Phoenix, AR – A local friend group has begun to realize that Luiz Manual, one of their own, has been basing the stories from his recent fishing trip on the popular 2023 indie game Dredge.
“I’ve known Luiz since we were in elementary school,” said Sophia Patel, a friend of Manual’s. “We’ve lived in Phoenix our entire lives. He never left the city until suddenly he’s gone for a week and comes back saying he went on a fishing trip and starts telling all these outlandish stories. Even without all the leviathans, ghost sharks, and ‘mind suckers’, his stories are too far-fetched to believe. What boating experience does he have to be able to sail a boat all by himself?”
We reached out to Manual to hear more about his alleged fishing trip.
“So there I was, just me and my boat, sailing into the fog,” told Manual. “The locals had warned me not to go out at night, but I needed to catch some arrow squid for the Fishmonger. If not for my ship’s light, I wouldn’t have been able to see my hand in front of my face. What I did see was another ship, sailing in circles in the black water. I was shocked that there was another boat out so late, and assumed they must be lost. I blew my foghorn, and it turned and sailed straight towards me. When it got closer I realized I had been tricked. The ship was not a ship at all, but a lure attached to a giant anglerfish, swimming at me with hungry eyes and jaws gaping…”
While certainly entertaining, many elements of his story will certainly sound familiar to gamers who may have played Dredge.
“Maybe I’m too trusting, because I believed him at first,” said James Williams, another friend of Manual’s. “I mean, I live in Phoenix. What do I know about the ocean? Then I was on the PlayStation Store and saw a game called Dredge was on sale. Thirty minutes into playing it and I realized where he got all his stories from. I don’t even think he went on any trip at all. I think he was just cooped up in his apartment for a week playing Dredge. Why not just say that? Maybe he was embarrassed.”
We reached out to Manual again and pointed out the similarities of his stories with the story elements in Dredge, and he simply shrugged it off.
“If you don’t believe that story, you’re definitely not gonna believe this last trip I went on, where instead of fishing, I was in a submarine exploring the dark depths, and encountered even more terrifying monsters,” said Manual.
While on the phone with Benjamin, our Hard Drive staff member could hear the soundtrack for Subnautica playing in the background.
