Lost Records Bloom and Rage Tape 1 Spoiler-Free Review

Reading Time: 20 minutes.

Don’t Nod made one of my favorite gaming franchises, and my favorite game in that franchise, the first Life is Strange game, over a decade ago. Since then, they’ve released a few other games, from the second Life is Strange, to Tell me Why, and Twin Mirror. These were story-driven games, but nothing fully captured that magic of the first Life is Strange game. Nothing felt like it was a piece of me I had forgotten and lost like that first Life is Strange game. Life is Strange felt like a Polaroid snap of a piece of my soul, and I loved it for that. I worried the studio had used all its magic on that first entry in the Life is Strange franchise.

The teaser trailer for Lost Records: Bloom & Rage looked amazing. Like many Life is Strange fans, I was cautiously optimistic. This seemed like the exact kind of game we’ve been wanting to see from them, but could it hold up to Life is Strange? It’s certainly no easy task, how do you compare something to a piece of art that defined a genre? I downloaded Bloom and Rage as soon as it came out anyway.

I haven’t stopped playing it since.

If you read no further (although I will keep all major spoilers out of this), know this: Lost Records: Bloom and Rage, absolutely lives up to the high bar Life is Strange set, in fact, in many ways, it surpasses it. This is more than the spiritual successor to Life is Strange, it’s an artwork all in its own right, and playing it feels wonderful. It found a ball of emotions tightly buried in my chest from my own childhood and unraveled it. This is a game that will be remembered for its heart, no matter how the second half (“Tape 2,” that is) goes, and you should absolutely consider buying it before the second half comes out, if only because you may want an excuse to play the first half a few times anyway.

Plus, it’s one price for both tapes, so what do you have to lose?

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All screenshots via Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, Don’t Nod Entertainment. Some mild cleanup may be done to remove spoilers or Playstation UI elements

Overall: 10/10 (so far)

Platform reviewed on: PS5 predominantly, some Steam Deck (PC). Both copies of the game were purchased by me for the purpose of playing the hell out of them. The choice to review came later. They were offered at a 10% launch discount for around $35 USD each.

Loves:

• Characters are phenomenal
• Setting is realistic, immersive, and fun (I miss the 90’s)
• Amazing graphics, music, and sound
• A rich mystery that I can’t wait to get to the bottom of
• Choices really matter, and feel realistically presented

Concerns:

• It’s the first half, so all the (many) mysteries they raised have to be answered in the second half.
• Let’s hope Tape 2 is long, because I never want to leave the summer of 1995 and they still have a lot to unravel.

I am reluctant to give anything a 10, especially something only halfway released. A 9.5 is usually my limit. However, this is the perfect setup to something more, and the time until April 15th when the second “tape” drops can’t come fast enough. I hope the complete game is as much a “10” as the first half is.

A Childhood Lost and Found

I didn’t have an especially good childhood. Not a happy one, anyway. I don’t think most of us do. I think that’s why we’re so drawn to idealized versions of the past. For me, I was a queer kid growing up in suburban sprawl in a small town. I relied on my parents to get anywhere, and they let me go nowhere. You think helicopter parents are bad? I had warden parents. I grew up in the age of paranoia, and was practically on a leash. Toss in being gay in a deeply red area and you have a lonely, isolated, and boring childhood.

There was the wall my parents put up around me, and the one I built myself over not trusting my queer heart to break out of its shell and find my people. Back then, I had no one I could be myself around. No one I could test the waters of my queerness around. So, for me, stepping back into 1995 and seeing these girls come together to stop a bully and form a lifelong bond? It healed the broken heart of my inner child.

But like all great stories, it’s not perfect.

It’s true, some parts of Bloom and Rage give us a rose-tinted, saccharine version of queer girlhood in the 90’s. The misfits find each other and create a safe space for themselves. You can have your crushes, flirt and joke, and be yourself with a group of friends who will love and accept you for however you play Swann, your weirdness, your queerness (or straightness), and even that you like bugs.

