Delivering A Merry Christmas

Back in 2021, a small but wholesome and delightful indie curio kept up the summer brightness during the first day of September when it was officially released; this game was Lake, a well-meaning and good-hearted graphic adventure title, where you play as an ambitious and warm young lady called Meredith Weiss, who returns home after a twenty-year absence to the modest town of Providence Oaks Oregon, and fills in for her father Thomas Weiss at a local delivery company. Lake was a lovely little story-led game that brought a gentle but pleasant soul to the art of conveyance. Now tis is the season, developer Gamious returns to Providence Oaks for this prequel dlc aptly titled Season’s Greetings, arriving just in time for the real holiday season. Does Season’s Greetings give you all you want for Christmas, or will it leave you feeling chills?

Tragedy has struck for the Weiss family in Providence Oaks, Merideth can’t make the homecoming in time for Christmas! This revelation has rattled her father Thomas Weiss, forcing him to conjure up alternative plans, such as grabbing his satchel and driving his portly delivery van around Providence Oaks to greet the residents with packages or welcoming mailboxes by stuffing a letters into their gobs.

Season’s Greetings takes place at Christmas time in 1985 and is a prequel to Lake, but instead of telling the story of Meredith’s absence from her home, we are slipped into the work boots of Thomas, granting a more mature and wisdom-filled take on the Lake experience. Thomas is a spritely fellow who has the same warm personality as his daughter, as well as a prim and proper moustache. You’ll quickly feel comfortable in the role of Thomas and feel a broader level of appreciation for Providence Oaks in process.

Up To Snow Good

Although there is the overarching narrative regarding a man missing his daughter’s company at Christmas time, the main focus of Season’s Greetings is the litany of chinwags you have with the neighbours, villagers and family members. Such enlightening encounters include chatting wearily with an old lady who owns many cats with dapper names like Mortimer, a cocksure network anchor, a delivery worker in hot water for selling fireworks, and deciding whether or not to hire a nerdy down-to-business technology expert.

As you can tell, side stories and mischievous characters are abundant in Season’s Greetings. You’ll certainly come across some interesting folks who’re a bit more of a handful than in the original game, but the relaxed vibes are still pleasant and warming like a nice cup of white hot chocolate next to a lively woodfire on a cozy Christmas Eve night. Nattering to neighbours is where Lake’s charm shines through, opening you up to town of polite and courteous everyday townsfolk trying to get by whilst soaking in the Christmas festivities.

A Weiss Man Once Said

Fundamentally, Season’s Greetings is everything Lake was, submerged in Christmas decorations and trudging depths of snow; yes this might seem like a downer and a case where Season’s Greetings doesn’t do enough to justify its existence, but it’s tough to be too damning about a piece of dlc where Christmas is the theme-so don’t be a humbug and a Scrooge, embrace what you can salvage from this little three- hour adventure.

As is the case with the original game, your main objective in Season’s Greetings is delivers parcels and envelopes to various addresses by driving your heavy but reliable delivery van. Every letter and package you need to drop off is marked on the map, so you simply drive to the location, get out of the vehicle, and either poke the envelopes through the letterbox, or knock on the door if you’ve got a gift to drop off. Sometimes there won’t be an answer at the door, so you need to drop the present off on their doorstep, but if somebody answers the door, you’re greeted with a nice conversation and you can select dialogue options to move them along.

Signed, Sealed And Delivered

There’s a routine structure to gameplay that will likely lose its appeal sooner than later. Throughout you’ll be subjected to story cutscenes that are separated out by mail runs that can become too cut and dry when there are no new characters to interact with. Thomas often mutters sweet cliches when nobody answers the door to take their post such as ” however Season’s Greetings isn’t about rushing, it’s about absorbing the leisurely drives and the nice chit-chats you exchange with your customers.

Walking speed is agonizingly slow, I know Tommy boy is an aging mustachioed fella, but he’s at least a decade away from pensioner status-it’s as if he’s using a zimmer frame to get about. Also, it can be all too easy to forget to pick up a package, as your priority is to reach an address than grabbing the parcels from the back of the van. You need to check the addresses of parcels too, which means you can’t mindlessly give the old biddy expecting a pair of slippers, a set of mechanical DIY equipment. Unfortunately, you don’t ever get to see what’s in these packages, so there’s a slight feeling of detachment between you and your customers.

Further dingers threaten to squash Season’s Greetings’ mince pies, such as the sound cutting in and out during cutscenes, and while it’s lovely to hear a few tracks retained from the base Lake game, a song about the end of September doesn’t sit snugly in the freezing cold winter Providence Oaks is enveloped in.

Conclusion

As spirited as Christmas itself, Lake: Season’s Greetings is a lovely piece of prequel dlc that harnesses everything that makes the base game so pleasant and easygoing to play. The new characters are memorable, the delivery gameplay is conveniently chill, and the short runtime ensures it doesn’t overstay its welcome. Sure, not much has changed, there are a few bugs and the Christmas theme isn’t quite fully baked, but whether you enjoyed the original Lake or Season’s Greetings is your first foray, you’ll certainly find cozy comforts in Season’s Greetings-time to warm yourself by the fire and play this exquisite-if-light piece of dlc.

 

Final Verdict: 3.5/5

Available on: PS5 (Reviewed), Xbox Series X|S, PC; Publisher: Gamious ; Developer: Whitehorn Games, Gamious; Players: 1; Released: November 15, 2023; ESRB: E for Everyone; MSRP: $9.99

Full disclosure: This review is based on a copy of Lake: Season’s Greetings provided by the publisher.