Everybody loves fishing minigames (so we’ve heard), and now No Man’s Sky has one. Developer Hello Games announced a new fishing update coming to the game for free, and it will being along fish farming and a limited-time expedition.
The fishing in the Aquarius update is about what you’d expect if you’ve fished in any other video game. You take your fishing rod and equipment, explore different bodies of water and biomes, and see what you can catch. Different kinds of bait can also help you catch rare fish, which you can use to help fill up your fishing log. You can also compare your stats against others with an update to the Wonders Catalogue, which now includes your fishing records.
Along with fishing comes new equipment too. The Exo-Skiff is a customizable fishing platform with its own inventory that you can use to hunt for fish that live in deeper waters (although you can, of course, fish on the coastline). There’s also a deep-sea diving suit, fish traps you can set up and check back on later, and new cooking recipes for sfish.
To kick off the new update, No Man’s Sky players will have the chance to complete the Aquarius expedition, which will run for six weeks and task players with, well, fishing. Players who complete it will get an underwater jetpack, along with other deep-sea customizations. For example, part of the update involves dredging up lost notes and finding stories, and if you discover the Lost Angler story, you’ll earn the Lost Angler’s Rig, which is a unique fishing rod.
No Man’s Sky‘s latest big update, Worlds Part I (or Update 5.0), added new effects that make water look more realistic, and the addition of fishing is sort of a celebration of that. In the Aquarius update trailer, the new water effects look spectacular, only adding to the peace you might feel while taking it easy and fishing. Update 5.0 also added a new bug-hunting mode that’s “Starship Troopers-inspired” and other technical visual updates to clouds and weather.