I actually really like John's idea on how to improve the game. A trophy display. Maybe somewhere in the middle of the game, after we get introduced to the Scientist lady, she asks for your help building a room full of aquariums to store and study aberrations. The Old Fort she resides in makes perfect sense for that. You gather materials for building, gather aberrations. Maybe after some time passes she opens new lines of dialogue/lore about these for you. Maybe you can even see them move in 3D environment? And culmination would be bringing her the abberated body of the scientist. That could actually be a great emotional ending to the Iron Rig plot line.
I think the Iron Rig works better as part of a full playthrough (rather than on its own after a completed run), that way you aren’t revisiting the same places, and aren’t fully upgraded already essentially making most of what it has to offer useless. It also helps with the way it ends, as it isn’t the main ending to the game, just a side conclusion.
I agree, I played the game at the start when it first came out and didn't bother with 100%. I've started again and gone for the 100% and it is a lot of fun with the additional stuff. Even played along with John while I shot through it. But I totally get where he is coming from. This is a DLC that enhances when you are playing for the first time not a continuation. And even for me not having played since it came out and avoided playthroughs. Iron rig would have made the base game greater then great. Right now a lot of the stuff feels grindy and frustrating as I have already played the original. I get why they did what they did but I feel that they should have avoided the dlc and made a cool sequel.
This DLC feels more like NG+ or new players doing the rig during the game because it feels less grindy if you are doing it along-side the rest of the game.
Yeah, I definitely agree with you John about the "quality of a game measured by time played", and this is coming from a girl who loooves long games, like Stardew Valley or Animal Crossing. Sometimes a shorter game can leave a strong impression, and remain as a favorite, meanwhile you get burnt out on a longer title. To me, the length only feels "worth it" if it's consistently fun and engaging. Just having to grind non-stop, especially in pre-established locations that we've already exhausted, can end up becoming tedious, and the grind feels less satisfying, and more like a chore. I still liked certain elements of Iron Rig more than Pale Reach, mainly the engaging characters (especially the scientist), the sheer amount of new fish (the whole reason I picked up the game haha), and the quality of life upgrades. But the story completely fell off, with no real answers or any kind of conclusion. Just having the workers acknowledge what happened would been something at least. Small rant aside😅 I still had so much fun watching your playthrough, it was very satisfying seeing you catch everything. And my favorite exotic aberration was probably the Coelacanth. I like the weird shape and colors 😂
I saw his ship changing bit by bit, but I would love to see it get bigger and become a really cool fishing ship. 😂 I knew as soon as the scientist jumped as a fish, I said, "you're going to have to catch him, aren't you. "
Well that... certainly was an ending? :( I enjoyed you playing it though! Very happy you 100% it once again. This will continue to be a playthrough I will come back to as a comfort listen, thanks John!
I wonder if the female scientist would have had any reaction to learning about the male scientist? Either way, I'm shocked the story didn't end with the tentacle monster bringing down the rig in one big final animation, maybe with you taking the survivors to shore. The ending was a but flat. I wish we got to name the final fish or something.
Def worth it to see another playthrough from you that was fun as always! i also feel the game is getting streched out a bit out its breaking point with this DLC, the map staying the exact same and having you go on a go and fetch quest instead of focusing more on the fishing itself and the aberrations, the gameplay went a bit stale, the thing with the scientist at the end could been pretty cool if it just had anything going besides just rng fish it. Excited to see the upcoming proyects on your channel !
excited for the FEZ playthrough and thematic months! just recently played FEZ for the first time and it's one of my favs now. also my fav exotic aberration is Shape's Prime - the forms and colors fascinate me.
Thank you for sticking it through John! I love hearing your opinions on things like these, even if they're not necessarily 'worth it'. I also think your idea for themed games sounds like a lot of fun. I'd love to see you tackle some Legend of Zelda titles, especially Twilight Princess. If you're not sure about the time period, maybe you can do something in between monthly and quarterly (bimonthly?) and adjust as necessary. Regardless, I love the experimental nature of this channel, and you seem like you're enjoying yourself so much more. The difference is night and day. (P.S. I would say my favorite exotic aberration is the shaper's prime)
i can only dream about John playing Don't Starve Together. it's a fun co-op survival horror-ish game, and it's got fishing too! which i find fun and not too simple. John enjoys aberrated fish, and DST has a lot of spooky and goofy critters and monsters.
