Life is Strange studio Don't Nod have already proven with their previous releases that they have immense narrative capabilities, with their storylines, settings, and characters delivering a thoughtfully crafted narrative-driven experience. The studio's upcoming release for early 2025, Lost Records: Bloom & Rage , happily continues this pattern for Don't Nod - at least, that seems to be the case after ComicBook was invited to preview Bloom & Rage ahead of Gamescom, and while my time with the game was fairly short, it's made this a "day one" game on my list of upcoming releases.
In the preview I played I was transported back into the 1990s immediately, stepping into the shoes of one of the four girls central to the story - Swann. Given that I am a quirky, redheaded nerd who has always been more interested in movies than the world actually happening around me, I immediately saw a lot of myself in Swann's demeanor, and while I saw myself in Swann, each of the following three girls that the narrative will center on are just as endearing as the last. Bloom & Rage doesn't romanticise being a teenage girl - the four girls each have their own personality and it makes them a group that is believable, with their interpersonal dynamics evolving even in just the short preview. Each has their own flaws, their own issues they may be dealing with internally or at home, and I'm excited to experience more of what the characters have to offer with the game's full release.
Experiencing Lost Records and its characters in all of their '90s glory wasn't the only place I got to experience them in - I was also given glimpses into two decades into the future, where it's clear that a significant event has taken place during the summer the girls spent making music videos behind Swann's camera and that the girls haven't spoken in years, until Swann and Autumn reunite at a diner table. The shift between past and present day events and the subtle references in conversation with Autumn in the diner creates an ultimately uneasy feeling - what could have possibly happened for four friends who seemed to be incredibly close to not talk for such a long time?
Each environment I was able to explore was rich and primed for exploration, with so many delightful 90s popculture references filling the space. Two of these spaces - Swann's bedroom and the garage where the girls bonded over punk music and Swann's camcorder - had so much to offer to someone who lived with a lot of these items in my own space, and seeing some posters that I would've had on my own walls or the best Poptart flavor that's ever been as the snack of choice inspired such a nostalgic feeling in me that I'm eager to return to with the full game. The third location I spent time exploring was a hiking trail where the girls shot a music video, and considering my own summers with my friends growing up were often recreating music videos in our backyards, this is what truly transported me and made me begin to feel what I can only assume the developers did as they created Bloom & Rage - a warm sense of familiarity.
Swann's camcorder is a massive piece of the game, the sentimental object that which she uses to document her life unfolding around her. I loved experiencing her life this way and it's a great way to offer a personlized experience to players, who will see what they've opted to record in the settings through memoirs is a nice way to document the player experience. For me, this means there were a lot of cat videos.
What was fantastic about the preview in particular to me was that while it was creating the aforementioned juxtaposition between the 1990s and present day events and relationships while building mystery about what the supernatural event that took place could be, I feel there were potentially hints as to what the mysterious event could have been. The fact that I have no way of knowing until I've experienced the full game is both exciting and
Lost Records: Bloom & Rage is coming to PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S in 2025.
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