One thing that I’ve sort of grown tired of seeing from “cozy” games is the overabundance of farming and base-building games. No matter how chill they are, they hardly ever vibe with me. What I do vibe with, however, are the games that make people feel. That’s exactly what Fishbowl has set out to do, and even though the latest Steam Next Fest demo was really short, I got a lot out of it.
Fishbowl follows a 21-year-old named Alo as she navigates her everyday life in a big city. Making use of a colorful pixel-based art style, which adds to the game’s approachability and charm, the game has you perform all sorts of simple tasks; cook, brew coffee, binge your favorite TV show, use the bathroom — everything you do replenishes or depletes what appears to be a mood gauge, which appears to also determine what drives her.
Almost everything in the game depends on your mood, and I’m glad you had the mood to read this preview.
For a lot of people, our mood defines everything. Do we have to get up at 8AM? Why actually take time cooking when you can make an instant meal? Is it really necessary to work during “working hours” when you work remotely? Oh yeah, I gotta feed the fish! Or do I?
In the game, you get this toy fish that for some reason has the magical power of letting Alo relive memories from her past. Given that this was a demo, there wasn’t much for us to experience, but one memorable one was a childhood memory of Alo in the park picking flowers for her grandmother–someone Alo is currently grieving for in her own way.
I was worried that Alo’s job as a video editor would actually make edit B-Roll. Luckily it’s just a simple sorting minigame.
That’s what contributes to the overall sad feeling the game depicts. Fishbowl‘s story is about overcoming grief. In the 45 minutes or so I’ve spent playing the demo, I could tell she’s trying to be strong by being both caring and nonchalant. There’s one point where she’s on the phone with her mother, and the dialog decisions are all up to you, and you could feel Alo’s frustration about the way her mother is handling her grandmother’s death. How much does she actually care?
I know we’ll learn that it’s not really about that, and I’m eager to see everything unfold. Fishbowl is slated to release for the PlayStation 5 and Steam on April 2. PS5 preorders are available now, and as announced in the PlayStation Blog, those who preorder will get the game 72 hours before launch. We hope to have a full review around then.
One thing that I’ve sort of grown tired of seeing from “cozy” games is the overabundance of farming and base-building games. No matter how chill they are, they hardly ever vibe with me. What I do vibe with, however, are the games that make people feel. That’s exactly what Fishbowl has set out to do, and even though the latest Steam Next Fest demo was really short, I got a lot out of it.
One thing that I’ve sort of grown tired of seeing from “cozy” games is the overabundance of farming and base-building games. No matter how chill they are, they hardly ever vibe with me. What I do vibe with, however, are the games that make people feel. That’s exactly what Fishbowl has set out to do, and even though the latest Steam Next Fest demo was really short, I got a lot out of it.
Fishbowl follows a 21-year-old named Alo as she navigates her everyday life in a big city. Making use of a colorful pixel-based art style, which adds to the game’s approachability and charm, the game has you perform all sorts of simple tasks; cook, brew coffee, binge your favorite TV show, use the bathroom — everything you do replenishes or depletes what appears to be a mood gauge, which appears to also determine what drives her.
Almost everything in the game depends on your mood, and I’m glad you had the mood to read this preview.
For a lot of people, our mood defines everything. Do we have to get up at 8AM? Why actually take time cooking when you can make an instant meal? Is it really necessary to work during “working hours” when you work remotely? Oh yeah, I gotta feed the fish! Or do I?
In the game, you get this toy fish that for some reason has the magical power of letting Alo relive memories from her past. Given that this was a demo, there wasn’t much for us to experience, but one memorable one was a childhood memory of Alo in the park picking flowers for her grandmother–someone Alo is currently grieving for in her own way.
I was worried that Alo’s job as a video editor would actually make edit B-Roll. Luckily it’s just a simple sorting minigame.
That’s what contributes to the overall sad feeling the game depicts. Fishbowl‘s story is about overcoming grief. In the 45 minutes or so I’ve spent playing the demo, I could tell she’s trying to be strong by being both caring and nonchalant. There’s one point where she’s on the phone with her mother, and the dialog decisions are all up to you, and you could feel Alo’s frustration about the way her mother is handling her grandmother’s death. How much does she actually care?
I know we’ll learn that it’s not really about that, and I’m eager to see everything unfold. Fishbowl is slated to release for the PlayStation 5 and Steam on April 2. PS5 preorders are available now, and as announced in the PlayStation Blog, those who preorder will get the game 72 hours before launch. We hope to have a full review around then.
by Danreb Victorio
