River King Mystic Valley

Natsume is well-known for their series of Harvest Moon games, where the main object is to become a successful farmer. The success of the series lies in the integration of RPG elements such as leveling up characters, quests and cool items to find with the farming simulation side of things. Lesser known is the River King series, which is similar in format, but lighter on the RPG side and heavier on the simulation side. In River King, it’s all about fishing.

It’s been awhile since there has been a River King release on a handheld, around 10 years or so, back on the GameBoy Color. There was a PlayStation 2 release a couple of years ago, but it was pretty lame and not nearly as good as the Harvest Moon games for the consoles. So, after such a long hiatus, how does River King: Mystic Valley look? Well, it looks very nice (due to a great graphical design), but while the game is cute and charming, it doesn’t have the depth to hold anyone’s attention for very long.

Your sister has fallen into a mysterious sleep and can’t be roused. Your friend Sasera advises you that a scale from the River King, an elusive fish with a large reputation, may help awaken her. You resolve to catch this River King, and armed only with an old fishing rod and a few bags of bait, you set out for the nearest pond. Here, it’s time to test your mettle. If good enough, you can earn enough experience points to upgrade your equipment and get down to some serious fishing.

Fishing is the name of the game, and there are many species of fish to catch. There is a flavor of Animal Crossing in this game, with all the different types of fish, along with bugs and plants that can be collected. There are also many types of rods and lures that can be purchased with experience points. Players will earn experience points by catching fish; the bigger and rarer the fish, the more points it garners. Fish, bugs and plants can be traded in for information cards, which in turn can be traded for equipment.

While it is true there is a good amount of variety in the types of fish and equipment that are present, the fishing itself is fairly simplistic. Fishing looks great, with wonderful graphics for the DS that depict the fish on the bottom screen underwater, while the top view shows your character reeling in the fish from above the water. But, the actual fishing is pretty straightforward. Players will use the stylus in circles to reel, or tap on the left or right corners of the screen to pull the fish in from that side of the pole. The tension of the line is shown on the top screen, and if it is too tight, the line will break and the fish will escape.

The types of poles and bait don’t really seem to make that much of a difference in the success of catching fish overall, other than maybe attracting certain types of fish more easily. The catching itself is too easy. Young children could play this game with no problem.

One of the features of this game is the ability to raise three pets that help the player’s character in his or her quest to become a better fisherperson, but this aspect isn’t much fun. At first, it seems like a cool idea, but players have to fish and fish like crazy to level up these critters for them to become adult and able to help. I mean, a lot of fish is required, as their appetites are huge. Their powers aren’t all that wonderful, either.

The bottom line is that River King Mystic Valley is a bit of a letdown, as it has been a long time since the last handheld version. This release doesn’t even really feel like a stand-alone game; rather, it is like a version of the fishing and bug collecting element in Animal Crossing. While the game looks pretty good, with well-drawn locales and characters, the gameplay isn’t engrossing. There aren’t enough quests or other characters, and the fishing is too simplistic. Best for young players who may like to fish.

Gameplay: 6.5
Playing River King Mystic Valley is only amusing for a short time. The depth just isn’t present. More of everything would help, and a more robust fishing system is needed.

Graphics: 7.5 
The graphics are good for the DS, and the larger than normal characters were nicely drawn.

Sound: 6.0
Minimal music and sound effects.

Difficulty: Easy
Easy fishing here!

Concept: 6.0
The content isn’t anything new.

Multiplayer: 6.0
The multi-player centers around a fishing tournament, which isn't all that fun because the fishing is too easy.

Overall: 7.5
This is almost a case of “what could have been.” While the game itself isn’t a bad game, per se, it’s not a very good game, either. There just isn’t enough content. And, when compared to the earlier releases of River King editions, it falls short of expectation. This is too bad, as the concept is a good one and could have been better developed. As it stands, this is a light fishing game that is suitable for younger players and short gaming sessions.