The One that Got Away

The One that Got Away is a video game in the adventure genre developed by Leon Lin originally released in 1995. It is currently playable on DOS.

Leon Lin's first IF installment is one of the most enjoyable story-centric IF titles I've played.

Magnus Olsson's review for SPAG says it all: 'Among the pleasures of fishing, perhaps the greatest is telling about it afterwards; stories not only about the fish you've caught, but especially about the ones that have escaped. This game is about the grandfather of all escaped fish: the Old Man, a fish of mythical proportions, reputed to be a centenarian, who appears only once every thirty years. By some strange chance, one of its appearances coincides with your fishing vacation. Of course, you can't resist the challenge of succeeding where all others have failed, and catching the Old Man.... This game tells the story of your encounter with the Old Man. The emphasis is on the word 'tells', as this game is more a piece of interactive literature than a traditional game. There are certainly puzzles, but it is the story that is important, not the puzzle solving. As a reading experience, The One that Got Away is very enjoyable. The writing is perhaps the best I've seen in an adventure game; it's not as poetic or beautiful as in The Sound Of One Hand Clapping, but it's perfect for telling this kind of story. It's also quite lavish: the introduction alone takes up more than two screen pages. The author manages to create just the right setting and atmosphere for his story, and the only real NPC, old Bob from the bait store, is very well characterized and has a lot to tell if you ask him. This emphasis on writing does not mean that gameplay aspects are neglected. On the contrary, the game flows very well and the author seems to have thought of just about everything, providing appropriate - and often very funny - answers to most of the odd things an adventurer might try to do. The puzzle involving the fishing itself is perhaps a bit clunky, but implementing fishing with the level of detail that is done in this game is no easy feat. To help you get an idea of what to do, there is a very humorous and detailed transcript of another fishing adventure available on the Internet. If you get totally stuck, the author has included a walkthrough in the distribution - not that it's needed, as the game is pretty straightforward. So much for what's good about this game, and it is good. What's not so good is what happens once you're ready for action. After the monumental intro and a lot of buildup during your conversations with Bob and your attempts to get the right bait, you're ready for a monumental fight, but instead you're presented with a rather large anticlimax. Upon finishing the game, one can't help but get the feeling of 'is this it?' However, despite the anticlimax, its literary quality makes this a truly memorable game, one that is worth playing and replaying several times, just as one returns to a favorite novel'. Highly recommended, especially if you enjoy IF for the story rather than its puzzles.

It is possible that we have multiple downloads available when different versions exist.