An awesome little surprise that wasn't on my radar at all and seemingly came out of nowhere. It makes me so happy to see another indie game that feels unique and tries something new and interesting break through and gain popularity. At first glance a game about fishing seems like it wouldn't hold my interest very long but the world is crafted beautifully, steeped in mystery, and has Lovecraftian cosmic horror coursing through it's veins.
The gameplay is comparable to games like Stardew Valley in the sense that at it's core it is a game about efficiency. You start fishing to earn money to reinvest in better fishing gear to earn even more money and on and on. This loop is nothing new as many games are built around this type of progression. However where Dredge establishes itself as a unique experience worthy of a try is that time is not the only thing you have to battle against. As the sun sets all the weird Lovecraftian elements rear their creepy heads. A thick mist fills the ocean and clouds your view, ghostly apparitions stalk you and cause you to lose your sanity, as your sanity begins to slip your chances of getting back to a port safely decreases substantially. There isn't just sea monsters out there trying to kill you, though there are plenty of those as well, there is also some unseen force out there that seems to be slowly sapping the sanity of you and the inhabitants of this world... And this threat is openly hostile and night.
"Why not just only go out during the day then?" you ask, well two things push you towards being out on the ocean at night. One is that your profit margins go up significantly at night as this is when odd mutated fish can be caught which for some reason sell for significantly more than regular fish (The people are really losing it I guess) and two is that traveling pretty much anywhere outside the safety of the central town takes longer than a day. The day night cycle here is quite short so any journey worth taking will usually require at least some night travel.
There are a number of different biomes all with different core threats to deal with and unique fish to catch which usually require specialized gear. The monster design here is pretty awesome, from big fast moving snake like monsters that chase you through tight valleys to a massive tentacled behemoth that will mercilessly attack you if you try grab all the goodies it is guarding. Feeling brave? Try taking your ship out beyond the bounds of the map, just be sure to bring a change of underwear.
ENDING SPOILER ALERT:
The ending(s) were pretty impressive as well. If you have been finding and reading the messages in bottles found scattered around the world and talking to a central NPC's often you will have at least some idea of what is going on in the story. However the twist at the end was really well executed. Reminded me of the film Shutter Island which is high praise for a little Indie game that no one had ever heard of until a few days ago.
The gameplay is comparable to games like Stardew Valley in the sense that at it's core it is a game about efficiency. You start fishing to earn money to reinvest in better fishing gear to earn even more money and on and on. This loop is nothing new as many games are built around this type of progression. However where Dredge establishes itself as a unique experience worthy of a try is that time is not the only thing you have to battle against. As the sun sets all the weird Lovecraftian elements rear their creepy heads. A thick mist fills the ocean and clouds your view, ghostly apparitions stalk you and cause you to lose your sanity, as your sanity begins to slip your chances of getting back to a port safely decreases substantially. There isn't just sea monsters out there trying to kill you, though there are plenty of those as well, there is also some unseen force out there that seems to be slowly sapping the sanity of you and the inhabitants of this world... And this threat is openly hostile and night.
"Why not just only go out during the day then?" you ask, well two things push you towards being out on the ocean at night. One is that your profit margins go up significantly at night as this is when odd mutated fish can be caught which for some reason sell for significantly more than regular fish (The people are really losing it I guess) and two is that traveling pretty much anywhere outside the safety of the central town takes longer than a day. The day night cycle here is quite short so any journey worth taking will usually require at least some night travel.
There are a number of different biomes all with different core threats to deal with and unique fish to catch which usually require specialized gear. The monster design here is pretty awesome, from big fast moving snake like monsters that chase you through tight valleys to a massive tentacled behemoth that will mercilessly attack you if you try grab all the goodies it is guarding. Feeling brave? Try taking your ship out beyond the bounds of the map, just be sure to bring a change of underwear.
ENDING SPOILER ALERT:
The ending(s) were pretty impressive as well. If you have been finding and reading the messages in bottles found scattered around the world and talking to a central NPC's often you will have at least some idea of what is going on in the story. However the twist at the end was really well executed. Reminded me of the film Shutter Island which is high praise for a little Indie game that no one had ever heard of until a few days ago.