Natsume, the leader in
cute and friendly hit games, has brought another loveable and fun game for
Playstation 2 owners to enjoy. Finny the Fish and the Seven Waters follows a
very capable fish as he jumps up waterfalls, roughs up piranhas, and saves a
baby otter’s life. Finny’s childhood appeal is somewhat misleading, as this game
can be enjoyed by anyone and may even be a little too difficult for the kids.
Floating Island is in
trouble, and the wise turtle Mr. Kappa needs assistance. He calls out to the
Chosen One for assistance. Enter Finny, a loveable and seemingly normal fish
that hears this call. Being the Chosen One he is now assigned the task of
retrieving the master statues that will save the Floating Island from impending
doom. To signify his loyalty to Mr. Kappa, Finny is given a ring that all
Kappa’s followers have. As you progress through the game you meet other
creatures with the same ring that are willing to help you acquire all the
missing statues.
The world of Finny the
Fish and the Seven Waters is divided into seven levels and the Floating Island.
The Floating Island is where you can reach Mr. Kappa to get game hints or some
bonus items for completing certain tasks. This is also where you deliver each
master statue. The other seven areas are very different from each other, not
only in content and puzzles but in the predators, prey and setting. Each level
looks very different from the last, ranging from underwater temple ruins to
underneath human theme parks.
Placed in each level are
scales and save points. Scales will sometimes be hidden, or awarded for
completing a task, but they will increase certain stats for you. There are four
different stat scales, each a different color and affecting a different stat.
There’s a scale for your max health capacity, max tummy capacity, hearing level,
and jaw level. Your hearing level determines how far away Finny will be able to
detect prey and your jaw level determines how quickly you can chew and swallow
the larger prey.
Save points take the form
of red stones in the Seven Waters. You’ll have to search for them when entering
an area for the first time, but once you activate one it will show up on your
mini map for good. Just strike it with your tail and you can save your game.
You’ll begin the game in
Home Waters, the first level. Here you will be given a tour of how to play the
game and interact with your surroundings. Mr. Kappa doesn’t throw everything at
you all at once, just the very basics such as moving, jumping, eating, and using
your tail to strike things.
Finny is very easy to
learn how to play; to swim forward you press and hold X, or tap it to swim
quickly. Locking on to interactive objects is done by holding L1. To strike it
with your tail you press circle, or to eat it you press square. If it’s too big
to eat in one bite you’ll have to chew it by wiggling both joysticks. Mr. Kappa
didn’t really explain this too well, but I found through experimentation that
moving each alternately up and down got the job done just fine.
Eating is very important
to Finny; as he stays active he becomes hungry. On the left side of the screen
resides Finny’s tummy meter which shows how full his tummy is. It will
constantly go down, and since your health slowly drains while it’s empty you’ll
want to make sure you keep it full. To fill Finny’s tummy you’ll want to eat
whatever you can get your fins on. Each consumable animal has its own nutrition
value, so while some fish will fill most of your stomach others may not fill
much at all.
While eating all these
fish you’re bound to accidentally snag a fisherman’s lure. When this happens you
need to fight your hardest to keep from being caught. When snagged, the fishing
line appears. As you swim in different directions the line changes color, and
your goal is to pull it in the direction that makes it red and tug by lashing
your tail with the circle button. If the line shows yellow marks on top of the
red that means you’ll do maximum damage. Some may require multiple good tugs
while others may snap right away. You can also escape being caught by jumping
out of the water and pressing square to unhook the lure. This is easier than
fighting the line, but then you won’t get to keep the lure…
Building up a collection
of prey and lures is probably the best part of Finny the Fish. Each level has
its own set of prey that lives there, and the game keeps track of which ones
you’ve eaten. In the pause menu you can review what you’ve eaten from each
level, including a 3D model of the prey and its stats. Lures are collected in
the same fashion; when you successfully snap the line of a lure you get to keep
it and it’s added to your archive in the pause menu.
Sometimes eating a lure
can be very frustrating when it happens in a small area. Without any camera
control, sometimes the camera will hit objects in the area or bump walls. This
caused it to get too close to Finny many times, making seeing the fishing line
impossible. Without seeing the line there’s no way to know which way to pull. In
these cases I’d just have to keep hitting the circle button and pray for the
best. I was never captured in these instances, but it was still very annoying.
While eating and escaping
capture play a large role in Finny, there are still many different things you
must do. Each level will present a challenge that must be completed to earn the
master statue. This challenge will lead you through the whole level and usually
requires puzzle solving.
Finny the Fish and the
Seven Waters is a very entertaining game, although very short. My final game
clock read 3 hours and 59 minutes, but I was able to save the clear data and
return to the waters to collect the remaining prey and lures. Even with its
short length and low replay value I found myself getting small Finny cravings,
causing me to turn my Playstation 2 on just to swim around and explore. I never
found the controls to be poor, and the bad camera only messed me up on a few
occasions, but I still think some goals would be hard for younger children to
accomplish. I bet older audiences would be surprised by how much fun they could
have with this one.
Gameplay: 7.0
The gameplay is
severely hurt at times due to the bad camera; mostly when you’re either fighting
a lure or running from an enemy in tight areas where the camera hits walls and
objects. Otherwise Finny is an entertaining and easy to play game.
Graphics: 8.0
Finny isn’t going
for a realistic look, and it nails the cartoony yet detailed graphic style it
seemed to be aiming for. Each lure and prey is distinctly detailed, and each
main character portrays great emotion in their expressions and actions.
Sound: 7.5
A great
soundtrack backs up each level and the sound effects are appropriate for the
actions on screen. The only downside is the voice acting, which seems to pause
at the wrong time and overall feels unnatural.
Difficulty: Medium
Each stage has
its own difficulty level, yet sometimes doesn’t seem to flow at all. I had a
really hard time with the 2nd level while some of the later levels
gave me the “it’s over already?” feeling. The camera can also sometimes
contribute to the difficulty, making certain levels harder than they should be.
Concept: 8.5
Finny feels like
the many web-based fish “sims” out there, where your sole purpose is to live by
feeding off smaller fish and avoiding larger ones. Of course Finny is a lot
deeper than that, but the basic idea is still in place.
Overall: 7.3
I had a great
time with Finny the Fish, and I think other gamers can to. Its camera system and
length certainly hold it back from getting a better score, but the gameplay
itself is a lot of fun. It may seem like it’s meant for younger audiences, but
the more complicated controls and puzzle solving lead Finny towards an older
audience than originally intended.
