I just finished playing through Dredge on the nintendo switch, and i had a good time. It's incredibly original and refreshing, however it's not perfect. There are so many points where the game feels incomplete in one way or another. While i would still recommend this game, it will definitely leave you wanting for more.

Dredge is a fishing/horror game where you get a job as the new fisherman for a little island town in the middle of nowhere. When you get there, however, you're met with some very strange residents, and even stranger fish. The story is very simple, and it feels like it's never the main focus of the game, but rather just exists to enhance every other aspect of the game. Almost none of the sidequests or secrets will tell you anything about the fisherman's story, and exist only to creep you out or to flesh out some of the side character's stories. Personally I think this does wonders to the atmosphere of the world, but I can see how some people might find them pointless.

I still think the main story is good, though. I especially love the plot twists the game has, and how while most of the plot is left ambiguous, there's still enough in there for you to guess what happened before you got to the islands.

The gameplay is super simple, and it might be the weakest part of the game. It's divided in two parts: Fishing, where you do some simple timing minigames to catch your fish, and then try to fit them in a grid-based inventory; and Exploring, where you take your boat out into the seas and try to find any points of interest accross the many islands.

While I personally didn't mind the fishing portion of the game, (except for the occasional rare fish that requires you to grind for a few minutes), I will admit that it gets repetitive pretty quickly. There's only 3 different minigames for all 128 fish in the game, and they're all super simple to learn and master.

The game is definitely lacking when it comes to the exploration portion of the game. Sailing the seas is a lot of fun, and the random events that can happen while out in the open ocean are all really creative and creepy. However, there's not much to do in the world. There's less than 15 NPCs in total, and there's almost no variation when it comes to the sidequests. There's a few unmarked secrets you can find around the world, and while it's exciting to find them, it definitely leaves you wanting for more.

I think the best part about the whole game is the presentation. The artstyle conveys the horror aspect of the game perfectly, using rough paintbrush strokes for the characters, detailed artwork for the fish, and sharp low-poly models for the islands and buildings. The muted color palette of the world constrasts perfectly with the bright particle effects of the monsters in the sea. Every visual effect exists to show you how the fisherman is slowly going crazy. Graphically speaking, the game is flawless.

The sound design is also great. The music is ominous and creepy, perfectly conveying the horrible nature of the game, however it's never intrusive. Its purpose is more atmospheric, and it works perfectly. I will also say that (at least in the switch port of the game) the implementation of the Rumble feature is great. It does a fantastic job of creating tension by softly alerting you of nearby dangers, even if you can't see them yet.

In conclusion: Dredge is a beautiful game with serviceable gameplay that feels like, at some point, it got too big for its own good. It's incredible in many aspects, yet mediocre in others. The presentation and atmosphere do an amazing job carrying the hell out of the game, to the point where the I didn't mind sitting through a few more hours of repetitive fishing gameplay if it means getting to see a cool new mackerel variant with a few more eyes. 7/10

A few years ago I started up Sunless Sea and ended up bouncing off of it hard. I wasn't a fan of the mix of mechanics it brought to the table. But I still had that Lovecraftian fishing game itch that needed scratching. Fast forward to this past Christmas, when I finally decided to boot up Dredge after it had been sitting in my library for a while. It didn't take long before the simple fishing and exploration gameplay loop had me hooked.

The fishing minigame strikes a nice balance between simple enough to be easy to pick up and engaging enough to keep my interest across the many hours I spent scouring the sea for every fish in the encyclopedia. The horror, too, feels well integrated but never overbearing. This isn't exactly a scary game by any means, but it does manage to instill a solid feeling of dread, particularly in its early hours.

As I neared the end of the main story I decided I was enjoying it enough to also go ahead and pick up the DLCs because I wanted a bit more. These unfortunately are more of a mixed bag than the base game.

