Varney Lake is a Wonderful Series of Visual Novels

When I started playing Varney Lake, I wasn’t expecting to find a wonderful story. The characters are great, and you need to play through the game a few times to get all of the story. It isn’t necessary, but it does fill in the gaps that appear on the first playthrough.

Other stories get unlocked when you beat the game. These fill in the gaps from the first playthrough if you didn’t do all the side content. It adds some replayability to an otherwise short game.

This was an enjoyable game! I wasn’t sure where it was going at times, and because I didn’t do everything at first, I have a good reason to play this game again. Varney Lake is something I can see myself returning to a few times.

TLDR: A Very Good Visual Novel that is Packed with Mini-Games.

Narrative

The story is split between 1954 and 1981. There are also hints of 1966, but that is better explored in one of the other stories. The game follows three characters and gives us the points of view of four characters.

Most of the story is about Jimmy, Christine, and Doug at Varney Lake during the summer of 1954.  This is a place that the three of them have been coming to for some time. It is like a vacation spot for their three families.

Doug and Christine are related, and Jimmy is their friend. Jimmy is interested in Christine, who is a little older than him, but she has a boyfriend. You can learn more about each of them through the dialogue options. The three of them are between the ages of 13 and 15.

The three of them are initially trying to raise money to buy an old drive-in theater. They want to buy it by the time their youngest turns eighteen. I think that gives them five years or so. This is something they’ve been trying to do for a few summers. They try to raise 100 dollars each summer.

There is a group of bullies in the game. They are led by someone named Brandon, but we don’t learn much about his gang. Jimmy cheated at a game of dice, and now Brandon wants to beat you up.

This leads our characters to an old mill or farmhouse. They decide to go inside and find a vampire. They help the vampire, for some reason, and watch him eat a deer. They also get invited to the vampire’s house.

Now things shift to Autumn 1981. We’re following the character Lou. Jimmy is telling the story to Lou. Eventually, Christine shows up, and they have a brief reunion.

Lou has arranged a meeting between Jimmy and Christine. Something happened to Doug, which seems to have affected them somehow. We find out later that Brandon killed him, according to the newspapers.

We switch to Christine’s perspective in 1954. I wonder if we’ll meet back up with Doug or if Doug will become one of the vampires. This story takes place after they meet the vampire. The three of them were told about a location at Varney Lake, and they marked it on their map.

We learn more about Christine. Her mother is a drunk and doesn’t pay much attention to her. We didn’t learn much about Jimmy from his scene, but we do know that he likes Christine. They were instructed to follow an old cobblestone road. No one knows how old the road is or who built the road. I’m guessing the vampire or zombies did it.

Jimmy and Doug brought weapons to fight off the vampire. One is a sharpened twig, and the other is a silver chain. This reminds me of It by Stephen King. Children are equipping themselves with weapons to fight something they don’t fully understand.

A mansion appears out of nowhere. The kids also mention Brandon and how they haven’t seen him all day. I think the vampire killed Brandon. It turns out that he does, but that happens later in the game.

The three of them flee from the vampire’s house. I wasn’t sure why at first. I’m guessing they got scared by how the vampire talked.

We switched back to Lou in 1981. I should mention that they’re talking at a dinner. Lou is writing a book, but I’m unsure what the subject will be. Lou also seems to have lost confidence in what he is doing. This has to do with his editor and, I’m guessing, the sales of his books.

Someone has been watching Lou this entire time. I’m guessing it will be either Doug or the vampire from Varney Lake. The person watching Lou is named Xantos.

Something else is going on here. Lou says he’s seen and done things, and Xantos is very creepy. Lou calls someone named Lee, who is Xantos’s father. Lou isn’t telling the player everything.

We switched back to Jimmy in 1954. I think this is how the entire game is going to go. The vampire meets them again. We learn that his name is Liszt. I have no idea how I’m supposed to pronounce that.

Now, we get a new perspective. We follow Xantos in 1981. Xantos is a goat-human hybrid that Lou, Lee, and Lee’s wife found in 1966. What is this world? He is also a private detective. I’m so confused by this.

