DREDG Review

Haven't you noticed how time has passed? It's long past midnight, and you continue to study these few hours in a row. The eyes are clouded, the mind almost everything is in doubt. You see things that are not really there.

For a dozen (in-game) nights, I piloted my small fishing boat through the dark deep waters of the Dredge, trying to break through the pitch darkness and trying to get specific fish and other trophies needed to fulfill my invisible hero's various goals. I tried unsuccessfully to force myself to go to bed early for several nights in real time, but the mysterious waters of DREDGE did not allow it. The lure of the unknown spurred my curiosity for reasons I didn't realize at the time. I felt attached to this sinister world. Perhaps the opposite is true, and the sinister world has become attached to me?

The invisible protagonist DREDGE controls a fishing boat, which he does not leave throughout the game. Thus, you do not leave the feeling that there is not some fictional character in the boat, but you. At the beginning of the game, you find yourself in a small coastal town where you meet the mayor. Out of the goodness of his heart, he hands over the boat to you and asks you to pay off a $50 loan for it. The money is small. It soon becomes obvious to you that something is wrong with this city. Something is wrong with the surrounding seas and islands. Almost everyone doesn't agree on anything. Something suspicious is definitely going on. After paying off your debt, you continue to fish in order to finance your further expeditions and try to find out what happened on these lands.

And now, after a few minutes, you are already confidently exploring the waters of the Dredge, trying to find and catch fish for sale, collect trophies and raw materials to improve the boat. And although you can find different types of fish at different times of the day, when night turns into day, strange things begin to happen in the dark. Especially as the main character begins to get tired and panic.

You begin to see silhouettes and strange auras. Suddenly stones appear where they never were. Boat lights may turn off. Gradually, the hero goes crazy, and instead of the boat of another fisherman, a huge fish suddenly appears and rams your boat.

If you plan your day carefully, make the right daily routine with regular rest, probably nothing bad will happen. But as soon as you lose track of time and "fish", you catch yourself thinking - the night has come, and you are far from a safe harbor. We'll have to defy the darkness and hope for the best.

The eerie atmosphere of DREDGE is due to many aspects. To those listed above, it is worth adding the visual effects of the underwater world, which give only a superficial idea of \u200b\u200bwhat the depths hide, but everything else has to be thought out on its own. The game is built in such a way that you will not reveal some of its secrets even after reaching the ending. You constantly communicate with the characters, but all these conversations are few and short, but it's enough to hook you on the plot and keep you hooked until the very end.

Go fishing. Sell your catch. Upgrade the ship. Move even further than you swam last time.

And yet, in addition to the creepy and ominous atmosphere that appears with the onset of night, it is incredibly pleasant to sail in the morning and afternoon on the sea and listen to the waves splashing or raindrops hitting the surface of the sea. You will be incredibly happy when you find some special place where you can catch rare fish, or solve a sometimes difficult puzzle that opens access to a valuable treasure, resources for improvement.

DREDGE holds a true masterclass in atmospheric adventure creation, world building, tactile mechanics and gameplay. As in any mysterious and sinister story, by the time you get to the very end and understand what's what, you will surely regret that the game ended so quickly. However, after the finale, you can load the last save before the ending and continue your journey through this amazing, addictive world with arms and legs.