I did do a 20-part series a long time ago, like Drondia said. However, those videos were privated a while back I think. I might take another stab at Don't Starve in the future though! I could never get past winter. Game gets pretty brutal
In the "final thoughts" section of the video, John touches on a huge problem in horror games in general: The "horror turned annoyance" problem. In many horror games, the horror mechanics end up hindering gameplay or being just plain annoying once the player starts going for completion - which often involves grinding. The "cool" or scary concepts then lose their novelty, and they just get in the way of the experience. This happened in many playthroughs of The Mortician's Assistant that I've seen, which is actually a horror game I think is quite successful/effective in its storytelling for the most part (for example, Markiplier started getting blase when jump scares would happen or horror story sequences would occur because he just wanted to finish the task of preparing the body). I'm not sure if this means for a horror game to be truly "good," it must be short enough that the horror components don't lose their novelty (for example, PT still holds up and has ridiculous replayability; it's on the shorter side, so replaying or searching for Easter eggs is less of a grind - though, it's also a fantastically written game and is a masterclass in visual horror done extraordinarily well). Though, relatedly, horror techniques should be rationed/paced properly in any storytelling, and many horror stories suffer from poor pacing - if not the majority. Perhaps, then, the main issue with horror components getting annoying is that it's hard to properly pace them when a player is going for completion in games like Dredge where grinding is built into the gameplay. Or perhaps a better "fix" for this problem would be for the horror components to be "turned off" for grinding's sake; I know Dredge has that option, but some gamers feel like it's cheating to turn it off or that it dilutes the experience of the game - which I guess could be true if you don't play with the horror component at all. Disclaimer: I don't really play video games myself (I prefer to watch them), but my main entertainment/"veg" activity is watching gamers on TH-cam, so I'm familiar with my fair share of games. I'm also a writer whose primary interest is horror, so I know how to tell a good story (I have many writing classes and workshops under my belt), and, as a result, I'm very much primed to notice when and where stories lack - be it in plot, character, or otherwise.
The monthly themed games sounds like a lot of fun. I'm also happy with what you're doing now 😊 Thanks for playing! I agree. I hardly 100% anything because I just end up sick of the game 😅 I really like Famine's End, they're creepy. Was hard to pick!
I love this game and I don't mind the grinding but I feel like both the dlc are more useful if ur starting a fresh game. Otherwise, it's just a bunch of upgrades that aren't very helpful at end game. I still really love the game tho.
i agree. i just bought the game recently and started a new game and the DLCs make more sense. although the endings for both DLCs could've been better than what we get, otherwise it's pretty solid overall.
I think the ending could have felt a bit more rounded if, after the scientist jumps out, one of the other characters gives you a quest to find out what happened with him, to be fulfilled by catching him, and then some ending dialogue for that quest.
Yeahhhhh that ending was a big bummer thank you for suffering through it for us. I wish they did better on this it definitely was not worth $12 in my opinion. And I also agree that Still Wakes The Deep mightve made this less enjoyable because of how amazing that game was. I also agree I love the aberrations in the game and it was fun I wouldn't mind having more Dredge but it would need to be better than this was. Thanks for playing john!
it's gotta be shaper's prime for me :D famine's end gets a good shout for looking like something out of bloodborne, however thanks for sticking through it!
I believe Iron Rig was intended to be played alongside a fresh playthrough, rather than loaded up on a maxed save. That's just my guess, though. I do wish the ending was better. Perhaps an alternate main game ending to go along with it. On other notes, it'd be cool to see you play Metal Gear. Haven't played them in a long time(excluding 5, which I'm not finished with, I come back to it whenever I need a singleplayer game) If you ever want another fishing game, I thought Dave the Diver was pretty fun. A lot more active with harpoon guns and tranq guns, and there's a Diner Dash-ish minigame on the side. It also had a crossover with Dredge, funnily enough.(And Godzilla)
I have always felt as though Dredge is sinking its anchor deeper than it can handle (ha ha). The story beats always leave me wanting a lot more, and I feel as though they rely too heavily on 'dark,' poetic descriptions of things that end up meaning nothing because they cannot back them up. (Some of the descriptions of the aberrations are so abstract, in fact, that they are eye-roll worthy. So many times I found myself asking: "What does that even mean?") Even in the base game I felt severely let down at the ending, but the Iron Rig DLC really just petered out... I had already assumed, after he transformed, that the final fish would be the scientist, but without even a single hint from the game itself? Not even a notification in the corner? "The scientist is gone. . . but a new danger lurks in the depths" or /something/ to clue the player in to be trying to search for him, and to add narrative intrigue. And then you do nothing with the body? And everyone on the rig is just normal? There could have been so many interesting narratives if this game incorporated any amount of interpersonal relationships. But it really just feels like you and a bunch of strangers. Well, we know the main character is off his rocker so maybe he's just making it all up in his head... Great video as always John!! Very excited for RDR2 and your plans for 2025, whatever they may end up being. EDIT: Also my favorite exotic aberration is the oarfish one because I love oarfish:)
Anyway, looking forward to Red Dead Redemption 2! IIRC, the AW2 DLC and Gabriel Knight 2 are also floating tantalizingly somewhere in our future 👀 ETA: I vote to start with monthly "themed" playthroughs and see how it goes! :D
You figured out how to catch the exotic aberrations faster than I did… for some reason I forgot about the exotic bait and just went to where I originally found the exotic fish and tried using Atrophy. Was super confused and felt really dumb after googling!!!