The more recent of the two, The Iron Rig, was the first one I dug into, as it adds content to the areas present in the main game. This was a total slog to play through. It's essentially a group of themed fetch quests with a loose story as justification to revisit each of the main areas and catch some new fish which have appeared in them. The rewards for these quests are plentiful, but ultimately they feel designed to solve problems with the endgame that I just didn't have, and so felt almost entirely unsubstantial. I'd only recommend The Iron Rig if you are really really thirsting for more to do in this game, because it's way too grindy for what you get for your time.

I finished my achievement hunting and by extent my experience with the game as a whole by digging into the first DLC, The Pale Reach. This one adds a totally new ice-themed area to the southern part of the map with its own mini plotline and a collection of new fish to catch. I enjoyed this much more than the other DLC. It felt like a meaningful expansion on the core gameplay and tone that respected my time and added some light new mechanics to keep things fresh. If I had to criticize it, I'd probably just say that it's a bit short if anything. I cleared through the story it offered in a single sitting, but it's worth noting that I enjoyed my time and would have gladly spent more with it if I could.

Dredge is probably one of the coziest horror games I've played. There's something really pleasant about the core loop of heading out at dawn, fishing up some freaky looking fish and then bringing them back to sell and use the money for upgrades. The horror elements and danger inherent in fishing at night probably disqualify it from being a strictly "cozy" game, but at the very least it's very comfortable to sit down with on a Steam Deck and enjoy the vibes. I'd very highly recommend it. Just skip The Iron Rig if you don't necessarily want to 100% the game. In my opinion it only acts as a detriment to the overall package.

Dredge is a game that, pretty much as soon as I started playing it, I realized that this would be very addicting.

Dredge has a pretty simple loop. You go out and fish, get money, and buy upgrades for your boat. Eventually, with better engines, you'll be able to make your way to the other areas surrounding the starting island, and with that comes new quests which unlock new areas, and abilities that give you a few new ways to tackle the challenges.

For an E rated game, Dredge manages to be quite atmospheric. It's not like Amnesia or Resident Evil, but there are some good scares, and one moment very near the end that left me mildly astonished.

The way the game balances things is interesting as well. I like how upgrades are not JUST good. You have to sacrifice inventory space for fishing rods or more engines or something. It makes sense why you might want to uninstall an engine so that you could go deep sea fishing. This is really only a problem in the early game, though. After upgrading the boat you'll have more than enough space for really anything you need.

Dredge is a weird combination of gameplay styles that make a very compelling whole. One of the best Lovecraftian games.

Dredge does not reinvent the wheel - it's really just a fishing game. It is a very peculiar and interesting take on the genre though and all in all just this classical mix of high quality art direction combined with nostalgic retro gameplay into an overall polished indie experience, the kind of game that I love.

The gameplay mechanics and progression systems are very well balanced out. The fishing mechanic is the same ol' but that's fine, it's the bread and butter grind and is good enough.

I absolutely LOVE that Dredge brought back inventory management in such a cool and meaningful way! I guess it was not the first one to do that, but for me I didn't get to play this mechanic since Diablo 2 tbh.

So that inventory management and ship damage system feels like playing Battleship a little, in general the game is not as relaxed as other fishing games and that is obviously for the horror aspect of it: the night is dark and full of terrors and also arrives rather quickly, as a matter of fact. However, coming home nice and safe never felt so good.

It's not really chill as other fishing games, but that's okay, because sailing by night is dangerous, and Dredge captures that. Dredge made me a appreciate what and why there is a damn Lighthouse and that is just great! Light is an aspect in many other games, but usually it comes down to having a flashlight or not. Dredge makes it a basic ressource and upgradable life necessity.

So far, Dredge doesn't feel grindy and tedious, there is always something to do and every progress like buying new equipment or getting upgrades comes quickly and feels good and meaningful.

The game hides in its weather moody seafarer ambiance a sense of mystery that I love, feeling these gigantic whales swimming beneath me feels great and who knows what else is deep down there, it's the damn sea, isn't it.