Dredge – Game Review

Making a massive splash in the indie ocean earlier this year was Dredge. A Lovecraftian influenced world in which the player is the new fisherman. With many hints to the mysterious disappearance of the last fisherman, you are never told what happened. Only to be left wondering as you traverse the ocean. Fishing, dredging, collecting materials, helping people out, and avoiding monsters. Without further delay let’s look into Dredge.

Dredge – Details

Developer: Black Salt Games

Publisher: Team17

Platform: Windows (Steam, Epic), Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S

Release Date: 30th March, 2023

Age Rating: 12

Story of Dredge

The story follows the arrival of the new fisherman, the player. You are quickly helped into getting your boat ready for the ocean and taught how to fish. With the quests in this game coming from various citizens of the many islands that are scattered across the map. You help scientists, wandering travellers, regular citizens, and more. With the key mechanics being to manage your inventory, avoiding fishing at night (at least at the start), gathering abilities, and of course manoeuvring and repelling the Lovecraftian inspired monsters.

Analysis of Dredge

Artwork

The design and aesthetic of this little indie is nothing but outstandingly beautiful. The cutesy ascetic hides how haunting this game can be. Similar to Subnautica the beauty makes you forget about the horror. Right until the horror elements rear their ugly heads. Developers really went above and beyond when building and designing the world of Dredge. Another important aspect, for a game set entirely on the ocean, is the water. Dredge gets it right. It moves look a real ocean. Looks stunning and is filled with life. With many chance encounters you can see whilst exploring.

The Gameplay Loop

Dredge isn’t unlike most games in the way most games have a core gameplay loop. Increasingly popular in the roguelike genre it’s also present in other games, just not so apparently. Dredge’s loop consists of docking, repairing your ship, stocking up on supplies, going to fish, returning, selling your fish, and repeating. Yet the beauty of the game’s handling, design, and overall enjoyment to play doesn’t make this seem repetitive. The diverse world provides several environments that are perfect habitats for all different fish. Types include Coastal, Volcanic, Mangrove, Shallow, and more! Fish having variants provides even more to collect and brings a fun challenge in trying to find all the different aberrations of the fish. Designed creatively, they sell for more and are fun redesigns of the original fish, infected/polluted by the mysterious aura.

Missions

The main missions usually depict the player reestablishing camps along the various main islands as well as taking out/disabling the monster that lives there. Each requires a different type of puzzle to be solved for the monsters to be disabled. Once disabled the player can finally explore that island for a limited time with no fear of the monster coming for them. Another recurring mission type is dredging for lost treasures, with someone granting you abilities as rewards. These include Haste (a speed boost), Return Home (brings you to the dock you was granted the ability), and more!

Performance of the Steam Deck

It performed brilliantly, the colours was vibrant on the deck’s display. Dredge was the perfect game to take on the go, whenever i got on a bus or was waiting for one, i whipped it out and did a bit of fishing. The perfect way to kill time here and there. Paired with the impressive amount of battery life you get with it on the deck, it is one of the best games for on the go gaming!

Summary of Dredge

In summary Dredge is what all fishing games must aim for in the future. It’s designed beautifully. The controls are smoother than silk, the aberrations are some of the most creative designs you will ever see for real life sea creatures, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg! The developers have vowed to continue to develop Dredge with them releasing the first DLC A Pale Reach in November of 2023. So what are you waiting for? Come avoid some Lovecraftian horrors and come fish with me!

Overall Rating: 9 – Outstanding!

Platform Played On: Steam Deck

Game Time At Review: 20.9 Hours

Recommendation: Yes

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