Lost Records: Bloom & Rage is packed with heart. It’s an intriguing, at times flawed, adventure that explores the difficulties of growing up and fitting in. While it takes its time to get going, and it has its fair share of technical and narrative issues, Tape 1 of the two-part narrative has left me keen for more.
The game takes place in two time periods, the summer of 1995 and 2022. You play as Swann, a movie-loving, nature-adoring budding filmographer that’s about to say goodbye to her hometown of Velvet Cove and move to Canada. Swann’s a bit of a loner, but after an altercation with some whacky locals she befriends Autumn, Nora and Kat, kicking off a memorable final summer in her hometown.
A lot of Tape 1 is spent building up the friendship between the four main characters, with each having their own time to bond with Swann. Each character is different in their own way, but they all bond through music, movies and the inception of their band Bloom & Rage.
As you play through Tape 1, which took me roughly six hours, you’ll spend time getting to know each character and their quirks. The writing can be a bit hit and miss at times, though it tends to maintain a decent balance of quirk, cringe and seriousness, which fits in nicely with the themes the game’s exploring.
Lost Records does a fine job of bouncing you between both time periods in an interesting way, driven by the reunion at Velvet Cove in 2022. The crew have come back together to reminisce about their wild summer, allowing for both reflection and discovery. DON’T NOD Montreal’s made excellent use of this setup to ensure the story remains interesting, as you experience the events of that summer while hearing recounts from each character in 2022. This gives unique insight into each character’s thoughts and feelings during major and minor plot moments.
I also liked how DON’T NOD differentiated the two time periods through perspective. You play as Swann in third person in 1995, while you play in first person in 2022. It’s a neat creative decision that makes interactions feel different across the two time periods, whether it’s the way you interact with the main characters or other objects in the world.
Another strong part of the game is how it handles its mystery. Throughout Tape 1 you’re continuously kept in suspense about the major ‘event’ that happened in 1995, and how the group promised to never return. While it may seem a bit by the numbers, it felt like an effective way of delivering suspense and mystery throughout.
With that said, the large focus on building up each character in Lost Records comes at the detriment of the overarching plot. It feels like too much time is spent on the smaller moments of the game, and at times it felt like a slog to get to the next major beat. I also found the first couple of hours to be a little tedious, as it was laser focused on introducing all of these characters without anything of significance happening, bar one notable moment.
Luckily, the gameplay offers up something a little different to what’s on offer in similar titles. Throughout Lost Records you’ll be presented with opportunities to create memoirs with Swann’s video camera, which are recorded memories that capture many different things – from birds and bugs in the wild to buildings, characters and landscapes. Completed memoirs can then be stitched together, reorganised and played back. Some of these become major plot points, like when you and the crew decide to come together as a band, while others present opportunities to flesh out the world.
I really enjoyed this part of Lost Records, as it felt both new and nostalgic. It’s a game that clearly wears its heart on its sleeve, and it made me care about Swann’s character all the more (it also reminded me of myself back in the day). The team’s done an excellent job ensuring the camera work makes narrative sense throughout the story, and it never felt like this particular gameplay mechanic overstayed its welcome.
Aside from this, those who’ve played games like Life is Strange will know what to expect. Lost Records is heavily focused on building up its characters and narrative, giving you a handful of dialogue choices to make in each sequence that’ll have some sort of impact on the story down the line. You’re able to ‘uncover’ new dialogue choices by looking around the environment, which was a nice, yet relatively minor, change. While nothing really felt like it had a major pay off by the end of Tape 1, I’m hoping Tape 2 capitalises on this episode’s slow and steady momentum and takes the story in an interesting direction.
Unfortunately Lost Records’ soundtrack left me disappointed. This took me by surprise, given the game’s focus on a group of four angsty teens in the 90s forming a band. While there are some nice tunes that play throughout, the game misses the opportunity to fully embrace 90s culture. Most of the songs seem to lack energy and depth, especially during key moments, and it just left me feeling a little let down.
The game also suffers from a litany of bugs, issues and animation problems. Whether it’s pop in, objects not interacting the way they should or general lip sync being way off, all of it contributed to a less than stellar experience.
With all of that said, I’m still really keen to see how this story unfolds. DON’T NOD Montreal’s done enough to keep me intrigued with the story, even if it felt like a slog at times. It’s a game that appreciates the smaller things, but it feels like it continues to fight against itself thanks to some less than inspired writing and a bigger focus on character moments rather than the overarching narrative.
