I Am Fish Review (Xbox, PlayStation, Switch & PC)

We recently went back to I Am Bread to see if the act of making toast was any different, or at the very least, to see if it was as tedious as it was back in 2015. In the heat of the moment, we also decided to venture back to the bowl—to the aquatic world where human vomit could be absorbed for oxygen, and aggressive puzzles could be deemed a “good time” and in no way shape or form a frustrating exercise. Like a goldfish, though, I forgot about the worst part all within the first fifteen seconds: the fact that you needed the patience of a saint to bring a fish bowl to the open ocean.

Like a fish out of water, I immediately found myself flopping and flailing with the controller between my fingers and my heart wedged firmly in my throat. I remembered everything, almost as if it was still fresh in my mind. Like a freight train with a smoking gun, I Am Fish quickly reminded me that it was never about the journey, but rather, the destination and how quickly and/or gracefully I could get there without capsizing in a watery grave of bubbles and vomit. I almost had to abandon it, too, because I remembered all of the pain and suffering—the endless trial and error segments, as well as all of the times I’d convince myself that I was having a great time, only to find myself yanking at my own chest hair out of anger. But I kept to it. A fish’s gotta eat, you know how it is.

I Am Fish is one of those “if you know, you know” sorts of things. It’s the type of experience that you look at from an outsider’s perspective and then think about how much fun you could have with it. But then, the cold reality of the situation hits like a sucker punch to the forehead. The physics; the tender controls; and the incompetent world that would do anything to irritate you and throw a proverbial spanner in the works just to keep you from reaching that ever-elusive aquatic haven. It punches you in the face, and it tells you that, if you can bear with it long enough to find the shoreline, then you will find a good enough reason to forget about all of the problems that it gave you en route to the water. It doesn’t quite make good with its promise — but that’s besides the point.

I Am Fish isn’t all that different from I Am Bread. In a similar vein, it requires you to manually navigate a set number of locations with all odds stacked against you, and tackle all sorts of obstacles, whether it’s balancing on a tight rope, skirting between intoxicated clubbers, or ascending a labyrinth of construction blocks. The “issue” that sets this world apart from its doughy kin, of course, is the fact that you have to roll a fish bowl and not, say, operate four corners of a slice of bread. It’s a bit like Egging On, but with fewer breakages and more, well, spillages. Concept-wise, however, it’s on par with other infuriating physics platforming IPs.

If you can remove yourself from the bitter taste of failure and learn to accept I Am Fish for what it is—a taxing experience with an annoyingly more-ish hook—then you might just find a lot to love about this aquatic nightmare. It’s the sort of game that you love to hate, but also can’t see yourself uninstalling. There is this drive deep within you that pushes you to start from scratch. You know you’re having a bad time, but you also can’t help but wonder what lurks on the other end of the next chapter. But, thankfully, that’s a thing that I Am Fish brings to the table: an extensive array of creative biomes that keep you wanting to see more. Take the nightclub stage, for example. In one episode, you have to weave through drunken partygoers and, thanks to the power of imagination, utilize buckets, toilets, and other liquid rarities to cross a dance floor. It’s ridiculous, but it’s also a lot of fun to watch unfold. Or at least, it is for the first eight attempts.

If it wasn’t for the creative levels and comical value, then I’d have no problem with discarding I Am Fish as “just another unnecessary headache.” The truth is, though, that there is a good game here, and it’s thanks to the “relatively” simple mechanics and satisfying milestones that make it an incredibly easy one to snowball into. It isn’t a long game by any stretch, but where it lacks in size it definitely makes up for in creativity. It’s still as equally tedious as I Am Bread, but it’s still worth blowing a few bubbles for. Take it all with a huge pinch of salt, I guess. What’s a quick headache worth to you?

Verdict

I Am Fish is the ideal compliment to any good headache — and I mean that in the best possible way, believe it or not. It might not be a traditionally fun game, but it is one that counters its tedious segments with some surprisingly creative ideas. And maybe that is what we should be taking away from all of this: the fact that it’s still an entertaining experience that deserves to be played, even though it is about as mentally taxing as one might expect from a game about rolling a fish bowl through a building site. It’s the little things that make it worth the investment. If you can hold on to that, then you shouldn’t find an issue with sticking around long enough to witness the shoreline.

When all’s said and done, I Am Fish won’t change your life. That said, it ought to provide you with a good giggle for all the while you choose to don the fins and jack-knife around in the bowl. You’ll probably hate almost every second of it, but you will enjoy beating it. The question is, should you bother risking it? Frankly, if you enjoy the challenge and the frequent curveball, then you probably will get a kick out of it. If you’re one with a short fuse, however, then I’d suggest giving it a miss.