4/5 ★ – LeedleLeeGames's review of Lake.

Back in 2021, I played the demo for Lake on my Xbox Series S. The autopilot was bugged (the van would 'drive' forward with its front bumper lovingly nuzzled in the road) and I got stuck in the house interior after hitting continue upon finishing the demo. I was then fortunate enough to purchase the full game (it was an Xbox exclusive until 2022) on my Series S and believe it or not, the autopilot was worse...when setting the van to AP (which is different from outright fast travel), there is a loading screen, then the van and the scenery and everything in-between is loaded in and boom, off you go. This time though, the van wouldn't follow the road and instead veered off course through the scenery and the invisible walls allowing me to get out of bounds, it was bloody hilarious. Turns out this game had gravity (I fell through textures) but due to this game not having a failure state/death trigger short of the game crashing, I was left in permanent limbo whilst some catchy country tune played on the radio. You're probably thinking two things: 1) Why four stars if it had bugs like this? 2) Will you ever get to the point? I'll answer both of the above sentences with this: Here is the point, Lake is a gem, and you should play it. Lake follows a software programmer from the big city called Meredith as she returns to her sleepy hometown of Providence Oaks for two weeks (which has a massive lake in the center), and whilst an absolute delight to look at, must make the commute a pain. It has been twenty years since she buggered off to college to become a nerd but now, she is back...with a vengeance. (Not really, this game is incredibly wholesome). Taking over from her father as he and Meredith's mother saunter off to Gator Central (AKA the worst place in America: Florida), Meredith becomes the resident Kevin Costner of the town. (Don't get that reference? I was going to call her Sam but that'd be even more vague, hint: Kojima). So, what EXACTLY do you do in Lake? The core gameplay loop is this. Every day starts at the post office, your mini-map at the bottom left shows you a (fairly) accurate small version of the games map, with icons littered about. These icons are split into two groups: LETTERS and PARCELS. Using the van to get around (as the parcels are in the back and I'm not walking everywhere), you drive from icon to icon, doing your job an- OI, I'M NOT FINISHED GET BACK HERE ...anyway, when you reach a letter icon, you exit the truck with X, walk (R2 to walk faster, thank me later), up to the letterbox and... are you ready? PRESS X AGAIN. Then Meredith will slot in some low-resolution envelope assets and sometimes sprout some voice lines ("Here's your mail!" or "Hmm, interesting..."), nosey cow. As for the parcels? Press X to get off your arse and stretch your legs, walk around to the back of the van, press X to open the shutter-esque door, scroll through a pop-up menu until you find what needs to be delivered there (the map has street names adjacent; the parcel menu also has the street names listed too), press X again, walk Meredith to (usually) a house, press X to ring the doorbell (no one ever answers) and then like a typical UPS man, chuck the parcel through the window (not really, you leave it on the doorstep). Oh, also you can press X to JASON. (Again, not really, I'm just that unfunny)... That's pretty much it. No, really. So why is it a gem (to me)? The game has this adorably wholesome charm that kept me engaged through the four/five hours I spent with it. (PLEASE NOTE: if you're wincing at the time I listed, just know that I was driving that van like Speed Racer being chased by Vin Diesel, Lake is all about relaxation and taking your time). The limited selection of country music was so catchy, the environments (glaring far away pop-in aside) were lovely to behold. The characters were written well enough...I suppose, although the two-week timeframe means that what is there isn't fleshed out all that well but enough where it doesn't come off as super rushed. When talking to certain side characters, you can choose how Meredith responds (although she most always comes off as nice regardless, not a fault, I liked her characterisation), there are two romance options in the game (yes, really, all in two weeks), the lumberjack geezer and the video store owner (who is a woman like Meredith, also this game is set in the eighties, by the way). I chose to romance the video rental store lady because yay Lesbians (and the lumberjack bloke felt a bit boring, like me)... There are 'side quests', one involves taking pictures. I took some under the lake but when I had them developed the game didn't show them, the walk under the lake glitch was in the original Xbox release, whilst the PS5 version fixed the auto-pilot bug, the lake glitch remains. Another side quest is taking the cat lady's cat (go figure) to the fisherman so he can help the cat avoid diabetes on account of ol' Mildred feeding the cat cupcakes... I also forgot to mention that there is a full map with a checklist of delivery items! This is also how you fast travel or set the van on autopilot. At the end of each day, Meredith retires to her parents' home, usually has a phone call with her parents or her big city boss, then you can choose to read or watch TV. Sometimes there are special scenes (as Meredith has a planner that keeps track of what she's got planned), for instance, you can agree (or disagree) to watch her best friends' kids whilst the former is off seeing Journey. Granted, these scenes aren't much but they are nice. I've rambled long enough... So why four stars? Lake is a fun, relaxing time! It's pretty light on everything but what it does have is enough. If you're looking for something to wind down with after a long day or something charming with pretty much no difficulty. Play Lake, I don't think you'll regret it.