Lost Records: Bloom & Rage made a splash when the first teaser trailer was released and caught the attention of many gamers and lovers of narrative-driven games, especially catching the attention of fans of the Life is Strange game series, as the creators from that game were behind this masterpiece of storytelling. I’ll admit, I never got into the LIS games but I’m happy that DON’T NOD Montréal and DON’T NOD gave me this opportunity to check out the first part of this two-part tale of friendship and mystery.
Lost Records: Bloom & Rage follows a group of girls who during the summer of 1995 became close friends and have kept a secret from that summer for over 27 years, now in the present time, they are forced to confront what happened that summer that they swore to never talk about again as well as never seeing each other again.
Onto the game itself! In Lost Records: Bloom & Rage the controls are not that involved but will have to take some time to master which thankfully the game allows time for this as you jump between using a camcorder and a regular 3rd-person exploration.
When it comes to the voice acting, it’s top-notch, the performers of our four leads sell the awkward teen phase of the characters and the older more mature versions of them later on. I have to give big props to Shekinah Austria’s performance as Nora, really sold the clown friend role that reminded me of a couple of girls I knew in high school who pretty much had fun in any situation, but I have to admit my favorite character is Kat for being a little spitfire and takes no shit.
The game’s art is a massive selling point as it captures the beauty of the (I’m assuming) Pacific Northwest. The fact the game has photo mode makes me happy as I do like to table in-game photography when the opportunity arises.
When it comes to gameplay, as mentioned before, the game splits between using Swann’s camcorder and playing 3rd-person, you can interact with the world around you and use your camera to record things you see to make up Swann’s video memoir about her hometown before she moves away to Canada with her family. A big part of Lost Records: Bloom & Rage‘s gameplay is the choices you the player make through your choices when it comes to dialogue. These choices can change how the story unfolds and how your relationship with Autumn, Nora, and Kat goes.
I’ll admit, I love a good story that pulls me in and leaves no breadcrumbs, forcing me to keep going to find the answers, Lost Records: Bloom & Rage does that, I’ve played hours of the game and I’m still no further ahead of understanding what’s going on than when I started. Some games try to do this but you figure out the entire story when you’re not too far into it which is a shame. I see online that the game has received criticism from a minority of players (to be honest I think a lot of them don’t even game) who are upset by this game due to it having a female lead cast, well, this is for you.
Sorry, back on track now. Overall, as a storyteller I’m impressed with Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, as a gamer I have fun playing it trying desperately to find out what this horrible secret is along with the supernatural elements going on. The voice acting is perfect, the art is gorgeous, the gameplay is fun, and replayability is high as so many different timelines and outcomes could happen, and this is just part 1! I’m looking forward to the second half and seeing how the story continues and when that happens, you know I’ll be there!
On my scale of 1-10, Lost Records: Bloom & Rage has hit hard with a 10! Lost Records: Bloom & Rage is available now for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. Part 2 titled Rage will be coming out on April 15th.
