Dredge is a little bit too relaxing

I am a curious linguist, English and Japanese are my second and third languages respectively.
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[@shetanislair]

Hey guys! I've been absent for longer than I thought I would be, but as it turned out, between settling in a new place and warding off a bunch of health issues there's little time for writing and making videos. I am back though! As I start feeling better, I'll be making more videos and eventually announce the next project (￣ω￣)

[@Halokon]

As much as I've loved your soulsbourne videos, I think you're bigger than that, venturing into unexplored waters is definitely your future!

[@nettaraxy8815]

i had dredge on my wishlist for ages and was so excited when it came out! i never noticed the need for more pressure, although i did find the fact it counted the days strange, since there is no deadline to complete anything (apart from those specific quests). i enjoyed the relaxed pace and, since I'm a completionist, took my time discovering everything and completing the fishing encyclopedia. now you've mentioned it, perhaps more pressure would have done the game some good since i played it pretty safe, and the night events are easy to get around once you know how they work. glad to have you back!

[@mercurialaurel]

Hi! My thoughts on dredge basically align with yours. I thought it could have done with more pressure, to coerce me out into the night to catch more fish to pay more bills. If maybe I needed to pay for an inn to get a good night's sleep, pay for food, pay for fuel, on top of buying boat upgrades. Something to create a sense of urgency and anxiety, which would mesh well with the cosmic horror genre. Overall impressions of the game still very positive, it's a beautiful and captivating little gem. Glad you're back :)

[@daviddanis6385]

I've had a similar experience, the game quickly turned into a cozy fishing game where the only reason I was motivated to fish is because I wanted the best fishing equipment, just to have it (and catch all the fish variations which I did end up doing on my 2nd playthrough 1 year later)

[@canniballollocaust9174]

Babe wake up, new Shetani just dropped

[@almastidyatlov9641]

Oooh, what a treat on a warm morning!

[@ultimortalmoth7212]

Good to hear from you again. I didn't mind how comfy Dredge was, but I agree that there could have been some more weight to decisionmaking to add to the tension already being worked on via the other vibes in the game. The time constraints of each day passing so quickly made things a bit frantic for me in the moment given the dangers of spending lots of time out fishing at night, even if there was no overarching threat as time passed. I do wonder about 4:00. Wouldn't "the main structural component of the gameplay loop" also include the monsters? I don't mean to split hairs, and there's nothing objectionable about wanting more options for the player. It just seems a little unfair to the monsters since they seem to be just as much a part of the game experience, even if some players don't like them. I myself didn't find avoiding the monsters very fun compared to fishing a day's pay while trying to keep myself settled and back before nightfall, either.
Perhaps if there is a sequel they could lean a bit harder into the horror elements, rather than scares. Unsettle and disturb with ambience and atmosphere, and make the player dread the great wide ocean they must sail out into for their daily bread, lest they sink into debt. It would be very interesting to see the actual monsters de-emphasized so that when they do show up, hopefully the interactions with them are more interesting and fine-tuned, as well as more memorable. Not to mention, if the rest of the game is more frightening, there can still be those moments where you are able to fish in a calm sea with a friendly port in sight, and the feeling of safety will be all the more precious.

[@shetanislair]

I felt like the monsters were more like singular events that lost their importance as soon as you completed the related quest or left the area, while the scary crows and visions accompanied me all the time, ready to trigger if I got too carried away. Monsters added interest to specific areas, no doubt about that, but otherwise I wasn't thinkking about them much. There is a monster in the open sea that triggers sometimes, but I encountered it just on a couple of occasions.

[@vijin0739]

Thanks for the great video/ Glad ur back!❤

[@christophershapka8937]

Wasen't expecting much from a 200 view video, gotta say this is a gem though! ill be back.

[@herofromthedark]

I've heard of Dredge before, but I've never paid it much mind. This review does make it sound pretty interesting, albeit easy.

[@jodyestevens9911]

lovely vid

[@nevinmyers1245]

i effectively never had to deal with the panic mechanic because i played the game very conservatively. i think giving the player the ability to just fast-forward time is a big contributing factor to the lack of difficulty. daylight is extremely safe, and if i can skip forward to morning for literally no cost why would i ever play at night? there are fish you can only catch at night, but these aren't a great incentive for players who only want to finish the game rather than complete it. so effectively this made my experience rather frictionless save for the few monsters that are present in daylight, and even of those there's only one that requires any skill to circumvent(the big oarfish in the cliffs area)

[@nevinmyers1245]

the eldritch horror angle also feels secondary to me, all the monsters' behavior is pretty simple and there aren't much horror elements beyond them. overall the horrors beyond comprehension are pretty comprehensible to me. the best eldritch horror is the weird fish you find, because it invites the player to imagine what happened to them to make them like that and how they survive in the state they're in. i would have wanted more things like that, where the player has to imagine the horror, because this game isn't great at showing you horror and having it stick with you.

[@bsg_studio7293]

Я тоже играю в него на свиче!)) круть!

[@razielblu]

hi :)