Dredge is a new fishing adventure RPG from Team 17 digital and Black Salt Games. The game pits you as the new fisherman in a mysterious network of interconnected islands. You must pay off your debt for the boat they supplied you with by fishing, fetching, connecting, and supplying for the various inhabitants of these dangerous islands.
Dredge has an intriguing beginning, you crash landed in the area and have ruined your ship. The mayor of the town 'generously' lends you a vessel so that you can replace the previous fisherman, whose disappearance is never fully explained, of the area. Repaying your debt is done by fishing up different species and selling them for cash (a certain % of the sales goes towards your debt) and also by performing various tasks around the islands for special items or parts to upgrade your boats fishing rod capacity, lights, cargo, etc. The fishing mechanics are very simple and there is thankfully ways to speed up the process through upgrades. The storing of fish/items and the equipment of new gear for your ship is handled in a resident evil style grid style. Fish and items can be flipped and rotated to conserve more space
The boat you are given is very small and slow. Initial upgrades must be made before you can even reach the beyond the first few islands. This is due to the fact that traversal during night is dangerous and many times can result in the destruction of you and your ship. Massive sharks, krakens, and even ghosts lurk in the shadows at night, also the fog that rolls in makes it near impossible to see further than a few feet which causes impacts with rocks and islands you can't see coming. This leads to the game having a very simple, short, and addictive gameplay loop since a typical outing only takes a minute or so until nighttime and the fog roll in. You cast out in the morning, collect fish, materials, quest items, and retun by nightfall to sell/store your catches for the day.
Fishing is supplemented by the addition of crab boxes and trawling nets which fish for your while you away, even catching some fish that are uncatchable anyways. The upgrade system flows nicely into the different versions of water you are able to fish from the far off and more dangerous areas. Initially you can only fish in waters that are shallow or coastal but eventually you get to fish the real big fish in the abyssal or volcanic sections. The game really does open up in a beautiful way once you are able to get some new engines installed and the haste action. Flying across the seas with the engine roaring is a fun time throughout the game.
Controlling the actual ship out in the waters is frustrating at times, it does not turn as well as you would like, leading to many bumps and crashes that will need to be repaired. Individual components on the ship can even be disabled by these crashes, the worst is when the engines get damaged and your pace slows to a crawl. Also, directions for the pursuits (quests) can sometimes be unclear on exactly how to proceed, luckily the few main quests mark red X's on the map that show where to go. There are many fishing fetch quests for more rarer sea life but they are not tracked adequately in the menus, some of them are even shape based which is unfortunate cause you can only see the shapes at the drop off point they are needed, so you have to sail back and forth if you think you have the right fish which can be frustrating.
The game is fairly brisk and the ending credits roll rather unexpectedly, only minutes after the game warns you there's no turning back and this is the last mission. I am not going to say that the ending was the most satisfying or engaging culmination I've ever seen but the game as a whole worked well.
Played exclusively on steam deck with no issues.
Dredge has an intriguing beginning, you crash landed in the area and have ruined your ship. The mayor of the town 'generously' lends you a vessel so that you can replace the previous fisherman, whose disappearance is never fully explained, of the area. Repaying your debt is done by fishing up different species and selling them for cash (a certain % of the sales goes towards your debt) and also by performing various tasks around the islands for special items or parts to upgrade your boats fishing rod capacity, lights, cargo, etc. The fishing mechanics are very simple and there is thankfully ways to speed up the process through upgrades. The storing of fish/items and the equipment of new gear for your ship is handled in a resident evil style grid style. Fish and items can be flipped and rotated to conserve more space
The boat you are given is very small and slow. Initial upgrades must be made before you can even reach the beyond the first few islands. This is due to the fact that traversal during night is dangerous and many times can result in the destruction of you and your ship. Massive sharks, krakens, and even ghosts lurk in the shadows at night, also the fog that rolls in makes it near impossible to see further than a few feet which causes impacts with rocks and islands you can't see coming. This leads to the game having a very simple, short, and addictive gameplay loop since a typical outing only takes a minute or so until nighttime and the fog roll in. You cast out in the morning, collect fish, materials, quest items, and retun by nightfall to sell/store your catches for the day.
Fishing is supplemented by the addition of crab boxes and trawling nets which fish for your while you away, even catching some fish that are uncatchable anyways. The upgrade system flows nicely into the different versions of water you are able to fish from the far off and more dangerous areas. Initially you can only fish in waters that are shallow or coastal but eventually you get to fish the real big fish in the abyssal or volcanic sections. The game really does open up in a beautiful way once you are able to get some new engines installed and the haste action. Flying across the seas with the engine roaring is a fun time throughout the game.
Controlling the actual ship out in the waters is frustrating at times, it does not turn as well as you would like, leading to many bumps and crashes that will need to be repaired. Individual components on the ship can even be disabled by these crashes, the worst is when the engines get damaged and your pace slows to a crawl. Also, directions for the pursuits (quests) can sometimes be unclear on exactly how to proceed, luckily the few main quests mark red X's on the map that show where to go. There are many fishing fetch quests for more rarer sea life but they are not tracked adequately in the menus, some of them are even shape based which is unfortunate cause you can only see the shapes at the drop off point they are needed, so you have to sail back and forth if you think you have the right fish which can be frustrating.
The game is fairly brisk and the ending credits roll rather unexpectedly, only minutes after the game warns you there's no turning back and this is the last mission. I am not going to say that the ending was the most satisfying or engaging culmination I've ever seen but the game as a whole worked well.
Played exclusively on steam deck with no issues.