A Teenager in the 90’s

In Lost Records, we play as Swann, both in the past as her 16-year-old self and the “present,” in 2022, as her 43-year-old self. We spend most of our time in the past though. I can’t say enough good things for her character as a protagonist. Most games like this give us a blank slate protagonist, with space to write our own personality on the main character’s. And Lost Records certainly does let you do some of that. Swann can be timid, quiet, shy, or finding her voice finally thanks to your choices.

 

But that’s the thing, it’s her voice. It’s the voice of a teenage girl who talks to her cat more often than people as she slowly discovers a world outside of her bubble. Standing up to bullies may give you a prompt choice that makes it sound like Swann is about to lay a verbal smackdown, but she stutters when it comes out, and chooses less harsh words. The voice in her head said something better than what her mouth did. It’s such a wonderful way to display that awkward period in your life when you can never say the right thing, but had the perfect comeback in your head. Normally, it might be frustrating when this happens, but I never felt that way about Swann. You can see she’s doing her best and while she is sometimes cringe, she is learning to be free, and it’s incredibly endearing. It’s perhaps one of media’s best portrayals of social anxiety, of wanting to be with friends and outside and being yourself, but feeling afraid to do so. It’s so perfectly represented here, like pages pulled out of so many girls’ journals and turned into a protagonist that’s relatable, sincere, and distinct.

Lost Records: Bloom and Rage could have done what other games do. The fantasy of a confident protagonist, a blank slate who says exactly the dialog option you pick. Make you feel like the coolest person in the room. They could have taken the easiest of routes. Instead, they gave us a character who is uniquely herself, and it’s so refreshing to see something real in gaming, not an idealized look into the situations at hand. This is real, it’s authentic, and Swann sets a benchmark that protagonists will have to live up to in other narrative-driven games, because otherwise they’ll all feel a whole lot cheaper if we just keep getting the perfect blank slates.

Our Guide to the 90’s

I won’t reveal every single little 90’s easter egg you’ll come across. You’ll be happily surprised by them. But there are a few universal joys from the 90’s here, including just the experience of being a teenager, especially in the time before cellphones, constant tracking, and streaming media. Early in the game you can, like I’m sure many of us have, leave a middle finger in the pin art toy Swann has in her room. Movie references, TV shows, posters on her wall, all of it is like getting slammed by the 90’s themselves. A teenager’s room is a snapshot of culture in time, and Swann’s perfectly encapsulates that period in time.

Picking up items reveals they have weight and texture. You can flip the pin board around to reset the pins. Turning a VHS tape in your hand has the right sound of gripping a VHS tape, specifically one from a video store with the plastic for the label stretched and warped slightly from repeatedly putting printed-out movie labels in them. I could almost feel the texture of those old VHS cases in my hand as Swann opens them up to check what’s inside.

There’s all the trappings of teendom here. Secret storage for your fanfics and spicy material, the little corners of knickknacks and old toys, bookshelves with a large variety of books, and even a corner full of little treasures from the woods. Who didn’t have a rock collection at some point in their lives?

Swann is the perfect guide to take us through the 90’s. She’s awkward, shy, unsure of herself, all traits most teenagers, hell, most adults, can relate to. If you didn’t spend your childhood in the 90’s (I was quite young, but I was there!), you may need Swann to ask questions like, “What’s a ‘riot grrrl'” or “what’s a zine?” Swann’s there to guide us through the 90’s, her innocence and sheltered life making for a great leap into the world of the 90’s, whether you were there once before or not.

God, it’s Wonderful

I’m younger than the characters in this game, but I still remember being a kid without a cellphone. I remember dialing collect calls to my parents or asking my friend’s parents if I could speak to their child. It’s a beautiful era where culture was palpable, not fleeting. Where you could hang out with friends without interruption or parental surveillance. Where the cultural zeitgeist wouldn’t scream past you faster than you could open TikTok. When your friends wouldn’t have to scroll Instagram while you tied your shoe. It was an era of connection, that essence is captured here perfectly.

