Lake: Season's Greetings

When I reviewed Lake back in 2021, I compared it to the wholesome, small-town movies and TV shows that populate cable channels with names like Lifetime and Hallmark. Keeping in that tradition, I give you Lake: Season’s Greetings, a brand-new prequel episode that takes you back to a snow-covered Providence Oaks just in time to celebrate Christmas. Yes, I probably should have reviewed this back in December when it first came out, but the mailman was slow when delivering the news. Join me as I try my hardest not to get bummed out when reviewing Lake: Season’s Greetings.

Instead of picking up where the main game left off, Season’s Greetings is actually set about ten months before Meredith comes back to Providence Oaks. This prequel puts you in the shoes of Meredith’s father, Thomas, who is so dedicated to delivering the mail that neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night strays him from the swift completion of his appointed rounds. Sure, he’s getting older and isn’t as quick as he used to be, but loves his job and it’s clear that he enjoys chatting with the sleepy community’s many colorful characters.

Where the main game’s story mostly revolved around falling in love and possibly starting a new life in a small town, Season’s Greetings isn’t quite as focused. Part of this is because Thomas simply doesn’t have much of a character journey to go on. We’re reminded early on that he’s been delivering mail for the better part of four decades, so it should come as no surprise that he’s beginning to contemplate retirement. And it certainly doesn’t help that every single person playing this game already knows where he’ll be after this DLC wraps up. Because of this, the game has a more episodic feel, almost like the story is being told through short, uneventful vignettes.

As the always-trustworthy mailman, Thomas finds himself stumbling into the game’s few story threads. For example, a lot of the game is about a big-city TV news crew that gets stranded in the small lake town. There’s a budding romance between the show’s segment producer and the hulky cameraman that we get to influence. There’s also a comical thread where fellow postman Frank gets caught selling illegal fireworks to the locals and has to hide from his superior. You can also spend some time ice fishing with Robert, who longs to meet a woman just like Thomas’s daughter. And if you’re not already sold, then let me tell you about Christmas dinner, where Thomas pretends to be interested in the inane conversations being had by his wife’s friends. One gives out her annual Christmas sweater that everybody is mysteriously allergic to, while the other hands out wildly inappropriate books. They end the night by talking about what it’s like to get old.

And that’s what is both good and bad about Season’s Greetings. On one hand, there’s something really heart-warming and wholesome about this game’s story. There are no life-or-death decisions and nobody is ever in any serious danger, these are just normal people living in the kind of small town where everybody knows what you had for breakfast. Not a lot actually happens, and maybe that’s okay. Not a lot happened in the main game, either, and I found myself riveted from start to finish.

The difference is that the main game actually had stakes. They may not have been life-or-death, but Meredith is forced to make a real choice that will have massive ramifications for her life going forward. We don’t really get that in Season’s Greetings. When he’s not checking in with all of your favorite characters, Thomas will spend most of his time being confronted with thoughts about retirement. Even though the game tries its hardest to make it seem like this is a new chapter, the story is surprisingly downbeat and decidedly not cheery. That said, it has one of the greatest endings in video game history, and you should play it just to see that.

Much like the full game, almost all of the gameplay is centered on you delivering letters and packages around Providence Oaks. It’s the exact same map as before only now everything has a fresh coat of snow and there are Christmas decorations everywhere. Believe it or not, I actually missed doing the rounds and delivering the mail around the lake, so I was excited to jump back in the mail truck. If you played the main game, then you already know that delivering the mail is a surprisingly relaxing time, and it’s a lot of fun to see how different the community looks in the winter.

Sadly, all of my complaints about delivering mail in the full game apply to this expansion pack. It’s not that navigating the open world is hard or frustrating, but there are so many little issues that may not be a big deal on their own, but quickly add up over time. For example, I don’t like that the game dips to black every time Thomas enters or exits the mail truck. And that’s not the only thing that slows the game down, because our hero moves at a snail’s pace, even when he’s running. He also says the same three phrases every time he delivers the mail, some of which doesn’t even make sense.

And then there’s the town’s radio station. I complained about the weird music choices when I reviewed the main game back in 2021. One of my gripes was that the soundtrack didn’t include era-specific songs, but rather modern-day country songs that almost all came from one particular indie record label. That’s still an issue in this expansion, but there’s an even bigger problem – the repetition. With only six songs, you’re going to hear every single track at least twice during every delivery. Sometimes you’ll hear the same song two and even three times in a row. There’s this “Witchcraft” song by Swedish duo Thyra that came on so often that I swear it made up 80% of my drivetime. The repetition is too much.

The frustrating thing is that these complaints also carry over into the more important aspects of the game, especially the narrative. One of my main complaints about Lake was that a lot of the story threads felt like afterthoughts. “Half-assed,” I called them. Unfortunately, that has not changed with this DLC. In fact, you can make the argument that they are even less fleshed out this time around, with some of the story beats acting as little more than a wink and a nod for what we would see in the main game. It’s cool that we get to see Providence Oaks from a new perspective, but I’m not sure this expansion really adds up to much.

That said, fans of the original will have a lot of fun checking in with all of their favorite characters. It’s also fun driving around the lake delivering packages. And did I mention that there’s a brand-new arcade machine in the diner that is a dual-stick shooter inspired by Ghostbusters? Yeah, it’s fun, and it’s just about the only thing in this game that isn’t constantly reminding you how old you’re getting. Season’s Greetings, indeed.

If you were charmed by the wholesome, small-town antics found in Lake, you’ll probably enjoy returning to Providence Oaks in this holiday-themed expansion. Season’s Greetings doesn’t have the stakes of the original game and feels a lot more aimless, but it’s fun checking in with the cast of colorful characters and making the mail delivery rounds. Unfortunately, the story, while funny and emotional at times, never really adds up to much. It’s a nice companion for fans, but Season’s Greetings is far from essential.