Developer: Black Salt Games
Platforms: PC (Reviewed), PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X
Genre: Adventure, RPG
Publisher: Team 17
Dredgeis a fantastic one-player fishing game that plants you as the fisherman amongst a series of islands as you unlock the world’s secrets by talking to a whole array of characters you meet. It mixes a rich story, fantastic visuals, great music that accompanies you on your journey, and engaging gameplay.
You start the game with a little fishing boat and begin at one island as you try to figure out what is going on in this dark, murky world. The visuals and art style complement the game beautifully; I love the use of cell-shading; each day, you will meet a host of characters who will slowly paint a story of this world. As you interact and get to know more characters, you will be given a set of missions to do, and you and your boat will explore the world. The world revolves around the shifting from night to day, and you will face more challenges fishing at certain times; the music does a fantastic job of piquing your curiosity with bright, airy music during the day in the sun but a sense of foreboding and danger at night.
The gameplay centres on two key aspects: sailing and fishing; you navigate this beautiful world in a boat that you can upgrade as you complete missions and fish. Fishing is how you gain valuable money and complete specific tasks to help improve your boat and get upgrades. There is also a deep and rich upgrading system for your boat and fishing. Newer rods let you fish in areas you discover, and upgrades allow you to travel further distances. The game does a fantastic job of mixing story, gameplay and exploration; you must overcome a whole set of puzzles to progress more profoundly in the game and understand more about this rich world.
DLC: The DLC is an extra island and a new type of fishing for this new area. The DLC price reflects its price; it’s a small price for a similarly sized DLC, but if you loved the game, this DLC will give you a new, colder area to explore. It’s more of the same in terms of the main game: a rich environment with a series of puzzling tasks and lots of obstacles in your way.
Dredge is a beautiful cell-shaded one-player game that packs a great story, fantastic music, and great gameplay. It mixes exploration, problem-solving and lots of fun adventures, too. The visuals and shift from dark night scenes with a foreboding tone to beautifully bright day scenes are fantastic. This game combines puzzles, exploration and fantastic visuals with beautiful music.
Overall: 8.5/10
Enjoys more than the odd game, long time gamer, somewhat a technologist and everything else in between.
Also enjoys a good solid game of FIFA online. Currently PS4, XBOX 360 and STEAM.