 

The 90’s represent the period immediately before our over-saturated streaming culture lead to generic content everywhere. Media and culture, from riot grrrls, garage band punk music that could make it to the radio because the stations weren’t all ran by the same company, The X-Files, Daria, or a new music video on MTV could shape a generation. Before all of our culture came from a pocketable dopamine dispenser spitting out the same memes with a slightly different wrapper. It’s a vibe, a feel, a texture, and it permeates through the game. For people who experienced a childhood in the 90’s, it’ll feel like stepping back in time. For the others, I suspect it’ll feel a little disorienting at first. But quickly, I’m sure, it’ll feel natural. No one’s looking down at their phone constantly. Everyone is just in every moment, even the awkward ones. Everyone is present. It might be exactly what you need right now.

The Best Summer Ever

If you’re like me, you might not have a “best summer ever.” You might not be able to recall anything as wonderful as what these girls found back in their summer of ’95. But joining them on this adventure is something magical, and might just bring back a few happy memories you thought you lost too. The game makes sure to introduce conflict, yes, but also shows beloved experiences that shape these girls’ lives forever. There’s more than just horror, thrills, and mystery here. There’s a cozy, analog feel that you absolutely need right now.

For a lot of teens, there’s something else: the trauma of a move. Nothing throws a wrench in your childhood like losing all your friends. While technology has made this easier, it certainly wasn’t easy in the times before group hangs on Discord. Moving would mean leaving everything you love behind. For many, it would mean never restarting someplace new either. Swann goes from seeing the move as an annoyance to something worse. Before, she was leaving a small town she had a limited connection to. Now she’s formed a surprisingly fast and lifelong bond with three girls, just as she has to leave them. She discovered herself through them, only to come to the harshest reality of childhood: it has an expiration date.

There’s a hazy sort of fog over these past memories. Remembering your childhood in a better light than it was. Only Autumn has a job, and she only works Friday and Saturday nights during the summer. They’re not worried about going into generational debt to go to college because prices haven’t skyrocketed. This is their one last summer where they don’t have to worry about what’s next, and they live their lives to the fullest.

Reliving that final magical summer before adulthood with them is an experience you won’t want to miss, even as a mystery grows and deepens, pulling the girls into something so horrible, they’d make a pact that would have them not see each other for 27 years.

Riot Grrrls

There’s a lot to love about this slice of life in the 90’s, but there’s also the core issues of sexism, homophobia, fatphobia, and the patriarchy at the core of Bloom and Rage. It’s right there in the title. Bloom and Rage. We look into the lives of these teenage girls having their best summer ever. They get to experience their own wonderful version girlhood where you find your chosen family and the friends who will support you no matter what. They get to bloom. But we also see how, even with this security, they’re not safe. Bullies, slurs, sexual advances they didn’t ask for, and the struggle to be able to express yourself as a full person, not the sex object media demands you become. As wonderful as their summer together is, we’re constantly reminded that things can only get so good in a broken society that preys on women and LGBTQ+ people. They turn to the riot grrrl scene with their rage.

Bloom and Rage never spends so much time playing in the sand to forget the world outside. It doesn’t pretend that everything was perfect. It gives us the nostalgia, the good with the bad, and it’s a realistic and immersive experience for it. Even playing the game multiple times through, every emotional blow hits home because it feels so right for the moment. This has hit me as hard on my fourth playthrough as it did on my first.

Magic and Mystery

Righteous feminine rage, riot grrrls, and magic, name a better trio. This is a story that will feel magical before the magic even begins. A trip gone awry will open new possibilities for the girls. Unlike Life is Strange, a power won’t define the story, these girls define it themselves. But there is something going on, and while theories about it are all over the place, one thing’s certain, it’s creepy, and definitely supernatural.

