In an era where most triple-A game companies are not concerned with delivering a good product but rather prefer to just perfecting a formula for a standardized gaming experience that will in turn make them money, where would a gamer search for something more? I found myself more and more invested in smaller indie companies that have an idea, take a risk and try to deliver something different.
This article is exactly about that ‘something else’, that sensation of awe gamers experience (and should experience) when they find something that is worth their time. This article is about a little game I recently discovered entitled Dredge, a fishing game of sorts where fishing is just an accessory to deliver an almost lovecraftian narrative; it was developed by Black Salt Games, an indie studio from New Zealand.
About the plot
Within Dredge there is a certain attention given to the writing and world building: the word ‘you’ is emphasized with every description and through this repetition the immersion in the gaming experience is accentuated (I would dare compare it to the dungeons and dragons technique).
You are a fisherman who does not remember much of his past, your boat has been irreparably damaged and are given a new one by the local mayor who also invites you to stay as the islands fisherman. By repaying the boat you are given through the fish that you catch, you then find yourself in a world with shady characters, a nighttime that conjures forth horrific creatures and visions (not to mention mutated fish), and a slowly unfolding story that you find yourself more and more interested in. You eventually find the Collector, a character who asks you to bring him back five artifacts; he also bestows on you a mechanism that is capable of dredging the depths and powers that are beyond your comprehension. Bits and pieces of lore come through interacting with the characters that you meet and messages in bottles (insert Sting reference here) that you found dispersed throughout the world.
This is as much as I am willing to say considering that anything more would lead to spoilers.
About the gameplay
There are five ‘biomes’, each with its monstrous creature to tackle and according gimmicks. The fishing part, given the possibility of finding corrupted fish and the player’s willingness to discover the world, never feels like a drag or a chore. Catching fish is mainly a source of income; with those funds, you upgrade your gear to venture further on. It is a standard gaming trope, but in this game it feels fulfilling; as your curiosity grows, so does your ability to accomplish harder and harder tasks. In my opinion, this type of gimmick is heavily correlated with the rhythm and flow of the game itself; succeeding in finding a right equilibrium for this rhythm is an important feat and Black Salt Games manages it perfectly.
About the art and music
The artwork has a rough quality to it and it feels almost as reading a rugged comic book. This is not a detriment whatsoever as in my opinion intertwines perfectly with the story. The grim quality of characters that you interact with is stressed by both their depiction from a narratological point of view as well as from an artistic representation.
The soundtrack used fits perfectly with the game. The serene and relaxing tones when you are fishing in broad daylight juxtapose with the ominous tunes of the impending night. Furthermore, during the nighttime, when eventually all music and sounds stop, the feeling of uneasiness is aggravated to perfection.
Some personal notes
Dredge succeeds through and through in creating the atmosphere it sets out to craft. The tranquil fishing moments are capsized upon exploring the eldritch horrors that await the player.
I will be hones: I purposefully chose what would be considered the ‘bad ending’ and here is why. I speculated that the horrors you uncover, the monsters and the corrupted fish symbolize the guilt you feel for what you have done for your wife; at least this is my interpretation. I found it however more poetic to abandon everyone else in the hopes of making the ritual work: even though as a character you had forgotten, possibly out of shock or madness your own actions, you still managed to split your personality and give yourself a mission. In your madness, the love for your partner still endured in a twisted way; against everything else, that morsel of hope remained. (Yes, you condemn the world and possibly the eldritch creature will not give you back what you had, but at least you tried everything you could.)
I feel that one of the few things that would have made the game even better would have been just adding several voice actors, not necessarily for all the characters and interactions, but at least for the main parts. I think that this would have made Dredge come to life and shine even more.
In conclusion, the game feels like a gem dredged from the abyss of the endless mediocrity of current triple-A games and deserves praise for what it accomplished.
