Episode 158 - Lowbrow Johnny - Dredge

I’m as podcast as you are. Welcome back! For our final episode of
Halloween, we’re talking about Dredge, the fishing game that takes
its aesthetic inspiration from cosmic horror, and of course, H.P.
Lovecraft. In Dredge you play as a fisherman and you catch fish to
pay for upgrades to your ship, repairs, etc., all while working
toward the goal of collecting several relics for a mysterious man
who lives on an island by himself. Which isn’t weird at all. The
fishing itself is engaging enough, but the atmosphere of the game
is where it really shines. There is a sense of foreboding as day
turns to night and things start becoming more dangerous. This ends
up being the main point of contention as far as how successful the
game is, because while the aberrant catches and mysterious
strangers are all very interesting, and the darkness always hides
an unknown threat, the other half of the game is inventory
management and resource collection. The more mechanical half of the
game can be satisfying, but the tension is broken during extended
periods of supplying metal and wood to upgrade your ship, making
sure your fish are perfectly tetris’d in your storage, and managing
net catches. The game is pulled in two directions, with one wanting
to be an atmospheric, dread inducing horror title and the other
wanting to be a pretty decent management sim. None of it is quite
enough to make the game bad, or not worth playing, and the
narrative makes up for it by being just mysterious enough to lead
the player along and make them want to learn more about the
characters, but it does feel like a weak spot in an otherwise good
game. We’re going to be talking about the curse that is trying to
do cosmic horror in a video game, how we engaged with the story of
the game and our expectations, and we redesign the Pokemon games to
make them better, just as a free bonus. You’re welcome, Game Freak.
Thank you for joining us again this week, and for the month of
spooky games that we look forward to all year. And we even kinda
did it twice this time. How was everyone’s Halloween? Did you play
anything particularly scary, or do anything else to get in the mood
of the season? Let us know in the comment section or over on our
Discord server! Next time, we’re going to be shifting gears a fair
bit, and talking about Tunic, so we hope you’ll join us then.