Publisher DON’T NOD is known for creating some of the best narrative experiences with some great titles under their belt like Life is Strange and its sequel Life is Strange 2. While the studio has catered to other gamers with releases like Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden and Jusant, the studio is still preferably known for its more narrative-focused releases like Life is Strange. This is probably why their brand-new title follows the same direction and Lost Records: Bloom & Rage is set to bring back the developer to its narrative-focused experience roots. With a brand-new 90s setting and a supernatural mystery in the middle, the stakes are much higher this time around as DON’T NOD reinvents the genre with brand-new characters and a new setting. This is our review of Lost Records: Bloom & Rage on the PS5 in which we explore an otherwise quiet town of Velvet Cove and try to solve the mystery behind the Abyss.
Lost Records: Bloom & Rage revolves around the shy, and insecure girl Swann who is about to move to Canada with her family but during the summer of 95’, she meets three other girls and becomes good friends with them. The story shows two sides of the same narrative where one is set in the year 1995 while the other one is set during the current time 2022. The characters are the same in both storylines but in 2022, the girls are all grown up and are now getting back together because of a promise that they made during the summer of 1995, the second timeline of the game which is the actual story of Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Tape 1. Tape 2 might feature more in 2022 but since we are reviewing Tape 1 called Bloom, it focuses mostly on the previous timeline where our characters first meet and start their journey.
Similar to DON’T NOD’s cinematic experiences released earlier, Lost Records: Bloom & Rage is a narrative-heavy game and while you are not making dialogue choices, the main gameplay includes you using your video recorder and recording everything that comes in your path to create your very own Memoirs. The story begins in 2022 when you arrive at a restaurant in your hometown of Velvet Cove, a sleepy town located in Michigan. This restaurant serves a key location in the story during both timelines, and this is the reunion point of Swann and her friends Nora, Autumn, and Kat. We play Swann during both timelines and every decision we make in the game is made as Swann. In Tape 1, the 2022 timeline is almost completely set inside this restaurant as we get to meet Autumn and then Nora. The main action happens in the other timeline, which is the Summer of 1995 where the characters are growing up in their teens and thus rebellious, finding themselves and always looking to have some fun.
Each of the main characters Swann, Nora, Autumn, and Kat are very well-written, and they each portray a very different set of values and thought processes in the game. The all-girl cast is something not new in a DON’T NOD game, but each girl here is a solid character in their way. Swann is shy and is always confused about how to react in certain situations, but she is trying her best to fit in with the group. Nora is a free spirit who loves to play guitar, and she is also the soul of the group. She always has a smile on her face, and she will find ways to be cheerful even in stressful situations. Among all of the girls, Autumn appears to be the brains of the group as she has a job and, in most situations, acts most responsibly and has the most useful feedback.
Kat is the devil of the group who may look harmless, but she has the most aggressive views about everything. She has a complicated relationship with her family, especially her sister Dylan and her boyfriend Corey. She is also a fan of horror and mostly her responses revolve around violence and revenge against people who have done her wrong in some way. What is amazing is that each girl’s role fits perfectly on them. Each character is very well-designed and the dialogue choices they have fit their characters perfectly. From Nora’s fun little tidbits here and there to Kat’s thoughts on revenge and justice ensure that each conversation is an experience to go through.
The core gameplay of Lost Records: Bloom & Rage involves following the narrative path in each location. You will explore different locations of Velvet Cove including a video rental store, restaurants, abandoned playgrounds, as well as some surrounding locations like a forest trail, lake, and an abandoned cabin in the woods. It can be considered a classic 90s story of a group of friends that find an abandoned cabin in the woods and convert it into a secret hideout from where they form a band, create music videos, and just have fun over the summers. The storyline flashes between the two timelines during the entire story where the modern timeline is more about discussion between the friends, and you make dialogue choices with little exploration while the past timeline gives you more freedom and is also more colorful.
During each sequence, you will have access to your video camera which is used to record everything for Swann’s Memoirs. These Memoirs are both story-related and collective in nature. You have different sets that can be completed while playing the story like animals, critters, or location-specific items. Some Memoirs can be completed over the full narrative but sometimes you will get Memoirs that are specific to that particular scene or even the story. Story Memoirs will help in story progression while the remaining ones serve as collectibles only. You can edit these Memoirs, and move the clips around to form the best Memoirs you can create which serve as a memory for Swann when she moves to Canada with her family.
