When talking about indie games, especially those developed and published by independent studios, I generally hate relying too heavily on comparisons to another game. But let’s be honest, when talking about The Lost Record: Bloom and the Fury, we have to acknowledge that its history is deeply, inextricably linked to the Life is Strange franchise.
We may never know the behind-the-scenes history of why Dontnod broke away from Square Enix, leaving its flagship franchise in the hands of former collaborators Deck Nine and vowing to publish most of its titles in-house from now on. all we know is missing records Aiming to launch a new standalone IP for the studio that builds on Life is Strange while maintaining its key uniqueness – as the initial release window ended up being the same as the fifth LIS game, Life is Strange: Double Exposure The task becomes even more complicated when publishing windows conflict.
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Dontnod wisely made the decision to blink first, delaying The Lost Records: Bloom and Fury until early 2025 to avoid distracting from the large number of built-in players who clearly want to play both games.
Despite the release being months later than expected at this time of year, Dontnod released a 90-minute preview of Lost Records: Bloom & Rage during Gamescom. Of course, as our resident LIS fanatic, I’ve played it and have idea.
The nostalgia in Lost Records: Bloom and Fury is twofold. Of course, parts of the game (and much of what was shown in the demo) are set in 1995 to some extent. seen.
I’m about ten years younger than the main character, Swann, but her teenage bedroom brings back strong memories for me: The X-Files posters on the walls, focusing on Gillian Anderson, complemented by the deeply buried Lesbian Agent Scully fan fiction, handwritten, hidden in a box under the bed; bookshelf stacked with lurid horror novels and Regency romance novels; a regular handheld video camera hooked up to a TV, surrounded by handwritten VHS tapes box and a serious how-to book on filmmaking (Swann’s particular creative ambition).
I identify deeply with Swann more intimately than I do with my surroundings. Admittedly, Dontnod doesn’t exactly have a perfect track record when it comes to realistically representing the diverse characters they portray, even if their hearts are clearly always in the right place.
However, in “Lost Records”, the American female game screenwriting duo Desiree Cifre (Wylde Flowers) and Nina Freeman (Tacoma) served as narrative designers, working with director Michel Koch, producer Luc Baghadoust and other OG LIS trio The team worked together with designer Baptiste Moisan. In the all-female quartet at the heart of “Bloom and Fury,” Silvere and Freeman bring to life the authentic experience of Western girlhood for millennials.
Far from being defined by their appearance, Swann, Autumn, Nora, and Kate had something less than ideal about them, especially as teenagers: varying degrees of overweight, acne scars, blemishes, freckles, and stunted growth that Taking the voyeuristic fantasy of four girls who are unlikely young women as perfect sexual objects who can be seen without being seen, informs many video game prototypes.
Girls are given free rein to be shown to be imperfect in other ways as well. They fart both literally and figuratively while proudly comparing their most horrific vomiting stories; they’ll make sex jokes that are all fun and games until a comment goes too far for someone, It suddenly became awkward; in other words, they interacted the way teenage girls often do when there are no boys or adults around.
On top of that, Bloom & Rage was originally composed of two singers: Autumn, a passable singer, and Nora, an absolutely terrible singer. Games about aspiring musicians often feature performances worthy of being watched in a stadium, but it quickly becomes apparent that this isn’t the vibe at Lost Records. These girls are not really waiting for their talents to be discovered by some outside agent, because they are already preoccupied with discovering themselves, for themselves.
As a former teenage girl, I’ve never seen a cast of video game characters that I could so easily relate to my younger self. What I’m trying to say is that this move seems to be aimed at so-called capital players who hate seeing this kind of real representation in games, but I think that’s a dishonest assessment: I think it’s more accurate to say that it has nothing to do with them . It’s about us, and I thought maybe this time, that’s how it was conceived from the beginning.
But of course, when it comes to The Lost Records and nostalgia, there’s another side to the story, and that’s the specific nostalgia that Life is Strange fans will feel when playing the game. As you might expect, Lost Records plays very similarly to the LIS games: there are plenty of objects in the environment for Swann to interact with or comment on, as well as plenty of dialogue choices and optional interactions with other characters who keep Swann You can participate in lively conversations while engaging with other people in the scene.
There’s a lot going on. At times, I felt a little overwhelmed not wanting to miss any of it—but the higher level of interactivity also reflects an improvement on Life is Strange’s signature focus on protagonists with creative aspirations and abilities. Players can exercise subtle control over Swann’s cinematic choices – which are obviously very relevant to the overall game’s plot – and can also participate in Bloom & Rage’s musical mix. It’s the most interactive take on an artistically inclined protagonist Dontnod has ever attempted, adding what is essentially a video editing mini-game that’s infinitely repeatable and very engaging in its own right.
But what really struck me in this preview was Feel The content of the game is absolutely spot on. As someone who has experienced some indescribable joy when playing every new LIS-adjacent game, this echoes the fascination I felt when I first visited Arcadia Bay, where fantasy A vision of American watercolor, I can more or less confirm that Lost Records: Bloom and Fury perfectly showcases Dontnod’s talent for creating a game world that feels utterly peaceful, quietly joyful, and in Showing his sinister side without compromising.
I haven’t even touched on the current portion of the game; to be fair, they’re not the focus of this preview, although there are some brief scenes of middle-aged Swann and Autumn reconnecting after years apart. The focus of this demo was mostly on the young characters and their once mundane lives, revealing little about the bizarre events around which the entire central plot revolves.
But that’s okay; I’m impressed with what I’ve seen so far, and yes, Dontnod haven’t lost their original intention of creating Life is Strange, and are really taking a step back in terms of budget and technology, as well as their own experience All possible improvements were made. I really can’t wait for more.
The Lost Record: Bloom and Fury is expected to be released in two parts in early 2025 and will be available on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. This preview was played on PC.