Played from – to: (2023-04-17 – 2023-04-20) – PC keyboard.
‣ 8/10 – How can something be beautiful and terrifying at the same time?
‣ Thoughts: What may seem like a simple fishing game at first glance, quickly becomes a terrifying race against time and dread. In Dredge time moves when you do, so every action has consequences, and you must always think ahead before making a move. At first, you will barely manage a few fish a day, but as the game progresses so will your skills. This is all easily achieved with a very simple yet intriguing upgrade system. Every day you will have to decide – fish for cash or resources. It’s simple yet brilliant when time is of the essence. To nobody’s surprise, my favorite part of this game was the Resident Evil 4 styled puzzle inventory management. Jokes aside, Dredge creates a unique and eerie atmosphere. Part of it comes from the very good sound design. And the other half is the world and how it interacts with the player. At the start the sea feel safe, but as soon as you go deeper it all falls apart. You are forced to face the unknown and travel at night, which even without the terrors of the deep is insane but that is exactly why this game is so fun. I found myself constantly repeating just one more day, because the progression system is really rewarding. However, Dredge has some problems, and I will just quickly gloss over them because I’m just being a nitpicking prick so I could justify the 8/10. First off, it is the very same gameplay I praise. The fishing is fun, and different fish, fish differently, however, that gets repetitive and grindy quick. Most if not all objectives will rely on your fishing skills. Some fish will only spawn at certain times so you will find yourself wasting multiple days just looking for that spawn point. Secondly, the time moves way too fast. A few recourse trips can burn days in minutes just because you pulled out a few lumber pieces. And besides that, the map is too big for the time passage speed. Sometimes you will be forced to go back to an island that is on the other edge of the map and get a singular fish, which is fine, but could get quite boring and repetitive. However, all of this was barely a problem in the grand scheme of things. Overall, Dredge is a very spooky game and creates incredible encounters in the deep dark ocean. The story and its world stay rather mysterious by the end, but those attentive enough will catch on quick. The way day and night differ from one another is incredibly well done and both visual and physical tricks the ocean pulls on you in the night is something every horror fan should experience. Sadly, if you are afraid of the ocean this will make you panic.
‣ 8/10 – How can something be beautiful and terrifying at the same time?
‣ Thoughts: What may seem like a simple fishing game at first glance, quickly becomes a terrifying race against time and dread. In Dredge time moves when you do, so every action has consequences, and you must always think ahead before making a move. At first, you will barely manage a few fish a day, but as the game progresses so will your skills. This is all easily achieved with a very simple yet intriguing upgrade system. Every day you will have to decide – fish for cash or resources. It’s simple yet brilliant when time is of the essence. To nobody’s surprise, my favorite part of this game was the Resident Evil 4 styled puzzle inventory management. Jokes aside, Dredge creates a unique and eerie atmosphere. Part of it comes from the very good sound design. And the other half is the world and how it interacts with the player. At the start the sea feel safe, but as soon as you go deeper it all falls apart. You are forced to face the unknown and travel at night, which even without the terrors of the deep is insane but that is exactly why this game is so fun. I found myself constantly repeating just one more day, because the progression system is really rewarding. However, Dredge has some problems, and I will just quickly gloss over them because I’m just being a nitpicking prick so I could justify the 8/10. First off, it is the very same gameplay I praise. The fishing is fun, and different fish, fish differently, however, that gets repetitive and grindy quick. Most if not all objectives will rely on your fishing skills. Some fish will only spawn at certain times so you will find yourself wasting multiple days just looking for that spawn point. Secondly, the time moves way too fast. A few recourse trips can burn days in minutes just because you pulled out a few lumber pieces. And besides that, the map is too big for the time passage speed. Sometimes you will be forced to go back to an island that is on the other edge of the map and get a singular fish, which is fine, but could get quite boring and repetitive. However, all of this was barely a problem in the grand scheme of things. Overall, Dredge is a very spooky game and creates incredible encounters in the deep dark ocean. The story and its world stay rather mysterious by the end, but those attentive enough will catch on quick. The way day and night differ from one another is incredibly well done and both visual and physical tricks the ocean pulls on you in the night is something every horror fan should experience. Sadly, if you are afraid of the ocean this will make you panic.