Really love your videos on this channel and really want you to get joy out of what you’re playing though am still really hopeful for a high level of variety like what we are seeing now. While I think some months/quarters might be total bangers to watch if you play games that really click with certain people, it might be a bit overwhelming and too similar for others. Even for series I love like fallout, it was kinda hard for me to want to play them so close together one after another let alone watch for a series that might not be a favorite game franchise. We will still support you whatever you decide tho, but as a shareholder I just wanted to give my small voice/vote to the mix. :) ps. Still really hoping you can do the best ranked monkey island point and click game some day. Would love to watch that playthrough.
MGS MONTH YESSSS!!! I've tried to play these games myself but I'm just incredibly bad at them and get stuck... And I haven't found any let's player that I really like playing through them. I would be soooo pumped if you played them!!!
My partner recently finished Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, since that's one of my nostalgia franchises. His is MGS, so I'm going through the one he considers the most relevant of the earlier ones to start with. He withheld that there were traps, and no matter if it's analogue or d-pad, the automatic clinging to walls mechanic half of the time isn't working in my favor. I did have some fun with using a grenade in my first boss fight, though... The Game Over was worth it, needed the comedic relief 😆
I really love the additions to the game. It was real cool to see. I enjoyed it. Though it really did turned into a shiny hunt lol. I think the DLC content would go better if you get access to it at the start of the game. Since it would run along with the main quest and side quests. And thats why i think its better with a fresh start since the ultimate ending is how the base game ends. I honestly was expecting more from the story. Yeah the scientist turns into fishman. I was wondering if it would connet with the fishmonger or the cloaked figures and such or the huge tentacled entity appearing again escaped from the big leviathan like thing and eats the scientist before going away for good. Cause it all kinda felt like a huge sidequest in the way it ends. Catching the fishman is like a neat thing you could after you beat the game. I like the Shapers Prime aberration. It kinda reminds me of the light bowguns of the Magala monsters from Monster hunter. One thing i like doin is trying to imagine how all those aberrated fish swim.
Yeah. We need more "monster fishing" games. I remember this old ps1 game, Big ol Bass 2. You can just chill and fish like usual, or you can play the campaign where you catch dinosaurs and sh!t. Pretty funny
Maybe "themed" games could be less about specific franchises (as much as I would LOVE you to play MGS series), it could be about like... idk, games about the sea, games on a spaceship, metroidvanias... you could probably come up with better ideas than me lol but something like that? That way you're not stuck in Zelda for 4 months. For exotic aberrations, it's hard to choose between the Archon's Burden (Oar fish) and the Famine's End (Gulper Eel), cos they both look insane.
Um, I would LOVE to see you play the MGS series (and I hope the fans don't ruin it for you). But I think you have a really interesting idea overall there
I can't decide between Archon's Burden and Famine's End for favorite aberration. I think I'm leaning toward Famine's End. I like gulper eels. EDIT: I think it feels slightly different from Still Wakes the Deep. SWtD seems like it started from more of a pure "what if a parasitic creature was disturbed by an oil rig" concept, and Iron Rig seems like it started more from a "what if there was a supernatural oil spill" concept. The end of Iron Rig was kind of anticlimactic, though. Godzilla kills the creature for you and it's done.
My favorite part was definitely the cutscene with the scientist, followed by John being completely baffled by the non-reactions of everyone else lmaooo. Yeah, I love the aberration designs and I even like the DLC story despite coming after Still Wakes the Deep, I like the creepy stuff, the random sludge monster with big square teeth that started attacking John's ship, and the conclusion with Fish 230, but I have to agree it's super grindy and repetitive. I liked the Aberrated Bait and how it spawned lots of different types of Aberrations there but not a guaranteed specific type, I wish the base game had Aberrated Bait instead of Atrophy so you had to work to craft the bait with specific materials and still it was randomized which aberrations spawned, so it would be slightly more challenging (than Atrophy) without making you waste too much time (like when trying to fish for aberrations off luck). For a small fix, I think they shouldn't have had 230 spawn the way it did - right after it's "available", you should be able to see a new fishing spot there and go catch it right away while everything's fresh in your mind and to prevent having to spam fish and get frustrated wasting time trying to get it, it would've been a smoother experience. They also had enough new fish and aberrations that I think they could've made like two new areas and that would've been much more fun to explore. My ideal version for the Dredge DLC would be that Pale Reach and Iron Rig were part of one big DLC, Iron Rig and the oil spill stuff were one unique area with unique fish to catch and enemies to avoid (sludge monster starts fighting back and trying to chase you down because you skimming up oil to craft with is hurting it?), and REALLY ideally one or two more unique areas...? (Shadow of the Erdtree: Dredge Edition lol) But I'd like the Pale Reach and oil spill locations for two new areas in one go. It'd be fun to grab the DLC and have TWO entirely new areas to complete.
