DREDGE Review

If you were to ask me at the beginning of 2023 if a Lovecraftian fishing game would be one of my favourite games of the last 12 months I probably would have been a little puzzled. I’m not particularly well-versed in Lovecraft’s work outside of ‘The Colour Out of Space‘ and I’ve never felt the urge to sit down and devour Lovecraft’s other works of fictitious horror. That being said, DREDGE captures more of the fundamental elements of horror I love that can be separated completely from Lovecraft’s work. The small island fishing towns that appear normal but with a sense of unease feel somewhat similar to the visual aesthetic of The Banshees of Inisherin smashed together with the tone and horror of something akin to Mike Flanagan’s Midnight Mass. This level of horror is exactly what I love. Dropping modern-day technology to focus on a more historically isolated story like DREDGE has always made horror media more enticing. This is in part due to horror at times feeling less gripping when you know safety is just a phone call away sometimes in more modern-day set horror films and games. DREDGE doesn’t have this problem, in fact, it’s far more spooky and unnerving than outright horrifying. You won’t find any jumpscares here and given the game’s more animated aesthetic the horrifying elements are unnerving in the same way as something like Cult of the Lamb.

Initially, I was a little sceptical about DREDGE and how I’d like it. Fishing games can be fairly hit or miss and I’ve had a few negative experiences with Lovecraftian-inspired projects before. However, my scepticism was almost immediately thrown out the portside window as DREDGE provides a huge landscape full of beautiful scenery during the day that is expertly complimented by its dark and twisted nighttime routine. The fishing aspect of DREDGE is only a small chunk of what this game really has to offer as each side quest and venture feels engaging and unique. While there are ‘fetch quests’ per se they aren’t infuriating like some other semi-open and fully open-world games. Instead, each quest feels specified to each of the world’s four main islands but there is still a level of openness as to how you tackle these ventures.

As previews of the game have shown, there are a number of unlockable abilities and fishing techniques all of which serve a purpose at most points in the game. Nothing felt tacked on and that’s the point I’m trying to drive (or I guess sail) home here. Whereas in more AAA titles some abilities might feel obsolete each of the unlockable abilities and fishing equipment that I claimed throughout my playthrough was used right from when I got them all the way to the end of the game. Combining these abilities felt particularly rewarding as while there is nothing from stopping you just blitzing through each main quest making the effort to unlock each piece of equipment means you’re more likely to tackle the same obstacles with relative ease. DREDGE is also a rare example of a game that got me to engage with a log-based system of information. While most games will add lore to text or audio logs that will unlikely be noticed by the majority of the player base DREDGE’s implementation of an encyclopedia allows players to narrow their search for specific fish. Need to figure out what rod to use on a specific fish? Need to find out at what depth a specific fish lies? The encyclopedia is your new best friend!

While each aspect of DREDGE is fantastic what holds it all together is the atmosphere I alluded to at the beginning of this review. The music is subtle but noticeable which allows for the stunning visuals of DREDGE to be complimented by either warming or unnerving soundscapes. The game’s narrative and character interactions range from the mundane to the downright disturbing allowing its world to grow with the player. For every two or three normal locals you’ll encounter, you’ll meet one cultish personality who’ll try and convince you to praise some sort of Lovecraftian god. Much like the music, DREDGE’s narrative is subtle, to begin with as it gradually introduces more harrowing plot points and side quests. This in turn is all to say that the game’s pacing is phenomenal.

Overall, DREDGE is a game that will stick with me for a long time and will most likely demand at least one or two more playthroughs. What is certain however is that if you have at least the slightest interest in playing DREDGE then DO IT!