As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.
From multiple characters who have found themselves stuck in the Death World of the islands by either sheer dumb luck or something more sinister to the heartbreaking backstory of its central characters, Dredge is not a game for the feint of heart. For all of its Nightmare Fuel moments, the game has just as many that may have you wondering if that's sea spray or tears falling down your cheeks.
- Greater Marrow at the start of the game is greatly struggling to feed all of its citizens, which can explain the Mayor's desparate attempt to get you to stay by ensnaring you in debt.
- The Grieving Father who lost his son out at sea and can barely speak of it without suffering grief-fulled tremors. Though this can become heartwarming if you go out of your way to bring him his son's belt buckle and some closure as well.
- The enstrangement of the two brothers in the Gale Cliffs, who haven't seen each other in years and clearly miss each other, even if they are too prideful to admit it. They are clearly the sole family the other has in this world. You can even assist in reuniting them throughout the Gale Cliffs questline.
- The Stray Dog's appearance can invoke this for dog lovers. You have the option of feeding him fish and bringing him alongside you or leaving him with the lonely Researcher at the old fort.
- Speaking of the Researcher, it’s hard not to feel sorry for her. Since this game is set in the 1940s, it’s in a time when women were not taken seriously in fields such as hers. Not only was she the only woman at her alma mater, but her being assigned to a research post alone in Stellar Basin is hard not to see as a case of Reassigned to Antarctica. Even the Fisherman doesn't seem to have a lot of confidence in her, as his opinion of A Plan For The Future (the thesis she wrote about ecological responsibility in the fishing industry) is “I don’t think it’ll catch on”.
- The Airman's mourning for his fallen brothers becomes even more evident if you continue with the dogtags questline. Even though he can get revenge on the monsters that drove his men to madness and cost him his arm, he still can't bring himself to leave his brothers' remains and opts to stay in the Twisted Strand.
- In a strange way, the death of any of the Hooded Figures, which has led to many a player vowing to take the quests their comrades give out much more seriously.
- Evil as he is, the Collector is still only motivated by getting his dead wife back. Say what you will, but he had no way of knowing the Tome inside the coffin they found would cause the Leviathan to act so violently and cause him to lose the one person in his life he cared about. Its no wonder that he spends the game actively trying to bring her back, End of the World as We Know It be damned. As he is your Enemy Within, this is your backstory as well.
- The fate of the Dockworker after his sidequest completes. While we don't know too much about what has happened to him or what he's learned, it is evident to the naked eye that he is quite afraid. To know that you are inadvertently responsible for A Fate Worse Than Death for an NPC is quite troubling, to say the least.
- The Aberrant Fish themselves are quite sad as well once you get past the Nightmare Fuel of their appearance. They have been so altered by exposure to an outside force that outside of basic shape they can hardly be identified as the original fish anymore, and are likely in horrible pain all the while. It can invoke many realistic images of animals exposed to toxic waste and radiation.
- The state of the Devil's Spine. While a toxic hellhole in the present, its clear from the many structures littered nearby that it was once home to a glorious ancient civilization that now lies in ruins thanks to forces outside of its citizens' control.
- The fact that, from the moment you wake up at the start of the game, you're doomed to fail. Either you follow the Collector and end up directly causing the end of the world and all life in the Isles, or you are to throw away your one chance at restoring your own personal happiness, being devoured by the Leviathan in the process. Regardless of the Fisherman's own hand in the current state of the world, it's little wonder that many players just wish they could give him a hug!
- The good ending gets even worse if you decided to keep the Stray Dog, since he’ll still be on the boat when it’s devoured by the Leviathan. You’ve unintentionally doomed an innocent pup to an undeserved death!
