Dredge 2

[Mazza]

Will there be a second game ? Or a DLC for events that happen after the end of this game ?

Like the "Cannon" ending could be the so called "Bad ending" but now its a few years later and a new fisherman is in the area to set things "Right" but the game world is larger and even more dangerous.

Thoughts ???

[Kitsune Dzelda]

I have a better idea for ya. How would you like it, if the devs tried to do something else with a different story of Lovecrafts? Maybe a lesser one. Most mainstream Lovecraftian horror always either goes for Shadow Over Innsmouth (What I assume this game got inspiration from), or the Call of Cthulhu (One of the more fanciful dreadfuls of his cosmic mythos). But there are many many different stories.

Maybe a dungeon explorer could be inspired from the Antarctic ruins of the Mountains of Madness? Or perhaps the non euclidean ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ of The Witches House might be employed to suddenly see in places where no human eye should ever glimpse. What of the Horror of Dunwich, where a survival horror game might be found in conjunction with a timer before the big bad shows up regardless of your actions?

Lovecraft alone has many different subjects he has touched upon that may inspire a dev to do something possibly related to a sequel, especially since several of his stories have familiar places in conjunction with multiple stories. But there are others, such as the Yellow Sign, or La Horla, or even the muses of other artists, such as the Cask of Montaglio that could be used to showcase other horrors, such as being buried alive or having your body stolen and you wander a shadow realm while you watch 'yourself' live your life...

[Psyringe]

Publicado originalmente por Kitsune Dzelda:

I have a better idea for ya. How would you like it, if the devs tried to do something else with a different story of Lovecrafts? Maybe a lesser one. Most mainstream Lovecraftian horror always either goes for Shadow Over Innsmouth (What I assume this game got inspiration from), or the Call of Cthulhu (One of the more fanciful dreadfuls of his cosmic mythos). But there are many many different stories.

Personally, I'd rather explore fresh and original new worlds than see the same old stories rehashed over and over. That's especially true for Lovecraft, whose works (due to not needing any costly licensing) have been used for games several hundred times by now. At some point, even the best stories become stale if they get repeated over and over.

[Kitsune Dzelda]

Indeed, some stories can get so old, like OPs idea, that they are less known as stories, and instead become archetypes. Note how I mentioned those stories first because they are the most often used when it comes to writing 'cosmic horror'.

I for one would entirely be for different stories, but with freedom of choice, also comes the risk of your prose not sticking with the audience. This is often why folks like Hollywood and Disney like to rehash the same story over and over again in modern movies; it has been guaranteed to snag the heartstrings and interest of an audience, regardless of quality.

Also, if youre going to do a completely new story, what narratives or ideas do you explore? What source materials do you take inspiration from? There is no such thing as an original idea, only old ideas which can be turned into something new. Even Lovecrafts stories, beyond his more questionable tropes, involved biblical references and many other different written sources, such as say La Horla, which was written by a French author, and the Yellow Sign, whose author he was very very fond of and even took some tropes from in his own writings. Even things such as Dagon, who is portrayed as an unfathomable sea god in Howards prose, has his origins as an ancient Philistine sea god. The Bible even mentions him in the Old Testament.

I remember once when I attempted to write a story for cosmic horror, it was very tricky to nail the correct balance between the terrifying harshness of the unknown and to connect to the reader to get them invested. At some point either nihilism threatens to destroy the readers investment, or it becomes a power fantasy when you do not want to let the natural course of the genre narrative take place.

[Geon]

no, why should it ?

[Mmedve05]

Publicado originalmente por Kitsune Dzelda:

Maybe a dungeon explorer could be inspired from the Antarctic ruins of the Mountains of Madness

This! Dredge definitely needs a sequel, with the Researcher (and her dog) from the first game being the protagonist 20-ish years later, dredging biological samples from the ice on a remote research outpost in Antarctica, with ancient alien ruins, infection and hallucination involved and a dark entity ready to emerge. Keeping the vibes but with an otherwise totally unconnected plot. I need a sequel like this badly :D

[pkkp]

Publicado originalmente por hmt88:

Publicado originalmente por Kitsune Dzelda:

Maybe a dungeon explorer could be inspired from the Antarctic ruins of the Mountains of Madness

This! Dredge definitely needs a sequel, with the Researcher (and her dog) from the first game being the protagonist 20-ish years later, dredging biological samples from the ice on a remote research outpost in Antarctica, with ancient alien ruins, infection and hallucination involved and a dark entity ready to emerge. Keeping the vibes but with an otherwise totally unconnected plot. I need a sequel like this badly :D

Wdym by her dog?

[Mmedve05]

Publicado originalmente por pkkp:

Wdym by her dog?

Sorry, spoiler
there is a dog if you find it - an unusually wholesome moment for a lovecraftian game...

