Posted on: January 9, 2025
TinyMessajah
Games: 44 Reviews: 2
Lovecraft on a Boat!
- A world inspired by HP Lovecraft. The game's atmosphere is unsettling, with its foggy seas, dark nights, and an underlying sense of dread. While the writing falls FAR short of Lovecraft, the experience is still worthwhile. - The story is told in small snippets through characters you meet, and has an eerie feeling. Each encounter adds a new layer of mystery, and doesn't hold your hand as you piece together the larger narrative. If you're looking for environmental storytelling, this game has it. - It's literally an RPG. The boat is your character. The fishing equipment is your armor and sword. - Fish are your gold coins that you use for upgrading the boat. - Most of the game is well-structured and nicely paced, with exploration rewarding you with secrets and upgrades. - Some of the puzzles are terribly poorly explained. You will definitely be frustrated a few times by some very vague descriptions (you'll know it when you're there), and rather than wasting an hour trying different solutions, you shouldn't be afraid to just search it up online. - The hunt for 100% completion with all fish variants is a bit too long and tedious. The base game has 151 fish variants (which are tracked in your encyclopedia). Prepare to waste at least 8 extra hours with repetitive grinding if you want to catch them all. Do I recommend it? No. Did I do it? Yes. While possibly rewarding for completionists, the sheer grind of finding rare fish severely strains the game's pacing. - The endings are abrupt and leave many story threads unresolved, which might or might not satisfy everyone. While the journey is a decent experience, the conclusion falls short, with most of the impactful storytelling occurring much earlier in the experience. - My review: 70%. Get DREDGE if you want a cozy, slightly spooky Lovecraftian game where you can relax and play your own little fishing boat RPG. It's a great game to just lean back with a gamepad and do some spooky fishing while listening to a podcast.
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