I actually like watching this. It's kinda relaxing, though there are a few parts you're sitting up and "get to a port!". But I wonder what happens if just sits there going crazy..besides the angler
Instead of starting with "Metal Gear Solid", I think at least one of the collections has ports of the original MSX "Metal Gear" and "Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake" games that precede MGS? Just to get the whole "so this is how the full series has progressed" experience. 😁
Oh, to be honest I have actually played the NES Metal Gear! although I don't remember hardly anything from it. I have a hard copy of MGS that I'd like to actually use at some point and a playthrough seems like a good way to do it!
You can do 3 months of a franchise pick the top 2 or 3 slot it in those months and change it the next 3 months and so on. But we can leave more ideas in the shareholders' meeting alongside your plan Edit: Favorite aberration Shaper's Prime
Maybe do 2 quarterly and the rest of the year monthly. So, like 3 months focused on Zelda games, then take the next 3 months doing whatever series you feel like, then another 3 month block dedicated to another longer multi-game franchise. Just an idea for you.
19:40 I guess you didn’t play Pokemon for some time 😄 Shiny hunting is so much easier nowadays. Herba Mystsica, Mass Outbreaks, Shiny Charm increase the encounter rate A LOT ✨
okay, yes it's not the best DLC or the great story of all time. But I really do like their spin on the Lovecraft theme. In Lovecrafts stories it is almost always a story in which the people made a deal, and in his most famous one, people actually went into the sea to live their. ( but became evil first of course). Even it's a bad deal, they still made a deal or worshiped some monster, for something. And you can point to some sort of entity. even if you can only go off a very vague description or just a name. In dredge it's the opposite, just a scientist with probably questionable morals, who came in contact with something. I don't think he ever saw a great life waiting in the deep, just a overwhelming urge go deep that made him jump. We have monsters but not a big bad entity, rather than just something that exists or maybe something that doesn't exists as one thing rather than in all the abbreviations in a small part. Not an entity, rather than some kind of indefinable infection or something.
It will be interesting to see if they have any plans of expanding on the iron rig's.. honestly kind of anticlimactic ending at some point, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
I bought Dredge a few days ago, along with both DLC. I think BOTH DLCs are way better if you play them integrated throughout the main game. I did Pale Reach after Stellar Basin and did Iron Rig after I finished each section through the game. Playing after the end seems way, way worse.
I really enjoy watching John play this game. It just makes me chuckle when John tries to sell a stale or rotting fish for less and makes a playful quip about the price. If only he fished it without atrophy, it would've fetched more money. I'm sure he knows that. I just find it funny in a "ha ha" way. He IS saving a ton of time with atrophy though so can't fault him there.
![Until Dawn + Dead By Daylight = [The Casting of Frank Stone - Part 1]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/20AZRegfUaY/mqdefault.jpg)
![Until Dawn + Dead By Daylight = [The Casting of Frank Stone - Part 1]](/img/tr.png)
![The quest for pets [Forewarned]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/RMaHhx579jA/mqdefault.jpg)
![Bustin' Out of Blackwater [Red Dead Redemption 2 - Part 6]](/img/n.gif)
I actually really like John's idea on how to improve the game. A trophy display. Maybe somewhere in the middle of the game, after we get introduced to the Scientist lady, she asks for your help building a room full of aquariums to store and study aberrations. The Old Fort she resides in makes perfect sense for that. You gather materials for building, gather aberrations. Maybe after some time passes she opens new lines of dialogue/lore about these for you. Maybe you can even see them move in 3D environment? And culmination would be bringing her the abberated body of the scientist. That could actually be a great emotional ending to the Iron Rig plot line.
John wouldn't title it like this if he found it worth it lmao.
But it's almost never worth it. That's the tragedy of being a completionist gamer
What's that rule of journalism? If the headline is a question, the answer is "no"
true 😂😂😂
Despite the underwhelming experience, I appreciate you checking it all out for us
it was worth it because it gave us one more video of you playing this game lol
Give fish guy to the nasally scientist? Clean all the oil from the ocean? Those could possibly be achievments?
