I sat on the rooftop of the Movie Palace. Swann and I hadn’t met any of her friends yet. I didn’t know what would bring them together, just that this summer would ripple across the rest of their lives. Before I crossed the carpark to greet them, I wanted to take it all in. The abandoned Dungeons and Dragons game. The scattered beers. The graffiti. Lost Records: Bloom & Rage is deliberate. The game implores you to take it slow, appreciate the little things, and capture moments that might otherwise pass you by.

Those moments almost entirely focus on the four girls, Swann, Autumn, Nora, and Kat. Tape One always remains focused and character-driven, with a larger-than-life plot only on the periphery of this first chapter. This is, first and foremost, about Swann and her friends.

School’s out for the summer

Lost Records: Bloom & Rage is the latest narrative adventure from Don’t Nod, the developers behind Life is Strange. This review will cover ‘Tape 1’ (Bloom), with ‘Tape 2’ (Rage) set to release in April.

Bloom takes place across both the summer of 1995 and the main characters’ reunion 27 years later in 2022. In 1995 Swann starts the game as a typical shy nerdy girl, without any friends besides her cat. She’s moving away at the end of summer and is filming a documentary to remember her home when she first met her friends.

July, 1995

Let me make one thing abundantly clear: the recreation of 1995 is immaculate. Interactable objects fill every scene to the brim, immersing you in the mid-nineties version of Velvet Cove. From the click-clack of physical buttons on video cassette players to game cartridges to blow into, there are a thousand little details working in tandem. I was also shocked at how thoroughly the game managed to evoke 2022 as a specific era. The references to the pandemic and related slang firmly plant this as a dual-period piece that will likely age well because of this specificity.

Drifting between these periods the game also plays with perspective. Playing the summer of 1995 in third-person removes you from fully embodying Swann, giving you an emotional distance to the events as modern-day Swann recalls them. Meanwhile, as your friends reunite in a dingy bar booth, you shift to first-person. The events are more present as you gaze across the water-stained table at the wrinkles and grey hairs of friends you haven’t seen in almost three decades.

After launching, Bloom notably offers optional trigger warnings for your playthrough. These triggers, which the game also provides an extensive list of, are strongly related to the game’s 1995 setting. This is available online, although unless you’re concerned about the triggers I would advise against reading due to spoilers. Primarily these relate to terminology, behaviours, and perspectives that have (thankfully) fallen out of the mainstream in the last 27 years. The cast in 2022 often reflects on how much has changed—significantly softening the harsher moments when they come from our main characters. 

And while this is certainly a story of friendship, you could not talk about Bloom without noting that this is a fundamentally queer story. In the modern sections, the characters are open about this—but in their small town, as teenagers? While you can move towards a romance with any of Swann’s friends, this tape basks in the yearning that typifies young love.

Marco, Polo

Bloom doesn’t reinvent gameplay in the narrative adventure genre. You’ll choose dialogue options, walk around small environments to search for a particular item, or engage in very light puzzle solving. I hope there are a few more puzzles in part 2 though, as they did give the gameplay some necessary diversity.

Additional dialogue options may appear based on time or what direction Swann is looking—giving you ample reason to take a measured approach to your choices. Feedback for decisions shows how Swann’s words change her relationships. At times you’re forced to choose between the girls—improving one relationship at the cost of another. As the game reminds you, however, silence is a valid answer. 

While some of these options have Swann wait a second before responding, others have her interrupt her friends and chime in a lot earlier than I intended. Occasionally I unintentionally cut someone else off, and wish there was some kind of indicator of this. A few times a response was delivered in an unexpected tone, making me regret my decision. This was frustrating given no way of fast-forwarding through dialogue if you do reload a checkpoint, because of a poorly telegraphed choice.

Video In

Although occasionally held back by technical issues, presentation in Bloom is strong. Ethereal lighting serves as our rose-tinted glasses, with natural splendour enhanced by vibrant colours. Flashing forward, the natural lighting and first-person perspective fully showcase the stylised realism capturing a timeless visual design. Again, it is a shame that technical issues prevent us from fully immersing ourselves. Swaps between time periods meant extreme texture pop-in, with a sweater’s embroidery loading in over thirty full seconds.

Unfortunately, there were a few other minor technical issues across my playthrough. Occasionally characters sounded like they were underwater, the framerate was inconsistent, and most egregiously—a handful of hard crashes. These were frustrating, especially with no way to speed up scenes I had just played through. I hope they thoroughly iron out these issues by the release of the second tape.

It is indicative then, of the quality of the narrative here, the strength of these characters, and the absolutely immaculate vibes—that despite these issues I would still strongly recommend Lost Records: Bloom. It is possible that when the second part launches in April the narrative threads do not come together in a satisfying conclusion, but given the strength of Bloom’s storytelling—I would be shocked if Rage did not deliver. But, even if it doesn’t, Swann and her friends are characters worth meeting. 

Finally, I think you bring a lot of yourself to character-driven experiences like Bloom. Aspects of your own childhood refracted through Swann’s lens. Relationships and events that echo your own, even if they aren’t a perfect recreation. While the girls can’t wait to leave Velvet Cove, I am extremely eager to return.