** Just as a quick foreword, I have been sitting on this post for a hot minute because I’m stupid and haven’t figured out how to take screenshots on my Legion Go. The year is coming to a close and I hate to see this rot in my drafts, so I’m publishing anyway, apologies for the generic images.**

PEAK Gaming

I recently made another poor financial decision, in the long series of poor financial decisions that are my life, and picked up a Lenovo Legion Go S. I haven’t been able to play PC games at all, really, because my poor old laptop just isn’t up to the task. So, in an effort to add even more games to my list of “hey I should buy this and get to it eventually, maybe” I made my first Steam purchase to go with the new Legion – PEAK. If you’ve somehow missed the mountainous (hehe) popularity of this recent indie game, PEAK is about survival  – you’re a troop of scouts, and your plane has crash landed on a deserted island. PEAK is about climbing (shocking, I know) – in order to get off said island, you’ll need to climb to the tippy top to signal for rescue. But most importantly, PEAK is about the friends you make the journey with – the game works best when played with multiple people (up to 4, but it can be modded to include more), because more people means you can help each other climb, make fun of each other when you die in the pit of an Antlion for the 17th time, and of course, the most crucial of all: more people means more pocket space. Bing Bong isn’t going to carry himself to the peak, after all.

PEAK consists of a series of biomes you’ll need to traverse to make your way to your salvation – the first one is always the Shore, which serves as a tutorial area of sorts. The Shore also happens to be the only biome I can clear with any consistency because I am utterly awful at this game. But the Shore is the perfect place to gear up, and prep yourself for the long climb ahead – the beach has a ton of luggage to rummage through, coconuts to cook, and (sometimes unfortunate) lessons to learn. The most critical asset you have in PEAK is your stamina bar, and it’s important to manage the things that can eat into it – hunger, poison, frost, and extra weight for example. Cooking is one of the easiest ways to help yourself, as eating cooked food will give you additional stamina in a separate (yellow) bar. Once your main stamina has completely depleted, you’ll start using that secondary stamina – which won’t regenerate by itself. This extra energy can come in clutch when a high cliff is just out of reach, or when pesky things like hunger or injury are eating into your regular stamina. The Shore is probably the most straight forward climb, with few hazards, plentiful food, and tons of loot to be found. So just remember that teamwork makes the dream work, and stay close to your scout-mates – don’t go leaving anyone behind. That is, unless you wish to meet the Scoutmaster…

Unfortunately, the Tropics is waiting for you once you’ve made your way out of the Shore. Thank god for the campfire morale boost – you’re gonna need it. The Tropics is my least favourite biome by far. This godforsaken jungle is full of ticks, poison plants, poison vines, and also exploding poison. And bees. FromSoftware’s Miyazaki would love this place. I will admit, however, that it is pretty entertaining when one of your unsuspecting friends steps on a Bombshroom and gets blown off the side of the mountain; second only to accidentally-on-purpose murdering a fellow scout with a well-placed banana peel near a precarious edge. You have to be able to laugh at each other plummeting to your deaths. Keeps things light.

I don’t know why it’s always the Tropics in particular, but I really struggle to find a route upwards here – I often get myself stuck somewhere that’s either at the bottom of a cliff too high to scale, or stranded in an awkward spot that involves me having to backtrack and waste time and resources. The rain certainly doesn’t help either (if you’ve ever played Breath of the Wild, you’ll be familiar with this struggle) – you have to be careful about committing to a climb, because there’s nothing more depressing than being mid-cliff and suddenly your scout is drenched and scrambling while your stamina drains alarmingly fast. It’s okay, I’ll just make the slide of shame down and wait… Again. Meanwhile the fog is rising, I’ve run out of food, and Bing Bong’s future prospects aren’t looking good.

If you do manage to escape the horrors of the Tropics, either the Alpine, or the Mesa are up next. Both can be quite challenging, but I personally prefer the Mesa because of the variety of opportunities for comedic errors. Sure, the Alpine has freezing blizzards rolling through, icy rocks to traverse, and very few resources, but the Mesa has a sun that will literally cook you alive (only slightly less scary than the angry, murderous sun from Super Mario Bros. 3), and sand tornadoes capable of launching you across the biome. Inevitably, at least one party member will end up soaring through the sky, only to get dropped onto one of the Mesa’s many cacti – nothing like that thorny embrace to stop your momentum! One of your fellow scouts will have to peel you off, like a sad piece of velcro, while they de-thorn you before the next tornado catches up. Be careful about grabbing any fruit off these cacti as well. You may end up looking like a pincushion for your efforts, and needing to make that sad walk back to your friends for some more help (it’s giving “mom, I threw up”).

If all that isn’t enough to sell you on the beauty of the Mesa, there’s also the surprise dynamite. Imagine yourself opening a random piece of luggage, fingers crossed for some sunscreen, or some precious Thick Mints, and instead – dynamite! It’s already lit! YEEHAW! And we haven’t even gotten to the scorpions, or the frighteningly accurate, and very aggressive tumbleweeds that might send you sprawling into a sandpit of doom and despair (there is an angry Antlion waiting in there to murder you). Never have I been so nervous around a ball of dry, crusty plant-life. But if you can avoid all these hazards and hold on to your life, you’ll make it to the Caldera, and eventually, the Kiln (cue the sad Gwyn, Lord of Cinder music). The Kiln will lead you to the fabled peak, if you survive. And even if you die before reaching the top, as long as one of your friends makes it, you’ll still get a badge for “participation” which I think is beautiful. And also happens to be the only badge I currently have since I am always dead by this point.

So, I don’t know if PEAK is going to have the same staying power as other “party” games in the same vein, but I’ve certainly had a ton of fun with it. I like that it’s a non-competitive option for my group of friends (sometimes sweating your ass off on Marvel Rivals after a full day of being employed is just not it), and the difficulty can be adjusted to be as relaxing (ish) or challenging as you’d like it to be. The shift in biomes keeps the game feeling exciting, even if you’re a veteran scout, and with a new update on the way (haha just kidding, by the time I’ve published this, the new Roots biome has already dropped) it won’t be a hard sell to get me to come back for another climb. One of my favourite elements of PEAK that I haven’t touched on yet is the slightly nostalgic feel of completing in-game challenges or hitting milestones to unlock cosmetics. It’s always nice to have optional goals to make playing the game more interesting, and I love when they’re tied to new wearables for your character. I don’t have any problem supporting games that I enjoy monetarily, and buying skins or battlepasses (see above mentioned poor financial decisions) but knowing I can earn them through regular gameplay, dedication, and occasionally some pure luck, is refreshing. I’m looking forward to seeing what new challenges and questionable fashions the developers have come up with for this next update. Note to Past Meghan: the gnome and plague doctor outfits are really speaking to me. There’s always something new or goofy to experience with this game, and I still find it fun after 40 plus hours. I’ll keep searching for the elusive Tomb whenever I’m in the Mesa, and trying to get Bing Bong to the top of that mountain.