"Our 'Marco' got a 'Polo.'" 😂
I think the Iron Rig works better as part of a full playthrough (rather than on its own after a completed run), that way you aren’t revisiting the same places, and aren’t fully upgraded already essentially making most of what it has to offer useless. It also helps with the way it ends, as it isn’t the main ending to the game, just a side conclusion.
I agree, I played the game at the start when it first came out and didn't bother with 100%. I've started again and gone for the 100% and it is a lot of fun with the additional stuff. Even played along with John while I shot through it. But I totally get where he is coming from. This is a DLC that enhances when you are playing for the first time not a continuation. And even for me not having played since it came out and avoided playthroughs. Iron rig would have made the base game greater then great. Right now a lot of the stuff feels grindy and frustrating as I have already played the original. I get why they did what they did but I feel that they should have avoided the dlc and made a cool sequel.
Agreed...it should have been a part of the base game from the start!
Okay...
'Coolest Looking': Umbral Puppet,
'Squickiest Design': Glaring Sunfish,
'Most Like a Deep One': Sus Scientist.
Famine's End HAS to be the coolest looking Exotic aberration 😍😍
This DLC feels more like NG+ or new players doing the rig during the game because it feels less grindy if you are doing it along-side the rest of the game.
Yeah, I definitely agree with you John about the "quality of a game measured by time played", and this is coming from a girl who loooves long games, like Stardew Valley or Animal Crossing. Sometimes a shorter game can leave a strong impression, and remain as a favorite, meanwhile you get burnt out on a longer title. To me, the length only feels "worth it" if it's consistently fun and engaging. Just having to grind non-stop, especially in pre-established locations that we've already exhausted, can end up becoming tedious, and the grind feels less satisfying, and more like a chore.
I still liked certain elements of Iron Rig more than Pale Reach, mainly the engaging characters (especially the scientist), the sheer amount of new fish (the whole reason I picked up the game haha), and the quality of life upgrades. But the story completely fell off, with no real answers or any kind of conclusion. Just having the workers acknowledge what happened would been something at least.
Small rant aside😅 I still had so much fun watching your playthrough, it was very satisfying seeing you catch everything.
And my favorite exotic aberration was probably the Coelacanth. I like the weird shape and colors 😂
I saw his ship changing bit by bit, but I would love to see it get bigger and become a really cool fishing ship.
😂 I knew as soon as the scientist jumped as a fish, I said, "you're going to have to catch him, aren't you. "
What a weirdly limp ending
Pale Reach had the same problem imo
@@FluffyThievesI at least liked that I knew when the Pale Reach was completed
I had the same reaction when I discovered there was a fish #230
Well that... certainly was an ending? :(
I enjoyed you playing it though! Very happy you 100% it once again. This will continue to be a playthrough I will come back to as a comfort listen, thanks John!
I wonder if the female scientist would have had any reaction to learning about the male scientist? Either way, I'm shocked the story didn't end with the tentacle monster bringing down the rig in one big final animation, maybe with you taking the survivors to shore. The ending was a but flat. I wish we got to name the final fish or something.
Man, I am sure looking forward for "HQ Residential House" Month!
Def worth it to see another playthrough from you that was fun as always! i also feel the game is getting streched out a bit out its breaking point with this DLC, the map staying the exact same and having you go on a go and fetch quest instead of focusing more on the fishing itself and the aberrations, the gameplay went a bit stale, the thing with the scientist at the end could been pretty cool if it just had anything going besides just rng fish it. Excited to see the upcoming proyects on your channel !
excited for the FEZ playthrough and thematic months! just recently played FEZ for the first time and it's one of my favs now.
also my fav exotic aberration is Shape's Prime - the forms and colors fascinate me.
I was really hoping to hear some lore and stories after John hinted at the dark past of the Dallas Aquarium.
Thank you for sticking it through John! I love hearing your opinions on things like these, even if they're not necessarily 'worth it'. I also think your idea for themed games sounds like a lot of fun. I'd love to see you tackle some Legend of Zelda titles, especially Twilight Princess. If you're not sure about the time period, maybe you can do something in between monthly and quarterly (bimonthly?) and adjust as necessary. Regardless, I love the experimental nature of this channel, and you seem like you're enjoying yourself so much more. The difference is night and day.
(P.S. I would say my favorite exotic aberration is the shaper's prime)
i can only dream about John playing Don't Starve Together. it's a fun co-op survival horror-ish game, and it's got fishing too! which i find fun and not too simple. John enjoys aberrated fish, and DST has a lot of spooky and goofy critters and monsters.
He played it a long while ago with Kravin, Doxy, and Sinow
I did do a 20-part series a long time ago, like Drondia said. However, those videos were privated a while back I think.
