An open-world fishing game that tosses out the traditional fishing mechanics in favor of quicker, more satisfying ones so you can focus on exploring, inventory management (the good kind), enjoying the rad atmosphere, and completing your collection.
Dredge pretty perfectly does the video game thing of "in the beginning you're weak and slow, but then you become strong!" without ever feeling bad. You inventory starts small, your ship is incredibly slow, and your fishing possibilities are limited, but it doesn't take long for the whole world to open up to you and, once it does, it's incredibly satisfying. They've done a great job at creating a really rewarding progression loop. While inventory management can sometimes be annoying, Dredge turns it into a satisfying tetromino puzzle that added an extra layer to the game.
Dredge also manages to balance the chill vibes with a feeling of suspense better than I expected a fishing game to do. At times I was cruising around enjoying myself on the ocean, while other times I was cursing and booking it as fast as I could to safety.
Trying to remain as vague as possible - the game is full of various obstacles that aim to make your fishing journey more challenging, Sometimes those obstacles are things you can overcome or bypass, other times those obstacles do not go away and it can kind of just make parts of the world permanently annoying to navigate.
Toward the end of the game, the only thing I had left to do was to catch several rare fish I was missing. It was at this point that the fishing hunt turned from fun to annoyance as there are a good number of rare fish that are totally random spawns. You can do things to improve the chances of them spawning, but it still felt like I was at the mercy of fishing RNG. Still, it was satisfying to complete my collection in the end, even if it was occasionally frustrating.
I'm someone who is mixed on fishing mechanics, typically hates controlling boats in games, and avoids scary video games like the plague. So, I never would've thought that one of the coolest games I would play of 2023 would be a fishing game where you control a boat and navigate a world full of eldritch horrors.
+ Great vibes through a perfect union of art design, music, and gameplay
+ Intriguing world and mysteries to solve
+ Great tetromino inventory management
+ Satisfying progression loop
- The grind to complete your collection is a bit too reliant on luck and can get frustrating when the fish you need just doesn't spawn
- Sometimes the day/night cycles can feel a bit too short
- Controlling your boat at full speed can feel squirrelly
- Some of the "obstacles" can be more annoying than challenging
Dredge pretty perfectly does the video game thing of "in the beginning you're weak and slow, but then you become strong!" without ever feeling bad. You inventory starts small, your ship is incredibly slow, and your fishing possibilities are limited, but it doesn't take long for the whole world to open up to you and, once it does, it's incredibly satisfying. They've done a great job at creating a really rewarding progression loop. While inventory management can sometimes be annoying, Dredge turns it into a satisfying tetromino puzzle that added an extra layer to the game.
Dredge also manages to balance the chill vibes with a feeling of suspense better than I expected a fishing game to do. At times I was cruising around enjoying myself on the ocean, while other times I was cursing and booking it as fast as I could to safety.
Trying to remain as vague as possible - the game is full of various obstacles that aim to make your fishing journey more challenging, Sometimes those obstacles are things you can overcome or bypass, other times those obstacles do not go away and it can kind of just make parts of the world permanently annoying to navigate.
Toward the end of the game, the only thing I had left to do was to catch several rare fish I was missing. It was at this point that the fishing hunt turned from fun to annoyance as there are a good number of rare fish that are totally random spawns. You can do things to improve the chances of them spawning, but it still felt like I was at the mercy of fishing RNG. Still, it was satisfying to complete my collection in the end, even if it was occasionally frustrating.
I'm someone who is mixed on fishing mechanics, typically hates controlling boats in games, and avoids scary video games like the plague. So, I never would've thought that one of the coolest games I would play of 2023 would be a fishing game where you control a boat and navigate a world full of eldritch horrors.
+ Great vibes through a perfect union of art design, music, and gameplay
+ Intriguing world and mysteries to solve
+ Great tetromino inventory management
+ Satisfying progression loop
- The grind to complete your collection is a bit too reliant on luck and can get frustrating when the fish you need just doesn't spawn
- Sometimes the day/night cycles can feel a bit too short
- Controlling your boat at full speed can feel squirrelly
- Some of the "obstacles" can be more annoying than challenging