The mood here is awesome. Terrific graphics. I like that you took the time to put in all the little particle effect and insects. it really adds to the ambiance. The sound, of course, is great.
As for the gameplay: well, most importantly, the game runs well. Mouse is responsive and I noticed no glitches. The puzzles were decent. At first, I felt the whole "use everything on the fishing rod to keep getting stuff" got old fast, but then I realized that the point of the game was that all you had was a rod. At first, I raged at fining a key inside a shrimp, but again, I realized that this is supposed to be surreal.
I do have a bone to pick, however: I really don't appreciate being sent to another website to play a totally different game in order to get a code I need for this one. I understand others have done this before, but I think it's bad form. I'm on Newgrounds because I'm familiar with the site. What's rustylake.com? Why should I go there? Who runs it? Is there some reason I'm being directed there, so it can put cookies on my machine? Is it safe? Obviously, I can just say, "Forget that," and quit the game, but that's like saying, "You're almost finished with the game. Go to this other site and get the code, or else you wasted your time." It's that or check a walkthrough. I mean, maybe it's just me, because no one else here seems to care, but I'm not happy with that tactic. After playing Seasons, I feel like this whole thing is just a big ad, that The Lake is just a teaser and the code puzzle is meant to direct us over to Seasons.
I also have a question. The clue with the star diagram seems to show you the proper way to get the bad ending, buy using the wrong gem to create the wrong sigil. Was this a mistake or did I miss something?
Now that I've bitched, I want to be honest. I did play Seasons, and I think it's brilliant. You're a solid game-maker, and it was challenging and imaginative. I just wish I could have played the game on my own instead of having it forced on me by this one. A message saying, "Want to learn more about the cube? Play 'Seasons' at rsutylake.com!" would have seemed less manipulative. You might want to post that game here as well. Newgrounds tends not to like Escape-style games, but The Lake is getting a positive response, and the community does like creative games, particularly if they're good horror.