The entire story is told from Swann’s perspective as we get to experience her life both solo and with her friends. Different decisions throughout the game form the little details in the story while some are major decisions that affect the decision. For example, the girl whom you choose to get closest during the story gets to do Swann’s makeup at the end of Tape 1 but at the same time, smaller decisions do not affect the story much like choosing Swann’s cat’s name. While interacting with friends and other characters in the game, certain choices will improve your relationship with them while some make them worse, so choices play an important role in Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, just like previous releases by DON’T NOD. At the end of the story, you get a Telltale Games-like choice screen where the game shows you all of the major choices you made in the game and how many players from around the world made those choices.
During the flashbacks set in the Summer of 1995, the overall visual aesthetics change drastically to suit that timeline, and this is one of the most striking features of the game. Life seemed simpler back then and it is evident by the fact that Swann loves movies, and she has plenty of horror flicks rented in the form of VHS tapes. She also loves reading horror literature and we can see many horror books in her bedroom. Each location is filled with little details that tell you so much about that particular character or location. For example, inside the cabin, you can explore the little corners of each of the girls and that corner represents the personality of that girl. Similarly, Swann’s room is filled with little details that tell us about Swann and her life. There is also a cool option to switch Swann’s outfit from her cupboard.
The location design is another strong aspect of Lost Records: Bloom & Rage. Each location is beautifully designed and unique from the previous locations in the game. Apart from Swann’s room, you only visit other locations apart from the playground, which is featured in some of Swann’s Memoirs, but we do not get an open-world scene in it twice. One scene that particularly changes the whole scene of the game is the night section where we get lost in the forest and stumble upon the abandoned cabin. If you are not a fan of horror games, this section will literally send down chills. There is another section later on where we play Truth or Dare in this cabin during the nighttime and things get a little out of hand.
We do not want to spoil these elements too much in this review, but these moments really change the pace of the otherwise slow pace of the story. There are minimum puzzles to solve this time around and most of the gameplay sequences are about taking videos or just exploration. There are a few puzzles, but they are not that hard to solve, and they mostly keep the focus on the narrative. As the story progresses, you can actually feel how the group comes close to each other and how Swann gets out of her shell to experience new things. The character growth is an important part of the story and most of it is done by the choices that you make in the game.
It will be an incomplete review of a DON’T NOD game if we do not mention the amazing score of their titles. Lost Records: Bloom & Rage is no different and throughout the story, you get to hear an amazing score. The highlight song of the band created by girls, Bloom & Rage actually received a music video as well in which the real-life band Nora Kelly Band performs the song ‘See You in Hell’. Apart from that, there are many other notable songs throughout the game and each song really fits into the whole 90s aesthetics of the game with themes of grunge, metal, and rock. A small section in the game also lets you choose the beat for an in-game performance by the band which initially featured only Nora and Autumn, but later Kat and Swann also join in.
Right from the start of the game, we were getting strong IT vibes but naturally, there can be only one killer clown in the horror scene. Also, the developers never mentioned that this is a horror game but how the visuals of the game are, how we explore a Blair Witch-inspired cabin in the woods at night, and some subtle references here and there, Lost Records: Bloom & Rage feels nothing short of a horror game at certain points. With the mystery of the Abyss still left for the second tape, we are now more intrigued than ever because while Tape 1 sets the perfect stage for a game, Tape 2 will hold the real answers to the whole mystery, and we cannot wait to play it. Even after playing the whole first part of the game, we did not get any sort of answers but only more questions and this is why it is such a great narrative experience. With Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, DON’T NOD is back at the top of their game and we only expect greatness from them in the future.
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Final Verdict:
Lost Records: Bloom & Rage is DON’T NOD’s finest release to date and the level of mystery, voice acting, 90s aesthetics, and suspense just keeps you on your toes. The game does an exceptional job at hiding its best-kept secrets and this sparks an interest that just wants you to experience the whole game in one sitting. It surely touches on some sensitive topics, but it never goes too deep into them to make it uncomfortable for anyone to play it and this makes it one of the best releases by DON’T NOD so far. Tape 1 sets the perfect premise for Tape 2 and even beyond the first title in the series. If you love playing DON’T NOD’s signature choice-based narrative releases, you will love playing Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, and even if you are just starting their lineup with it, it is a strong title to kick things off.
Final Score: 9.5/10
