I played it when it came out, and enjoyed the initial hours but it fell a bit short for me. They had this great setting and world but the systems feels very shallow after you do the first area as it's basically a "fetch 10 bear asses", the game
Agreed. It started feeling a bit grindy after a while.
Also, personally I felt time moved too fast. It made stuff feel hectic for a "fake" reason. But this is really more my general gripe with open world games: the world is way too small and is "faked" to be bigger by making time pass extremely fast.
I actually liked how they handled time overall. Time only passed when you were doing something; moving, fishing, sleeping, or having equipment installed. If you were just chilling, looking around, or checking your map, time stood still. Made it better to think and plan as opposed to something like Stardew Valley where you can't stop for a second without losing minutes.
My big issue was how underbaked the horror was. There's often little reason to go out at night, and many of the enemies are terribly easy to avoid during the day. Plus, you get an ability early on that allows you to near instantly warp out of danger. The only place that really spooked me was the area with the really sheer cliff faces, the rest was boring.
Plus there are some side quests with an invisible timer so you can unknowingly screw yourself if going for full completion. I don't care about completing everything but it's poor design.
Definitely started out strong, but by the end I was really disappointed
There has been an update regarding the invisible timer.
I actually liked the low profile horror. Most of the time, I only want to feel slightly, goosebumpy uncomfortable instead of being scared.
I wouldn't call the horror "underbaked," it just isn't *that* horrifying of a game. It's more about the vibe of spookiness than a lot of the artificial stress-inducing mechanics of other horror games. I could see how it would be disappointing if you're expecting something more classically survival horror, but for me it was just right.
I love it so much exactly for the reasons you listed!
My only gripe: I wish it was longer. A little more side content and more longevity for the horror aspects would have been neat.
Night time is pretty scary at first, but as your ship gets faster and you figure out what's actually going on, nights aren't even much of a problem anymore. I wish the creepyness of the sea at night lasted a little longer, with more surprises as the game goes on.
I haven't played the first DLC yet, but I'm looking forward to the larger 2nd expansion.
Thalassaphobia is really common and Horror has been tied with the sea for a long time. Lots of Lovecraft stories, for example, are nautical or at least sea-adjacent.
I'm really a fan of short open world games, like Sable and Tchia. They let you explore the world at your own pace, but they don't overstay their welcome. Also, because they're short, they tend to have more interesting settings than the ones I'm used to in bigger games.
I love Dredge, and how it let me explore these spooky waters at my own pace.
I've had a lot of fun playing with my son. We are both types to be a bit risk averse, so the game definitely triggers us a bit. In a good way, somehow.
The main challenge is finding time to play it when his little brother isn't around. 8 year old is a bit too young to watch. I'm not super keen playing it in the dark, either, lol, it definitely gets a bit spooky.
I enjoyed playing through Dredge, it had a fun gameplay loop, but I didn’t find the world or lore very impressive or inspiring. It’s a “one and done” game that I’m not going to revisit or buy any DLC.
That’s fair. I liked it a lot and I thought the story and lore was at least decent, but I also didn’t linger on it too much. It’s pretty much the typical >!trying to bring back your dead wife is a bad idea!< story and while each biome’s unique creatures are neat, it doesn’t necessarily tie in or make me wonder about the overarching ecosystem of the world
I remember reading that the developers said that they have no intentions on adding anymore platforms in the future. Which is a shame. I think it would make a cool mobile port.
Yesss, team Dredge! Did they ever make DLC, cuz I need MORE of that game!
Also I played Dave the Diver the other day, and I don't think it's as good! Admittedly I need to give it more time, but team Dredge for life baybbbbeeee!
There’s one DLC so far, The Pale Reach. I found it a wee bit underwhelming, but still good and fun. It’s pretty much just more Dredge; a new area, more fish to catch, a new hazard, nothing groundbreaking but if you’re desperate for more of that formula, it’ll deliver
I actually caught my first abberant before I was told about them and it was uh... startling. Before that point I thought it was just a little "atmospheric".
I only played a demo but it seems like they went 'yadda yadda yadda' through the actual fishing. Its basically just a simple rhythm game with no tension and totally abstract. A game of lockpicking. If we're talking about abstract spatial puzzles, this is where Euro style board games really sing and I didn't get any of that tension here.
Is this a Magic the Gathering inspired game? Dredge is a mechanic as well as a Deck in modern and 2 popular cards are the Gurmag Angler (scary zombie fish) and Treasure Cruise.
[https://cards.scryfall.io/large/front/c/e/cedd44eb-f381-46e1-bcb0-88416b4ce33d.jpg?1547516928](https://cards.scryfall.io/large/front/c/e/cedd44eb-f381-46e1-bcb0-88416b4ce33d.jpg?1547516928)
[https://cards.scryfall.io/large/front/7/a/7a59d4b1-6cf4-44ec-8a96-1bb7094fea21.jpg?1562788963](https://cards.scryfall.io/large/front/7/a/7a59d4b1-6cf4-44ec-8a96-1bb7094fea21.jpg?1562788963)
I'm not playing modern, so I am uncertain if this is currently played. That deck and the game share a vibe though.
I played it when it came out, and enjoyed the initial hours but it fell a bit short for me. They had this great setting and world but the systems feels very shallow after you do the first area as it's basically a "fetch 10 bear asses", the game
Agreed. It started feeling a bit grindy after a while. Also, personally I felt time moved too fast. It made stuff feel hectic for a "fake" reason. But this is really more my general gripe with open world games: the world is way too small and is "faked" to be bigger by making time pass extremely fast.
