Lost Records: Bloom & Rage

Being a teenager is challenging for many reasons, including the trials of puberty and the awkwardness of trying to be cool. However, it is also a time of discovery, friendship, and learning to appreciate everything before it slips away. The Life is Strange series is a pioneer in delivering emotional and gripping tales of teenage angst, discovery, and supernatural elements. Although it has been a while since I played any games, I thoroughly enjoyed the first.

When I had the chance to play Lost Records: Bloom and Rage, I was eager to see if the writing still captivated me, if the teenage angst still brought a tear to my eye, and if the issues of the older games were resolved.


What is Lost Records: Bloom and Rage?

This review will be for the first half of Lost Records, titled Bloom, with Rage coming in April. LR: Bloom is the setup for Rage’s payoff.

LR: Bloom takes us back to the glorious 1990s when everything had reliable low-tech, we had Blockbuster, no threat of nuclear war, and the Blur and Oasis feud. The first chapter of the tale covers the youthful years of our protagonist Swan, a young woman who’s feeling the weight of the world, as she grows, finds her identity, yet discovers friendship and kindness.

And some very spooky s***!

The game opens with Swan heading into a rustic dinner located near her old hometown of Velvet Cove, to join a reunion with some old childhood friends. It has been 27 since she has last seen them, and 27 since a traumatic event which has left gaps in their memories of that one summer back in 1995. Swan, reuniting with her old friends Amber and Nora, goes back to rekindle the past, rediscover the highs of their friendship, and learn the truth about a sinister secret they have kept locked away even themselves.

LR: Bloom takes the formula we all know and love about the Life is Strange series, giving us an enriching story experience that’s beaming with emotional discourse, tearful revelations, plenty of clicking on random stuff, and picking tough choices that will alter later events in the game.  


The bloom of the 95, a nostalgic dreamscape of summer vibes

What I deeply admired about the original Life is Strange was the writing, the developing character arcs, and the interweaving narratives which would alter based on your decisions. The edge and harsh reality of your choices were some of the most captivating I played at the time.

LR: Bloom had me doing a few late nights, as I was hooked from start to finish to see the unravelling of the mystery. There was a lot I loved about the narrative and characters give me hope this setup will be followed by an epic conclusion where everything comes together.

The story might sound very familiar and to be honest, there are a few notions and callbacks to Stephen King’s IT. Be it centred on a group of youths who are social outcasts, them coming together in a moment when someone needs help from bullies, their blooming friendship and path of discovery, before finding a sinister element within their hometown. The timelines of the game’s narrative being 27 years apart, and the group all losing chunks of their memory are quite frankly very IT-inspired.

That being all said, why this plot framing is so effective, and the plot structure allows us to see two versions of the same story, we see the growth of our characters, and overall we can see ourselves so vividly, especially those of us in our older stages of life. It’s fantastic when the plot and characters work, and in LR: Bloom, everything comes together phenomenally.

The plot takes us between 1995 and 2022, with 1995 showing us Swan as a 17-year-old trying to find her way in life and displaying a keen interest in documenting her life through video. This gets her in trouble with a local bully, but Swan is saved by a plucky, fiery young woman called Kat. So after Swan meets Nora and Amber and together they form a powerful friendship in the peak of trouble. What follows is the girls helping each other out, hanging out, going on hikes, and eventually discovering some spooky stuff for good measure.

In 2022, we see Swan meeting with Amber at a Velvet Cove diner (all in first person interestingly enough), and they rekindle their friendship, and chat about their lives, loves, and what was lost, before soon picking apart a strange mystery, the traumatic event they can’t remember, and a bizarre package which has the question “Do you remember 1995?”.

This is all vastly gripping stuff, and it’s made even more enjoyable by the excellent cast of characters. The strongest part of IT was the childhood adventure, whereas the adult aspect was not. In LR: Bloom, both sides are fleshed out incredibly well, both sides engaging, and the switching and pacing of the two timelines are done tremendously, keeping you invested and wanting to know what will happen next.

I loved Kat, Nora, Swan, and Amber in both timelines, and felt their struggles, and powershifts through in a meaningful and heartfelt way. I can see there are a lot of discussions on who’s the favourite, and Nora was a clear winner for many fans, but Kat was my favourite friend for so many reasons. Oddly enough, she resembles my partner with her fringe and tomboy charm. But all characters are given their spotlight evenly, and how you progress with each of them, developing a blooming friendship, or something more felt mature, and thought-provoking.

I enjoyed being in this group of friends, it was nice, and everything just felt so enriching, and the developing mystery only enhanced an already great setup, and evolving narrative.

I will admit, that this game does take a long time to start with the supernatural stuff, and even when it does kick into gear, it feels like more of a background thing than the core of the plot. As I said LR: Bloom is a setup, and a slow burner at that, with even the package making its appearances in 2022 to entice us, but then at times feels left out as the group talks about their lives, wives, and photos of cats.

I am very lenient here as the payoff, or Rage should, or I hope be an epic conclusion that brings everything together. And the characters, pacing, and writing just gave me so much joy, and fulfilment regardless, that without the mystery, I would still have had a nice story-rich experience.

The only other complaint I did have was regarding some of the reveals and aesthetic choices, which I saw back in 2015’s Life is Strange. As I previously mentioned, there is a bully, or two of them, both are quite horrible and unlikable, and let’s say that the game does a very blunt job of making them misunderstood, and troubled, after encouraging you to stand your group and fight back against them. It’s so annoying when games or any media does this.

