Dredge (Nintendo Switch)
Official GBAtemp Review
Product Information:
- Release Date (NA): March 30, 2023
- Release Date (EU): March 30, 2023
- Publisher: Team17
- Developer: Black Salt Games
- Genres: Adventure, Horror
- Also For: Computer, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
Game Features:
After ending up on a remote archipelago with your ship badly damaged, you’d think that your fishing career came to an end. But just then, the town’s mayor provides you with another vessel to keep, on the condition to earn it by fishing and selling your catch. This will be used to pay off your debt for the new ship and help improve the town.
That’s no problem for a fisherman of your calibre but you quickly realise that the water you’re sailing in is not the usual type. After the sun sets, the waters turn hostile with aggressive creatures and even familiar landscapes seem to be littered with new obstacles. Add to that rumours from inhabitants of nearby islands of cryptic occurrences, you know you’re in for a different type of seafaring adventure.
A fisherman’s tale
While Dredge isn’t very narrative-heavy from the get-go, its plot slowly gets fleshed out as you explore its five different areas as you complete the main quest and interact with the inhabitants. While the slow-paced aspect of the narrative progression might be divisive, it does help build on the intrigue.
The main quest involves fetching old relics from various parts of the map for a cryptic NPC who’s hiding more than he is letting on. You get to uncover secrets and stories of each region you explore as you progress to these areas to find those relics. These locales are depicted in attractive, colourful and diverse cel-shaded landscapes with matching sound design that almost makes for a relaxing experience.
And to see how the stories of the different areas fit together, you’ll be inclined to actually sail to those areas and learn more about the inhabitants of the isles and seas through interesting conversations. But the progression is interspersed with downtimes where you’ll be performing your fishing duties and scavenging for resources in order to prepare for longer voyages and trawl deeper seas.
Row, row, row your boat
That’s how the gameplay mechanics tie in with the narrative. Completing the main quest’s missions and reaching the designated areas will require upgrades for your trawler. This is because the items you’ll need to recover are located at different depths in the sea and to dredge them up will require appropriate equipment. The game’s optional side quests also feature similar requirements.
You can upgrade your fishing gear and vessel through an RPG-like “skill tree”. With research parts, you can unlock new gears which can then be purchased to equip them to your vessel. Some upgrades require additional resources such as wooden planks and metal parts that can be scavenged in the seas and around shipwrecks. Such upgrades can increase your trawler’s storage capacity, equip it with more powerful engines and enable you to catch different types of marine life.
To get the capital to actually purchase those upgrades, you’ll need to perform your fisherman duties and sell your catch. Fishing or dredging items from the sea play out in mini-games where you have to hit Y at the right time. Once you’ve successfully dredged up an item or fish, you’ll need to place them in your storage. This will require some rearrangement and repositioning based on your current cargo and the limited storage capacity of your vessel. This adds a layer of inventory management aspect to the gameplay. These aspects of the fishing mechanics aren’t very difficult, are completed in short bouts and help diversify the gameplay.
Moreover, damages to your ship can be incurred during daytime if, for example, you run your ship on protruding rocks. This can lead to lost cargo, reduced storage capacity and even damaged fishing rods. Luckily you can repair those damages at a dock for a fee; hence the need to keep a revenue source by fishing while you venture to complete quests.
For the most part, venturing out at sea is mostly a cosy experience; up until the sun comes down that is. By nightfall, the seas turn more hostile and the game leans towards low-key horror. After the sun sets, your fear gauge kicks in and the more filled up it is, the more likely night-time sea creatures will attack your vessel. Light sources can lower your panic level and you’ll thus have to balance between turning your vessel’s lights on and risking encountering a hostile monster or navigate with low visibility and risk damaging your ship. Panic can also be reduced by sleeping so finding a dock after sunset is a recommended approach. This day-night atmosphere shift introduces an interesting dynamic that adds to the challenge of an otherwise combat-free experience.
To dread or dredge?
Dredge offers an original and interesting premise. Its slowly unravelling plot and genuinely captivating conversations keeps it intriguing and the mix of fishing, resource management and exploration helps diversify the gameplay.
Such diversity is needed as actions such as fishing, dredging for resources and fetch-quest aspects of practically every mission can indeed get repetitive. My major gripe had to do with the need to grind to earn resources in between the main missions so as to be able to equip my vessel and progress further. What can also be divisive is the slow-paced nature of the game in both gameplay and plot progression.
But overall, Dredge offers a refreshing experience with an interesting mix of ambiance and gameplay. If you’re looking for a new, original indie title, then this is an easy recommendation, even if you’re not into fishing.
DREDGE - Launch Trailer
Verdict
- Original blend of cosy and low-key horror presentation
- Fun mix of fishing, resource management and exploration mechanics
- Intriguing narrative
- Grinding
- Some repetitive puzzles
- Slow-paced aspect of plot can be divisive
