Setting out as dawn breaks in my tin can of a fishing boat, the atmosphere feels tranquil. Although the vessel can’t venture far, there are mackerel and cod readily available near the harbor and its lighthouse. I’m cautioned to return well before nightfall due to the perilous rocks that can suddenly emerge from the shadows and bash against the hull.
After a few days, however, I reel in something that feels… wrong. A mess of scales encircling a grotesquely large single eye which was meant to be fish. The fishmonger’s expression reveals a disturbing delight as I present it to him, but it quickly shifts to a look of horror as he lifts the bizarre creature to his ear, listening to its whispers. He forcefully ejects me from his shop before locking the door behind me.
Welcome back to Backlog Busters, a column dedicated to clearing our never-ending video game backlog. As you might have guessed from the introduction, we recently tried out Dredge, a single-player fishing game with a macabre twist.
Developed by: Black Salt Games
Played on: Steam
Length: 10 hours (17 hours for completionists)
Our Thoughts
Dredge is a clever, compelling fishing adventure game with the Eldritch horror of a Lovecraftian nightmare. It’s a familiar gameplay loop: you sail in order to upgrade your equipment so that you can grind more efficiently, so that you can improve your equipment even more so that… you get the point. This tried and true formula is executed perfectly. The hook here is that the grind consists of fishing, to upgrade your boat. The catch is that things are not quite as they seem, especially at night. This game lures you in with its lore and simple mechanics, and before you know it, it has sunk its hooks into you. (All puns intended)
This game sucked me in for hours at a time. The next unexplored island, upgrade or little story breakthrough always felt tantalisingly within reach and the business of fishing and sailing is so pleasing that it easily carries the rest. Danger, in the form of underwater leviathans or the encroaching dark, is always present but usually at a distance; there’s a sense of threat without the frustration of imminent failure.
A few times I limped back to port at 5AM with a damaged engine and holes in my hull, caught out by the setting sun and attacked by some night-time horror, but I was rarely sunk. You are constantly trying to avoid the night, and the madness that comes along with it. Ghost ships, various eldritch monsters, and freaky natural phenomena all are out to get you and that is what this game does effortlessly well that other games can take note of, the feeling of insurmountable dread creepingly in slowly.
Speaking of dread, the writing is phenomenal, with shiversome descriptions of twisted fish – “a cracked husk of scaly plates sliding atop pulsing, miscoloured flesh” – and sparing dialogue that says just enough to chill the blood while leaving your imagination to dwell on the rest. Sometimes the overarching horror story feels barely there, mainly because Dredge doesn’t tell you too much, as you go about your business selling your catch and saving for a hull expansion; other times, when you’re caught out in the dark miles from a dock and starting to see things, it feels oppressively present.
Exploring the world of Dredge, you will find that each region has its own main quest, side quests, and puzzles to solve, and will require you to research and upgrade different gear. In addition to standard fish, every single species has at least one aberrant version to collect, and while catching them all isn’t required to complete the game, there is a tempting Pokedex-like encyclopedia just begging to be filled out. Characters are illustrated in broad, expressionist strokes, barely animated but still communicating unease, mystery or despair; out on the open water, the style is more minimalist.
This game has an incredibly strong charm that propels you forward, not unlike the unseen influence of a Great Old One, manipulating your mind as you heed the call of the sea. Combining two opposing ideals, the serenity of fishing and the dread of Lovecraftian horror, Dredge plumbs the depths of our instinctive fear of the ocean and the unseen things that lurk around down there in the dark because let’s face it, the ocean is a pretty scary place even if Cthulhu isn’t resting beneath the surface.
Verdict: Quite The Catch
With a strong identity and an even stronger pull through the addictive mechanics of the gameplay, Dredge is a one of a kind game that deserves all its flowers. So I suggest you get on this boat and see what you can dredge up tonight.
Get the game on Steam, and top up your Steam Wallet on Codashop.
