Lost Records: Bloom & Rage (Bloom) Impressions
After a slow start, Bloom sets the stage for a (potentially) shocking and (probably) emotional finale
(If you’re looking for a traditional score, I’ll be reflecting on the game as a whole with a score once Tape 2 drops in April. I felt as though, with all the dangling threads and questions that I still had, I couldn’t give Bloom a score, just a recommendation that if you’re a fan of 90s nostalgia, the supernatural, and media properties like Super 8, Stranger Things and Stand By Me, you’ll probably enjoy what Don’t Nod Montreal sets up in this first tape. I need to experience how they land the story.)
Unlike Swann, Autumn, Kat, and Nora, I was only nine in 1995, had no idea what cool music was, and my best friend had just moved away the year before. I was a loner, my nose usually in a book, yearning for the friends and friendships I was reading about.
In that way, I related to Swann Holloway, the playable protagonist of Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, the first game from Don’t Nod’s Montreal studio. Tape 1, Bloom, released last week, and while fans of Life is Strange will likely enjoy it on its own, it’s harder to recommend to newcomers without Tape 2, Rage, which won’t be out until April.
Bloom opens in 2022 with Swann Holloway, back in Velvet Cove, Michigan, having a tense conversation with her mother. Even though we have no idea what happened yet, you can tell being back there is unnerving Swann, and her overbearing mother isn’t helping things at all. Finally, you get out of your car, and I was immediately surprised at the first-person perspective. (I’ve played Don’t Nod games since Remember Me back on the PS3, and I had to take a moment to think about if I’d seen them utilize first-person before.)
As the story shifts to the past, the game shifts to Don’t Nod’s traditional third-person views. It’s a bully and a chance encounter that brings Swann and the other girls together in 1995. Autumn is an Army brat and a skateboarder, Nora is a rebel who longs to leave Velvet Cove for LA, and Kat is a Riot GRRRL with a lot of anger about the world. Quite honestly, they’re the friends I wanted growing up.
Like Max Caulfield, Swann views the world through the lens of a camera—a camcorder that her father gifted her. Rather than just taking pictures of pre-ordained subjects, the camcorder can be used as a flashlight to explore and record a bevy of experiences for her memoirs. Everything is game, from her cat to an errant red balloon to a music video shoot in the forest, and it’s a fun way to stay immersed in the 1995 story.
It’s also a great way to reinforce that Swann is on borrowed time - the summer marks the last days she’ll be in Velvet Cove before her family moves to Canada, making what she records all the more important. (As the end of the tape makes known, she’s not the only foursome member on borrowed time, it seems.)
While I can’t speak for performance on consoles, performance on PC was mixed with my 3090 and 12th Gen i7. Character lip-syncs were off, which I had to laugh about because I had similar issues the first time I played the original Life is Strange. Some textures and environments were rendered beautifully, while some seemed to chug along. My experience on the Steam Deck was playable, but you might need reading glasses for some of the text.
In the end, Bloom was a strong start for a game I’m not sure needed a break between releases. Maybe it’s because I’m getting older, or that I’ve been waiting what feels like a decade for the last season of Stranger Things, but with all the games that are coming out before Tape 2 releases (including Steam Next Fest demos), I feel I’m going to have to replay Bloom anyway.
My hope for Rage in April is that the tone shifts dramatically. We’ve had (roughly) seven hours of setup, and I know I’m ready to discover what made the girls swear never to speak to each other again.
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