It’s hard not to see the similarities between other popular nostalgic media, including Life is Strange. You could see this as a variety of influences thrown into a blender, all feeling familiar yet new. It’s easy to draw comparisons to It, Stand by Me, The Craft, and Twin Peaks. These were certainly influences on this game, but their combination created something unique, a mystery where you won’t have any idea where it could go next.

The Mystery Deepens

At first, I worried the mystery could be too shallow. After all, they’re brought together to open a box. What could be the big deal with that? But by the end of the first part, and after playing multiple times through, going over my own notes, and even participating in the alternate reality game (ARG), I realized this mystery is far deeper than it seemed at first.

The more you pay attention in this game, the deeper the mystery gets. So much is packed in the first tape’s roughly 6-10 hour playtime, depending on how many collectables you get. At this point, with four full playthroughs and most of the achievements I could get in Tape 1, I’ve racked up 60 hours (more if I keep playing instead of writing this review). I found parts I missed on my fourth playthrough, events that get triggered only if you picked different options hours ago. The mystery at the heart of these girls’ lives spans much deeper than a box. Missing memories, supernatural specters, and forces beyond our understanding all link together in a mystery that hasn’t been solved yet. We know that the girls had an amazing summer together and that afterwards, something happened that was so bad, they vowed to never return or speak to each other again. But they receive a box 27 years later, a box with secrets they’ve long since forgotten. Figuring out why is as much a mystery to us as it is them. They’re piecing together their own memories as they figure out why they’re back together. It’s unique, and certainly heavier than it might appear on the surface. Speed run the game and you’ll miss the biggest moments. But take your time, and you’ll see how deep the rabbit hole goes.

A Narrow Focus

By the end of the first tape, I loved Swann’s little group of friends, past and present. Of course, Swann’s lovable as well, as the awkward introvert with a pure heart. The game goes into great detail describing who these people are, what they like, what they want out of life. Learning everything you can about these characters is a rewarding experience. We mostly learn about other characters through their relation to the main girls. Dylan and Corey, two characters you meet early in the story, get the most attention outside of our core group, Besides that, a bartender and a regular at the bar raise more questions and remain a mystery. Swann’s mother is a voice only. Her dad is mentioned, never seen or heard. The other kids’ parents are discussed on occasion, one is in the military, one divorced her mom and married someone obnoxious. The other has oppressively controlling parents. But we never meet any of them. Instead, we see them through the lens of Swann’s new friends, a surprisingly accurate portrayal of childhood friendships.

The focus of the game is clearly on our core group, it’s just kind of funny how we see almost no one else. We see that people clearly exist, there is evidence of them everywhere. But we just don’t really get to interact with many people.

The game doesn’t feel like it’s at a loss for this. It’s unorthodox for a game like this, but this game is strange. This town is strange. Perhaps that’s the point. These girls feel like they’re alone in the world together.

The best summer ever would be one without parental supervision anyway. No kid’s going to have a good time with the parents around, and the story wouldn’t move without these four girls together. It might seem limiting, but it’s anything but. The lack of other characters, especially parents, is why these girls get a chance to grow so much together.

Will it be Long Enough?

A mystery can certainly have twists and surprise revelations, but they have to feel earned. Conclusions shouldn’t rush to meet you; fate is a slow horse. However, in the past, Don’t Nod has had met their endings in a hurry, a flaw many story-driven games suffer from. Where, suddenly, the pace gets rushed, plot points are covered with exposition instead of discovery, and the game comes to an abrupt end. This may be deliberate, frontloading a game with the most resources increases intrigue and interest, especially for episodic titles. Sometimes this can still be satisfying. Life is Strange 1 was. Other times, it can feel undeserved, such as in Tell Me Why and Twin Mirror. I still enjoyed these games, but a game falling flat on its face at the end can make the memorable moments before it feel cheapened.

So, given the roughly 6 hour length for an average, non-completionist, playthrough of the first tape, would another 6 hours wrap this up in a satisfying manner? It’s hard to say, but I’m leaning towards no. I feel like it needs more.

