Dredge
At a Glance: An solitary journey, in which the ocean hides both unimaginable bounties and even deeper horrors. Story: Dredge begins with an unnamed fisherman seeking fortune. While his story is seemingly a simple one, torn diary pages reveal darker secrets. The world of Dredge is built on mysteries, and answers only yield more questions. As you try to repair your damaged ship, and save up money by selling fish, you start to realize that there's something afoot, eldritch horrors to discover along with ordinary fish. Style: I love the art from Dredge. Despite feeling similar to Darkest Dungeon, it's still unique and suits the story and atmosphere well, despite in-game perspective occasionally being disorienting. In Dredge the player controls a small fishing boat, from which they can fish and salvage items from the sea floor. The art style is 3d but simplified, with cell-shading that almost brings to mind a painting. Characters: While the characters of Dredge aren't necessarily welcoming, they are interesting. Wary of strangers, they're not easily won over, but help them enough times, and they might start to open up a little. Rather than being named, each of the characters is described by their role--"Dockworker", "Old Mayor"--ect". It lends a literary feel to the characters, where they're more archetypes than actual people, but this isn't necessarily a bad thing. When you hear about the woodsman, or prince in a fantasy story, your mind often fills in the blanks, and assumes their personality and motivations. This is to say, instead of making the characters feel flat, they put one in mind of characters in a story being told from memory. I do wish I knew a little bit more about the individuals, but this is also just down to me being nosy, and wanting all the little details. Music: Man I was not expecting the music from Dredge to be so good, and I've never been so happy to be wrong. The music does so much for the atmosphere of the game. It reminds me of Hollow Knight or Professor Layton, in that there's a melancholy to it, but that it's also just dang pretty. The Restless Town is one of my favorite tracks but there are plenty more good ones as well, including The Twinned Town, and The Morning's Plans. The Good: -I know I've already mentioned the atmosphere, but MAN, it's just so good--the aesthetic and music really contribute, and make it feel like a very cohesive vision on the point of the creators -Great accessibility functions! I found myself stranded without a motor at a certain point, and couldn't travel fast enough to get to a place where I could repair it without getting killed by monsters--being able to turn off the monster attacks temporarily was SUCH a nice feature, especially because it's not locked in for your entire playthrough, good fishing options available too! -Gorgeous and very unique art style--almost reminds me a little of Darkest Dungeon (in a good way!), locations are also stunning and unique -Lore is fun to discover, and paints a gradual picture of a deeper story -Inventory management is well done, and upgrade system feels like it's been fully fleshed out The Bad: -Days are almost too short—wish there was a way to make them longer -Would like a little more structure, in terms of how story progresses, or unlocking side quests—can’t help but feel like I’m missing something -Certain mechanics are frustrating, such as motors being able to break on your ship--I think I'd still be stuck if it wasn't for being able to turn on a non-combat mode -While it doesn't bother me, the format of the game can be repetitive, which possibly would dissuade those wanting more of a variety--I found it relaxing but your mileage may vary. -Ship controls can feel a little clunky and are challenging to get accustomed to Final Consensus and Rating: Enjoyable lore fragments and art style, but sailing mechanics can be a little choppy, and slower pacing may be a downside for some players. 7 out of 10.










