GAME CLEAR No. 137 -- Mysteries Under Lake Ophelia

Mysteries Under Lake Ophelia (2022, Switch/PC)

Developer: Bryce Bucher
Publisher: Bryce Bucher
Clear Date: 7/15/23

Baited

A few weeks ago, I was in Oakland at the Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment (MADE). It’s a cute little place with free play consoles and home computers spanning the history of the medium. It didn’t have a ton to offer me as a patron since I’ve sort of spent my whole life reading about and caring about this sort of thing, but it’s the kind of place I would love to contribute to or help with at some point in my life.

While I was there I overheard someone say something to the effect of “yeah, man, people love 16-bit graphics and stuff, but nobody’s nostalgic for the old, blurry 3D graphics of the PS1,” and I think he’s wrong about that! I think Bryce Bucher clearly has a lot of love for those very graphics. For evidence, look no further than Mysteries Under Lake Ophelia.

Mysteries is a fishing game with low-fidelity 3D graphics that would look right at home in the PS1/N64 era. If you played the fishing mini-game in Ocarina of Time, you already have a pretty good idea of how this game works. If not, basically all you do is approach bodies of water, cast a line in, and reel it in when the fish bite. Don’t reel to hard when the fish is resisting or you’ll snap your line. With patience, you can haul in anything.

When night falls, it’s best to return to your campsite a stone’s throw from Lake Ophelia to rest up and sell any of your fish to the fellow traveler who shares your campfire. He pays a fixed rate for each species you can find, and you can give that money right back to buy better gear from him. He’ll also dispense the occasional bit of useful knowledge or lore about the lake but otherwise he just enjoys the fire and awaits your daily catch.

As the title suggests, there is something in the depths of the lake. If you catch enough fish and upgrade your gear enough, you’ll be able to find it. Obviously I’m not gonna tell you what it is, or it wouldn’t be a mystery. I will say I didn’t find it entirely satisfying, but the good news is it doesn’t really do anything to detract from what is a very chill little fishing game. After you discover the mystery, you can load your game right back up and keep trying to finish your fish compendium. Nothing wrong with that.