Game Review: Dredge
The narrative of Dredge follows your character, a nameless fisherman as they get lost in a mysterious fog and wake up on the isle of Greater Marrow. After acquainting yourself with the local population, you learn the surrounding seas suffer greatly from a mysterious fog which has brought forth a plethora of horrific sea creatures and marine life. Given a small boat, you set out to explore the surrounding areas and catch and sell fish while you’re at it. Your exploration into the archipelago will soon have you come across several leads which will take you deep into the fog’s origins as you unravel the dark secrets that have trapped you and the rest of the populace to a dreaded fate.
I absolutely adore the theme layered behind the game’s setup. I love anything Lovecraftian and Dredge has all of that in spades. The bleak, vulnerable tone the world holds goes a long way to giving your time in it so much memorability. Lovecraftian horror is not so much a gruesome or brutal element but it plays on the mind and it’s spiral into madness. The way the overarching narrative behind the fog and the sea monsters it has inflicted into the environment showcases that horror with clear strength. While I love the tone and theme the game effortlessly layers into its design, it’s hard not to feel the core storyline in itself fails to offer nearly as strong a showcase. The characters you will interact with all offer a limited perspective on the trials the fog has put on them, but there’s nothing truly driving you to solve this mystery as there isn’t much of a personal stake behind it. The plot in itself is clearly meant to showcase it's Lovecraftian inspiration with its ambiguity, but it’s the format in which it’s delivered it that really comes off as lacking to me.
Where the game doesn’t come off lacking for me though is in the gameplay. Dredge isn’t the first ever fishing game but I do feel it is one of the few that actually realizes the core appeal behind them. There’s a remarkable refinement to the overall gameplay presentation here. The simple setup behind giving you a boat and letting you roam to your hearts content offers the player the ultimate respect for their freedom to choose. The way the fish and marine options change up constantly as you progress through the game and explore different location gives players a greatly expansive sense of variety to keep their engagement going. The fact that you can discover Aberration variants of marine life during your travels helps reinforce that Lovecraftian theme while encouraging you to find all unique variants. There’s so much depth to the fishing and exploration system in this game and the focus on simple mechanics makes it so fun and addictive to hop on and explore for countless hours.
The customization system works in tandem with the fishing system too. You’ll only be able to fish up common kinds of fish during your early hours in the game and if you want to land bigger and rarer kinds, you’ll need to devote time to your research and boat customization. The upgrade system is nicely established to allow you to gradually upgrade your boats capacity and capability as you dredge up crafting resources. The progression is so natural and never felt obstructive towards the overall objective of the game which if very rare in my experience so it really deserves all the praise I can give it here.
As an indie game, Dredge doesn’t tout a major graphical presentation, though I think that works to its benefit. Utilizing a limited, cell-shaded art style helps give the game a unique identity that will help keep it timeless for an extended period. The art style helps give the developers a lot of flexibility to inject it’s Lovecraftian imagery too. The design behind the Aberrations in the game are all so creative and unique and go a long way to make this game feel distinct and memorable. The sound design behind the game is also impeccable. Like all of the other elements behind the game, David Mason did an incredible job not just in composing the official score for the game but making the ambient sound effects for the game really contribute to the unnerving emotions the game was eager to force you through. I truly believe I will never be able to get the sound effect out of my head when you catch an Aberration fish.
Dredge rightfully earned the reputation it’s garnered over time. For an indie game, this experience does a phenomenal job in capitalizing on its core premise with complete ease. While I do wish its narrative format was a bit more fleshed out, it doesn’t really diminish the overall quality of the product. It’s a game which is able to balance the relaxing functionality of fishing with a constant Lovecraftian theme which combines to deliver an experience that relaxes you as much as it creeps you out. Definitely check this game out, it’s a genuinely fun experience all things considered.
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