Cupcake

Entirely unnecessary. Insipid storyline. Visuals are unappealing and torpid. Events incongruous with the themes initially portrayed in Part One. Unsolved “visions”. Sensationalist at points. Again, extremely slow and agonisingly and painstakingly uneventful. No real, substantial progression in the material of the overarching plot from Part One. Nothing truly transpires. Plainly put: boring.

Long, drawn-out, overly abstract plot. Too many plot inconsistencies and unexplained plot-holes. Extremely boring. Too little occurred for the screen time.

Season 2 was lacklustre. No real plot unfolded in the reason Joanne and Noah couldn’t be together. The issue of conversion was not developed or dealt with - the same contention from season 1 arose but without any new insight as to why Joanne does or does not feel connected to religion. Also, there is an obvious character regression in Noah: he was written to be a unique and thoughtful boyfriend, but this season, he fulfilled all clichés that modern women fear - buying different women the same gifts, avoiding conversations about true feelings, deflecting a partner’s insecurities. Nothing about this season felt original. Why is Noah now so certain that Joanne must convert? What changed? This was asininely brushed over. I also do not appreciate the stereotype about modern Jews with the new Jewish synagogue; it is doing more damage than it is developing conversations around contemporary approaches to religion. This was a subpar season with subpar writing. Perhaps more time should have been taken to write something with a new message and a new meaning. This was simply a repetitious, but empty, attempt at a creative story.

Flawed writing flaunting its most oblivious face.

Clever, comical, and captivating.

I think these writers are the most dreadful and troubled, misogynistic and deluded collection of people. What a shit-show. Killing the only valuable character was the cardinal sin. If I could have rated this with integers, it would be a whopping -5/10. Disappointing writing at best, with dismally overused cliches. The biggest waste of my time. I regret ever having watched this cardboard-flavored, insipid excuse for television. 8 seasons too many. These writers / producers / any foul individual with “creative” control over this mess should NEVER be employed to write another show. Only vacuous people enjoy this garbage.

I would rate "Lake" a 4.5 if there were fewer errors in the game. The dialogue was slightly inconsistent - but in an odd way that is true to life, I suppose. I was annoyed that I couldn't meet more town inhabitants and that so many deliveries ended with a mere "drop package". I did not take liking to the fact that we could not influence whether Angie stayed or left - and that the only way to end up with her was to take a spontaneous RV-trip around America. There wasn't enough exploration of the arc of Meredith and Robert's relationship - he was cold throughout all of their engagement, so the only reason for them to pair would "boil down" to desperation. Most of their connection was over work-related issues. I felt like the days could have been longer and filled with less deliveries and more cutscenes, if they were story-focused and enhanced the narrative of Meredith's life in Providence Oaks. I felt as though there wasn't enough range in the adversity that Meredith faced upon revisiting PO. I wish the game was also "open house" - at least in Meredith's house, or the people she interacted with daily. Also, Meredith most definitely needed a "run" mechanism. The positives do, however, much-outweigh the negatives. The environments were so beautifully crafted, as animated as they may be. I appreciated the differing weather over the 2 weeks. The sky rarely ever looked the same. The details were quite well-thought-out; I love how cars will pass you in the street when you park inconsiderately, or how you can only drive speedily through non-residential areas, and the fact that you cannot crash into residents, which is oddly humorous. In my playthrough, I had not found any two characters who looked the same - a neat detail. I also appreciated the two or three "f-bombs" that were dropped. It made the game feel a little more adult-like. Meredith could also have a condescending and sarcastic demeanour with characters, which I felt was very much in order. The characters that were developed were charming. Angie was quirky - as were Mildred, Kay, Maureen, June, Lori, Steve, and Frank (I didn't take much of a liking to Robert. He felt superficial). Unfortunately, there was not enough reason or substance in the two-week-span of my stay to make me regret leaving Providence Oaks, so it was back to the city for me.

The game has a lovely campaign, but it was too short to distract from the pointless and lacklustre mission-design of the game. Everything about this game becomes unplayable. It's unenjoyable, displeasurable, and overwhelmed by the recycled environments and gameplay-style. Every time that I play, I honestly bear the misfortune of getting a headache. I wait six months for a new character to be released so I can experience an inkling of the money's-worth. I am bored by its repetition, its lack of direction, and its overall incohesion. The character design, however, is absolutely beautiful, and what is clear is that much creative effort was poured into bringing the characters to life. The characters are what keep me "coming back for more". All 3 stars were earned by them.