Lost Records: Bloom & Rage - Tape 1 Reviews
For those who enjoy narrative adventure games that are fairly relaxed in their gameplay, this one comes highly recommended. Played as an interactive story, even casual gamers will be able to find their way around without a care. The story strikes a chord with me in terms of storytelling. It's about friendship, while the teenage girls are still searching for themselves. Their actions have consequences that we're just beginning to see in this first chapter of Lost Records: Bloom & Rage.
Review in French | Read full review
Lost Records: Bloom & Rage is an intimate, beautifully crafted experience that leans heavily into storytelling and atmosphere. If you’re drawn to games that explore emotion, nostalgia, and the bonds that shape us, this is an easy recommendation. Just be warned, it might take you down a path of remembering, so make sure you’re prepared.
But really, it’s the tale we’re here for and this is Bloom & Rage - Tape 1 really is the old adage of being about the friends we made along the way. After a slow start, things pick up nicely, doing a great job of recreating that teenage feeling of the 90’s, with no mobiles or internet but more random happenstance that leads to unforgettable adventures. Bloom & Rage - Tape 1 ends at a point that I’m now chomping at the bit to see what’s next, and I just hope the big mystery gets the pay off it deserves.
A wonderful throwback for the 90s adjacent kids with immersive story telling of the summer.
As I started this review I said it would be a tough one to do. Sitting here at the end it’s still tough. At its core Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Tape 1 is a great game. The characters are easy to fall in love with, the world is gorgeous and the story is beginning to click. The problem is the payoff to all of this has to wait until April. If I had to predict it, my overall score for Lost Records will be higher once it’s complete and we do get all the payoffs. But for now, Tape 1s slow start keeps Bloom in the good category with Rage expected to tie it all together. The fact that I can’t wait for Rage though should at least tell you Bloom is worth a play, but maybe wait til April and play it all at once?
Lost Records: Bloom & Rage delivers a nostalgic, character-driven story with strong writing and a dual-timeline structure. Its slow pacing and light gameplay may not appeal to everyone, but its emotional depth and well-developed relationships stand out. Minor technical issues exist, but the visuals and soundtrack effectively capture both eras. As the first half of a two-part story, it leaves many questions unanswered but remains worth following.
Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Tape 1 starts to scratch the itch that recent similar games just couldn’t. The mystery and setting leaves me feeling nostalgic for a time when I was very young. Just don’t expect the story to move at a mile a minute. The game’s pace glides along at a steady rate. Not much is revealed, but it’s up to Tape 2, coming in mid-April, to finish what this game has started. It’s going to be a long wait but in the meantime, I am happy to give Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Tape 1 a Thumb Culture Gold Award.
Lost Records: Bloom & Rage is a phenomenal narrative adventure from DON'T NOD. It expertly blends supernatural elements with a deeply personal coming-of-age story.
Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, the new Canadian team at Don't Nod, continues the studio's style, improving almost every aspect introduced in Life Is Strange. This first part of the story of Swann, Autumn, Nora, and Kat may surprise with its pacing and narrative, revolving around a MacGuffin that reunites old friends after years apart. Everything falls into place by the end of this installment, leaving you eagerly awaiting April 15th. True to Don't Nod's famous gaming style, Lost Records: Bloom & Rage will win over fans who appreciate the studio's narrative approach, delivering a heartfelt story that captivates emotionally. Let’s hope the second and final part lives up to this promising start.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Lost Records Bloom & Rage - Tape 1 is recommended for offering a captivating experience. The story and characters manage to keep you interested from beginning to end. So, if you like narrative games with a strong emotional component and a dash of mystery, this is a title you can't miss.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Despite its somewhat rocky inception, Lost Records: Bloom & Rage manages to find its fitting during its pivotal moments. Tape 1 of this adventure does a great job of capturing the ’90s picturesque corners of Michigan and the nostalgia of the lost teens’ era. I can’t wait to see the remainder of Swann’s adventure in Tape 2. However, given the number of technical issues one might run into, I would only recommend picking it up if you have a 2060 or a better GPU. Given its thoughtful regional pricing, it’s worth picking up if you’ve got the specs. On the consoles, a 60 fps mode would greatly help.
Those who know the studio at least a little will know what they are going to find in this new narrative adventure. We are faced with a first part where we are introduced to Swann and her friends. It is worth mentioning the use of the camera and the possibility of making montages with the scenes we recorded. But beyond that, there are few paranormal phenomena that give a twist to the plot, and this first film serves more as an introduction to the protagonists than as a game itself.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Tape 1 plants the seeds to yet another excellent teen drama and mystery by Don’t Nod: authentic, fun, intimate and intriguing, the title naturally navigates complex themes and teenage conversations, showing the studio's tremendous evolution. If things remain this way on Tape 2, we will definitely have a new classic of the adventure genre in our hands.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Tape 1 of Lost Records: Bloom & Rage is immersive, delicately crafted to feel as close to real life as a video game can get, and bursting with supernatural mystery.
Lost Records: Bloom sets the scene for a very intriguing finale with good character and story build-up but it does take time to get there and the episode ends just as the story is taking a turn. In that build up is some brilliant characterisation across two periods in history, world-class acting that makes these characters feel truly three-dimensional, compelling writing that keeps you hooked and a truly stunning depiction of Michigan that glows and glistens with beautiful, natural scenery. Swan’s recording adds an interesting approach for players to tell their own interpretations of the memories and this is a pleasant trip that often feels soothing and wholesome, but you feel Rage has quite a bit of work to do to stick the landing.
Lost Records: Bloom and Rage has a lot of great moments with just a few outliers that keep it from being an amazing experience. The story is great, which is elevated thanks to a wonderful cast and an interesting way of telling it. The basic gameplay for these kinds of games is here again, but with an intriguing Memoir feature to record different objects to create your own mini-videos. I wish the magical elements and finale were a bit more impactful, but I feel the narrative had enough to keep me interested in how they would continue the tale. It is also playable on the Steam Deck, albeit with some compromises. I wish I could get it to a fully stable 30 FPS without major visual downgrades, but with a game like this, the short drops down below weren't the end of the world. This is still going to be an enjoyable portable experience, and I had a blast playing it on the go.
Lost Records Bloom and Rage (Tape 1) not only recaptures the magic of DON’T NOD'S lightning in a bottle, but it enhances it in every way.
Lost Records: Bloom & Rage teleported me back to a time when freedom meant everything and there was nothing to be concerned about other than what my friends and I would do the next day.
Unlovable characters, no decision making, tedious mechanics, novice writing, terrible sound design and the most boring story in years add up to what is looking to be DONTNOD's worst game ever.
Lost Records: Bloom & Rage: Bloom (Tape 1) is hitting all the right notes to be another emotional gut-punch from Don’t Nod. With its bittersweet storytelling, perfectly curated aesthetic, and unshakable sense of unsettling mystery; I’m on the edge of my seat for Rage (Tape 2).