The ridiculous idea behind "I Am Fish" is very simple: four fish consume sentient bread which makes them sentient fish. They quickly become intelligent creatures that think and problem solve like human beings, but they are still fish. They also get separated, and the point of the game is to get all four fish back together in the ocean where they can be free.
As silly as the actual premise is, the story itself plays out something like a children's movie. Even the animation and the sets of this world look like it came from a Pixar or a DreamWorks movie. The fish cannot talk though, although they do squeak in a way that makes them sound like people.
Although the game does involve some puzzle solving sections, the bulk of the game has you trying to manipulate physics to your favor. Remember that you cannot last long outside of water, so in order to traverse your environment, you have to keep to areas where there is water. Sometimes this means rolling around in a fish bowl, a mason jar (I hated those), a mop bucket, and the occasional rolling trashcan. Even though the physics of this makes no sense, you can push these around from inside them. It's something you just have to accept and move on about.
There are four types of fish, and each of them has something that makes them special:
-The Goldfish does not have any powers, but he does have really shiny scales that act as a beacon for the other fish to eventually find him. Other than that, he's just a regular fish.
-The Flying Fish can glide through the air for a while before he dries out. He can actually cover a large distance while out of water, probably way more than the others. He is also the most difficult to control, in my opinion.
-The Puffer Fish can blow up like a balloon. If you do this while at the bottom of the water, he will fly up and out really quite high. He can also roll around on dry ground for a little bit and is very easy to control. I found him to be the easiest to play with.
-The Piranha is all about destruction and violence. He is way stronger than he should be. A normal mission with him is all about flooding homes by ripping into the water pipes. The idea is to fill the house full of water until he can escape through a window or something. His music was my favorite. It had a good beat and was full of mischief.
Once you get them all to the ocean, you have one final mission where you have to play all four of them at once. Along the way, there is this poor guy who keeps having a bad day, because, by random chance, he continuously has ban run-ins with each of these four fish. It's sort of an ongoing gag and very funny.
The game is extremely fun, but it is also very difficult. The maps are really not that big, but you may end up getting stuck in some parts trying to get your fish to jump just right or glide the way he's supposed to. It's one of those games where the premise is simple, but it is so hard to master. The ending, however, made the whole journey so worth it.
I absolutely recommend "I Am Fish." I'll go a step further. This game needs to be a movie. I really loved the premise and the whole adventure aspect of it. To see how far four sentient fish go to join together in the ocean made all the frustrating aspects of the game worth it. Just be prepared to fail a lot.
This blog was written on August 2, 2024.
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