Lake
Like Sable, Lake is also a somewhat meditative, slower paced open world experience. Software engineer Meredith Weiss is looking for a quiet change of pace and ventures to her hometown of Providence Oaks to deliver mail in her father’s place. It’s a two week vacation and due to the late 80s time period, there are no cell phones or internet access to keep one busy. The player can deliver mail, choose who they interact and spend time with, who to romance and ultimately whether to return to Meredith’s old life or settle down in her home town at the end. The problem is that the mail-delivering part feels tedious while the characters are a bit off overall, which can be an issue given how character-focused the plot is. Again, there are plenty of chill aspects to the game – it’s just that there’s very little by way of stakes, intrigue or excitement.
