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.