When Life Is Strange made its debut in 2015, it carved a unique path in the adventure game genre, heavily influenced by Telltale’s narrative-driven style.
Fast forward nearly ten years, and Don’t Nod is back with a new game, Lost Records: Bloom and Rage, reminiscent of Stand By Me mixed with I Know What You Did Last Summer.
Lost Records centers on four teenage girls, not just a duo like Max and Chloe from Life Is Strange. The main character is Swann Holloway, a shy girl around 15 who loves horror movies and her cat Pumpkin. In the preview I played, Swann’s room was a ’90s time capsule filled with X-Files posters, neon notepads, and VHS tapes.
With the year set in 1995, the game’s lo-fi soundtrack immediately took me back to my own childhood. Everything felt so real and nostalgic; it’s exciting how much the ’90s vibe is embraced in this game.
Fans love when games bring back memories from their youth.
Swann doesn’t seem to have any supernatural abilities, but she does have a camcorder. This lets players switch to first-person view and record moments of her life, creating home movies narrated by Swann herself. The grainy filter over these recordings feels like a visual time machine.
These home movies use your exact recordings instead of generic footage, allowing players to find their inner director. You can even re-edit your videos on the fly if you’re not happy with your first attempt.
As Swann and her friends finish band practice and wander into the woods to shoot a music video for their punk rock band Bloom and Rage, I couldn’t help but admire the beautiful lighting effects of Unreal Engine 5. It felt like the most visually stunning entry in what could have been the Life is Strange series.
After recording scenes ranging from air-guitaring on hills to close-ups of deer poop (yes, really), they watched the sunset while sitting dangerously close to a cliff edge—classic teen invincibility vibes. But knowing Don’t Nod, this peace won’t last long.
Back at their garage hangout, Swann’s camcorder starts acting weirdly. It skips to late-night footage that she barely remembers filming. What’s shown shocks everyone but isn’t revealed in the demo. It leaves us wondering if there’s more to Swann or someone else’s powers.
Flashbacks are framed by modern-day scenes where adult Swann and Autumn discuss a creepy package they got with messages like “I remember.” Clearly, something from that summer still haunts them.
I’m eager for more Lost Records. The blend of ’90s nostalgia with classic Don’t Nod storytelling and new camcorder mechanics makes this game unforgettable until I can dive back in.
Originally set for release this fall, Lost Records: Bloom and Rage has been delayed to early 2025 on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S to allow space for Life is Strange: Double Exposure coming this October.
