Review cover Lost Records: Bloom & Rage - Tape 1 GBAtemp review
Xbox Series X|S

Product Information:

  • Release Date (NA): February 18, 2025
  • Release Date (EU): February 18, 2025
  • Publisher: DON’T NOD
  • Developer: DON’T NOD Montréal
  • Genres: Narrative adventure
  • Also For: Computer, PlayStation 5

Game Features:

Single player
Local Multiplayer
Online Multiplayer
Co-operative
The creative minds behind Life is Strange are back with a new franchise: Lost Records. The first instalment is the two-parter Bloom & Rage, with the recently-released Tape 1; so let’s see what it packs!

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After 27 years, Swann Holloway is back in Velvet Cove, a small, unassuming town in Michigan. The reason for her return is an unexpected reunion call from her high school friends. 

During a rebellious streak in the summer of 1995, teenagers Swann, Kat, Nora and Autumn developed an unbreakable friendship which led them to form the eponymous garage band Bloom & Rage. Despite their bond, events during that summer led to them vowing not to see each other again… 

Decades later, their past unexpectedly comes haunting them, leading to their reunion and forcing them to face their former deeds and revisit their relationship.

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A blooming and raging sisterhood

You’d be forgiven if you thought that Lost Records: Bloom & Rage was a new instalment in the Life is Strange franchise as it follows a similar visual style. But looks can be deceiving as this game takes place in the new Lost Records universe, with Bloom & Rage being the first instalment.

While it does not reach for realism, its stylistic look is detailed and its varied environments feel lived in. The presentation is enhanced by the excellent voice acting and the dreampop soundtrack sets the nostalgic tone.

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Nostalgia plays a central part in Bloom & Rage as the plot segues between past and current events. It’s an original way to build intrigue as it’s obvious to the player that there is some heavy baggage between Swann and her friends, but the details are always just out of reach (or out of memory, in this case). 

While this dual timeline narrative mechanic works well at keeping the player intrigued, its execution could be better optimised. I found the near-constant back-and-forth off-putting. Sometimes you’re viewing a past event for a few minutes, brought back to the present for a few minutes, only to be sent back in time. This could have been better paced to be less grating.

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In addition, the plot keeps teasing the big reason for the former band members to meet up after decades apart, but there are hours of fillers and dragged story beats before this is revealed. This does build the anticipation but nearly to a frustrating level. 

Furthermore, once the plot gets to the point of the reunion, the game ends without answering many of the lingering questions. This is due to the fact that only Tape 1, "Bloom", of this two-parter is currently available. Tape 2, "Rage", will be available from April 15 as a free downloadable update. One can hope for a satisfying conclusion but Tape 1 remains an incomplete story. 

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Applying the Life is Strange formula to a new universe

In Lost Records, DON’T NOD essentially applies its tried-and-tested Life is Strange formula in a new setting. This means that Lost Records: Bloom & Rage is practically a walking simulator, with no combat and interactive elements highlighted. While exploration is mostly a linear affair, it is encouraged as you might miss some interactions. These help flesh the universe and can also unlock some dialogue options.

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As with the developer’s other games, the narrative is the focus here, and it also adopts a branching design that is influenced by the player’s decisions. Tape 1 of Bloom & Rage features quality writing, exploring the nuances of the four band members and their relationship. Having the player influence how those relationships evolve and guide the direction of the plot based on their in-game choices makes for an engaging experience.

There are also some timed options in dialogue that add a sense of urgency to responses, while other options become available only after a particular mention in a conversation. As such, you’ll want to pay attention to what is being and has been said before selecting a reply. Based on your response, you’ll experience a different conversation or plot outcome. Irrespective of the choices, the conversations and plot flow well and feel cohesive, attesting to the developer’s expertise in crafting such branching narrative games.

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As with Life is Strange games, there is a gimmick to Lost Records as well. In Tape 1 of Bloom & Rage, it is teenage Swann’s propensity for videography. You can take videos and build your memories with her camcorder. While this feature appears to play a central role in Swann’s story arc, it ultimately feels more like a gimmick than anything else. Its use is not really encouraged or matters much, except for some specific instances in the gameplay where its use is needed.

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For me, completing Lost Records: Bloom & Rage - Tape 1 was ultimately unsatisfying as the experience mostly amounted to a buildup of what comes next. Tape 2 should, hopefully, tie up the many loose ends of the first part and unravel the lingering mysteries surrounding the members and their fateful summer of ‘95. As much as I love games with branching narratives, this one didn’t particularly strike me as a noteworthy one. It would be best to wait until Tape 2 comes out before deciding to hit play on this record. 

