Fairly short, 2-4 hours for the average player, but it fits seamlessly into the main game.
A little disappointed by no new research or ship upgrades. All equipment is purchasable or from quests. At the end of the day, it's more Dredge, and every little bit they add just makes the game better.

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The Pale Reach is an interesting area. Frigid snow, floating chunks of ice, and a mutated Narwhal to keep you on your toes as the area hazard. The DLC adds: a new side-story about the area, a new side-quest from a robed cultist, 5 new pieces of equipment (2 fishing rods, 2 trawl nets, and the reward for completing the area), an icebreaker attachment for the prow of your ship, ice blocks to preserve fish in your cargo hold, 23 new types of fish and crab including aberrations, and 8 new achievements.

Playtime: 2-4 hours for the DLC content. About in line with what they say on the store page.

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Area Completion Reward - The Aurous Anchor adds a new utility for the player, and I can see it being very useful for someone on a fresh playthrough. It lets you make a two-way portal between where you drop it and Blackstone Isle. It's basically a better version of Manifest and provides a nice QoL.

Integration - The DLC itself fits seamlessly into the game, and you can go there anytime you'd like. It's recommended to not go there until Chapter 2 or later however, so you'll have more of a properly equipped boat. There's no pre-requisites to the area other than being able to dredge up salvage, and having space on your ship for the rods that you can buy.

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Story - The new side-story is pretty nice. It adds lore about a captain and his crew finding a monster frozen in the ice. There's also two basalt formations with some lore about the beast itself that you can read while at high Panic. It doesn't add a ton to the main story, which is fine in my opinion. Standalone and contained.

Ice Blocks - These are... okay. It's a nice QoL for players who do multiple tasks at once, but they're hard to justify for me personally. You essentially trade space (1x2 or 2x4) for a day or two reprieve of fish going bad. They're the sort of thing that are nice if you use them, but I don't know if it'll actually save you that much money in the long run compared to just doing efficient fishing routes.

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Playtime - It's very short. It's took me about 2 hours to 100% the DLC. So to catch all the new fish and aberrations, as well as finish the area quest and sidequests. Keep in mind, this is from an endgame save with a fully kitted-out ship and over 20K in the bank. It might take you longer if you go here early in the game, or don't have a ton of ship upgrades yet.

Research - The new rods and nets are obtained straight from the travelling merchant, or from quests. There's no upgrades to make your ship bigger, no new engines, and no new lights. Fairly bare bones, and after finishing the zone I went straight back to my old setup that can still hit every climate except the new one.

Cosmetics - No new paint colors or flags in the DLC. Not a big deal, but I figured I'd mention it.

[h1]TL;DR[/h1] Fairly short, 2-4 hours for the average player, but it fits seamlessly into the main game. A little disappointed by no new research or ship upgrades. All equipment is purchasable or from quests. At the end of the day, it's more Dredge, and every little bit they add just makes the game better. [hr][/hr] [h1]SUMMARY[/h1] The Pale Reach is an interesting area. Frigid snow, floating chunks of ice, and a [spoiler]mutated Narwhal[/spoiler] to keep you on your toes as the area hazard. The DLC adds: a new side-story about the area, a new side-quest from a robed cultist, 5 new pieces of equipment (2 fishing rods, 2 trawl nets, and the reward for completing the area), an icebreaker attachment for the prow of your ship, ice blocks to preserve fish in your cargo hold, 23 new types of fish and crab including aberrations, and 8 new achievements. Playtime: 2-4 hours for the DLC content. About in line with what they say on the store page. [hr][/hr] [h1]PROS[/h1] [b]Area Completion Reward[/b] - The [spoiler]Aurous Anchor[/spoiler] adds a new utility for the player, and I can see it being very useful for someone on a fresh playthrough. It lets you [spoiler]make a two-way portal between where you drop it and Blackstone Isle.[/spoiler] It's basically a better version of [spoiler]Manifest[/spoiler] and provides a nice QoL. [b]Integration[/b] - The DLC itself fits seamlessly into the game, and you can go there anytime you'd like. It's recommended to not go there until Chapter 2 or later however, so you'll have more of a properly equipped boat. There's no pre-requisites to the area other than being able to dredge up salvage, and having space on your ship for the rods that you can buy. [hr][/hr] [h1]NEUTRAL[/h1] [b]Story[/b] - The new side-story is pretty nice. It adds lore about a captain and his crew finding a monster frozen in the ice. There's also two basalt formations with some lore about the beast itself that you can read while at high Panic. It doesn't add a ton to the main story, which is fine in my opinion. Standalone and contained. [b]Ice Blocks[/b] - These are... okay. It's a nice QoL for players who do multiple tasks at once, but they're hard to justify for me personally. You essentially trade space (1x2 or 2x4) for a day or two reprieve of fish going bad. They're the sort of thing that are nice if you use them, but I don't know if it'll actually save you that much money in the long run compared to just doing efficient fishing routes. [hr][/hr] [h1]CONS[/h1] [b]Playtime[/b] - It's very short. It's took me about 2 hours to 100% the DLC. So to catch all the new fish and aberrations, as well as finish the area quest and sidequests. Keep in mind, this is from an endgame save with a fully kitted-out ship and over 20K in the bank. It might take you longer if you go here early in the game, or don't have a ton of ship upgrades yet. [b]Research[/b] - The new rods and nets are obtained straight from the travelling merchant, or from quests. There's no upgrades to make your ship bigger, no new engines, and no new lights. Fairly bare bones, and after finishing the zone I went straight back to my old setup that can still hit every climate except the new one. [b]Cosmetics[/b] - No new paint colors or flags in the DLC. Not a big deal, but I figured I'd mention it.