I might take another stab at Don't Starve in the future though! I could never get past winter. Game gets pretty brutal
@@JohnTwolfeI'd be waiting on your channel for every release if you played don't starve. 🤩 Like I did with Detroit!
In the "final thoughts" section of the video, John touches on a huge problem in horror games in general: The "horror turned annoyance" problem. In many horror games, the horror mechanics end up hindering gameplay or being just plain annoying once the player starts going for completion - which often involves grinding. The "cool" or scary concepts then lose their novelty, and they just get in the way of the experience. This happened in many playthroughs of The Mortician's Assistant that I've seen, which is actually a horror game I think is quite successful/effective in its storytelling for the most part (for example, Markiplier started getting blase when jump scares would happen or horror story sequences would occur because he just wanted to finish the task of preparing the body). I'm not sure if this means for a horror game to be truly "good," it must be short enough that the horror components don't lose their novelty (for example, PT still holds up and has ridiculous replayability; it's on the shorter side, so replaying or searching for Easter eggs is less of a grind - though, it's also a fantastically written game and is a masterclass in visual horror done extraordinarily well). Though, relatedly, horror techniques should be rationed/paced properly in any storytelling, and many horror stories suffer from poor pacing - if not the majority. Perhaps, then, the main issue with horror components getting annoying is that it's hard to properly pace them when a player is going for completion in games like Dredge where grinding is built into the gameplay. Or perhaps a better "fix" for this problem would be for the horror components to be "turned off" for grinding's sake; I know Dredge has that option, but some gamers feel like it's cheating to turn it off or that it dilutes the experience of the game - which I guess could be true if you don't play with the horror component at all.
Disclaimer: I don't really play video games myself (I prefer to watch them), but my main entertainment/"veg" activity is watching gamers on TH-cam, so I'm familiar with my fair share of games. I'm also a writer whose primary interest is horror, so I know how to tell a good story (I have many writing classes and workshops under my belt), and, as a result, I'm very much primed to notice when and where stories lack - be it in plot, character, or otherwise.
The Oar fish is definitely my fav, really glad they added aberrations for the exotic fishes! AND spy glass markers!! that one was much needed ;^;
The monthly themed games sounds like a lot of fun. I'm also happy with what you're doing now 😊
Thanks for playing! I agree. I hardly 100% anything because I just end up sick of the game 😅
I really like Famine's End, they're creepy. Was hard to pick!
I love this game and I don't mind the grinding but I feel like both the dlc are more useful if ur starting a fresh game. Otherwise, it's just a bunch of upgrades that aren't very helpful at end game. I still really love the game tho.
i agree. i just bought the game recently and started a new game and the DLCs make more sense. although the endings for both DLCs could've been better than what we get, otherwise it's pretty solid overall.
59:26 -> *Cthulhu raising from the depths*
59:28 -> *Goofy ahh pirate music*
I think the ending could have felt a bit more rounded if, after the scientist jumps out, one of the other characters gives you a quest to find out what happened with him, to be fulfilled by catching him, and then some ending dialogue for that quest.
Yeahhhhh that ending was a big bummer thank you for suffering through it for us. I wish they did better on this it definitely was not worth $12 in my opinion. And I also agree that Still Wakes The Deep mightve made this less enjoyable because of how amazing that game was. I also agree I love the aberrations in the game and it was fun I wouldn't mind having more Dredge but it would need to be better than this was. Thanks for playing john!
it's gotta be shaper's prime for me :D famine's end gets a good shout for looking like something out of bloodborne, however
thanks for sticking through it!
I believe Iron Rig was intended to be played alongside a fresh playthrough, rather than loaded up on a maxed save. That's just my guess, though.
I do wish the ending was better. Perhaps an alternate main game ending to go along with it.
On other notes, it'd be cool to see you play Metal Gear. Haven't played them in a long time(excluding 5, which I'm not finished with, I come back to it whenever I need a singleplayer game)
If you ever want another fishing game, I thought Dave the Diver was pretty fun. A lot more active with harpoon guns and tranq guns, and there's a Diner Dash-ish minigame on the side. It also had a crossover with Dredge, funnily enough.(And Godzilla)
Maybe if you took the final fish to the female scientist she would have a reaction?
I have always felt as though Dredge is sinking its anchor deeper than it can handle (ha ha). The story beats always leave me wanting a lot more, and I feel as though they rely too heavily on 'dark,' poetic descriptions of things that end up meaning nothing because they cannot back them up. (Some of the descriptions of the aberrations are so abstract, in fact, that they are eye-roll worthy. So many times I found myself asking: "What does that even mean?")
