So heres the thing about Dredge.
I think its a huge missed opportunity that the main character is the husband and not the wife.
the backstory doesnt come out fully until the end, but when it does, what you learn is this:
some amount of time ago, the player character was married. over the course of the game, you pick up notes from a woman, and at the end you learn that she was your wife.
*was*, because Cthulhu ate her.
you were a fisherman, and obsessed with the ocean, and she was not. you were superstitious, and she was not. And one day, she messed up and did something unlucky, and then she was lost at sea one night when she was on your boat.
it fucks you up so bad that you lose all your memory and end the world trying to save her.
so, obviously you're torn up about her, but also, it kinda didn't have anything to do with you. She fucked up and she got got. whoops! Oh well. It also didn't change very much about you: you're still a superstitious fisherman obsessed with the sea, except you're sad now.
But if you were the wife? If he died instead?
you were happily newlywed, but if you had one issue with your husband, it was that he was too married to the sea. He was too obsessed with fishing. He liked his boat too much, and he had all these sailor superstitions that you don't take seriously.
then one day, you ignore his superstitions. and a horrible eldritch force that you've never even dreamed of KILLS HIM.
your husband is DEAD and it is YOUR FAULT.
and it breaks you. So much that you take his boat, set sail, and spend your life at sea. Just like him. Embroiled in superstition and ocean magic. Just like him. Just like your least favorite parts about him. and you spend the rest of your life trying to undo the horrible thing you did, and only ever manage to end the world.
wouldn't that be so much fun?