Perhaps it’s because I want to spend far more time in the strange antics of Velvet Cove in summer of 1995, but I feel like there are so many open mysteries that resolving them won’t be enough. The plan could be to kick off a franchise where other characters solve different issues in the same world. The alternate reality game (ARG) sitting outside the game for people to discover on their own does suggest that there could be answers to questions that are raised in-game, but never answered there. That would be wholly unsatisfying. ARGs can be fun, but not as much as the in-game universe Don’t Nod built. To invest in these characters and their stories is to not accept that they came back to Velvet Cove in 2022, seeking answers, only to get an incomplete story. I personally believe tape 2 will have to be longer than tape 1 to give us everything in a satisfying way, but I won’t be able to say for a month and a half.

However, I could be wrong. It’s impossible to predict currently. I came into this game cautiously optimistic and Don’t Nod shocked me with a heartfelt game the likes of which I didn’t think anyone could make anymore. After tape 2, I can amend this review and share a tape 2-specific review. However, for now, we can only hope that the pacing doesn’t change much. Because this felt perfect. A little slow in the beginning, as to be expected, but you’re quickly hooked. I wouldn’t change the pacing, and hope they don’t need to rush things along in tape 2 to uncover all the secrets these women set out to understand about their eventful summer 27 years ago.

Observing and Recording Everything

 

I always like it when a game lets you be creative. Strumming on Ellie’s guitar in The Last of Us 2 or taking photos with Max’s camera and lining up the shots just right in Life is Strange: Double Exposure. These are fun moments that ensure no two playthroughs are exactly alike.

Lost Records: Bloom and Rage seems to offer far more opportunities for creativity than I’ve seen in most games that don’t center that creativity.

Swann’s family is moving, and she’s making a sort of memoir of her life in Velvet Cove before she has to leave. At first, this is just stuff around her room and some nature shots. But as I’m sure you know, it eventually becomes her best summer ever when she meets a group of girls and has adventures with them. Adventures you can record. Band practice, nature hikes, secret sleepovers, all is in your lens. You get to choose how you zoom in and out, when you record, which subjects you want in each memoir. After you collect a set number of subjects in the same category, you can put together a little movie on the subject, shuffling your clips around and leaving your least favorite on the cutting room floor. At first I didn’t think much of it. Another collectable mechanic. But then I started having fun using the motion controls on the PS5 controller to line up shots better, track eyes, zoom in and out on certain moments or, when making a music video, let my inner MTV camerawoman skills shine with crazy angles, zooming in and out, and bopping to the beat.

 

In games like Life is Strange, your character keeps a journal. In this, Swann uses the video as her journal, her voiceover being the content you’d usually write on the page. But the video itself? That’s all you. You get to learn more about Swann and her town while also doing a bit of light video editing and direction. And if the in-game videos aren’t enough for you, you can also turn on a surprisingly capable photo mode and take your own shots.

Seeing the shots people have uploaded to social media, there’s a lot of variety with this photo mode, and you can get just as creative with what you share as with what you make in the game.

The Parts that Make Up the Whole

A lot of this review has focused on the story without being too specific about anything that could spoil it. You’re welcome for that! But what about the other elements that make up a game. It is, after all, a game. A movie or a book can have a good story too, how does it feel to play it? Is it good as a video game?

Yes!

Gameplay

This action will have consequences.

You learn early on in Lost Records that a small leaf icon over your choice will confirm that the choice will affect choices you can make later. You will see that leaf a lot. In fact, I’m shocked at how many small choices have big changes later. If Life is Strange introduced the idea of the “butterfly effect” with the entire game revolving around a single choice that makes two very distinct timelines, this is more like watching a tree grow into a towering oak of branching timelines. A tiny choice early in the game could be your cat’s name, which affects the type of cat you have in both childhood and adulthood as well as your phone case. Another choice to be more aggressive could lead to a person later supporting you when they wouldn’t have otherwise… or vice-versa.

