Dredge invents and perfects the fishing-horror genre

The skin of the coral grouper is destroyed like the live coral reef. Bright orange skin with bluish patches on bleached white, decaying scales reaching exposed bone. Dead-eyed and gaping, fish lurk in the shallows, among others that are not yet rotten to sprinkleK’s stellar basin. The ocean might as well be an alien world, a place that is completely uninhabitable for humans – and yet, it is covering most of our Earth, containing more mysteries and horrors than could be imagined. May go.

In to sprinkleThe first video game from developer Black Salt Games, those secrets are starting to make themselves known. to sprinkle Greater Marrow begins with a fisherman arriving on an island in an archipelago that is surrounded by strange circumstances disrupting a vast stretch of wine-dark sea. His ship was wrecked on the rocks guarding the beach, so he was quickly assigned a new boat and some fishing line and sent on his way by the mayor; People must have something to eat.

And so he catches fish. to sprinkle Fishing is a sport, after all – a sport that pulls Idea Fishing instead of the reality of it. Playing as the fisherman, I take to the sea and cast my line. During 12 hours of sunshine, you can see where fish are bubbling on the surface, their shadows dancing beneath the waves. When you let go of your line, a fish will immediately bite; Waiting patiently for a nibble is not done. Catching fish requires a simple timing minigame, in which you have to press a button at the right time. But to keep the fish to sell later, you have to make room in your hull; Each catch means rearranging the gridded cargo hold to optimize storage tetris With each new fish. Space and time management is essential for to sprinkle,

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Image: Black Salt Games/Team17

The more fish you catch, the more you can sell, and this leads to upgraded fishing rods, engines, and nets. The challenge, however, is that even new equipment takes up as much precious cargo space as your fresh (and rotting) hold. Fish for a few hours during the game and you’ll soon realize that it can be easy to fill your pot with Mackerel, which takes up two grid spaces, but excess Rays and sharks are difficult to organize, quickly taking up space in a haphazard manner. Through all this fishing, selling and upgrading, you’ll find places to dock on other islands, one of which will lead the fisherman on a quest to discover a number of artifacts that threaten to reveal the secrets of the sea that, perhaps, he wants to see. it is quickly understood to sprinkleThe ocean holds many mysteries – many of which arise at night.

It’s not only mackerel and coral grouper that swim to sprinklesea ​​of; Something is rotting the fish and turning them into grotesque monsters. Fish long enough at night, and they’ll reveal themselves more readily, rising out to sea to tear your ship to pieces. in these moments to sprinkle Gets a little scary. But it is a soft psychological terror – almost gentle – that sneaks up on the fisherman in the dark and early hours of the morning. It’s one of those games whose meditative moments are more comfortable thanks to the shadows lurking around them; to sprinkle There’s a sharp edge, but it’s not going to pierce it through my throat.

Image: Black Salt Games/Team17

in many ways, to sprinkle Developer Adam Robinson exemplifies -u a small increase, to sprinkleLike a small increase, forces me to consider why I’m playing the game. It’s not about winning or getting some payoff as quickly as possible, but about stopping and doing nothing – paying meaningful attention to the little details of the world. it’s on the way to sprinkleAs day turns to night, the sun hides behind the water, in the startling horror of pulling out a fish that’s just a collection of eyes, or the way you pull out a bolt of soaking cloth Now When you need it for a new solution. the atmosphere says a lot to sprinkleThe world of than any dialogue can ever be. It’s a story built with gentle nudges towards subtle pockets of beauty and terror.

Image: Black Salt Games/Team17

walking is encouraged to sprinkle, Its a map to be pulled up and studied, as there is no path to be laid. There is no marker on the screen to guide you to the next quest; Instead, you head northwest, or farther east, looking for landmarks that match what you see on the map. And along the way, there are sure to be some surprises: Maybe cool swishing A pod of dolphins, or a slaying of crows ready to gouge your eyes out before you even see them.

to sprinkle transcends these moments of rewarding exploration without losing focus on its core conceit of catching fish and discovering new creatures. But it also expertly balances two different tones. This includes fear and dread after several nights with little sleep, tearing in the eyes. This is not boiling panic and horror, but a boil. There’s enough daylight for some sort of respite, but it never lasts too long. to sprinkle Dark but the right kind of cozy game. It can be unsettling, yes, but it never goes too far into the depths.

Dredge was Released March 30 on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Windows PC. The game was reviewed on Steam Deck using a pre-release download code provided by Team17. Vox Media is an affiliated partnership. These do not affect editorial content, although Vox Media may earn commissions for products purchased through affiliate links. You can find Additional information about Play Gamez’s ethics policy here,