It Still Takes Time To Get To The Rage
HIGH Likeable characters
LOW Stealth Section!
WTF Animal animations are still hard!
This is a review of the second part of Lost Records, released three months after Part 1. Please see Part 1’s review for an introduction to the content, more details about game basics and a general overview.
Now that the story is complete and I’ve played through both halves, I can say that while Lost Records: Bloom & Rage: Tape 2 delivers a largely engaging story, both parts of this game struggle with structural elements that don’t match the time and attention given to character interactions.
For example, we spend more time with the cast in the present day and discover how past events affected them. However, due to its overall shorter runtime, many of the developments come across as rushed, though exactly how the story plays out depends on choices the player makes throughout the narrative.
With a story-based game like Lost Records, character writing must be the high point. Fortunately, the main cast in Tape 2 continue to be compellingly written and acted, with appropriate moments of embarrassment considering that the girls are teenagers. Although they are at times menaced by a bully who uses gay slurs, I appreciated how queer or queer-friendly most of the group appeared to be. All the women are romanceable, and they embrace the feminist ‘Riot Grrrl’ culture of the ’90s. Although my own experiences growing up in its time period were quite different, I still found the struggles and behavior of the characters to be relatable.
Minor spoiler warning. With a narrative-heavy experience like this one, it’s difficult to review without talking about plot points and how they come together. I won’t get into anything specific, but for people who prefer to avoid any risk of spoilage at all, please skip to the last paragraph for my final thoughts.
*potential minor spoilers ahead*
The story and endings in Lost Records can come together in a few possible ways, but the climax always involves the supernatural mystery I referenced in the original review, and how Swann’s relationship with the other girls affects their interaction with it.
Relationship maintenance is important for this ending, with hearts appearing onscreen for successful interactions (or broken ones for failure) and in other cases, a leaf would appear indicating an impactful branching choice. However, without knowing that the hearts actually mean ‘successful’ and not ‘romantic’ upfront, it’s easy to pursue just one of the girls as a romance option, and accidentally spend too little time with the others. If any of the rest don’t feel close to Swann, they won’t stick around for the finale. Although this didn’t necessarily mean I got a ‘bad’ ending, it felt like failing and was disappointing after putting what I thought was the correct effort into forging good relationships with everyone.
This leads to one of my biggest issues with Lost Records overall — dialogue choices and consequences for did not feel well-signposted. I often enjoy choices and consequences in games, but my results here lead me to believe that I would have to carefully gamify a full playthrough of Tape 1 and Tape 2 to get the best ending. I’ve also heard unconfirmed speculation that endings can be altered by glitches. Even if that doesn’t turn out to be the case, it feels too confusing and difficult to get a ‘good ending’ where everyone stays until the end.
For example, in Tape 2 one of the characters has a panic attack, and Swann must find the correct objects to help her friend calm down. Some of these objects are obvious and others not so much, such as two unmarked purple toothbrushes — and I’m still unclear on how I was supposed to guess which toothbrush was the right one. It’s comically easy to fail this interaction, which was key to the relationship in the present day.
*end of potential spoilers*
In terms of gameplay, it remains the same between Tape 1 and Tape 2, featuring moving throughout small environments, interacting with characters, and using Swann’s video camera to record clips. The recording in Tape 1 didn’t affect progression in very meaningful ways, and unfortunately, it feels even more superfluous here in Tape 2. Using the camcorder is relegated to being a minor plot device at best, and a boring collection mechanic at worst.
Adding insult to injury, the ultimate payoff of this filming mechanic is a compilation of clips that I had no hand in editing. As it stands, apart from one or two brief instances, Bloom & Rage would have been served just as well by any other similar mechanic — there’s nothing about specifically using video that stands out, and capturing the footage feels like a chore.
The production values of Tape 2 are improved from Tape 1, the dev team apparently using the intervening months to polish things up. However, a few visual glitches still remain. Throughout the story, there were what some on the internet call “shadow people” appearing. At first, I thought it may have been intended as an atmospheric, spooky touch, but the timing at which these “shadow people” appeared did not seem to serve a narrative purpose, leading me to suspect that these unexplained images are actually graphical glitches.
Speaking of the shadow people, in general it feels like DontNod wanted to tell a more grounded story with fewer magical supernatural elements than Life Is Strange. Most of the supernatural elements in Lost Records were left ambiguous, to the point that they could even be interpreted as metaphor. Apart from a single scene at the very end of the story, the supernatural elements could have easily been removed and it wouldn’t have affected the experience at all.
Some players may love the queer, nostalgic coming-of-age tale that Lost Records is trying to tell. However, even as someone in the target demographic, I found that the structure, choices and consequences fell flat. I loved the characters and their interactions with each other, but the rest was shallow at best and confusing at worst. Lost Records is still an enjoyable experience, but those interested in the material should go into it with tempered expectations.
Rating: 6.5 out of 10
Buy Lost Records: Bloom And Rage: PC — PS — XB
Disclosures: This game is developed and published by Don’t Nod. It is currently available on XBX/S, PS5 and PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PS5. Approximately six hours (for Part 2) were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was completed. There are no multiplayer modes.
Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated M and contains Blood and Gore, Nudity, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes, Use of Drugs and Alcohol, Violence. Underage girls smoke weed, and drink some beers. In addition, there is adult alcohol consumption. Talk of sexual situations such as kissing. There is light blood with cutting of hands and nose bleeds. Swear words like sh*t and f**k are said throughout. Antagonists use gay slurs and use fat shaming language.
Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes.
Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game offers subtitles. The subtitles can be altered and/ or resized. All dialogue has written text, and even visual cues on screen show an indicator of who is talking. Sound effects are given visual indicators and no gameplay is compromised with lack of sound. This game is fully accessible.
Remappable Controls: This game’s controls are fully remappable.
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