Random Video Game Series Review - Lakeview Cabin

 

So not the most festive of things to start this month off with, but certainly with the Collection game, there was some Christmas stuff in it. So despite the minimal Christmas stuff within, it does count technically. Anyway, so many Steam games appear as pixel games, with most having originated from a simple free Flash game. For those of you not in the know, there was a time when there was a thing called Flash. It was used to make animations and games, with many people getting a kick out of it. Certainly, during my secondary school years (high school in other words), that business was booming on the likes of Newgrounds and a few websites that sadly are non-existent nowadays. So that's where the Lakeview Cabin games originate from and seeing as the games have been popular among YouTubers in recent years, it's perhaps time to check them out. We have three games to look at, so let's get to it:

Collection

The first game takes you to a hub world that looks like a New York theatre, in which you get to go into various film like settings. All homages to classic horror films like Friday the 13th, Alien, Halloween, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and more. All connected and set in the same universe, each with their own unique playable characters, enemies to fight and things to interact with. Alongside a retro feel and more, the first game is alright. It could've done with a tutorial, but it's nice to play and interact with, and the Christmas part comes in as one of the "movie" worlds that players can visit and fight off Christmas themed enemies. 8/10

Valley

So this game serves as a spiritual successor to the last game and is basically a murder mystery. You play as a new homeowner in the titular valley and come to realize that everyone has a deep, dark secret that they are hiding. You can choose to solve the mystery or simply ignore it, with a wide range of different play styles to try and endings to unlock. Not only that, but you have a wide array of weapons to use however you like. Fully customizable characters you can play as and plenty more to check out in this spiritual successor. This is a pretty interesting game. It's like the developer decided to make a Stardew Valley like game, but with a bit more mature content and then some. Pretty good, I'd say. 8/10

2

In a more direct sequel to the very first game, we get a few more scenarios to check out. Once again, all loosely based on classic horror films, and you get to play as one of four companions with the option of co-op play. Taking into account that you will die quite a few times in this game regardless of who you play as, it manages to maintain the formula that the first game had and keeps it flowing with fresh and new scenarios. All of which dive further into the lore of Lakeview, plus this one is still receiving content, so who knows what awaits us here. 9/10

A pretty good series of games that give nostalgia thrills on two fronts, in terms of graphics and that all the scenarios are loosely based on classic horror films (with the second game effectively being one big horror in itself). Great stuff from yet another indie developer who started out on Newgrounds. 8/10