Dredge Review: Hook, Line & Tentacle

Back in March 2023, Black Salt Games and Team17 released Dredge, a single-player fishing experience with a sinister undercurrent.

Since then, I've been awaiting the game's live-action film adaptation and secured a Steam Deck OLED to finally experience the Lovecraftian fishing game for myself. With over a dozen updates and two DLCs to its name, this felt like the perfect time to cast my net into Dredge's waters.

Putting aside roughly 10 hours of gameplay time, I became a fisherman, oblivious to the perils of the strange archipelago's dark waters. From the outset, it’s clear that Dredge isn't your average fishing experience. 

Teach A Man To Fish

At the core of Dredge's gameplay are three simple aspects: Time management, inventory management, and planning. Master all three, and you'll become a fisherman worthy of The Marrows.

The gameplay loop is relatively straightforward. You venture out during the day to catch fish (over 120 types available), sell them at the nearest town's Fishmonger, use the money to upgrade your boat with equipment to catch other fish or objects, and then rinse/repeat. It's basic but helps the player focus on the core experience while trying to "dredge" up valuables from crashed vessels and following the main quests.

Your ship can be upgraded with all manner of equipment, but every reel, every light, and every engine piece requires inventory space. It becomes a delicate balancing act between functionality, efficiency, and space for your catches.

For example, you could leave pots out in the ocean to catch all manner of Crustaceans, normal or cosmic in nature. However, pots require three spaces to ship off to their destination, and you must pick them up every three days to repair and claim their yield. You can place pots anywhere in the ocean, so I put mine close to a town for easy access.

Salvaged items such as wood or metal scraps allow you to upgrade your fishing boat. You'll need to upgrade your vessel to carry more fish and items and increase its speed and lighting capabilities. Different fishing spots, for example, Oceanic, Shallow, or Volcanic, require different reels and lines. This translates to the need for planning before a fishing trip or when setting out to progress in Dredge's deeply sinister story.

Dredge’s core gameplay loop is easy to understand but tough to master. It is effective throughout the game’s story, keeping me engaged and always thinking about my next fishing trip. Even the best-laid plans, however, don’t always work out. For example, I ran into more valuable items than I could carry on one trip meant as just a fishing expedition for some cash. Then, on my way back, I damaged my boat’s hull as the sunset and a strange aberration jumped onto my boat, further taking up space. While planning definitely helps, Dredge’s rather primary gameplay loop remains engaging thanks to these random elements.

A Sinister Undercurrent Kept Me Hooked

Dredge is far more than just a fishing game. The more I explored the mysterious archipelago, the clearer it became that the works of H.P. Lovecraft were a key inspiration. Characters would mention the unfortunate fate of previous fishermen, and otherworldly dangers would plague my every step.

Dredge's main quest takes you to five distinct groups of islands, and you'll meet various odd characters, from cloaked figures to a mysterious collector who wants you to find otherworldly items. 

The story has brilliant pacing for the most part, only falling a bit short of perfection in the middle portion due to some tasks feeling like busywork, for example, collecting four types of fish from a region before I could unlock the next part of the main quest, or when I had to backtrack to an area, sailing from one island to the next, just to speak to a character for the third time. 

Every time I played Dredge, a sinking would creep in. I wanted to fish, sell my catches, and upgrade my boat until I felt comfortable with its speed and lighting capabilities, but Dredge had other plans, pulling me into the dark abyss. 

The story has brilliant pacing for the most part, only falling a bit short of perfection in the middle portion due to some tasks feeling like busywork. Saying anything more would be a major spoiler, so I'll stop immediately.

Every time I played Dredge, a sinking feeling kept creeping in, no matter how hard I tried to avoid it. I wanted to fish, sell my catches, and upgrade my boat until I felt comfortable with its speed and lighting capabilities, but Dredge had other plans, pulling me into the dark abyss. 

More often than I’d like to admit, I failed to get back to a safe harbor before sunset and eldritch dangers started to appear. It’s in these moments of dread and panic that Dredge shines brightly in its dark night. 

You'll spot strange creatures, some of the tentacle variety, and even illusions out on the water at night. I crashed my boat on rocks several times, resulting in a game over screen, due to illusions steering me in the wrong direction or a creature giving me a fright. 

Puzzles of the Deep

As I sailed through Dredge's main quest and side content, one thing remained clear: the game does not hold your hand. While there are clues or broad directions such as "head north to possibly find a shipwreck" scribbled into notes, it’s up to the player to explore and carve their own path.

You'll find puzzles to solve throughout the main quest and by exploring the dark waters. For example, I encountered a ritualistic stone structure (rock slab) while floating around the first town, looking for some smaller fish to catch and sell. It was tucked behind a curve and presented a puzzle to solve.

I eventually figured out five Cods were required to complete the rock slab puzzle and, as a reward, received an otherworldly reel to add to my boat via the Shipwright. Puzzles add an extra layer of depth to Dredge, and while they aren’t incredibly challenging, they do require the player to think for themselves, read through some notes, and use spatial awareness to solve inventory-based riddles like the aforementioned rock slab. 

As I progressed deeper into the story, I unlocked special abilities to help me overcome previously impossible obstacles, such as blowing up rocks with explosives to open up new paths. After an initial quest to learn a new ability, however, the game lets you decide how and when to use it to your advantage, or sometimes, peril. 

A prime example of an ability leading me astray was after I first unlocked Haste. Yes, speeding up your boat can and will help you avoid the terrors of the night. However, the first time I used it, it led me straight into rocks, as I couldn’t fully control my boat, severely damaging my hull. Testing new abilities for the first time or simply misusing them, adds another layer of risk to the already intense experience.

Lovecraftian Fishing on Steam Deck

I picked Dredge as one of the first games to play on my Steam Deck OLED model. It seemed perfect for handheld devices, and its Nintendo Switch performance has been admirable. It didn't disappoint on the Steam Deck, delivering smooth-as-butter performance.  

At the highest graphical settings, no tinkering was required to get roughly four and a half hours of battery life out of Dredge. My default overlay setting does limit games to 40FPS (Frames Per Second) at 40Hz.

Not once did the game drop below 40FPS, and I could even push it up to 60FPS with no noticeable issues. At 60FPS, however, the device will get just below three hours of battery life before a charge is required.

Docking For A Verdict

I knew Dredge wouldn’t be a terrible experience and that it was fully playable on the Steam Deck, thanks to Valve’s own rating system. What I didn’t expect, however, was just how much the dark waters would call on me to keep playing. I was surprised with the depth the developers could edge out of a basic gameplay loop, and every fishing trip in Dredge was engaging and sometimes nerve-wracking. The story kept reeling me in, and solving the mystery of the game’s world was utterly satisfying.