If you’ve played decision-based narrative games, you’re aware of this mechanic, but this is something way beyond anything I’ve seen before. Some dialog options don’t even come up unless you do things in a very particular order, or stand in a specific spot, or allow a gap in conversation. The choices you make there can change how other characters talk scenes later. I am fascinated at how the decision tree must work in this game. As a developer who has looked into making her own games like this, the complexity of this is awe-inspiring. It feels like something that would be impossible to lay out without looking like an insane person. I’ve done four playthroughs now, trying various changes, and not once have I even had the exact same conversations, even when I’m mostly picking the same choices. No two plays of this game are going to be the same unless you have a robot play for you. I’ve never seen anything like this.

Hunting for clues in this game is incredible. I found little clues and tidbits on my fourth playthrough that I missed on the first three, and I’m certain my fifth playthrough will uncover similar secrets. Dialog options and things to reminisce about that I had missed because I didn’t perform certain actions. And if you think it’s because I’ve been breezing through these games, guess again. I got rare achievements on my first playthrough, and have put—according to the Playstation app—nearly 60 hours into this game for four playthroughs.

Sleep? No, haven’t been doing that much, why do you ask?

One thing that always bothers me in games like this is the, “Are you coming?” dialogs. When you want to explore an area and you keep getting pushed into the next by this repeated dialog that doesn’t matter. You can spend days hunting around typically, and nothing would change, so why keep repeating the line? And, on occasion, you do get nudges like this, but usually tension is added to your clue hunting by more fluid dialog. Normal conversations continuing without you that you can quip on or insert your own thoughts, but only for a certain time. It makes it feel more real, more immersive. The conversation doesn’t wait for me to respond, it can move on without me. I have to be present. Because of that, there’s an urge to not only explore, but pay attention to everything. It feels busier than other games like this, in the best way. It’s more engaging and immersive than other narrative-driven games, and I think that immersion adds so much to the story, the gameplay, and the overall feel of Lost Records.

The Music

You can’t talk about Lost Records: Bloom and Rage without mentioning the music. The name of the game comes from the girls’ band! It’s a combination of perfectly moody background music, dreamy hits, and riot grrrl thrashing. Music from the 90’s and now, and a feel that is universal. I sometimes throw a good game soundtrack on the background while I work, but I couldn’t do that for this one. It’s so poignant that I found myself remembering items I wanted to add to this review constantly, and it made working on anything else difficult. Sparks by The Dø, especially, comes to mind. It plays during my favorite scene towards the end of the first tape and it just makes me want to jump back into a replay every time. It’s a great song and fits so perfectly in the scene. The mood, the sound, the scene itself. Play the game and keep an ear out for it, you won’t miss it.

You can also find playlists on Spotify for every character (though, remember, Spotify pays artists next to nothing, so be sure to import them into a better service). Also, in-game, I’ve found at least two mixtapes you can make playlists out of. One belongs to one of the girls, another belongs to another character. They’re full of real songs and you can go ahead and listen to a slice of life from these characters. Making a mixtape wasn’t easy in the 90’s as it was for my generation. We had iTunes, Limewire, and CD burning. Back then, they had a cassette recorder and a radio. So these tapes are is as much as a piece of them as any other dialog can reveal.

Bloom and Rage is about so many things, and the music is a core, moving, and wonderful component that only adds to the richness and thoughtfulness of this game. A few of these songs have been stuck in my head, which makes sense, because this game is going to stick with me for a long time too.

Graphics

No one can talk about Bloom and Rage without mentioning just how gorgeous it is. The light filtering through the trees, the moonlit nights, the textures and realism on everything. They went all in on facial details, making sure that people’s faces look realistic. Not just like a person’s face, but featuring imperfections that make them distinctly human. I even found areas that you can only access as a floating camera in the photo mode that were fully detailed and fleshed out. It’s how I found Autumn’s work schedule. This game has detailed graphics, gorgeous realism, and details in areas you wouldn’t expect.

