Lake Review

A video game designed to calm your mind is something that can be appreciated. While there are many games that encourage calmness and navigation (Firewatch Edith FInch Journey ), few games can be described as being so considerate of your time and able to help you relax while you follow its story. Lake is an example of such a game. It was created from the idea that video games could peacefully guide you towards a goal without causing you any trouble. It's a peaceful, calm, and wholesome journey that I am grateful for in a world that is far from perfect. You don't have to hurry. Just relax. Take your time. Lake will help you when you are ready.

You will be able to walk in the serene walking shoes of Meredith Weiss in 1986's Lake. This is the story of Lake in Providence Oaks in Oregon, the perfect little town, thriving around a huge lake in the middle, and the childhood home our protagonist. Two weeks after leaving her corporate job in big cities, she returns to her home to take care of her parents and be a stand-in for her dad's postal job. As she makes her rounds, the locals recognize her. They reminisce with old friends and tell those who have never been to P.O. Her adventures took her out of their idyllic lives and into a place too scared of change to rent video tapes.

Meredith is back at P.O. Meredith returns to P.O. She can take a break from her corporate lives and enjoy the tranquility of her childhood home. Along the way, she learned that she made a greater impact than she thought. Some people are happy to see her. Others aren't. Kay, Kay's childhood friend, has put aside her dream of becoming a songwriter to marry Meredith and have a child. Meredith wasn't aware of this. She would soon realize that she had left P.O. It would appear that she also left P.O.

You also meet quite a few people while on your postal rounds. It's a joy to meet the people of Lake. I won’t go into too much detail, but there are some highlights. Angie is a fellow survivor of big cities looking to make a new start and to get the townpeople to visit her video rental shop (a great place to visit, as there are tons of 80's movie easter eggs here). Robert Harris, a local lumberjack who fought with the Town Hall for the stop to the construction of apartments in the forest. Maureen, who owns the local diner, has fond memories of Meredith and Jack, the local farmer/radio DJ. All of them are written with huge hearts and play an important role in Meredith’s story.

That's the real draw of Lake. The beautiful scenery makes the gameplay of delivering post never feel repetitive, but it's the narrative that keeps it all together. These walking simulators are built around strong stories that keep you interested when there is very little gameplay. You'll feel right at ease if you have lived in those games and discovered their secrets. Lake is not a walking simulator. I would even consider it a driving simulator. It is narrative-driven with Meredith engaging in conversations that allow for dialogue options. You won't have to choose every word she speaks, but you can dictate how her relationships with the P.O. You can offer support to friends or give them your full attention.

Meredith was never like this, and it always felt out of character. It was always a good idea to spend time outside of work with people and be there for them. It's better to finish work than to work through long scenes of dialogue, but Meredith is able to interact with people outside of her work hours.

The two weeks that you'll spend in Providence Oaks will fly by. Once you are familiar with the area, your daily postal round (bar Sundays), will be over in minutes. I have never been known to rush deliveries. Reflective long drives, where you always stay within the speed limit, are one of the most beautiful moments in the game. This allows Meredith to look deeper inside herself and asks if she wants to live her life back in her hometown instead of returning to work.

Lake isn't difficult, but it's not the most difficult game you'll ever finish. To see all endings, I completed the game in four hours. I did three playthroughs of the game and felt satisfied with each one. Meredith didn't feel let down, and I felt just as content with my choices. The gameplay loop is not as complex as TellTale games in certain respects. However, the postal aspect of the game is meant to help build relationships and bring back memories that Meredith kept from her departure. Although the sequence in which you do a favor for Angie took a bit longer than it should have, it was worth it to be able to share some of the game with her character. It was an absolute joy to share her part in Meredith’s story.

The technical aspects of Lake are what keep it from being truly great. Although I have been able beat the game multiple times on my Xbox One S without much trouble, it doesn’t feel like it was built for the current generation. It's beautiful, with the sun shining through the trees above the lake, and it doesn't feel like it hasn’t been cooked yet. Some moments were not loading in the controls to control the radios on your postal vans, so I couldn't turn it off. A song called Witchcraft was played eight times on my morning route. That song is no longer my favorite.

They are fully aware of the problems, as evidenced by their Twitter account. We hope that Lake will shine as brightly as it should with a few patches.