This Bandai Namco fishing game looks like it took a leaf out of Animal Crossing: New Horizons' book

Ace Angler: Fishing Spirits
(Image credit: Bandai Namco)

If your favorite activity in Animal Crossing: New Horizons was fishing, then we may have the perfect follow-up game for you. 

Despite not being linked to Animal Crossing at all, or even being a Nintendo IP, this soon-to-be-released fishing game has a few similarities to Nintendo's island getaway game. As pointed out by Nintendo Life, Ace Angler: Fishing Spirits is an upcoming Bandai Namco game that bares a striking resemblance to Animal Crossing: New Horizons. 

Just in case it wasn't obvious enough, the main similarities between the two games can be seen in the playable character designs. Just like in Animal Crossing, in Ace Angler players can customize their own characters with a range of hairstyles, eye shapes, outfits, and accessories. You'll have to see it for yourself in the trailer below to fully understand how similar the two game's character designs are. 

The likeness isn't just limited to people either, as later on in the trailer we see a model of a whale shark which looks pretty similar to how the marine creature appears in Animal Crossing: New Horizons' Critterpedia. In the game, players will contribute to a large aquarium - just like in Animal Crossing - and there's even a coelacanth floating around in one of the tanks in the trailer. Coincidence? I think not!

Other than this though, Ace Angler does have a number of unique features in it as well. For starters, it doesn't really play much like Animal Crossing. Instead of living their best island life, players are instead thrown into a number of chaotic-looking mini-games which take place at an aquarium-themed theme park. There's also a number of fiercer-looking predators to be caught in this game including what looks like the prehistoric creature the Mosasaurus.

If you now want to try out Ace Angler: Fishing Spirits for yourself, you'll be able to pick it up for Nintendo Switch from October 28, 2022. 

Looking to recapture the fun of New Horizons? Take a look at our games like Animal Crossing list. 

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Hope Bellingham
News Writer

After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at university, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became a Trainee News Writer at GamesRadar+ before being promoted to a fully-fledged News Writer after a year and a half of training.  My expertise lies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cozy indies, and The Last of Us, but especially in the Kingdom Hearts series. I'm also known to write about the odd Korean drama for the Entertainment team every now and then.  

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