[LitD-JV]

Check Sunless Sea, you might like it.

[nonday]

I'm not sure where the story would go, but I would eventually like to see a sequel to Dredge because I want to see it improve on itself. Rather then continuing to release DLCs and updates I'd prefer they take the feedback, and make a bigger and better version of the game next. What they have is already really charming and most criticism is that it feels lacking so as someone who really likes it I feel it would be wasted as a one-off

[Boiledteabag]

Whats with this thread? Its already announced they are working on a paid dlc, not a second game.

As for a second game, I doubt there will be one since if you've done the normal ending(bad end) that seals the story with the death of the fisherman.
And if you do the secret ending things are suppost to feel normal again(but you can still catch abberated fish as it resets you to before doing the ending)

If they made a second game it would just be a normal fishing game, no horror or lovecraftian influence if you take the secret ending into account.
But as mentioned above if you take the events of the normal ending there is no second game since well... wont spoil for people getting there but you will find out why there can't be a second game with no people to star in it.

We are getting a dlc but story wise a second game is going to either be a normal fishing game or non-existent depending on what ending you think is canon.
Remember sequels are not built on fantasy making up lore BS(unless its a super hero movie), sequels are based on the material that came before it. and going by how the endings go there isn't much to go off with continuing the lovecraftian setting in dredge.

A good example is slime rancher, though it is a simple game the second game builds off the fact the boat that is inactive and uninteractable the entire first game, something or someone acknowledges you did the games events and you are sent somewhere on the boat that some how might explain what the hell is going on or chain of events. aka slime ranchers sequel continues to feed further into the mystery of the games events.
Where as dredge has a linear story and definitive ending.

As much as I'd also love a sequel I personally don't see any material to set off a sequel in the games events and how the endings work.

[Garamoth]

Dredge 2 - Electric Fishaloo
Dredge 2 - Fish Harder
Dredge 2 - A Fish Named Dagon

[nonday]

Publicado originalmente por HammyBread:

Whats with this thread? Its already announced they are working on a paid dlc, not a second game.

As for a second game, I doubt there will be one since if you've done the normal ending(bad end) that seals the story with the death of the fisherman.
And if you do the secret ending things are suppost to feel normal again(but you can still catch abberated fish as it resets you to before doing the ending)

If they made a second game it would just be a normal fishing game, no horror or lovecraftian influence if you take the secret ending into account.
But as mentioned above if you take the events of the normal ending there is no second game since well... wont spoil for people getting there but you will find out why there can't be a second game with no people to star in it.

We are getting a dlc but story wise a second game is going to either be a normal fishing game or non-existent depending on what ending you think is canon.
Remember sequels are not built on fantasy making up lore BS(unless its a super hero movie), sequels are based on the material that came before it. and going by how the endings go there isn't much to go off with continuing the lovecraftian setting in dredge.

A good example is slime rancher, though it is a simple game the second game builds off the fact the boat that is inactive and uninteractable the entire first game, something or someone acknowledges you did the games events and you are sent somewhere on the boat that some how might explain what the hell is going on or chain of events. aka slime ranchers sequel continues to feed further into the mystery of the games events.
Where as dredge has a linear story and definitive ending.

As much as I'd also love a sequel I personally don't see any material to set off a sequel in the games events and how the endings work.

It couldn't be a direct sequel, but set in the same universe as I assume the DLC will be. Lovecraft has more than one story to pull from, and it might even be cool if the different biomes had their own thing going on if they were bigger and had more things to do in them in the ways of interactables, challenges, and characters.

[Boiledteabag]

Given the endings have very final conclusions the only way forward is a prequel. We know the fisherman story from the messages but not what he did after his wife died to doom everyone in what seems to be desperation to bring her back. the mood of the game could be retained while also experiencing what led the fisherman down this path eventually leading to the events of Dredge.

[James.greywolf]

Publicado originalmente por Garamoth:

Dredge 2 - Electric Fishaloo
Dredge 2 - Fish Harder
Dredge 2 - A Fish Named Dagon

I vote Electric Fishaloo.

[nonday]

Publicado originalmente por HammyBread:

Given the endings have very final conclusions the only way forward is a prequel. We know the fisherman story from the messages but not what he did after his wife died to doom everyone in what seems to be desperation to bring her back. the mood of the game could be retained while also experiencing what led the fisherman down this path eventually leading to the events of Dredge.

This was already pretty much explained by the old mayor? The book released the evil which brought the fog, and they all vaguely know it's the fisherman's fault because everyone that was onboard keeps begging him to get rid of the book. The Story of the game doesn't need a sequel/prequel, the IP needs another addition. Like how Silent Hill 2 isn't a directly related to Silent Hill 1, but just the next game.