Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Tape 1 Review – Rocking in the 90s

Lost Records: Bloom & Rage was a heady mixtape of nostalgia for me. It brings Don't Nod's narrative strengths of young adult melodrama and magical realism into an era I lived through. A story about four young women sharing a pivotal summer in the year of 1995.

It is a spot-on punk rock time capsule full of flawed characters, a mesmerizing pop soundtrack, and young adult angst. However, due to how Don't Nod has decided to present this tale, it is difficult for me to fully recommend this intimate adventure.

Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Tape 1 Review – My So-Called Life

Lost Records: Bloom & Rage starts with Swann Holloway, a woman returning to her childhood home of Velvet Cove after receiving a text from some old friends. After reconnecting at a local bar, her friends slowly remember the first time they met twenty-seven years ago and a haunting incident that has reunited them in the present.

Those friends include Autumn, a girl with a summer job and a jerk for a boss, Kat, a quiet but observant bundle of anger in overalls, and Nora, an acne-scarred defiant rocker with a turbulent home life.

This framing device, while familiar, does a great job of suspense. It's the basis for various coming-of-age stories like Stand By Me. The flashback structure adds a level of suspense to the entire story, the knowledge that something major or devastating will happen in the future. This is a studio that doesn't shy away from emotional gut-punches, and that unease hangs over the entire narrative.

Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Tape 1 Review – Gotta Get With My Friends

It's a clever set-up since the pacing of Lost Records: Bloom & Rage is far more sedate. Like most narrative-centric experiences, gameplay involves moving Swann through several locations, choosing dialogue options that either build (or destroy) relationships with certain characters and occasionally solving a puzzle. The closest point of comparison would be another Don't Nod drama, Tell Me Why. You have some authorship over Swann's character, but the draw is more on character drama than plot logistics.

The closest thing to a major mechanic is Swann's camcorder. At any point in the game, you can pull it out and record snippets of video. Record enough of a certain object or phenomenon and you'll make a Memoir, a sort of montage of your footage. There are even sections in Swann's bedroom where you can watch the footage you shot up to that point.

It's a small but wonderful way of characterizing Swann through gameplay. Recording every bird, squirrel, or beautiful skyline isn't just for completionism but illustrates Swann's interests. Her friends even encourage or chide her for it in certain scenes.

As the story of Lost Records: Bloom & Rage unfolds, the vibe is less Stephen King or Hitchcock and more The Donnas or Bikini Kill. From the minute you play as teenage Swann, it is clear Don't Nod did their research into the 90s era. 

Every time you use Swann's camcorder, there's a noticeable analog filter over the lens. The shelf is packed with boxy VHS cassette tapes and thick potboiler novels. She even has a troll doll and an off-brand Tamagotchi on her desk. But the best atmospheric touch is the music: a moody blend of dreampop mixed with riot grrl punk rock. When it comes to depicting the look and feel of the 1990s, this game comes off ace.

This underground attitude extends to Swann's friends. They play in a garage band, aptly titled Bloom & Rage, openly smoke, and complain about things in their personal life - complaints like distant or deadbeat fathers, annoying sisters, and how to get out of their dead-end small town.

Complimenting this is dialogue that walks the razor's edge of adolescence and awkwardness. Writing convincing dialogue is difficult for young adults, the first Life is Strange was particularly hit-and-miss, but it's clear the narrative team here did their research. The dialogue isn't just believable, it is couched in the era. 

The countercultural attitude isn't just the characters putting on airs but a part of the girl punk cultural movement that started in the mid-90s. The disdain for authority isn't just friction against parental systems, but an extension of social awareness of institutional problems. As angry and juvenile as the main cast can get, they have layers.

The present-day sections further contrast this atmosphere. While brief, these interludes do a great job of framing the characters' yearning for the past. A past not inundated with smartphones, social media, or recovering from a devastating global plague. The game even keeps track of your relationships between certain characters in the present and the past; further cementing the effect of time on people and memory. There is some rose-tinted nostalgia here, but it is more wistful than romantic.

Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Tape 1 Review – B-Side Pending

While the vibes of Lost Records: Bloom & Rage are immaculate, I can't fully recommend the game on them alone. There are some technical issues. Uncanny robotic facial animations and out-of-sync lip flaps kept distracting me during certain parts. There is some tell-don't-show going on regarding certain character dynamics. For example, Nora's dysfunctional home is alluded to in the montage and mentioned but not illustrated.

But the biggest hurdle is pacing. The lion's share of this game were several small scenes intercut with montages of small-town life, a nature walk through the woods, some quasi-horror segments, and a big rock-and-roll performance. The closest thing to stakes isn't life or death or confiding in a dark secret but helping a character find a set of lost keys. If you think plot and narrative momentum are central to an experience, chances are you'll be bored or frustrated by this.

Finally, Lost Records: Bloom & Rage is currently an incomplete story. There is an inciting incident and a big cliffhanger twist near the end. It's a twist that gets better the more I think about it, but that lack of closure does sour the experience; even if that closure arrives in a few months.

Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Tape 1 Review | Final Thoughts

While it only tells half a story and has some technical jank, Lost Records: Bloom & Rage retains the quirks and the charm of Don't Nod's previous outings. As awkward and occasionally embarrassing as Swann and her friends can be, their story is a melancholic and human one. And if you know you'll need to wait for the ending, I say give this a look.

Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Tape 1 was reviewed on PlayStation 5 with a copy provided by the publisher over the course of 8 hours of gameplay - all screenshots were taken during the process of review