Normally, a game would avoid close-ups. Getting too close to a character’s face would reveal the generic skin texture, placing the character in the uncanny valley. Instead, we have extreme close-ups in Lost Records. Details of a character’s skins and the irises of their eyes are incredible. You can stare into a character’s incredibly detailed eyes and almost swear that there’s a soul behind them. Their skin is imperfect. Blemishes, freckles, slightly different eye shapes, a lack of perfect symmetry. These characters look real, they feel real. In interviews, Don’t Nod revealed this was an important aspect of character design for them. They nailed it. They made characters that feel real enough to be actors. Until a bug with the lip sync misses a few lines.

Don’t Nod’s Legacy and Life is Strange

There’s one question on longtime fans of this genre and Don’t Nod: does it hold up to Life is Strange?

The answer is a wholehearted yes.

If you liked Life is Strange, you’ll love this.

I have been a longtime fan of Life is Strange. I was anticipating its release while it was under development, played it episodically when it first came out, and was very active on discussion forums. You can find influence of Life is Strange all over my apartment, from using my wall to show off some of my favorite Polaroid snaps to art from and inspired by the game on my walls. I have tattoos inspired at least in part by Life is Strange. It’s my favorite franchise… for now.

I’ve been struggling a lot because Lost Records: Bloom and Rage not only lives up to it, in some ways, it surpasses it. We’ll see if that carries through to the second half in April.

Free from outside factors telling them to downplay their artistic vision when it came to controversial topics, Don’t Nod gave us a game that did a lot of the things Life is Strange clearly wanted to do. There are a few direct parallels in the themes between the two, but Lost Records feels more grounded and realistic. You’ll probably feel more nostalgia playing it because it just feels like being a teen in the 90’s. The bonds between the girls being something you shape, the retelling nature of the narrative that lets you make up your own story more, Bloom and Rage is ambitious, and so far, they’re absolutely pulling it off.

Your choices have consequences, and they seem to spread and grow more in Bloom and Rage than other games in this genre.

If Don’t Nod sticks the landing in April, Lost Records will be the narrative game people compare all others to.

Heartfelt Love Letter to Girlhood and Better Futures for Us

So far, in just the first tape, Lost Records: Bloom and Rage, hasn’t only shown us a nostalgic and supernatural mystery. It gives us hope for a better future for the kids of today. One where weirdness, queerness, and girlhood itself are not vilified, but celebrated. It takes us back to a time when parents let their children be kids, let them have lives and childhoods instead of locking them away to grow old, safe in a life unlived.

Bloom and Rage is a story about finding yourself and finding your fight. About what pulls us together and how we can fight back against the forces that pull us apart. It features complex characters who show depth, even as they stand to serve as a stereotype, a classic tool in Don’t Nod’s arsenal. Characters are the most important part of Bloom and Rage, and Don’t Nod gave us some great ones.

Lost Records: Bloom and Rage Tape 1 captures the magic of childhood, of the first Life is Strange, of finding your chosen family. It’s a magical journey to the wonders and trauma of childhood. Regardless of how the second “tape” goes, it’ll be unforgettable for that alone. This could be Don’t Nod’s best game yet.

If you’re one of those people who don’t believe video games are art, then you haven’t played a Don’t Nod game. Don’t Nod makes art that happens to be fun and engaging to play. These kinds of games make you feel and experience more than any movie, tv show, song, or book can on their own, and no one does it better than Don’t Nod. With Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, they show just how well they’ve honed that craft, and why they have become the undisputed leader in this genre of must-play, must-experience games and narratives.

I’ll be spending the next few days, perhaps weeks, I’m sure, back in the summer of 1995, waiting anxiously for the next—and unfortunately final—tape to drop. It’s a free update to anyone who has Tape 1, which is great, this is a lot of game for $40. But also a bit of a shame. I’d gladly hand them another $40 in a few weeks to get Tape 2. I guess I’ll just have to accept my free update. Until then, see you in hell, erm, I mean, see you April 15th.