This review contains spoilers
Dredge is very fun for a couple hours while the gameplay loop is still fresh.
In a way dredge reminds me a lot of another game I played recently that I greatly admired: Kenshi. Kenshi can be played many ways, one of them is as a resource that builds a resource that builds a resource industry simulator similar to Factorio. My autistic self loves this concept and I get a lot of thrill building things that build things. However once you see the big picture some of the magic is lost and it starts to feel like a Skinner box rather than a game you are playing. Dredge is very much this kind of game and around the midpoint of the game it becomes crystal clear what is really going on. Maybe this is me quitting before I get to the diamonds idk but regardless I am quitting all the same.
But that is not all I have to say about this game. I would like to discuss its big hook, its premise. This is a horror fishing game. Or at least it plays at being a horror fishing game. I feel like this is yet another game that has cropped up in Bloodborne’s lovecraftian wake. I know that lovecraft has long been appreciated in DND history and DnD can be considered a foundational influence on many video games. However I can’t help but notice the explosion of games that have tried their hand at interpreting or riffing on cosmic horror tropes. Fishing seems like a natural extension of this, an allusion to lovecraft’s fishmen I am sure.
The game has a day night cycle and at night is when the spooky cosmic events occur. You can go mad, see things, have gigantic monster fish chase you. All that jazz. However because it only takes place at night unless you are some how very far from dock you can successfully avoid these dangers. Indeed the thing that ended up being more dangerous was rocks and fog for me. There are more rare fish that appear st night time but you can just harvest larger bigger fish in the day time and never have to worry about money really.
The gameplay loops is not flexible or varied like an immersive sim. There are multiple ways you can tackle issues but there is a clear way of doing it. In a way dredge feels like an old flash game from the 2000’s, with its upgrade tree and simplistic gameplay loop.
The story is mostly told through the environment and dialogue with characters. Just regular ol lovecraftian stuff here. Nothing special to anyone who has read the stories.
Overall I found this game lacking I felt no need to finish it. Dvinity 2 is calling my name.
In a way dredge reminds me a lot of another game I played recently that I greatly admired: Kenshi. Kenshi can be played many ways, one of them is as a resource that builds a resource that builds a resource industry simulator similar to Factorio. My autistic self loves this concept and I get a lot of thrill building things that build things. However once you see the big picture some of the magic is lost and it starts to feel like a Skinner box rather than a game you are playing. Dredge is very much this kind of game and around the midpoint of the game it becomes crystal clear what is really going on. Maybe this is me quitting before I get to the diamonds idk but regardless I am quitting all the same.
But that is not all I have to say about this game. I would like to discuss its big hook, its premise. This is a horror fishing game. Or at least it plays at being a horror fishing game. I feel like this is yet another game that has cropped up in Bloodborne’s lovecraftian wake. I know that lovecraft has long been appreciated in DND history and DnD can be considered a foundational influence on many video games. However I can’t help but notice the explosion of games that have tried their hand at interpreting or riffing on cosmic horror tropes. Fishing seems like a natural extension of this, an allusion to lovecraft’s fishmen I am sure.
The game has a day night cycle and at night is when the spooky cosmic events occur. You can go mad, see things, have gigantic monster fish chase you. All that jazz. However because it only takes place at night unless you are some how very far from dock you can successfully avoid these dangers. Indeed the thing that ended up being more dangerous was rocks and fog for me. There are more rare fish that appear st night time but you can just harvest larger bigger fish in the day time and never have to worry about money really.
The gameplay loops is not flexible or varied like an immersive sim. There are multiple ways you can tackle issues but there is a clear way of doing it. In a way dredge feels like an old flash game from the 2000’s, with its upgrade tree and simplistic gameplay loop.
The story is mostly told through the environment and dialogue with characters. Just regular ol lovecraftian stuff here. Nothing special to anyone who has read the stories.
Overall I found this game lacking I felt no need to finish it. Dvinity 2 is calling my name.