Even in the base game I felt severely let down at the ending, but the Iron Rig DLC really just petered out... I had already assumed, after he transformed, that the final fish would be the scientist, but without even a single hint from the game itself? Not even a notification in the corner? "The scientist is gone. . . but a new danger lurks in the depths" or /something/ to clue the player in to be trying to search for him, and to add narrative intrigue. And then you do nothing with the body? And everyone on the rig is just normal? There could have been so many interesting narratives if this game incorporated any amount of interpersonal relationships. But it really just feels like you and a bunch of strangers. Well, we know the main character is off his rocker so maybe he's just making it all up in his head...
Great video as always John!! Very excited for RDR2 and your plans for 2025, whatever they may end up being.
EDIT: Also my favorite exotic aberration is the oarfish one because I love oarfish:)
Anyway, looking forward to Red Dead Redemption 2! IIRC, the AW2 DLC and Gabriel Knight 2 are also floating tantalizingly somewhere in our future 👀 ETA: I vote to start with monthly "themed" playthroughs and see how it goes! :D
You figured out how to catch the exotic aberrations faster than I did… for some reason I forgot about the exotic bait and just went to where I originally found the exotic fish and tried using Atrophy. Was super confused and felt really dumb after googling!!!
Yes John, I am excited about the RDR2 playthrough!
Really love your videos on this channel and really want you to get joy out of what you’re playing though am still really hopeful for a high level of variety like what we are seeing now. While I think some months/quarters might be total bangers to watch if you play games that really click with certain people, it might be a bit overwhelming and too similar for others. Even for series I love like fallout, it was kinda hard for me to want to play them so close together one after another let alone watch for a series that might not be a favorite game franchise. We will still support you whatever you decide tho, but as a shareholder I just wanted to give my small voice/vote to the mix. :) ps. Still really hoping you can do the best ranked monkey island point and click game some day. Would love to watch that playthrough.
John! Have you checked out Isle of Eras? It's a cosmic horror/time travel game. It's about 5 to 6 hrs long or so.
MGS MONTH YESSSS!!! I've tried to play these games myself but I'm just incredibly bad at them and get stuck... And I haven't found any let's player that I really like playing through them. I would be soooo pumped if you played them!!!
My partner recently finished Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, since that's one of my nostalgia franchises. His is MGS, so I'm going through the one he considers the most relevant of the earlier ones to start with.
He withheld that there were traps, and no matter if it's analogue or d-pad, the automatic clinging to walls mechanic half of the time isn't working in my favor. I did have some fun with using a grenade in my first boss fight, though... The Game Over was worth it, needed the comedic relief 😆
I really love the additions to the game. It was real cool to see. I enjoyed it. Though it really did turned into a shiny hunt lol. I think the DLC content would go better if you get access to it at the start of the game. Since it would run along with the main quest and side quests. And thats why i think its better with a fresh start since the ultimate ending is how the base game ends. I honestly was expecting more from the story. Yeah the scientist turns into fishman. I was wondering if it would connet with the fishmonger or the cloaked figures and such or the huge tentacled entity appearing again escaped from the big leviathan like thing and eats the scientist before going away for good. Cause it all kinda felt like a huge sidequest in the way it ends. Catching the fishman is like a neat thing you could after you beat the game.
I like the Shapers Prime aberration. It kinda reminds me of the light bowguns of the Magala monsters from Monster hunter. One thing i like doin is trying to imagine how all those aberrated fish swim.
Yeah. We need more "monster fishing" games.
I remember this old ps1 game, Big ol Bass 2.
You can just chill and fish like usual, or you can play the campaign where you catch dinosaurs and sh!t. Pretty funny
Maybe "themed" games could be less about specific franchises (as much as I would LOVE you to play MGS series), it could be about like... idk, games about the sea, games on a spaceship, metroidvanias... you could probably come up with better ideas than me lol but something like that? That way you're not stuck in Zelda for 4 months.
For exotic aberrations, it's hard to choose between the Archon's Burden (Oar fish) and the Famine's End (Gulper Eel), cos they both look insane.
Um, I would LOVE to see you play the MGS series (and I hope the fans don't ruin it for you). But I think you have a really interesting idea overall there
I can't decide between Archon's Burden and Famine's End for favorite aberration. I think I'm leaning toward Famine's End. I like gulper eels.
EDIT: I think it feels slightly different from Still Wakes the Deep. SWtD seems like it started from more of a pure "what if a parasitic creature was disturbed by an oil rig" concept, and Iron Rig seems like it started more from a "what if there was a supernatural oil spill" concept. The end of Iron Rig was kind of anticlimactic, though. Godzilla kills the creature for you and it's done.
