ao pescar as diferentes espécies lembra bastante a série Animal Crossing.

No geral, é um jogo muito gostoso de se jogar mas o que peca pra mim é o título, que reforça muito a ideia de algo horripilante quando na verdade 99% do jogo é aconchegante e apenas 1% é realmente terror.

(Detalhe para a camiseta do protagonista que faz referência ao Dreamcast.)

Ain't no damn mystery here except for who thought adding horror was a good idea.

I'll give the game credit where credit's due and say that it does successfully establish a chill & peaceful environment for fishing. Does it go much further than that? Not really! Gameplay is OK, progression is ALRIGHT, and all attempts at horror fail in an unbelievable magnitude.

The day & night cycle quite nicely establish a change in mood and tone as your worries start to slowly creep in as darkness arrives and perish when morning comes. Funnily enough, this immediately stops having any and all effect on the player once you realize that this system has 0 actual impact on the player aside from existing to respawn fish. The only NPC in the game makes note of entities that supposedly exist but are actually nothing but shallow attempts to cram in the horror aspect of the game. Creatures in the woods? Nothing comes of them. Figures that are said to be lurking about? Nowhere to be found. His dialogue subtly coerces the player into believing the existence of such creatures that are preying upon them, but truthfully, they never have any impact on the game in the first place.

None of that quite compares to the absolute snooze fest that is the story, rather, the ending. The cited “mysteries” in the title don't actually exist, and the only mystery is found at the game's ending. It's an incredibly vapid attempt to appeal to people with boners for VHS style horror. The use of trypophobia bears no real relevance to anything whatsoever, and is incorporated for the sake of shoehorned horror once again. Truthfully, removing all appearances and attempts at horror that this game has, and you've successfully created an exponentially better game.

It's an ok fishing sim that ends up falling very short on the horror aspect, both in content and execution, while simultaneously somehow managing to shoehorning it in for the sake of having it exist. If the fishing aspect was further developed, I honestly believe that this could have been a truly magnificent fishing game.