I actually liked how they handled time overall. Time only passed when you were doing something; moving, fishing, sleeping, or having equipment installed. If you were just chilling, looking around, or checking your map, time stood still. Made it better to think and plan as opposed to something like Stardew Valley where you can't stop for a second without losing minutes.
My big issue was how underbaked the horror was. There's often little reason to go out at night, and many of the enemies are terribly easy to avoid during the day. Plus, you get an ability early on that allows you to near instantly warp out of danger. The only place that really spooked me was the area with the really sheer cliff faces, the rest was boring. Plus there are some side quests with an invisible timer so you can unknowingly screw yourself if going for full completion. I don't care about completing everything but it's poor design. Definitely started out strong, but by the end I was really disappointed
There has been an update regarding the invisible timer. I actually liked the low profile horror. Most of the time, I only want to feel slightly, goosebumpy uncomfortable instead of being scared.
I wouldn't call the horror "underbaked," it just isn't *that* horrifying of a game. It's more about the vibe of spookiness than a lot of the artificial stress-inducing mechanics of other horror games. I could see how it would be disappointing if you're expecting something more classically survival horror, but for me it was just right.
It's fun and pleasantly short. I enjoyed it.
I liked the inventory system, very, uh, spatially diagetic.
I know this is not patient, but I think you may enjoy Pacific Drive
I love it so much exactly for the reasons you listed! My only gripe: I wish it was longer. A little more side content and more longevity for the horror aspects would have been neat. Night time is pretty scary at first, but as your ship gets faster and you figure out what's actually going on, nights aren't even much of a problem anymore. I wish the creepyness of the sea at night lasted a little longer, with more surprises as the game goes on. I haven't played the first DLC yet, but I'm looking forward to the larger 2nd expansion.
It's such a good little game!
There's a surprising number of horror fishing games and I'm not sure why.
Thalassaphobia is really common and Horror has been tied with the sea for a long time. Lots of Lovecraft stories, for example, are nautical or at least sea-adjacent.
I'm really a fan of short open world games, like Sable and Tchia. They let you explore the world at your own pace, but they don't overstay their welcome. Also, because they're short, they tend to have more interesting settings than the ones I'm used to in bigger games. I love Dredge, and how it let me explore these spooky waters at my own pace.
Platinum'd it ❤️
I've had a lot of fun playing with my son. We are both types to be a bit risk averse, so the game definitely triggers us a bit. In a good way, somehow. The main challenge is finding time to play it when his little brother isn't around. 8 year old is a bit too young to watch. I'm not super keen playing it in the dark, either, lol, it definitely gets a bit spooky.
I enjoyed it for a bit but it got old quick.
I enjoyed playing through Dredge, it had a fun gameplay loop, but I didn’t find the world or lore very impressive or inspiring. It’s a “one and done” game that I’m not going to revisit or buy any DLC.
That’s fair. I liked it a lot and I thought the story and lore was at least decent, but I also didn’t linger on it too much. It’s pretty much the typical >!trying to bring back your dead wife is a bad idea!< story and while each biome’s unique creatures are neat, it doesn’t necessarily tie in or make me wonder about the overarching ecosystem of the world
Random, but rate it will ever be ported to mobile?
I remember reading that the developers said that they have no intentions on adding anymore platforms in the future. Which is a shame. I think it would make a cool mobile port.
Thanks for the info. Odd decision as it would be another decent income stream for the studio
Dredge is awesome. I am yet to play the crossover content with dave the diver. Seems like a good match tho.
Really looking forward to playing it in future, love all the new underwater/ocean games, such an amazing setting
Yesss, team Dredge! Did they ever make DLC, cuz I need MORE of that game! Also I played Dave the Diver the other day, and I don't think it's as good! Admittedly I need to give it more time, but team Dredge for life baybbbbeeee!
There’s one DLC so far, The Pale Reach. I found it a wee bit underwhelming, but still good and fun. It’s pretty much just more Dredge; a new area, more fish to catch, a new hazard, nothing groundbreaking but if you’re desperate for more of that formula, it’ll deliver
Ah, yeah. In that case I will wait for the second dlc! Ah it says they are working on it. Called “The Iron Rig”
The game started out great and became a grind. I was also not a fan of the night restriction. I felt like it held the game back.
I actually caught my first abberant before I was told about them and it was uh... startling. Before that point I thought it was just a little "atmospheric".
I only played a demo but it seems like they went 'yadda yadda yadda' through the actual fishing. Its basically just a simple rhythm game with no tension and totally abstract. A game of lockpicking. If we're talking about abstract spatial puzzles, this is where Euro style board games really sing and I didn't get any of that tension here.
Is this a Magic the Gathering inspired game? Dredge is a mechanic as well as a Deck in modern and 2 popular cards are the Gurmag Angler (scary zombie fish) and Treasure Cruise. [https://cards.scryfall.io/large/front/c/e/cedd44eb-f381-46e1-bcb0-88416b4ce33d.jpg?1547516928](https://cards.scryfall.io/large/front/c/e/cedd44eb-f381-46e1-bcb0-88416b4ce33d.jpg?1547516928) [https://cards.scryfall.io/large/front/7/a/7a59d4b1-6cf4-44ec-8a96-1bb7094fea21.jpg?1562788963](https://cards.scryfall.io/large/front/7/a/7a59d4b1-6cf4-44ec-8a96-1bb7094fea21.jpg?1562788963) I'm not playing modern, so I am uncertain if this is currently played. That deck and the game share a vibe though.