Dredge: PS5 Review

Developed by Black Salt Games
Published by Team 17
Platform: PS5

The simplicity of a game sometimes transcends everything else within it.

When you think of the likes of Pac-Man or Space Invaders, they're not known for their compelling narrative or deep-dive dialogue. That's not to say Dredge doesn't have that at all, more that its simple mechanics are what hooks you in and keeps you engaged in its initially grind-based ideology.

You play a fisherman, who shows up at Greater Marrow, an island in an archipelago that you'll soon discover is inhabited by characters, the likes of whom wouldn't be out of place in dark comedy The League of Gentlemen. Engaged by the mayor to fish to feed the town's populace, you head out in your boat and begin exploring the waters, reeling in the catch and selling it on.

Each sale banks you cash to think about upgrading your boat, and boosting your cargo space. But along with each trade comes the desire to venture out across the archipelago as the world's mysteries begin to unfold...

Dredge initially feels a little beholden to its upgrade mechanics and loops, but in truth, at some point, the game makes you overcome this feeling of a grind and turns it into something compulsive as you head around the waters, trying to salvage material to use to your benefit. It's almost addictive in an insidious way - down largely in part to its simplicity and ease of execution.

Fishing, like dredging the depths, requires you to take part in some QT elements, and is easy to master - but the harder part comes in placing your catch in a cargo and engaging in Tetris-like elements to best utilise the spots as creatures don't always confirm to the grid arrangement.

It's in the atmospherics that Dredge pulls out all the stops - from its simply executed hand-drawn artwork to its 3D renderings and Gothic-level fish, creatures and inhabitants, it's a world that cries out for more than its short run time.

Subtlety is the key to this game, one that deals in unsettling moments but never full on horror; its grotesqueries come in the artwork of the deformed fish that lurk beneath the surface.

While it works very well for an indie, there are moments in Dredge where you'd hope for more - death sequences are very cursory and feel slight with a lack of animated moments when you're dragged below. A lack of a chance to pin your destination on a map means you have to continually stop on the water to work out where you're going.

But these are very minor niggles in what is a truly different and engaging little indie that sucks you in in ways you'd least expect. Dredge rewards exploration but it also rewards patient gaming, offering up story rewards like an onion revealing its layers - it will pique your interest, hook line and sinker - and demonstrates why sometimes a more cleverly orchestrated indie is infinitely better than a full on 60 hour AAA title.