Dredge is a fishing game with eerie discomforts lurking beneath the surface. It’s the perfect combination, with the spooky side never going down in true horror, but there’s an ever-present sense of unease as you explore the small open ocean and its island outposts.
You play as a newly hired fisherman who starts the game by catching fish in relatively shallow waters near the Great Marrow, earning steady cash. Be careful not to go out after dark as strange things start to happen on the water. With fish (usually more valuable) that can only be caught at night, the game lures you into the dark depths where things really go wrong.The story tells you to hunt for special artifacts throughout the game’s map, Pull them out of his H2O for mystery collectors.
Sadly, the story wasn’t very engaging, but the game makes up for it in other ways. Spend most of your time fishing, exploring, and upgrading your boat until you find these artifacts. Fishing is just a simple mini-game, but the encyclopedia keeps track of known species, requiring you to scout specific locations on the water to find them. Most of the map is the open ocean, but in the distance there are always islands where secrets and precious treasures are hidden. Ship upgrades are very important. Inventory space, improved hulls and better equipment are all needed to catch bigger fish and survive all the creepy antics.
Although the execution is fairly simple, Dredge’s core loop is very attractive. Upgrading your boat is always satisfying, as is gaining new abilities and finding new fish (and their eerie mutated forms). Plus, with simple side missions, dredging shipwrecks for resources, and avoiding nighttime threats, there’s no shortage of things to do.
It can be said that the gameplay can be repetitive if you need to earn cash or certain items. Additionally, managing the game’s grid-based menus can be quite cumbersome. The remedy for both things is a very important upgrade that takes the frustration out of cramped inventories and limited fishing abilities. The premise makes it stand out.
