Dredge Review – Lend Me An Eel

For many people, fishing is a calm and relaxing hobby. This is a playful but deadly game that is usually completely controlled by the person holding the rod. In the open ocean, this dynamic is often reversed. Days on board a trawler, battling devastating weather conditions, and being off land for weeks at a time can take a toll on your body and mind. It’s these sorts of conditions that make Dredge neatly encapsulated in a handful of smartly designed mechanics, but what makes fishing expeditions far more dangerous are the sinister forces that seep through every crack. It’s faint.

You start with Dredge arriving at a small fishing village on the largest island ever. The mayor of the town needs someone to supply fish for the residents, and he lends a small but capable boat to fill it. Fishing is the most common activity on the Dredge considering you never set foot on land, so it’s nice not to get bored. Each battle with the creatures below the wave crest unfolds as a short mini-game focused on timing the button presses. Each format differs depending on the class of fish you’re trying to catch, but the basic premise and overall difficulty are the same. You don’t even have to complete each one for a successful catch. Instead, your abilities in each mini-game only speed up the process, which is useful when trying to get back to shore before night falls.

The sun-drenched expanses of the sea are alluring during the 12 hours of the day, but at night it’s a completely different landscape. Widespread thick fog often causes boat lights to struggle to cut through the fog effectively for navigation. While out at night, the stress level rises consistently (indicated by Sauron-like eyes that begin to move erratically at higher levels), accompanied by several surreal events. There is a possibility. A rock that you were sure was not in your path before could suddenly appear, damaging your hull and taking away some of your current haul. As you get over the stress, so-called delusions intensify, pitch-black crows with glowing red eyes start circling around you, and ghostly ships appear around you and embark on a crash course with your ship. .

Dredge pricks the needle of mystery by not fully explaining these events. Each time you dock after a long night out, citizens of the various islands you explore comment on your fatigue and warn you about the dangers of sailing without sleep. Or you’ll find that everyone knows something strange is going on. The little notes on the bottles scattered across the open ocean hint at past events that might explain the inexplicable events you often witness, but there’s still a fun amount left for you to piece together. Dredge is inspired by its eldritch horror, and predictably, it doesn’t have an easy answer by the end, and unfortunately saves the most grotesque images for the few seconds before the credits roll. Its themes are pervasive enough to give Dredge a distinctly Lovecraftian feel, but the otherwise appropriately vague ending was more impactful with a similar level of horror sprinkled throughout. It cannot be denied that

While it may seem easy to limit all fishing to daylight hours to avoid volatile encounters and potential stock losses, Dredge’s system balances risk taking on a daily basis. For example, time does not pass when you are still, but when you are moving or fishing, it passes quickly. It was common to try and squeeze in one more fishing spot before returning to port, but during the timing of the minigame he had one or he two accidents and the world around me fell into darkness. and made the return trip even more dangerous. Also, many types of fish can only be fished at night, and given the requirements in some quests, often braving the fog in search of suitable form below the surface to pick up and poor I have no choice but to deliver it to the townspeople. It’s also fascinating to see how far Dredge can push your sanity. After many days without sleep, admire how the world around you is distorted under an oppressive red hue.

It’s easy to want to explore the open ocean that Dredge has to offer, but adventures that encapsulate its nebulous story provide most of the impetus to visit a handful of peculiar islands. Go to each location looking for 5 harmless objects. The Stranger bestows magical powers on you and your boat with each new delivery. For one, you can add a boost to your boat’s engine, but you increase the stress level and the more you use it, the more you run the risk of complete engine failure. Another way would be to teleport to a stranger’s house, sacrificing even more sanity, but for the most part it was the most effective way to cut down on the annoying backtracking. The most useful of the four suggested, and in fact did not seem as exciting as their sinister sources would suggest. It was fun to use force to rip an entire school of fish out of the water, but it rarely felt important in my repertoire of abilities, and instead continued with normal fishing, so eventually In this sense, it’s an unfortunate waste of rewards to make each trip required to return to the Stranger more salacious than exciting.

The ending of each stage of the adventure isn’t necessarily mechanically challenging, but each quest you do makes the journey worthwhile. For example, from labyrinths of caves with rugged towns sprawling across mountains, to bodies of water laden with torn scientific instruments (by gigantic, tentacle creatures from the abyss), to abandoned civilizations around dormant volcanoes, they There are only a few fanatics left who tell the story of The world of Dredge is layered with these fascinating biomes to visit, with a wide variety of fish to discover and catch with different fishing rods, reels and traps. Despite relying on the underlying mechanics of each, they find creative ways to make most of their fetch quests exciting. A shape suitable for cornering.

The process of upgrading your ship is also engaging, with different items to unlock and extensions to build. Research points are used to unlock new items at the merchant. Rods, reels, and trawls all have specific classifications that determine where they can be used and what fish they can catch, and the more expensive ones have a combination of characteristics. can be allocated and is important given that space for boat lights and engines are also given their own slots. You must), dredge parts from numerous other shipwrecks and use them to improve your ship. However, everything costs money, so while helping the townspeople around their new settlement, they must balance it with a healthy income from fishing and continually progress. It is a satisfying loop that allows you to catch a few fish and set off towards your goal, and may turn into a full resource run if you encounter expensive catches or large deposits of unnecessary resources. Take a risk inside and embark on a journey back.

The constant threat of the night and the fascinating balance of risk and reward ultimately make spending time in the dredge so rewarding. intelligently expressed by This instills the right sense of unease, supported by the unease of all the other characters spread across each of the game’s wonderfully varied islands. There is an example where that eldritch theme could have been extended further. Especially considering the otherworldly powers you’re given are the least interesting part of your repertoire. It coalesces into a satisfying system, making the horrors of this sea adventure the thrill of tackling the bow.