Monster of the Deep: Final Fantasy XV is a game that flew entirely under my radar until now. I was aware of the existence of a VR Final Fantasy XV spin-off, but I didn’t know what form it had taken: a game where you go fishing with Prompto.
If the demo I played, which was roughly 15 minutes in length, is any indication, there’s not much to be done in Monster of the Deep aside from fishing. It uses the PS Move peripheral alongside PSVR. The way the game plays is pretty self-explanatory, relying on motion controls to cast, reel in, and occasionally fire a crossbow when the eponymous monster of the deep appears. When you catch a big enough fish, the game takes a picture of you with the fish using the PS4 camera. I wish I had the picture it took of me to share, but rest assured it looked pretty stupid with the fish perfectly aligned with the Move controller and the PSVR on my face.
If Monster of the Deep didn’t have the novelty of VR and motion controls going for it, it would be a well-made but wholly uninteresting fishing game. The motion controls work well, particularly as motion controls go; despite the general failure of the PS Move, it did work well in the games that used it and still does. The graphics are somewhat blurry as VR games tend to be, but it runs well and the lack of movement makes it unlikely that it would cause motion sickness in players.
Monster of the Deep is a decent game if you like fishing; however, if the demo is an indication of the types of content to be had in the game, there’s not much more to it than that. It launches on November 21 for $29.99 USD if you’re interested, if you fall into the incredibly small niche of people who like fishing games, Final Fantasy XV, and who own a PSVR unit and PS Move. If you fall into any or all of those categories, you may find Monster of the Deep: Final Fantasy XV enjoyable. Otherwise, at least if the demo is any indication, there’s probably not much here of interest to most players.