My favorite part was definitely the cutscene with the scientist, followed by John being completely baffled by the non-reactions of everyone else lmaooo. Yeah, I love the aberration designs and I even like the DLC story despite coming after Still Wakes the Deep, I like the creepy stuff, the random sludge monster with big square teeth that started attacking John's ship, and the conclusion with Fish 230, but I have to agree it's super grindy and repetitive. I liked the Aberrated Bait and how it spawned lots of different types of Aberrations there but not a guaranteed specific type, I wish the base game had Aberrated Bait instead of Atrophy so you had to work to craft the bait with specific materials and still it was randomized which aberrations spawned, so it would be slightly more challenging (than Atrophy) without making you waste too much time (like when trying to fish for aberrations off luck).
For a small fix, I think they shouldn't have had 230 spawn the way it did - right after it's "available", you should be able to see a new fishing spot there and go catch it right away while everything's fresh in your mind and to prevent having to spam fish and get frustrated wasting time trying to get it, it would've been a smoother experience. They also had enough new fish and aberrations that I think they could've made like two new areas and that would've been much more fun to explore. My ideal version for the Dredge DLC would be that Pale Reach and Iron Rig were part of one big DLC, Iron Rig and the oil spill stuff were one unique area with unique fish to catch and enemies to avoid (sludge monster starts fighting back and trying to chase you down because you skimming up oil to craft with is hurting it?), and REALLY ideally one or two more unique areas...? (Shadow of the Erdtree: Dredge Edition lol) But I'd like the Pale Reach and oil spill locations for two new areas in one go. It'd be fun to grab the DLC and have TWO entirely new areas to complete.
I actually like watching this. It's kinda relaxing, though there are a few parts you're sitting up and "get to a port!". But I wonder what happens if just sits there going crazy..besides the angler
Archon's Burden looks like Leviathan from Subnautica (the head part at least).
Instead of starting with "Metal Gear Solid", I think at least one of the collections has ports of the original MSX "Metal Gear" and "Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake" games that precede MGS? Just to get the whole "so this is how the full series has progressed" experience. 😁
Oh, to be honest I have actually played the NES Metal Gear! although I don't remember hardly anything from it. I have a hard copy of MGS that I'd like to actually use at some point and a playthrough seems like a good way to do it!
You can do 3 months of a franchise pick the top 2 or 3 slot it in those months and change it the next 3 months and so on. But we can leave more ideas in the shareholders' meeting alongside your plan
Edit: Favorite aberration Shaper's Prime
Maybe do 2 quarterly and the rest of the year monthly. So, like 3 months focused on Zelda games, then take the next 3 months doing whatever series you feel like, then another 3 month block dedicated to another longer multi-game franchise. Just an idea for you.
19:40 I guess you didn’t play Pokemon for some time 😄 Shiny hunting is so much easier nowadays. Herba Mystsica, Mass Outbreaks, Shiny Charm increase the encounter rate A LOT ✨
okay, yes it's not the best DLC or the great story of all time. But I really do like their spin on the Lovecraft theme. In Lovecrafts stories it is almost always a story in which the people made a deal, and in his most famous one, people actually went into the sea to live their. ( but became evil first of course). Even it's a bad deal, they still made a deal or worshiped some monster, for something. And you can point to some sort of entity. even if you can only go off a very vague description or just a name.
In dredge it's the opposite, just a scientist with probably questionable morals, who came in contact with something. I don't think he ever saw a great life waiting in the deep, just a overwhelming urge go deep that made him jump. We have monsters but not a big bad entity, rather than just something that exists or maybe something that doesn't exists as one thing rather than in all the abbreviations in a small part. Not an entity, rather than some kind of indefinable infection or something.
It will be interesting to see if they have any plans of expanding on the iron rig's.. honestly kind of anticlimactic ending at some point, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
I wonder if you're supposed to take the fish dude to the scientist lady
Notification Squad.... RISE UP!
wait a sec there is a new dlc??? And I didn't know? Why youtube, I watched every other dredge video at least twice. Give me a sec, I need to catch up.
I bought Dredge a few days ago, along with both DLC. I think BOTH DLCs are way better if you play them integrated throughout the main game. I did Pale Reach after Stellar Basin and did Iron Rig after I finished each section through the game.
Playing after the end seems way, way worse.
Thanks John!
I really enjoy watching John play this game.
It just makes me chuckle when John tries to sell a stale or rotting fish for less and makes a playful quip about the price.
If only he fished it without atrophy, it would've fetched more money. I'm sure he knows that. I just find it funny in a "ha ha" way.
He IS saving a ton of time with atrophy though so can't fault him there.
Nobody gave a crap about the scientist
What's up with these DLC's and their non-endings? Elden Ring did the same thing!!
$15 for a mid DLC, yep, not worth it.
The DLC was nice but the ending was disappointing
Oh interesting dlc and it was enjoyable and the video was so amazing and pretty and nice 😊😊😊
1:29:02 Would you ever replay Sally Face?