Dredge is an indie game highlight of 2023 with great gameplay and a surprisingly good story. How that story ends is actually up to you and can be quite confusing.
A fishing game may not sound that exciting at first, but boy, Dredge does a good job of making sitting on a boat all day an absolutely thrilling experience.
Dredge was developed by Black Salt Games and published by Team17 in March 2023. It's playable on all platforms and you should definitely check it out, just as a little treat. With roughly 12 hours of playtime, stretchable to your heart's content if you want to make the most of it, I highly encourage you to check it out. Dredge gets updated regularly, adding new content and "quality of life" updates.
In Dredge, you play as a nameless fisherman, waking up in the coastal town of Greater Marrow. Suffering from amnesia, you have no idea why you're here or what your goal was in the first place. You just know you have to make some money to pay for repairing your ship, so that's what you do. You set sail, go get some fish like the townspeople told you to, and it all seems fine and like a relaxing life with the other weirdos in town.
But then the sun sets and everything gets terrifying and you don't see sh*t and now the strange folks in town and all their talk about losing your mind at night makes sense and oh my gOD WHAT IS THAT THING AND WHERE DID IT COME FROM?! HELP!
From here on out, there will be spoilers. Be aware!
Plot And Endings Explained
Obviously, you ain't alone in the world. You meet a man who calls himself the Collector on another island, giving you the main quest. He asks you to search for some relics, conveniently scattered out over the different in-game regions. Every region has it's own mechanics and tasks to ultimately get those relics, and after handing them over to the Collector, you get some new supernatural ability to aid you on your journey. It's the Book of the Deep, the Collector explains, that will make everything alright again, describing the relics and giving you your new powers.
All the while, you can come across messages in bottles, all over the ocean and the different islands. The messages were written by a woman who goes by J.J., describing her newlywed life with her husband at sea.
Turns out: the player is the husband and J.J. his wife. Tragically, she died when the player, prior to his amnesia, dug up the cursed Book of the Deep and accidentally summoned a sea monster. Dealing with the death of your wife is basically the core of the two endings you can get. And here's how it works.
How To Get Dredge's Bad Ending
Do as you're told. That's honestly it.
You meet the Collector, you get the relics, you give him the relics and accompany him to the middle of the ocean where he does his thing.
Arriving at that certain spot, the Collector mentions your wife. Here's where she died, and he tells you with the relics you gathered, she can be resurrected, and that's exactly what you do. After performing the ritual, J.J. appears, alive and well.
With her, though, a terrifying monster emerges from the ocean, before rolling the credits. And, alas, the credits roll in front of a burning Greater Marrow, implying that by resurrecting your wife, you have doomed the world with an underwater monster from the depths of hell.
How To Get Dredge's Secret Good Ending
It's a little tricky to get Dredge's good ending, but if you explored the world thoroughly, you should come across all the necessary NPCs.
First off, you need to find the Old Mayor of Greater Marrow who lost his mind after some awful event in the past and went missing. You'll find him on an unmarked island on your way to Devil's Spine (P10 on your map grid).
He'll send you to the Lighthouse Keeper in Greater Marrow, and after talking to her, things get a little clearer. She explains why every island seems so cursed with those harrowing mutated fish all over the place, and she basically tells you that the Collector's Book of the Deep is the source of all evil.
So, set out to the Collector again to get his book and end this whole disaster. He'll refuse a few times when you ask for the book, but once you get the dialog prompt "Step closer", you get the good ending.
Turns out: the Collector is noting more than your own reflection in the mirror, a figment of your imagination and darkest desires, all in an effort to cope with your wife's death.
This time, your last journey will be alone. Following the marker on your map, you'll get to the spot where all of this mess started, but this time you'll end it. You throw all of the relics over board, as well as the cursed book, and instead of an eldritch abomination from the depths that kills everything except for you and your wife, it's yourself who doesn't make it.
Another, although less terrifying, sea monster appears and swallows the boat, apparently the revenge of the cursed Book of the Deep. The credits roll, but this time, Greater Marrow is unharmed - no burning buildings, no creepy red skies. By accepting your wife's death, the game ends on a bittersweet note.
Dredge 2: What A Sequel Could Look Like
Granted, we didn't expect such a deep story in the game. Being scared sh*tless by sea monsters chasing me in the middle of the night, just because I forgot the time while fishing for onething or another, would have been more than enough for an enjoyable indie game. But no, the developers hit me with an existential question out of nowhere, and you know what? I wouldn't have it any other way.
Obviously, a sequel is already highly anticipated. Dredge 2 will be a few years down the line, though, if we even get a full second game. Honestly, it's way too soon for that anyway, with Dredge just being released a few months back. And, one way or another, the story is already told.
Until I can get to ice fishing, though, I'll have to entertain myself otherwise. EarlyGame's YouTube is always a great start.