Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Review
“Lost the plot” Written by: Hunter (@ReaperHunter23)
Lost Records: Bloom And Rage was first revealed in late 2023. It was shown to be the latest narrative adventure game from Dontnod. Following the initial trailer, more details were shared. Lost Records would be following a group of friends during their summer break in the year of 1995. To be honest, this is one that would slip on and off my radar all the way up to its release. It’s a game that I figured I was going to play since I like Dontnod’s work, but I was really chomping at the bit to play it. It was more of a “I’ll get to it when it gets here.” kind of thing. It doesn’t help that the game split itself into two parts rather than just releasing as a single package. Well now the game is here in its entirety so let’s look and see if it warranted more excitement than I was initially giving to it.
Image Credit: Don’t Nod
Lost Records: Bloom and Rage revolves around a group of four friends. We step into the shoes of Swann Holloway in the year of 2022. She is on her way to reunite with the friends she made in the summer of 1995. For reasons that they can’t really recall, Swann and friends haven’t seen each other since 1995. The story jumps back and forth from the present day to 1995 as the group tries to recall exactly what happened and why they agreed to never speak to each other until now.
The story of Lost Records is best described as a mixed bag. I think it nails the dynamic between the four main characters. Nora and Autumn are already friends when we meet them and have a good rapport that works to balance each other out. Nora is loud, boisterous ,and impulsive. Autumn is more reserved and responsible, but way more likely to stick to her guns. Kat is quiet but direct. She is also the most likely to jump to something the rest of them would find mildly unhinged or off putting. Swann is the awkward film nerd whose personality is influenced by the player's choices. Regardless of how you play I think she tends to come off as generally good natured and earnest. The player mostly influences how much of her timidness that she sheds and which of the other three she gravitates towards more.
There’s an element of tragic irony to Swann. Two things are made clear from the first jump back to 1995. The first being that Swann is a bit of an outcast that has not really made any friends outside of her parents and cat. The second thing is that her family is moving away at the end of the summer. So the first real friends she ever makes she’s bound to be separated from in a few months anyway. It's something that gets brought up once or twice but the game leaves you to dwell on it yourself for the most part and it goes a long way in generating sympathy for Swann specifically.
Unfortunately I feel like the story of the game falters when we zoom out and look at the broader strokes of what happens. The story is a very slow burn and while it does a good job at really placing you into the setting, the pay off doesn’t feel proportionate to the amount of build up. To the game’s credit: I was way more interested in what was going to happen when I finished Tape 1 than when I had started the game. And Tape 2 was fine. But it feels like it could have been better.
I would say that this stems from a couple of things. For starters, the supernatural and mysterious elements of the game feel like they are there more out of obligation rather than because the story had to be told with these elements in mind. I would say that this in turn makes the framing device of the reunion feel kind of underwhelming in the end. There was nothing that felt egregious or actively had me saying that it was bad, but I can’t help but feel like the game could have been more impactful as a more straightforward coming of age story. All of the ingredients were there. Swann was going to have to say goodbye to her only friends just a few short months after meeting them. That setup in addition to one of the twists that was more grounded would have had the makings to be really impactful if they went all in on it.
Image Credit: Don’t Nod
Lost Records: Bloom and Rage plays about how you would expect it to. It’s a narrative driven, choice based adventure game. There are rooms to rummage around and a light bit of puzzle solving, but more often than not you are going to be choosing how you want Swann to converse with the other characters.
One unique element that Lost Records has for its gameplay is Swann’s camcorder. Swann’s love of movies compels her to always carry around a camera and tape her adventures. It comes up during the story pretty often. One of the other friends will usually say something to the effect of “Hey let me do this for the video” and then Swann obliges and records Nora smoking or Autumn doing a cartwheel or something of the sort.
Outside of its mandatory uses, the camcorder also has a bunch of tape collections that you can try to fill out. This extends to activities such as filming a certain number of birds you come across or placing Swann’s Mothgirl plushie in various locations for the sake of compelling footage. I didn’t make it a point to do all of the collections but being told I finished one brought a smirk to my face. Overall the camcorder wasn’t a ground breaking mechanic by any means but it did wonders for the general vibe of the game.
Image Credit: Don’t Nod
I would say that the biggest strength of Lost Records: Bloom And Rage is its presentation. I can’t speak with 100% accuracy here since I wasn’t alive in 1995, but I believe the game did a really good job at bringing its time frame to life. It had all the hallmarks of things I was seeing the remnants of while I was growing up. The first time you go into Swann’s room you can examine her T.V and see that she’s copying a tape of the first couple episodes of Gargoyles. Other things such as the video store, Autumn's legally distinct Super Nintendo, and Kat’s collection of cassette mixtapes really serve to bring you right into the 90s atmosphere.
The game also excels at cultivating a creepy tone. Every time the sun sets it's almost as if an ethereal haze covers Velvet Cove. This works in perfect tandem with some of the more broody synth tracks in the score, as well as some of Kat’s more unhinged mood swings.
The music in the game is excellent in general. One of the main theme songs composed for the game feels like an authentic garage punk song. There are a multitude of other songs that fit the high energy nature of the time period. As well as the more broody synth song for the more chilling moments and more ethereal sounding song for the moments that are just meant to be evocative.
The character designs are all pretty good. I think this is especially true when you compare and contrast the core cast as they are in 1995 with how they are in the present day.
I feel like Nora is the best example of this. In 1995 she was free spirited and boisterous. This was visually reinforced by her dyed hair and loud choice of wardrobe. In the present day, Nora is much more monochromatic. She now has white hair and is wearing an outfit that is predominantly grey. I like the designs of the other girls too.
The voice performances in this game are all really well done. There’s as much difference between Nora’s adult and teenage selves vocally as there is visually. Autumn feels way more consistent since she was the more sturdy personality to begin with. And Swann goes from being a timid awkward loner to pretty accurately portraying an adult who grew a bit of a spine and is doing her best. Each actress for the main cast did a great job at believable portraying both eras of each character's life. The dynamic across both the past and present versions of each of them was brought to life wonderfully.
Image Credit: Don’t Nod
Summary
As I said earlier, Lost Records: Bloom And Rage is a mixed bag. At the end of the day; I’d have to say I would be hesitant to give this a general recommendation. Like I said previously, there’s nothing outright wrong with it, and I still really like quite a bit about this game. I think the setting and world are fun to exist in. And I really like the core cast of Swann and her friends. That being said, the slow burn pacing to a payoff that could be best described as mild, left me wanting when I finished the game. If narrative adventure games are your favorite genre and you are really looking to get your fix, I think Lost Records: Bloom and Rage will do an adequate job of satiating you. However, if you just kind of casually dabble in the genre I would recommend a handful of other games before this one. I will still be eager to see what DontNod does in this space next. This game had the bones of something really great. It just didn’t quite come together in the end.