After dabbling in the action-adventure genre with the release of Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, Don’t Nod is back with a new narrative adventure, Lost Records: Bloom & Rage. The experience can be traced back to the company’s roots with clear connections to the narrative adventure systems of Life Is Strange. However, now that the studio has over ten years under its belt, they’ve clearly mastered the art of narrative storytelling; whether the subject matter lands with you is likely the only pre-requisite.
A Nostalgic Setting with a Mysterious Twist
Lost Records: Bloom & Rage is set in the present day, where a group of friends reunites 27 years later to reflect on a night from the Summer of 1995. This meeting was scheduled around the time of the incident, but they promised never to speak about the events until this day. As Swann, players recount the events of that fateful summer where a group of friends experience something they’ll never forget.
Character Dynamics and Development
The setup is coded in 90s flair as Swann deals with being a huge nerd who finds herself joining up with a group of cool girl punk rockers. I don’t imagine the writers thought they were overly creative with this premise, but the characters are each interesting; you have Nora, Autumn, and Kat. During a short preview demo, I could play through the game’s opening and meet these characters as they prepared for their evening. While Don’t Nod understands character and world-building based on their previous titles, they’ve always struggled with nailing down that teen angst dialog. The characters seem so extra in their personalities, but it does fit the ’90s aesthetic, given that this was a time when everyone was slightly eccentric.
Don’t Nod perfectly captures the 90s vibe while crafting a narrative that’s both emotionally charged and intriguingly mysterious.
Anyway, the narrative is divided into the present and past as you make choices in the timelines that alter the story’s outcome. The future showcases a far grimmer setting as the girls quietly smile and joke about killing time as they arrive at their meeting spot. The somber mood makes answering choices more challenging because you want to ensure everything turns out okay, even though it’s clear these girls have gone through something. On that note, the tone is just right, but I still couldn’t help but cringe at Swann, who is almost too nerdy for her own good. Honestly, I don’t know if I like playing as characters who even I would have probably bullied in high school, but at least I can make choices for her and save her from the years of trash cans I had to deal with.
Innovative Gameplay Mechanics
Swann is just kind of sad, but it’s been cool seeing her excited to make friends and create videos. This leads me to the other gameplay system where Swann can whip out her camera at any time to make narrated clips of the scenes. Sometimes, this is required to progress a scene, but there are also secret locations for those who want to explore the scenes. I really enjoyed this feature. I thought it nailed the presentation that the team was going for. It gives the entire experience a home movie feel that connects to the settings of the narrative and helps with immersion.
Comparisons to Genre Peers
I worry that players will see Lost Records: Bloom & Rage and compare it to other games and media based in this era. Stranger Things, IT, A Space for The Unbound, and Kingdom Eighties come to mind, but I think the mysterious hook that looms over Lost Records might be enough to entice players.
The camera mechanic adds a unique layer of immersion, giving the game a home movie feel that ties directly into the story.
On paper, it just looks like an angsty teen adventure, but Don’t Nod is cooking with something emotionally charged and twisted here, which I can only hope is the case because I want Don’t Nod to excel in this gameflow that they popularized with Life Is Strange.
Final Thoughts and Anticipation
I’ll have to play more of Lost Records: Bloom & Rage to really understand the tension that was clearly building in my early demo. There’s a lot I’m looking forward to and a lot that can go wonky, considering the intricate choice system found in the dialog. As I uncover this mystery further, my fingers are crossed that Swann can go to a scene without calling herself a loser or pointing out how unique she is.
Lost Records: Bloom & Rage is coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC via Steam in late 2024.
