Spinning involves trying to make an inanimate piece of metal and plastic resemble a wounded fish, making it irresistible to predators there are many different retrieval patterns with spinners, from stop ‘n go to straight retrieves, and each different way seems to attract a different species. Float fishing is a technique where the bait is suspended beneath a “bobber”, watched closely to see if there is a bite. Bottom fishing sees you using either a weight or a swimfeeder to fish a bait hard on the bottom, and relies on watching the end of the rod in order to see if there is a bite, sometimes in conjunction with a bell to give you an audible warning. There are four main styles of fishing in The Fisherman, covering a range of options. This time around the game takes you by the hand a lot more than previously too, with a series of missions introducing the important mechanics and teaching you what you need to know.

Luckily, although I had played the F2P version, I had lost patience with the microtransactions, so restarting wasn’t too much of a wrench. Even if you have played the F2P version before, none of your progress will carry over, so please bear that in mind if you are tempted to get this edition.

It was a pleasant surprise therefore to see achievements popping for completing the tutorial again, just a few minutes in, and as such this game immediately sets itself apart from the previous version. The first thing to say is that The Fisherman is completely separate from the F2P version of Fishing Planet, even down to completely separate achievements. However, can this game now supplant the ruler? Strap on your waders and let’s find out! But more to the point it also adds some extra goodies in the shape of boats, fish species and so on. Starting life as a free-to-play title, with everything hidden away behind microtransactions, The Fisherman – Fishing Planet is the latest edition of the game, collecting all the DLC into a single package, and reworking the way that the in-game economy works.

Biggest fish planet