As a fishing game, Dredge is a great time. Finding new species, dredging up materials and treasure, upgrading your ship, and just roaming the open seas are all really fun and there's plenty to discover.

However, somewhat (intentionally) at odds with this seemingly relaxing experience are the eerier mechanics of the game like losing your sanity and encountering beasts that may or may not be figments of your mind. The reason I used the word "eerie" instead of "scary" is because the latter would be overestimating the impact of the horror elements. I was less often scared and more often just annoyed when having to deal with a monster or low sanity, etc.

I can't say the experience is ruined by all of those things, but it does feel like the horror aspects were a bit half assed in the name of still having a fun fishing sim.