Isle of Jura is a casual fishing game seemingly in part inspired by Animal Crossing judging by the squeaky sound effects added to the conversations and the chill vibes from the rest of the soundtrack. It is however very basic and the type of game that makes me wish neutral recommendations were a thing.

Movement and interaction controls feel awkward at times (for both KB+M and Controller). The camera also can’t be controlled, something that seemed like an unnecessary choice and personally made me feel dizzy whilst exploring with a lot of walking into walls/rocks/dead ends.

You play as Alex who sets off to an island to study fish. Jura is a very small island with just five inhabitants not including yourself: a shopkeeper who sells you equipment; a chef where you sell your catches; a camper; a person collecting ‘artefacts’ that can be found and fished up; as well as the ferryman who brought you to the island. The ferryman can also take you out to deep sea once you have purchased the final upgrade. All of these people will do nothing other than standing around waiting for you to interact with them.

There is no day and night cycle but fish do have areas where they’re more likely to be found and have varying difficulty. I also like that heavier fish actually seem to show up as larger on the rod. I don’t like how long the animation takes after catching a fish. Inventory space is limited but caught fish of the same type stack making it easy to focus on one area, sell then move on to the next area. Artefacts have their own display area and whilst you do keep a journal of your caught fish it would have been nice if you could also display fish, especially as you catch way more fish than you need to sell for purchasing all upgrades.

The core fishing gameplay unsurprisingly revolves around patience and timing. Nets are your introduction, very simple - hit when the marker reaches the middle. With standard rods for lake and sea - reeling in seems to be done automatically whilst you balance the tension of the line. Fly fishing however is nightmarish, you have to keep a line in the middle of a green patch that moves around wildly - there aren't any visual clues to indicate if you’re doing well or not, just sound, and it really revealed just how frustrating the controls can be, honestly feeling more like luck than any chance of skill to catch the more difficult fish - on more than one occasion it seemed like the fish got to escape before I even had a chance to react.

I don’t think this game makes for a memorable experience but it was a quiet and peaceful way to spend an afternoon… at least for me until I encountered fly fishing where it became rather miserable. As the sole focus lies in fishing, it could definitely do with being fleshed out and varied, perhaps with the introduction for more specialised rods/upgrades that make fishing easier, even something as simple as baits and lures could give the game more substantial flavour.

Isle of Jura is a casual fishing game seemingly in part inspired by Animal Crossing judging by the squeaky sound effects added to the conversations and the chill vibes from the rest of the soundtrack. It is however very basic and the type of game that makes me wish neutral recommendations were a thing. Movement and interaction controls feel awkward at times (for both KB+M and Controller). The camera also can’t be controlled, something that seemed like an unnecessary choice and personally made me feel dizzy whilst exploring with a lot of walking into walls/rocks/dead ends. You play as Alex who sets off to an island to study fish. Jura is a very small island with just five inhabitants not including yourself: a shopkeeper who sells you equipment; a chef where you sell your catches; a camper; a person collecting ‘artefacts’ that can be found and fished up; as well as the ferryman who brought you to the island. The ferryman can also take you out to deep sea once you have purchased the final upgrade. All of these people will do nothing other than standing around waiting for you to interact with them. There is no day and night cycle but fish do have areas where they’re more likely to be found and have varying difficulty. I also like that heavier fish actually seem to show up as larger on the rod. I don’t like how long the animation takes after catching a fish. Inventory space is limited but caught fish of the same type stack making it easy to focus on one area, sell then move on to the next area. Artefacts have their own display area and whilst you do keep a journal of your caught fish it would have been nice if you could also display fish, especially as you catch way more fish than you need to sell for purchasing all upgrades. The core fishing gameplay unsurprisingly revolves around patience and timing. Nets are your introduction, very simple - hit when the marker reaches the middle. With standard rods for lake and sea - reeling in seems to be done automatically whilst you balance the tension of the line. Fly fishing however is nightmarish, you have to keep a line in the middle of a green patch that moves around wildly - there aren't any visual clues to indicate if you’re doing well or not, just sound, and it really revealed just how frustrating the controls can be, honestly feeling more like luck than any chance of skill to catch the more difficult fish - on more than one occasion it seemed like the fish got to escape before I even had a chance to react. I don’t think this game makes for a memorable experience but it was a quiet and peaceful way to spend an afternoon… at least for me until I encountered fly fishing where it became rather miserable. As the sole focus lies in fishing, it could definitely do with being fleshed out and varied, perhaps with the introduction for more specialised rods/upgrades that make fishing easier, even something as simple as baits and lures could give the game more substantial flavour.