Lake (Review)

Developer: Gamious
Publisher: Gamious, Whitethorn Games
Available On: PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S
Reviewed on Xbox Series S

Every now and then it’s important to slow down and catch your breath. Life can feel like a constant push to work harder and play your part in a never-ending competition of success, which is probably why so many people never give themselves time to relax and recover. What makes Lake such an impactful experience is that it understands this push and pull and delivers a charming and meaningful story about work-life balance, resulting in one of the most stress-free indie titles in recent memory.

Lake is set in the fall of 1986, putting players in the shoes of a forty-something woman named Meredith Weiss. Meredith works for a computer software company in the big city that’s about to close on a major publishing deal, but instead of staying to help finalize the project she leaves to visit her sleepy lakeside hometown of Providence Oaks, Oregon. Meredith’s parents are taking a vacation in Florida, so she’s been asked to temporarily fill in for her father as the mail carrier for the town and watch over their house while they’re away. As Meredith fall into the routine of delivering letters and packages every day, she begins to reconnect with those from her past who never left P.O., meet the new faces that have moved in since she left, and consider if she’s truly satisfied in where her life has taken her.

Arguably the strongest aspect of Lake is its atmosphere. Providence Oaks is a quiet little town, void of large businesses, big chain restaurants, or anything flashy and extravagant. There’s an old wooden lookout, a small church, a nostalgic 50’s diner, and a quaint “downtown” area consisting of a general store, post office, and video rental store. Life in P.O. is simple and relaxed, with a vibe that feels like a gentle warm hug. It helps that there’s no supernatural angle or heavy gut-wrenching twist to try and shock you. Lake is only concerned with capturing the feeling of a small hometown and providing a wholesome and inviting experience, which is largely reflected in the way it handles gameplay.

Lake is an incredibly slow-paced video game that wears its charm on its sleeve. You begin each day early in the morning with a mail truck full of letters and packages to deliver, but the order in which you deliver them is entirely up to you. This is a game that does everything in its power to avoid stressing you out, so there’s no timer, penalty, or restrictions in how you approach your daily route. You can personally drive to every location, or turn on autopilot and sit back and soak in the warm sun and beautiful scenery. Fast travel is also an option, but the map is quite small and it only takes a few short minutes to drive the perimeter of the lake. If you want to, you can even take a break from your deliveries and visit a few scenic overlooks, catch up on some local gossip at the diner, or even check out the newest releases at the video store.

While the primary focus of each day is delivering mail, there’s a few sidequests and other activities that open up throughout your stay in Providence Oaks. There’s a lumberjack dealing with building permits, an old high school friend to reconnect with, a business venture to embark on with the owner of the video store, and a handful of smaller conversations, tasks, and optional story beats to encounter with some of the other townsfolk. You even have the option to choose how to spend your downtime after a day of work, whether that’s curling up with a book, watching TV, going out with a friend (or potential love interest), or remotely helping a coworker from Meredith’s job in the city.

Unfortunately, there are a few issues present in how some of these things come across. While driving around town it’s impossible to ignore the constant pop-in of trees, buildings, and other vehicles on the road. The perplexing thing here is that the pop-in is so inconsistent. Sometimes you can see everything down a stretch of road perfectly, while other times a building a block away simply won’t load in until you’re directly in front of it. Likewise, there’s a visual issue with your mail truck where opening the back door to grab a package leads to a fuzzy grey portal with half-rendered boxes sticking out of it. I don’t know if this is a hardware specific issue (I played on an Xbox Series S) or if it’s prevalent across all versions of the game, but it stuck out like a sore thumb every time I noticed it.

Another issue I was constantly faced with was the repetitive nature of the music. Instead of a score to accompany the game there’s just a radio station that plays the same three or four songs for the entirety of the 6-8 hour story. There is an in-game joke made about this that explains how the local radio station is run by a DJ with a limited music collection, but that self-referential comedy doesn’t really help the fact that you’re going to hear these same tunes on repeat for multiple hours.

Thankfully, the characters you encounter all have enough personality to make putting up with these issues less of a hassle. The owner of the video store, Angie, is a goofball and a film buff; Lori is a spunky teenaged homeschooler mechanic; Maureen is a lovable gossip with a heart of gold; and the rest of the town is full of personalities just as big and entertaining. There’s even a degree of control over the story, saying as how you can choose different dialogue options to determine Meredith’s tone and personality when conversing with the townsfolk. You can choose whether or not to repair a broken friendship, give helpful advice, or even who to fall in love with, if you want to go in that direction. The only real complaint here is that while your dialogue choices and actions can lead to new events, the ultimate outcome of the game is based entirely on one of three choices you make at the very end, which makes the rest of your decisions feel weightless.

I know it sounds like I’m complaining (which, yeah… I guess I am), but I ultimately think the good in Lake outshines the bad. For me, the atmosphere and mood of this game is just so wonderfully done and leads to such a relaxing experience that it’s easy to overlook all of these smaller nitpicks and critiques I have. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love big, lengthy, action-heavy games, but being able to switch gears and embark on a slower, more relaxing game is such a welcome change of pace that left me incredibly endeared to this project.

FINAL VERDICT

Lake might feel a little shallow in some parts, but the depths of its vibes are unfathomable. If you’ve ever felt the desire to sneak away to a small town, pull away from the hustle and bustle of a busy life in the city, or have fantasies of delivering packages, Lake just might be the game for you. It’s a relaxing tale of a sleepy lakeside town, the people who call it home, and a woman who returns to it after many years away. It’s full of charm, has a great cast of characters, and creates a vibe that feels inviting and warm and doesn’t bog you down with time restrictions and penalties, or do anything to impede your sense of relaxation. There’s some visual and audio issues to be had, as well as some choice-based mechanics that don’t feel like they amount to much, but the simple meditative gameplay and cozy vibe of Providence Oaks is well worth settling into.

– Zack Burrows