LOST RECORDS BLOOM & RAGE Review - is it worth playing? Episode 1 Bloom #lostrecords #dontnod
18Lost Records Review – Is It Worth Playing? Episode Bloom
#lostrecords #dontnod
I've completed the first episode of Lost Records, the new game from DON'T NOD. A few years ago, I unexpectedly got hooked on Life is Strange, and I was quietly hoping for a similar experience here. Of course, in a different world, with a fresh story and new protagonists. There's still a chance that things will pick up in the second episode, but so far, I feel rather bored and drained.
The Bloom episode primarily focuses on introducing four teenage protagonists, exploring their personalities, problems, and the formation of their friendship. There's nothing wrong with that—the endless conversations feel quite realistic, humorous, and expressive—but after a while, I started getting tired of it.
Life is Strange skillfully balanced quiet moments with emotional and intense situations. In Lost Records, mystery and paranormal elements linger in the background, only occasionally reminding you of their presence. Almost until the very end of the episode, they remain entirely secondary. Halfway through, I was already frustrated because the story seemed to be heading toward something significant, yet it spent another hour solely on themes of friendship, exploration, examining dozens of objects, and recording meaningless videos. And this goes on for about five hours.
The only saving grace was the incredible 90s atmosphere, which dominates about 85% of the game. The remaining part takes place in a more familiar time—2022, right in the era of mask mandates.
Avoiding spoilers, I'll just say that Lost Records is a retrospective story about a certain summer adventure with a hidden layer. The protagonists' memories of that time are completely hazy, and all we know is that someone or something is trying to remind them of what really happened. We learn about a promise they made years ago, vowing never to meet again, even though they don’t know why. The central mystery is intriguing and gives hope for a solid payoff in the second episode.
The game puts you in the role of sixteen-year-old Swann—a somewhat quirky, overweight, but very likable girl. I was a bit worried that the developers would lean too heavily into body positivity themes, but they handled it with class. There’s no glorification, just a focus on the challenges someone with significant weight faces in society.
The rest of the group is even more eccentric and chaotic, leading to many interesting discussions and situations. The characters are well-acted and natural, which helps in forming a connection with them. I think if the pacing were better and the script had more impactful moments, my overall impression would be much different.
The 90s setting is impressive. There are tons of pop culture and technology references from that era. You’ll see iconic toys scattered around, find cassette tapes with mix compilations, and VHS tapes. The art direction is excellent, and as always with DON'T NOD, the soundtrack—filled with a mix of indie pop, rock, and punk—perfectly sets the mood.
It’s a shame that the gameplay doesn’t make much use of this and mainly revolves around dialogue and long exploration scenes, where you need to find a specific object to progress the story. Swann has a portable camera to capture key moments of the adventure.
Unfortunately, using it is utterly boring—outside of scripted moments, recording birds, objects, graffiti, or friends at every opportunity adds nothing to the story. The most useful function of the camera turns out to be its flash, which serves as a flashlight. Even in one scene, our recordings were pointless because the footage played back as a pre-rendered cutscene. Honestly, by the middle of the episode, I gave up on optional recordings entirely, as they felt like a complete waste of time.
As for the present-day segments, there aren’t any major surprises either—you switch to a first-person perspective and, while sitting in a bar, reminisce about the past, trying to recall what happened. Once again, the dialogue feels natural, and the passage of time and character changes are well depicted. There are plenty of dialogue choices that affect relationships, but it’s hard to tell at this point if they have a significant impact on the story. For now, they seem rather minimal.