Lost Records: Bloom & Rage is an adventure game triumph full of emotional depth.

DON’T NOD Montréal’s Lost Records: Bloom & Rage is a story-driven adventure game from the makers of Life is Strange. The game is a nuanced, nostalgic, and sometimes spooky narrative featuring characters full of emotional depth and marks another amazing success for the studio. They’ve produced something truly special.

Swann is an awkward 16-year-old girl living in the sleepy town of Velvet Cove, Michigan, in 1995. Her low self-esteem makes her shy and vulnerable, but that begins to change when she meets Autumn, Nora, and Kat; they become inseparable. Swann is determined to make the most of the summer because she will move to Vancouver in the fall.

The story is framed by a meeting between Swann and her friends in 2022. They had vowed never to see each other again, but mysterious circumstances forced them together 27 years later in their old hometown. They all have strange gaps in their memories and must piece together the events of that fateful summer.

The present timeline narrative successfully creates a feeling of suspense. Things seem perfect for Swann and her friends in idyllic Velvet Cove in 1995, but through their adult selves' conversations, we quickly sense that something must have gone terribly wrong. There’s a sense of foreboding because even though they don’t clearly remember what happened or the events that led up to it, they’re apprehensive to discuss it. They just know it was bad.

Players make dialogue choices that dynamically change some events and Swann’s relationship with each of the other girls. What you say (or don’t), when you say it, and where you’re looking can all change things. Unlike with other games of this kind, I never felt pressure to “get it right;” I could relax and enjoy events as they unfolded. I think this is thanks to the laid-back atmosphere of most of the game’s naturalistic, lifelike conversations. I was just spending time with these characters as they hung out, and no matter what I said, I always felt satisfied with what I learned about them. I rarely felt I got a “bad” outcome—just a different one.

While most of the game is dialogue-driven, there is also some exploration and environmental puzzle-solving. You may gain conversation options based on things you’ve seen in the environment or need to find clues or objects to solve puzzles. This wasn’t the strongest part of the game, but it was never tedious and added some color.

16-year-old Swann always carries a camcorder. You can film with it and zoom in to see more details. Your collect shots of different subjects for Swann’s “memoirs,” but you may also discover secrets. Sometimes, filming things is central to the plot. Shooting with the camcorder adds a sense of nostalgia to the game; the grainy viewfinder and video playback have convincing lo-fi video effects that make it feel like you’re looking into the past. Swann’s camera also doubles as a flashlight, and looking through it at night adds to the spookiness.

The game’s graphics are great on the PlayStation 5. The photorealistic environments are full of detail and the lighting adds a sense of realism and depth. The characters look and feel human; they’re designed with imperfections and realistic body types. At times, the character animations can look slightly stiff, especially during broad or fast movements, but that’s never the case with the facial animations. The girls emote convincingly, and their expressions can be subtle. It makes for an emotionally moving experience.

As of this writing, only the first part of Lost Records: Bloom & Rage is available—Tape 1: Bloom. Tape 2: Rage will release as a free update on April 15, 2025. I finished Tape 1 after around 7 or 8 hours, and now I eagerly anticipate the rest of the game. I loved the time I spent with Swann and her friends, and the wait to see how things unravel will be unbearable, especially after how things are left at the end of Tape 1.

Lost Records: Bloom & Rage is available now on PC (Steam), PlayStation 5 (free for PS+ subscribers), and Xbox Series X|S.

Overall Score: 9/10

Played on: PS5