Dredge: The Pale Reach Review

Overview

The Pale Reach is a small expansion for Dredge that adds a new region to explore. The chillingly cold waters of The Pale Reach. The new region isn’t part of Dredge’s main story and can be tackled at any time, simply by sailing there. It does, however, offer some unique rewards, new fish to catch, dangers to dodge, and puzzles to solve. All while uncovering a side story involving a beast trapped in the ice.

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Gideon’s Bias	The Pale Reach Information
Review Copy Used: yes	Publisher: Team 17
Hours Played: 3+	Type: Expansion DLC
Reviewed On: PlayStation 5	Platforms: PC, Xbox Platforms, PlayStation 4/5 and Nintendo Switch
Fan of Genre: Partially	Genre: Open World, Adventure, Puzzle
Mode Played: Normal (Highest difficulty available)	Price: $5.99

Frostbite

The Pale Reach fits right in with the other regions found in Dredge, complete with its own unique personality that extends into both the environment and the gameplay. You have to navigate a maze of ice while uncovering the mystery of a frozen crew. At first, you have to travel the longer winding paths, but eventually, you can construct an icebreaker to bust through the smaller icebergs.

Compared to the other regions, The Pale Reach has a bit less in the puzzle department. Its quest mostly consists of fetching things around the reach. However, a monstrous and hungry mutant narwhal stalks you the entire time. Dealing with the Narwhal has a slightly different approach than the game’s other aberrant horrors, and it’s a nice little challenge to perform. The Narwhal is also completely separate from your panic and doesn’t care whether it’s day or night, making it a more direct obstacle to overcome.

Exploring and solving the region is enjoyable, as is the lore behind its story. The Narwhal is also a neat new threat to face while you venture around The Pale Reach in addition to the usual eldritch terrors that plague you. While I wouldn’t say any puzzle in Dredge is particularly hard, The main quest in The Pale Reach is notably less complex, persistently angry narwhal aside. I do wish there was a bit more meat to the whole thing.

There are 11 new species of fish and crab to find. They don’t have a large impact on the overall game and you catch them the same way you do in the base game. But they do extend that encyclopedia a bit for us completionists. When it comes to the new equipment, most of it simply allows you to fish or trawl in the icy region, so it hardly feels new which is a bummer.

You can, however, acquire ice cubes that refrigerate the fish in your cargo hold, making them stay fresh longer. If you read my review of Dredge, however, you would know that spoilage is largely a non-issue anyway. Most puzzles in the game require simply fish from the same location as the puzzle.

You are rewarded with some powerful new equipment for completing The Pale Reach, but it sits in an odd type of limbo. If you play The Pale Reach after completing the game, you don’t need it, and if you complete The Pale Reach early on, it erases a decent chunk of your progression as the reward is better than some of the later upgrades.

I did find the expansion content to be on the shorter side. It only took me around an hour to complete, and the ending to the side story didn’t make it clear that I was done. I sailed around for a good while before I figured out that I had actually completed the expansion content. Fishing out all of the new species can definitely add a bit more play time though.

Verdict

For better or worse The Pale Reach is quintessentially more Dredge. It doesn’t improve upon or expand any given gameplay mechanic or feature. Nor does it address any of the problems I had with the base game. At the same time, the region it offers is as interesting and varied as the rest and fits in quite well. The Pale Reach simply adds a simple dessert plate to Dredge’s seafood dinner and extends the adventure just a tiny bit.

The Pale Reach feels like part of the base game, which is slightly problematic given the fact that it isn’t free. However, if you really enjoy Dredge, I’d say it’s a fair trade to get a bit more of it for the price of a bottled soda and snack.