As much as it pains me to say it, I’m immensely disappointed. Lost Records: Bloom & Rage’s first tape, Bloom, is a must-play. It’s why I granted the game a score of nine in my Tape 1 review. “Lost Records: Bloom & Rage is the modern evolution of the episodic adventure game format that I have been waiting for. If you fell in love with Life is Strange a decade ago, what you’ll find here won’t simply scratch the same itch,” I wrote. “This spiritual successor is an upgrade in every sense; boasting an intriguing story, a visually sumptuous world, and most importantly, an integral sense of player agency that so often gets lost in what is typically a fairly passive genre of gaming. Don’t Nod has really struck gold with this formula.”
And I stand by that, for Bloom at least. Rage, unfortunately, fails to capture a comparable level of magic. The “intriguing story” I mentioned in my original review reaches an underwhelming conclusion, and that player agency is heavily reduced with the gameplay mechanic of Swann’s camcorder eliminated completely partway through the second episode. I’m loath to paint Rage as a total disaster, because that wouldn’t be a true reflection of what this second instalment is. The writing of our key foursome remained strong resulting in several standout scenes but beyond this, I’m afraid everything else felt like a downgrade.
You can take a look at Lost Records: Bloom & Rage in action below.
I had hoped that Rage might involve a tad more puzzle solving as it was a fun aspect of Bloom that I felt could’ve been pushed further. There’s a memorable scene in which players’ dialogue choices will determine whether Swann is able to calm Autumn down from a panic attack which I found to be very well handled, and there is a segment where you have to make the correct choices in order to successfully sneak to a certain location. Beyond this though, there was very little player agency this time around. You’ll film a few more shots of your friends as Swann but before long, our protagonist loses her camera. It’s a shame because it’s that mechanic that I really felt allowed Lost Records: Bloom & Rage to stand apart from its competitors.
Even when Swann did lose her camera, there was an opportunity to do something with that – and I’ll note that mild spoilers lie ahead. The camera falls into the hands of Corey who films the main foursome as he chases them through the forest, and it’s the camera’s point of view that you see here. I, as Swann, was prompted to run away. The issue is that Corey didn’t exactly move, and I had to run towards the horizon line for about five seconds before the scene ended. It’s a shame because had I actually been tasked with outrunning Corey whilst experiencing the chase from the point of view of the pursuer, it could’ve been a really incredible camera-based set piece. Instead, the idea was ridiculously underbaked.
It’s about one of the only times Swann’s camera is used after it falls out of her possession. For the remainder of the tape, you’ll simply return to the typical episodic narrative game formula of selecting from dialogue options and examining various items. As I said, it’s just a shadow compared to what that original tape, Bloom, was.
Credit / Don’t Nod
My main gripe with Rage though lies in the conclusion of its story, or lack thereof, and I’m afraid there’s no way to address my concerns without entering spoiler territory so please take this as a formal spoiler warning. Lost Records: Bloom & Rage’s story centres around the Abyss. What is the Abyss? Well, we still don’t know. How did Kat discover and connect with the Abyss? Did it control her? What was with all of the ravens? Rage didn’t answer any of those questions either. I assume that the shadows of Corey and Kat that appeared during Bloom were present because they were both eventually taken by the Abyss, at least in my playthrough, in Rage. But then when someone is taken by the Abyss, how does that permit them to appear as a ‘shadow’ during past events? I’m left just as confused as I was in Bloom but, of course, that’s less of an issue when you’re only at the halfway point of the story.
Throughout the story, you could find newspaper clippings about missing miners and Fawn’s Rest, the creepy cabin the girls occupy as their summer hideout, was full of occult items and symbols. I had assumed that all of this might’ve been explained and tied together but no. Kat and Corey entered the Abyss, the end.
I can’t say the events of the present day left me feeling any more satisfied. The present day mystery concerned what was in the box addressed to our now-adult protagonists and while I did find the eventual reveal to be emotional, so too did it feel like a letdown (I’m attempting to withhold spoilers where possible). I also don’t really understand why the girls forgot what happened that summer. There’s no ‘supernatural’ reason so I can only assume they attempted to block it all out but doing so successfully as a group just feels somewhat bizarre and unlikely. And why was Swann’s adult appearance withheld for so long? For the majority of the game, the modern day segments are experienced in first person so I, again wrongly it seems, assumed Swann’s appearance might somehow link in to the plot but nope; she just looked like Swann but older. I don’t understand what the developers were hoping for me to gain from that reveal.
There’s hope for this tale yet, and that hope is offered by the game’s post-credits scene because clearly there’s more to come. This is the problem though, I’m hugely intrigued by what that post-credits scene teases and I’m desperate to get my hands on the next Lost Records instalment to continue on with this story, but Rage asks a little too much of players’ patience.
Lost Records: Bloom & Rage comprises two parts and yet I’d argue that the collective release feels like one part of a larger whole. Rage does little to conclude the events of Bloom, instead providing unsatisfying answers while withholding larger mysteries for a sequel that could take years to manifest, and that’s if it’s given the green light. I retain the opinion that there’s something very special about what Don’t Nod has conceived here; I just find myself struggling to find any sense of closure within the events of Rage. I’ll be there day one for a sequel. I just wish my satisfaction regarding this game didn’t rely on another that’s yet to exist.
Pros: Characters remain well written, great soundtrack
Cons: There’s very little conclusion with answers to the game’s mysteries withheld for a sequel
For fans of: Life is Strange, Telltale Games, Until Dawn, Detroit: Become Human
6/10: Good
Lost Records: Bloom & Rage is out now on PlayStation 5 (version tested), Xbox Series X/S, and Windows PC. A review code was provided by the publisher. Read a guide to our review scores here.