For sure, you can have complex characters and bullies who even have a softer side. Tony Soprano is a legendary figurehead of this trope, but has such as vast, mature range of traits, be it beating someone to death, and then seeing him feeding ducks in a swimming pool, can mean a lot to us, especially when handled well, and it is there. With Bloom, we get a lot of reasons to dislike certain characters, then at the last moment, we find a stash of documents which detail a sad, and troubled backstory for this character who we’re supposed to feel sorry for.

Like, really game. You did this with the crazy dude with the dog in the 2015 game … I ain’t doing this again!

And the only other thing is regarding the aesthetic choices … not with visuals or sound design, as these are both terrific! But there were a couple of moments, particularly towards the end, where something dramatic would happen, and randomly and loudly some indie song would play, and I just ended up laughing as this is a trope which should not be repeated ever again. It reminds me of a trashy reality show like Love Island or that episode of American Dad where Steve and his friends make an indie movie. The trope is silly, and I felt like for 90% of the game the drama felt concise and effective, then we get two which are just ruined by a cheesy, indie song which sounds like all other cheesy indie songs.

But that said, these stories, writing, and characters are all amazing, holding together an intriguing mystery, that’s paced superbly, evolves, and provides a genuine and heartfelt emotional venture that I didn’t want to let go of, and left me wanting more. I am hoping that Rage, the conclusion will be the payoff to what is a slow burn, but exciting start of the Lost Records story.


Teenage existence, every day a new venture, every day a new heartbreak

For LR: Bloom and the Life is Strange series overall, the story, characters and your choices are the main attractions for your attention. Aside from these outstanding elements, there is a minimal, yet engaging core gameplay loop, but there is always one dynamic that breaks the mould.

For the 2015 game, Max could rewind a short period, allowing her to see the very near future, and even change events if things didn’t work out. It was a neat mechanic that allowed for some compelling moments but never felt fully fleshed out in my honest opinion. For LR: Bloom, Swan will be doing the usual, from roaming beautiful environments and interacting with items, and people, but also be able to capture her teenage summer through a handy camcorder.

The camcorder is a neat mechanic, and thematically it’s nice as you can document all manner of elements of Swan’s life, from her cat, friends, life around her, and even recording two squirrels getting it on ….

You can edit your footage, make montages, and create your personal encyclopaedia on teenage life as you want it to be. Aside from that, there’s not much else disappointingly. Although the supernatural elements appear later in the game and are hinted at earlier, the gameplay lacks definitive exploration. You can record strange messages left by … something, and these have a weird, unnerving result when you’re editing videos, there’s not anything else which grabbed me with this mechanic. The video editing I largely didn’t bother, because I was enjoying the actual story too much, but also there wasn’t a need to do it.

LR: Bloom does have some unsettling moments when using the camcorder, such as seeing shadowy figures pop and looking at the footage they might not be there, that was creepy. But I was hoping for something a little more interesting with this mechanic, and maybe part 2, Rage, will provide that? My theory is that in the parcel is Swan’s camcorder and we get to do spooky stuff with it. My theory, and I hope Rage provides more interesting gameplay than this.

Otherwise, what we get is nothing new or special, with a lot of wandering around, interactions, and just vibing. The choices are the main highlight and the exploration is pretty sweet. I did find that many of the choices, or the vibe overall were “Nice” and nothing awful happened because of what I decided upon … yet, maybe.

The first game had such nail-biting moments, like talking Kate down from jumping off the roof of the school. That was so intense, and in LR: Bloom, there are tough choices, but nothing feels impactful, or risky. It’s just nice, and maybe at worst it’s a little bit bad, but oh well, it’ll be fine. Again, the second part might work on this and my choices will have heavy consequences. I get that vibe from this, and hoping that silly choice I made in Bloom, provides something utterly dramatic in Rage. But at least the choices in how you evolve your friendships, and more with the girls do have a lot of gravitas and again, I like to see how this is explored in the second part.


Overall?

Despite the familiar gameplay loop and some underwhelming mechanics, Lost Records: Bloom and Rage delivers an engaging and emotionally rich narrative. The writing, characters, and overall story captivated me, providing one of the most immersive gaming experiences I've had in a while. This review is written with high hopes that the upcoming Rage will provide a satisfying conclusion to the slow-burn setup of Bloom.

I sincerely hope that Lost Records avoids the pitfalls of other adaptations and delivers a compelling ending to this intriguing mystery. The excellent writing, lovable characters, and the sense of teenage adventure kept me hooked, whether it was finding lost keys, hanging out with friends, or uncovering spooky secrets. The choices and sense of mystery were compelling, and I eagerly await the payoff in Rage, which is set to release in April.

I highly recommend checking out Lost Records, and if you're curious about how the story concludes, stay tuned for our review of Rage in April!


+++ Excellent writing, compelling mystery and brilliant characters you can love
+ Nice presentation, visually stunning at times, very bright and lovely vibes
+ Meaningful choices with friendship, great setup for potentially an exciting conclusion

-- The camcorder mechanic is underwhelming and could be more interesting
- The vibe and conclusion to many choices don’t have much impact in this first half
- Some lame tropes do pop up here and there, but not a lot thankfully


The publisher kindly provided a review copy of Lost Records: Bloom and Rage.