From the creators of Life is Strange, Don’t Nod Games new release of Lost Record: Bloom & Rage brings a new perspective of their choice driven gameplay that develops the story right in front of your eyes. If you’re not familiar with Don’t Nod Studios they are known for games like Remember Me, Life is Strange, Vampyr, Banishers and more. They focus heavily on story driven games where the players choices affect relationships, pacing and ending that they player receives at the end of the game.
Lost Record: Bloom & Rage ’95 focuses on four girls during summer break. Bringing a lot of nostalgia with it – VHS, CD players, Beepers, Bikini Kill and more. You experience summer break through the eyes of Swann Holloway, a normal “nerdy” sixteen-year-old girl with a love of horror and Sci-Fi movies who is documenting her last summer break in a place called Velvet Cove. Another charming part of the game is that you get to experience the awkwardness of Swann (and maybe a little of yourself?) as she documents all of the things around Velvet Cove and the things that lead her into trouble. Though it’s not all trouble, she also unexpectedly makes new friends with some of the girls in the neighborhood.
Enter Autumn, Nora, and Kat, three girls with big personalities and diverse backgrounds they all come together under the most unexpected way which solidifies their friendship for the rest of the summer. Being a teen in the 90’s meant that you were dreading going back to school, avoiding your parents and most importantly being outside enjoying your summer break! Through their blooming friendship, the girls expand their band, create music videos, record skits, find an abandoned cabin, expose their fears, feelings while all being recorded through Swann’s camcorder that leads them to the most exhilarating and unexpected summer break of their lives. But this summer isn’t all happy go lucky as it left the girls making a promise that they kept for twenty-seven years but this year they broke that promise.
Completing Tape 1 here’s my thoughts on Lost Record: Bloom & Rage (yes there’s a second one already planned!) Initially, I was taken aback by all of the nostalgia from the 90s, but I also did appreciate the fact that the story is actually showcased in two different ways, the past of 1995 and the present of 2022. This being my first time playing a Don’t Nod game, I felt that the story was immersive and uniquely showcased by the gameplay being in the past and the present day being more so of a retelling of the girl’s memories as they are much older now, twenty-seven to be exact. Through out the present day part of the Bloom & Rage you’re able to look at certain items and reminisce with the girls on said items which brings up a little side telling of what happen with said item or if the girls remember it.
What I also felt that was notable was the character development of the four girls, the choices and actions that you make in the game, even though it was a few weeks during the summer you could see that the girls had changed during their time together. Even more so when Swann interviewed them for her documentary. While there is nothing negative about the story, I did find myself feeling as if the dialogue dragged or even some of the past events and in fact I actually wanted to speed up the dialogue but unfortunately you need to let things play out or actually do said things, no skipping!
Being personally new to the genre, I wasn’t expecting much action gameplay as I always believed that the story and player choices was the main focus (and I was right). Besides from the basic movement of exploring, what’s unique about Lost Record is the fact that some of the gameplay is through the eye of Swann and her camcorder. Swann is recording everything she can whether it be nature, horror posters, bullies, friends, moth-girl, you can take recordings of a multitude of things and then edit them into a video, a memoir, to look back on with your friends.
In addition to recording things around Swann, the player has choices that they can choose to develop relationships with the three other girls. I personally thought they were simple, however, the options you have DO affect the story and your relationships with the girls, past and present. Not knowing what to expect I messed around with some choices that I thought were right however, you cannot please everyone. Depending on your choice you may get a “heart” response, or a “heart” and a “broken heart” response or just a “broken heart”. Depending on how many hearts you’ve accumulated, it will change the dialogue you have with the girls as well as your relationship in the present day with them.
All-in-all I was not expecting the ending of Tape 1 as it revealed a huge part of the story – I was sad, had questions, confused and of course wanting more. It did take me a little time to really get into the story, in fact I got really hooked towards the end of the game. Tape 2 is expected to be released on April 15th, 2025 to continue on to unravel the mystery as to why the girls decided to meet after so long. The story is pretty straight forward, there were plenty of things to explore, photos to take, editing to do, choices to make to keep you hooked through out the story.
For chill, low-action, well thought out story with a highly immersive with a 90s (nostalgia) vibes I definitely recommend checking out Lost Record: Rage & Bloom!
