I’ve caught a lot of fish, but I haven’t caught them all yet. I’ve solved some puzzles and mysteries, but not all of them yet. And although I’ve rolled credits on the main story, I haven’t finished playing yet.
Dredge is a wonderful first game for a small indie studio. It nails its tone, narrative and gameplay mechanics, with time, polish and care spent in all the right areas.
I’ve never spent a lot of time in management games, but Dredge intersperses its management aspect with exploration, upgrade paths and various other push/pull tensions that succeed in pushing you though game at a fair clip.
The only negative for me was that the feeling of dread you get in the dark or from staying awake too long started to wane as I fully upgraded my ship. A fast ship, and the Banish power tend to free you up a little too much by the end. However that’s a minor gripe, especially since the enhancements will ultimately help me to mop up some of my own late-game goals.
I’m absolutely chuffed that a NZ studio has reached success with such an interesting title.