Your voyage begins at first light. As we set sail, the sun rises and its shimmering reflections dance on the gentle waves of the bay. Peering into the water below, you can see many schools of fish through the glass surface. Nice weather for fishing. And the townspeople are starving.
Dredge Beginning with the sequence above, you get behind the wheel of a boat within the first minute of gameplay. The scene is like a painting. Glossy stylized water ripples across islands with trees swaying in the wind. Soon, a sparse piano keyboard joins the chirping of seagulls overhead.
You’ll be forgiven for thinking you’re in a happy place.
The sun sets sharply at 6 o’clock and the fog quickly dissipates. Anglers still stranded on the water had better have a good light.
Cosmic Horror Fishing
Dredge It looks like a fishing game at first, but the premise is intentionally simple: catch fish, sell fish, upgrade your equipment. Equipped with faster engines, better fishing rods and able to store more fish, you should invest in your boat. These are all grid-based inventories that grow with your ship. Money may seem important, but arguably the most important resource is time. As you sail, the cycle of day and night is in motion, and it’s a sight to behold.
You’re more likely to catch valuable rotting specimens in the dark, but eldritch encounters also occur more frequently – especially in deep water. You’ll come across larger hostile creatures that can be outwitted or outwitted (via a well-upgraded ship). The desolate town you encounter is populated by strange inhabitants with even stranger demands.
It takes every feature you might think of as familiar and twists it into something unexpected, letting you feel from the start that something sinister lurks beneath the surface. It is no coincidence that the name “dredge” is adjacent to “fear”. It imbued every aspect of the game with a disturbing atmosphere. In this article, we’ll dig into how we achieved this and touch on how each element contributes to the overall experience.
harsh aesthetics
The game’s visuals will immediately feel familiar to fans of typical fun adventure and exploration games. What looks like a very low-poly model is detailed at first glance, with jagged edges and shapes chiseled to accentuate the false shadows. Dark, brooding tones underpin the world, offsetting the warmth from the bright colors of the sun. Even if everything seems calm right now, it’s important to have a visual reminder to the player that something unexpected can happen at any time.
Added angled edges to character portraits. This is reminiscent of paint applied with her knife on a palette. I left a rough pattern on the face and sleeves to match the already barbed serifs. This same geometry is reflected in the clouds. What is normally light and fluffy is sharpened here and moved between broken shapes.
The world doesn’t want you here. It wasn’t made for you. But you explore it all the same.
The weather is as unpredictable as the people you meet. Cloudy days turn into thunderstorms and high waves cause delays in returning to port. In that regard, civilization itself is poor and often dilapidated. It only makes sense that others in this world have suffered as much as you, and have suffered for years. It just makes you feel better.
As you lower the line to catch fish, the camera hovers above the boat to reveal the dark depths below. Doing this conveniently eliminates peripheral vision. After all, you are focused on fishing. At night, we remove the oppressive fog around you, leaving only a small field of view to navigate rocks and other hazards. I don’t know if the shapes seen through the fog are imaginary or real.
The world doesn’t want you here. It wasn’t made for you. But you explore it all the same.
no wasted words
in the world of Dredge, people are efficient and practical. As a result, I confirmed that their conversations reflected this utilitarian way of thinking. Each line attempts to achieve at least two of the following goals:
- Please give me instructions.
- Add to the story of the world.
- Carrying ominous, questionable, or strange tones.
Despite the importance of dialogue, Dredge, we understand the value of brevity and don’t want to stray too long from gameplay. The world itself should do most of the talking, and the people in that world aren’t keen on gossip anyway. There are roles such as “fishmonger” and “mayor”. You don’t want to get too familiar with them. they are not your friends.
The atmosphere also flows into the descriptions of the items, especially the fish. The strange, decaying specimens you bring on board may give you insight into where they came from and why.
Of course, our storytelling goes beyond the boundaries of the game itself. Achievement descriptions and music track titles in the OST add another perspective or name something unrecognizable or unspoken within the game itself.
fusion of genres
Juxtaposition is one of my favorite words to use when describing. DredgeThe juxtaposition of the “cosmic horror” and “fishing” genres is one that players love. It combines a lot of features, mechanics and concepts that usually don’t exist in the same game. What better way to evoke a sense of cosmic terror than diving into the unknown?
DREDGE – Digital Deluxe Edition
team 17
$26.99
The ultimate pack for your impending voyage. The DREDGE Deluxe Edition includes everything you need to survive the oceans and search for sinister secrets in the depths. Includes: DREDGE Blackstone Key In-game item Custom Rod (pre-purchase only)
Dredge
team 17
$24.99
Pre-purchase DREDGE and get a custom rod! Get the advantage with this improved starting rod. Start your game with this stylish device decorated in the colors of the creator’s company. But looks aren’t everything. Unlike other equipment found on the DREDGE, this rod is in reasonable condition and should give you an edge over other anglers, at least for a while. This grants access to the following items: Custom Rod This rod replaces the regular starting rod when starting a new save. It fishes more effectively than other rods of the same size. Captain a fishing trawler and explore the depths of the remote island cluster and its surroundings to see what lies beneath. Sell your catch to locals and complete quests to learn about each region’s troubled past. Equip your boat with better gear to trawl deep sea trenches and travel to faraway lands, but watch your time.Maybe you don’t like what you find in the dark… GAME FEATURES Unravel the Mystery: Captain a fishing trawler and traverse a collection of remote islands, each with its own inhabitants, wildlife to discover and discoveries. ● Dredging the Deep: Explore the oceans for hidden treasures and complete quests to unlock strange new abilities. Upgrade your abilities to gain access to rare fish and valuable deep-sea curios. Fish for Survival: Learn more about each area by asking the locals what they’ve found, and upgrade your boat to bring more people to life. GO TO THE RESORT COMBAT THE UNMEASURES: Strengthen your mind and use your abilities to survive your water travels after dark
