Lost Records: Bloom & Rage REVIEW. A nostalgic adventure.
Although DON’T NOD no longer makes games in the Life is Strange series, this does not stop the studio that gave us the very first and, arguably, the best part of the franchise from releasing titles similar in their atmosphere, narrative devices and characters. And you know, they do it very well.
Lost Records: Bloom & Rage evokes associations with many mystical and creepy works, such as “It”, “Stranger Things” and others like that. The story unfolds in two timelines – 1995 and 2022, and the main characters are four high school girls who encountered a mysterious event in the past, then went their separate ways, and gathered again in the present, having received a mysterious package from a stranger who seems to know their secret.
But the mystical events are far from the main plot component that the script focuses on. The focus here is on the study of friendship, teenage rebellion, acceptance of oneself and one’s identity. The game will accelerate very slowly and for a long time, distracted by seemingly unnecessary scenes, and any kind of action will begin only closer to the end. However, it is worth making an allowance for the fact that only the first of the two planned parts is being released now, while the sequel will appear on April 15, and already there, most likely, the events will develop more dynamically.
So, we play as Swann, a shy nerd who is about to move to another city at the end of the summer. The girl doesn’t really mind: she hasn’t made any friends in Velvet Bay, and spends more time with her favorite video camera, her cat, and movies than with real people. However, one day, when she encounters bullies, she meets Nora, Autumn, and Kat, who protect her, and this event will be the beginning of a strong teenage friendship.
The characters in DON’T NOD are very lively and natural. Swann is awkward and shy, at first she can’t even believe that other teenagers have accepted her into their company. Nora is an energetic rebel, who, however, also has vulnerable traits. Autumn is serious and reasonable, and Kat is stubborn and a little angry; the reason for this behavior will become clear when the player learns her secret. The dialogues and acting are simply wonderful, the developers managed to make even calm episodes exciting, and the heroes are able to prove themselves not only through conversations, but also through their actions. What can I say, even the villains here turned out to be ambiguous, and each of the antagonists can be sympathized with.
All this, however, is relevant for those scenes that unfold in 1995. The immersion is also facilitated by a sense of nostalgia for the 90s, with obligatory attributes, such as Tamagotchi or cassette players; and a quick change of scenery, among which the most memorable is a hut in the woods, which will become something like a summer base for the girls; and musical inserts, from absolutely terrible rehearsals of a girl punk band to wonderful licensed tracks; and finally, an admixture of the mystical, which so far leaves more questions than answers.
The part of the game dedicated to modern times is not so exciting. The heroines, who meet after 27 years, do not leave one location throughout the action, and their adult problems are less interesting than teenage experiences. While these episodes are also important to the plot, you often want to skip them and go back to the past again – although, to be fair, once you get to know the characters better, it becomes interesting to see how much they’ve changed.
In addition, the actions and lines chosen by the player in one time period will have an impact on the other. A lot is important: how Swann behaves, what words she says, what actions she takes. Even within the company, you can be more active friends with one girl and treat another coldly. Not that these decisions will change the entire story, but you can still count on a small “butterfly effect”. As for the gameplay, Lost Records: Bloom & Rage is a regular walking simulator in the spirit of the Life is Strange series. In each episode, the player can explore small locations, examine objects located there, solve simple puzzles, listening to Swann’s comments on everything she sees or picks up. When communicating with other characters, you can choose lines, and here there is an opportunity to remain silent, and one or another choice will positively or negatively affect the interlocutor’s attitude towards the girl.
This is combined with the mechanics of video shooting: the heroine never parts with a video camera, capturing the world around her on film. With its help, you can record various scenes, and not only plot ones: Swann can stop to take a picture of a beautiful view, a bird sitting on a branch, or a deer coming to drink. Many of these scenes are put together into collections – mini-recordings about Velvet Bay, which the girl is going to edit into a film, as a reminder of this place. Collections can be edited: swapped, added and deleted fragments, thus creating a unique video. Although some players may like this feature, most will probably use it as part of the training at the start of the game and safely forget about it – fortunately, it is not at all necessary to mess around with collections.
Lost Records: Bloom & Rage is a light adventure in the spirit of Life is Strange and similar projects, and if you like such games, the new product will not disappoint. The title hooks not so much with mystical elements, but with a nostalgic atmosphere and adventures of ordinary teenage girls who enjoy summer days, dream and have fun. At the same time, the episodic structure somewhat harms the project, since in the first episode “Bloom” the story accelerates for a long time, so that in the finale, which is intermediate, it breaks off and offers the player to spend two months waiting for the continuation of “Rage”.
It must be admitted that for us this is the second best game from Don’t Nod after the first Life is Strange. It is clear that it is too early to judge by the first half of the story, but even if you evaluate it separately, it is head and shoulders above the games from Deck Nine. No rainbow flags and paid cats. I really want to believe that the second part of the game will be no worse, and even stronger and more emotional.