Lost Records: Bloom & Rage | LAUNCH TRAILER - Tape 1

Verdict

What We Liked ...
  • Cohesive branching narrative mechanic
  • Intriguing plot
What We Didn't Like ...
  • Irritatingly high frequency of back-and-forth switches across timelines
  • Some dragged story beats
  • Tape 1 ends with much left unanswered
6
Gameplay
In terms of gameplay, it's mostly akin to a walking simulator with minimal action as the focus is on the plot and player-driven narrative choices, but the main videotaping gimmick doesn’t do much to invite the player to engage much with it.
7
Presentation
Lost Records: Bloom & Rage - Tape 1 packs the stylistic look of DON’T NOD’s other games and its presentation is elevated with excellent voice acting and detailed environment.
5
Lasting Appeal
While there’s an interesting story with a lingering mystery, much of it is left unanswered in Tape 1 and the near-constant back-and-forth between timelines could have been better paced.
6.5
out of 10

Overall

As a two-parter, Tape 1 of Lost Records: Bloom & Rage would inevitably be incomplete but this approach doesn't do it much favours; so it would be best to wait until Tape 2 comes out before deciding to hit play on this record.
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I purchased the game. Really wanted to play it on my Steam Deck. Sadly it's a buggy ass mess that always crashes and force restarts my Steam Deck. 🤬
 
Just when I thought "Philosophy of the World" by The Shaggs was the worst song ever, here comes another trashy music album.
 
Just when I thought "Philosophy of the World" by The Shaggs was the worst song ever, here comes another trashy music album.

The soundtrack is the best part of the game. Especially the inclusion of the amazing Beach House.
 
  • Deleted by linuxares
  • Reason: Unnecessary
  • Deleted by linuxares
  • Reason: Unnecessary
What is so Woke/DEI about this game?
I loved the original Life Is Strange, and I've tried playing most of the sequels but none of them capture the feeling I got from the first game. The trailer for this looks good, I might check this out when it gets heavily discounted next year.

Edit: also nice review, keep up the good writing @Prans
 
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It's Don't Nod of course it'll be woke. I don't know why people expect otherwise especially considering that they made Life is Strange.

Anyways, I'm glad I held off on buying it at day 1. I'll probably just wait for the physical release on PS5. Hope Tape 2 is worth the wait.
 
"Man don't you guys hate how offended liberals get at everything these days, even stuff that literally has no effect on their life and they could simply ignore. Yeah those people sucks!"

Meanwhile in this thread: "WAAAAAH I am so offended by this game that doesn't effect me and I can easily ignore, I need to share my opinion about this because I am totally not an offendotron snowflake."

You guys are muppets and have become a parody of the thing you once criticized.
 
There are multiple issues with this game:

- Framerate is aweful. 10fps in 90% of the time on Steam deck with everything in low. You can’t reduce the window size to use FSR and it doesn’t get much better on Rog Ally. I don’t understand why devs love to use unreal engine 5 for games that don’t take advantage of it and only make the game to run worse.
- Nothing interesting happens until 5 hours into the game. The beginning is SO boring.
- Selected options are not taken into account for anything relevant. Relations between Swann and the rest of the characters mean nothing.

Not worth the full price.
 
There are multiple issues with this game:

- Framerate is aweful. 10fps in 90% of the time on Steam deck with everything in low. You can’t reduce the window size to use FSR and it doesn’t get much better on Rog Ally. I don’t understand why devs love to use unreal engine 5 for games that don’t take advantage of it and only make the game to run worse.
- Nothing interesting happens until 5 hours into the game. The beginning is SO boring.
- Selected options are not taken into account for anything relevant. Relations between Swann and the rest of the characters mean nothing.

Not worth the full price.

So I'm not the only one with Steam Deck problems when trying to run this game. I don't buy games on day on often unless it's something I'm like 90% sure I'll like. I'm a bit of a Life is Strange fanatic. I enjoyed Tell me Why. This game was sure to be a hit with me. Only problem is, it keeps force restarting my Steam Deck. Fuck this shit!!
 
So I'm not the only one with Steam Deck problems when trying to run this game. I don't buy games on day on often unless it's something I'm like 90% sure I'll like. I'm a bit of a Life is Strange fanatic. I enjoyed Tell me Why. This game was sure to be a hit with me. Only problem is, it keeps force restarting my Steam Deck. Fuck this shit!!
It runs like ass on PC period, not just the portables.
 
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So I'm not the only one with Steam Deck problems when trying to run this game. I don't buy games on day on often unless it's something I'm like 90% sure I'll like. I'm a bit of a Life is Strange fanatic. I enjoyed Tell me Why. This game was sure to be a hit with me. Only problem is, it keeps force restarting my Steam Deck. Fuck this shit!!
Yeah, I usually tend to play UE5 games on the rog ally due to horsepower but this game should not run like that on lowest settings on the deck. Don't nod directly used all the features provided by UE5 without any kind of optimization. You can clearly see that within the vegetation or volumetric lighting in the forest scenes. And the game doesn't look that "upgraded" compared to LiS games or tell me why. In addition, there are a huge amount of crashes on high-end PCs with intel gen 13 and 14 as well. The game oftenly crashes on startup on my i9-14900K + RTX4080 due to some shader compilation that should not happen at all.

I really love games like these devs do (Lis, tell me why...etc) but this game is a huge disappointment.
 
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Review cover
Product Information:
  • Release Date (NA): February 18, 2025
  • Release Date (EU): February 18, 2025
  • Publisher: DON’T NOD
  • Developer: DON’T NOD Montréal
  • Genres: Narrative adventure
  • Also For: Computer, PlayStation 5
Game Features:
Single player
Local Multiplayer
Online Multiplayer
Co-operative

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