My favorite indie answer to the Elder Scrolls, Dread Delusion, just got a surprise final content update—including a dungeon built inside the remains of a giant flying squid
A suitable sendoff to this very weird world.
Indie RPG Dread Delusion got its 1.0 release in May after two years of early access, but developer Lovely Hellplace had one more big addition left for the surreal adventure: a free "final content update" that focuses on Dread Delusion's endgame.
The marquee inclusion is a new floating island in Dread Delusion's sky archipelago, the corpse of a giant squid that you can only reach via airship, a vehicle unlocked in the latter stages of Dread Delusion's main quest.
"Explore the innards of an ancient squid as you traverse through the Cephalok, a magical creature filled with rare materials," reads the official synopsis of the update from DreadXP. "Legends tell of some Wikkans who built a castle inside of its shell."
It sounds like a perfect late game dungeon for Dread Delusion, whose Oneiric Isles are full of casual cosmic horrors like a spiteful god of abundance afflicting the land with a multigenerational curse of disease and a society of zombies who keep peace with the living by surviving on an "ethically-sourced" human meat substitute.
In addition to the Cephalok and some fresh high-level loot, Dread Delusion's last big update will also include a hard mode: "Seasoned players will have to retool their playstyle for the increased challenge. Enemies can take more punishment and deal more in turn." The hard mode will also make resources more scarce, while attacks and spells will eat more mana and stamina.
Which isn't something I'll be going for myself. Dread Delusion's biggest strengths are its atmosphere and exploration, while combat was the biggest thing contributor Alexander Chatziioannou dinged the game for in PCG's review of Dread Delusion. Still, I'm looking forward to the new update, and I'm glad I delayed my first big 1.0 playthrough after following Dread Delusion in early access for so long.
The new update is available now, and Dread Delusion is also on sale for 20% off on Steam for the next week, down to $16 from $20. You can peruse the full patch notes of The Final Update in its accompanying Steam news post.