Dredge Review: Catch Of The Day

Story:

A new fisherman arrives at the Greater Marrow archipelago to take up a job offer as the town's local angler after the previous one left unceremoniously. As the days wear on weird shapes are glimpsed through the mists, strange voices are heard at night, and mysterious lights or apparitions are seen stalking the waters. Fish with mutations start cropping up and weird infections "slither" aboard the fishing vessel. A Collector enlists the Fisherman's help in dredging up relics from an incident in the town's not-so-distant past. As a reward the Fisherman is granted supernatural powers to make his job easier. Mixed in with these relics are messages in bottles and old diary entries about a married couple caught in a shipwreck.

Gameplay:

Dredge is a sort of fishing simulator that tasks the Fisherman (player) with upgrading their tiny fishing vessel to catch new and ever freakier aquatic lifeforms. Fish are caught passively with certain nets installed or reeled in at specific fishing locations through a simple mini-game. There is a limited amount of space on the boat, indicated by a grid. Each fish takes up a different amount of squares on the boat and can be rotated to maximize storage. Fresher fish sells for more, as do mutated variants. Bulbous infections can spread from one fish to another, and although it has a preservative effect, its unsightly appearance makes infected stock sell for a fraction of the normal sale price.

The systems all lead into each other. Fishing is a way to make money for upgrades. Dredging provides the materials needed for upgrades that can't be obtained any other way. The limited inventory space creates a stronger need for upgrades and balances how much you can gather at once.

The darker it gets outside and the longer the Fisherman goes without sleep, the more paranoid he'll become. The more unstable he is, the more likley a ghostly apparition is to attack. The boat's lights can help to keep the darkness at bay but it will also attract the attention of monsters lurking in the night. A speed boost gained through occult means can aid in making a swift getaway but at the risk of overheating the engines. The environment also shifts at night - rocks that weren't there the previous day may materialize through the gloom, making it unwise to speed directly into the nearest port lest you wreck your vessel. It adds a good bit of strategy, balance and danger to every outing.

Conclusion:

Dredge was one of the few games in recent memory that made me feel a sense of wonder and excitement from exploration. Both the gameplay and the narrative mysteries are engaging despite their simplicity. I wanted to know what the Collector was up to and what would happen next. The eldritch horror elements are so well executed and accentuated by beautifully grisly fish designs that subtly incorporate human-like features to unnerve the viewer. The low poly art style with its muted color palette accentuates the horror vibes quite well.

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