Review: DREAD NAUTICAL is a Fantastic Lovecraftian Horror Strategy Game
Dread Nautical is a new horror strategy game that released on console and PC. The game features a Lovecraftian theme and it really has fun with it. Zen Studios was kind enough to send me a copy on the Nintendo Switch and I’ve really enjoyed my time on the game.
Real quick, I want to talk about the graphics. These are going to be very divisive. I like brighter and more colorful style of the game. Most of the time we get these horror games with muted colors and darker themes. I will agree that the actual 3D models for the characters look weird, especially their hands. I think some minor tweaks to the models and they could be a lot cooler.
The story is really interesting though. Graphics don’t always make or break a game, but the story really does. I’m happy to say that the story is interesting and engaging. You play a character (you get to choose from a handful of options) who wakes up on a cruise ship and has to try to fix all the craziness going on. You’ll go about recruiting other passengers to help you in different ways and it’s a lot of fun. The characters have great voice actors who really inject personality into them and you’ll quickly find some that you love and others you don’t care for. Of course, to recruit characters, you’ll have to win them over, so some diplomacy is needed.
A lot of the gameplay is similar to other strategy games. When in combat, each character has a set number of points they can spend on performing different actions like moving or attacking. Of course, these numbers can be manipulated by abilities or even how hungry your party members are. The hungrier they are, the fewer action points they’ll have, so you’ll want to be sure to find that food for them.
Of course, my biggest complaint about the game is one that I can only speak of for the Nintendo Switch. The game is very slow to load. I don’t know if it has to do with the fact the Switch isn’t very powerful or if other systems also have this problem, but even with a digital copy, the game would take a solid 60+ seconds to load some levels.
If you like Lovecraftian games or strategy games, Dread Nautical is a fantastic choice. Zen Studios has clearly put some love into this title. Heck, there were moments where it almost felt like I was playing the amazing board game Mansions of Madness.
