Lake, developed by Netherlands-based studio Gamious, could be described as a blend of Firewatch and a mail delivery simulator - but it's not quite clear if that's good or bad. It's a very cozy experience, exploring a small town in the wilderness of Oregon, and there's plenty of interesting people to meet. On the other hand, the pace is often painfully slow and makes it hard to stay invested.

Set in 1986, Lake tells the story of Meredith Weiss as she takes two weeks off from her tech job in a big city to return to her hometown of Providence Oaks, Oregon. She spends those two weeks taking over for her father as the mail delivery person so that her parents can take an extended vacation. While home, she reunites with old friends, makes new ones, and is left wondering whether she should stay there or go back to her job in the city.

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By design, the visuals and gameplay are simple and aim to provide a relaxing experience to its players. Gameplay can essentially be boiled down to delivering mail, conversing with residents, the occasional fetch quest and after-work hang out, and a phone-call at the end of the night to progress the overall story. Visually, Lake looks like a beautiful PlayStation 2 title with modern lighting effects which, like Meredith, helps the player experience a specific kind of serenity that comes from nostalgia.

Lake game truck driving

Unfortunately, delivering the mail is the weakest part of Lake and it is what players will be doing for over half of the total playtime. On PC, driving is done with the arrow keys and using the mouse will just move the camera instead of the steering wheel, which is also useless because the camera will snap back to its original position after a few seconds. This bad driving mechanic is not only counter-intuitive to other PC driving experiences, but it's also a shift from controlling Meredith as her orientation is controlled with the mouse.

The other issue is that Meredith walks incredibly slow and what would be a "run" or "jog" input is reduced to a fast walk, which doesn't make Meredith feel much faster. This makes an already slow-paced game feel slower and a bit irritating after a while.

Where Lake shines is in its characters. Meredith, Miss Jenkins, Angie, Frank, and Kay; these are all names that the player will get to know intimately as they get more and more comfortable with the town. The writing for each character is generally very good and the dialogue highlights their personalities, but there are moments where it feels stiff. Meredith can choose different dialogue options which will determine how she forms relationships and how the town will come to view her. The only issue that comes out of these interactions is some instances of forced romance which gets hard to navigate when the player didn't intend for it, but all the dialogue options play into it regardless.

Lake game campfire

Overall, Lake tells a beautiful story, has nuanced and interesting characters, and has an environment that feels comforting and inviting. What detracts from the experience is, unfortunately, the game's tedious tasks and slow pace. This combination makes it hard to leave the experience with a clear opinion about the time spent in Providence Oaks, but what is clear is that Lake will absolutely satisfy players who feel like they need to escape and spend some time taking it slow and easy.

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Lake releases September 1st, 2021 for PC, Xbox One X/S, and Xbox Series X/S. Screen Rant was provided with a Steam Key for the purposes of this review.