Now, we switch back to Christine’s perspective in 1954. The vampire tells the group a few stories. There is also some more character-building here. Then it is back to Lou in 1981.

We learn that Cryptids exist in this world. I’m not sure how widespread this is, but we know from Xantos that a few people know them. He seems to be able to blend in just fine. Back to Jimmy.

We get a story of the end of summer. Brandon isn’t the same, and we get a story of him getting beaten up and humiliated. Our characters don’t know how to feel about it. Brandon killed Doug? I’m guessing there is more to this.

Doug is alive. I’m guessing he is now a vampire. Doug is a vampire and the subject of Lou’s book. Doug is still a kid because he hasn’t aged since 1954.

Xantos is following Jimmy. I’m guessing he is trying to see if Jimmy finds Doug or knows where he is. Nothing comes from this. It is probably explored in one of the other stories.

Jimmy meets up with Doug after wandering around for a while. He confronts Doug and ends up getting killed by the vampire. Doug turns Jimmy into a vampire, but we don’t learn what happens to Christine, Lou, and Xantos—a good reason to come back and play again.

There is a running theme of war. It isn’t a strong theme, but we get mentions of the Korean War and the Vietnam War. There is also something called the Cryptid War that we learn a little about.

Overall, this is a fun story! It isn’t all that scary, but it has multiple endings. I didn’t do everything I could in this game, but that is a good reason to play it again. While Varney Lake is the main story, you also have other stories you can play through.

Gameplay

This is a visual novel. The gameplay consists of making dialogue choices and playing mini-games. I didn’t care for the mini-games, but they contribute to the plot. I was more interested in the story.

There is a card game that acts as a mini-game. Initially, it wasn’t very clear, but I could see it being fun. It reminds me of the other games my friends and I would come up with when we were kids. Not necessarily with cards, but it is something I could see us coming up with.

There is a fishing mini-game that confuses the hell out of me. It would be simple, but I couldn’t figure it out. I’m sure I might grow to like it if I gave it more time.

The cloud match game was interesting. You have two clouds that slowly enter the screen, and you need to identify the image. This is all about timing, which is how several mini-games go.

There is one game that pops up when you follow Xantos. It is a Simon Says game. I’m unsure of the game’s purpose, and I don’t remember getting a tutorial, unlike the other mini-games. It was very strange but easy to figure out. You need to time things right to win the game.

The gameplay is fine. It reminds me of something like Oregon Trail, where little mini-games are used to advance the plot. They’re used similarly for Varney Lake, where you have a mission to collect nine fish to learn about a secret fishing spot. Each game is tied to a part of the plot, and the games are optional to the main story.

Visuals

Varney Lake has a cool art style! Everything is bright and warm when we follow the story in 1954, and things are dark and depressing when the story shifts to the 1980s. It is a cool contrast that mimics how the character’s lives changed during that time.

The game uses the visual style of an 80s visual novel. It reminds me of playing Oregon Trail or Carmon San Diego as a kid. There are other games, but they all had a similar 3-4 base color pallet.

I like the way Varney Lake looks. There is a simple look to it that brings back memories of playing games with my friend Andy. I like seeing games like this.

8/10. Varney Lake gave me some nostalgia for summer vacations and playing computer games at school and my friend Andy’s house. It tells a fascinating story about three friends and a vampire. You need to play through the game a few times to get the full story.

Pros

• Good Graphics
• Decent Gameplay
• Good Story
• Replayability

Cons

• Short Game
• It can be easy to figure out the plot

Conclusion

I wish this were a longer game. Varney Lake reminded me of my summer vacations when I was a kid. Thankfully, there were no vampires, but I’ve visited enough small towns to know what these kids were doing.

I’ve had plenty of summer friends. Those kids who you met for a few days a year and then didn’t see until next summer. That is the feeling I got when I played this game. It also reminds me of a few horror movies I rented in the 90s.

Varney Lake is a great visual novel. It isn’t all that scary but tells a fun story with creepy moments. The mini-games are okay, but I would’ve liked to have more than just timing games with vague tutorials.