The worst part about most game guides is they give you exactly what you need to do in any given situation. These spoil everything about a game. Suddenly you’re just going through the motions, picking choices some streamer or blogger told you to do. There’s no experimentation or challenge. You play the game some other person’s way, and you never really get to see how you’d do in a given situation. With Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, the story changes with your choices, and you can make so many of them. Why would you let someone else make those choices for you? Besides, in this game, there is actually a great deal of nuance. You can change the story in a number of ways, without needing to be so rigid with your choices. You can make mistakes, Swann’s friends can be forgiving. I thought it would be perfect for a different kind of game guide. This guide is about imparting vibes, not a step-by-step guide that’ll ruin your fun.
Below, I’ll give you small tips and pointers about the game’s mechanics and key characters. I’ll nudge you towards larger parts of the story, without ever spoiling anything. Some of the things I’ll point out might just be easter eggs or little things you’ll say, “Huh, neat detail!” Others might be larger story elements that will end up on your final choice screen recaps. Either way, you’re not going to know the details until you play yourself.
This is a guide for those who want to play the game themselves, but may want to enter it knowing just a few things about each character that could help them make decisions. After all, it’s much easier to get a read on a person in-person than it is through a screen. So don’t think of it as cheating, think of it as giving yourself the same advantages you’d have in a “real world” situation like that of Lost Records: Bloom & Rage.
You do often find yourself in creepy supernatural situations like this too, right?
All screenshots via Don’t Nod’s Lost Records: Bloom & Rage
In This Article:
General Tips and Pointers
Pick. Up. Everything. Not just because there are clues and pointers on every item, but because they did such a good job recreating the 90’s through these items. I couldn’t believe how well they captured the sound of holding an old VHS tape in your hand. But yes, pick up everything, you’ll be rewarded with some nice ASMR at the very least. Turn the items around, tap the “Read” button to get any and all text that might not be visible. The car rental pamphlet, for example, has an important detail you can use later that doesn’t appear on the pamphlet, only in the “read” box that appears when you want to read the text better. Graffiti can hold little tidbits that might make a newspaper article you can read elsewhere make more sense. Look around, you’d be surprised at just how many clues there are in this game that you can completely miss. Some people finish this game feeling completely lost, while others have a much better idea about what’s really happening in this town for themselves.
You can usually take your time in this game. There are a few time-based items, and it’ll usually be more clear. One achievement is obviously time-based. Another time you’ll want to be cautious about your time is if someone says a particular business is closing up. Spend too much time wandering around and you’ll miss your shot with that one. Other than that, take your time. Explore. Look all around, on surfaces, at the sky, look everywhere. Do it through the lens of Swann’s camcorder to find things to film. Pick things up, examine them, film them! Film everything! If you see something that stands out, film it, take note of it. The reticle will change to a circle for items you can film as part of a memoir. Sometimes, you’ll get unique interactions with people from filming them. Just hit record.
As your bonds are tested, what will you uncover?
Pay attention in this game. There are mysteries to solve and people to better understand. Take your time. In fact, some characters might say more if you just hang out around them for a few seconds. People fill in awkward silences, and they’ll do that in this game as well. That can give you additional dialog options, and more ways to change your story. I found not all dialog options get triggered in every playthrough, depending on what I explored and where I was with other conversations. Don’t be afraid to get people talking. Swann’s getting outside of her comfort zone, you should too.
Note the dialog options that give you a “heart” or a “broken heart.” You don’t have to always be perfect with everyone, but learn from your mistakes if you want to get closer to these characters. Learning what cheers them up from dialog options and these feedback icons on dialog choices will help you get to know the characters and setting of the game better. You can always restart a scene if you’re worried about a particular relationship, but it’s a lot more fun to go through your first playthrough without knowing how things will turn out.
Character guides
You’ll have to make a lot of choices in Lost Records. Knowing your audience can be helpful. There are some friends you might want to be more brash with, and others who may appreciate caution more. You’ll have more than enough opportunities to get close to all the girls by the end of the game, but knowing what drives each one will help ensure you make Swann a fitting member of the group. You’ll never know what paths open for you when you have good relationships with everyone.
Swann
You play as Swann, so, in many ways, you’ll be shaping who she grows to be during the summer of ’95 and what lessons she holds on to in 2022. However, Swann, perhaps more than most protagonists you’ll play as, injects her own personality and feelings into the game. It’s a nice change of pace from the blank slate protagonists you’re probably used to. It also means that you should get to know her to drive what choices you pick. Sometimes, an introverted girl like Swann may think of saying one thing, but say something else when she opens her mouth. “It sounded cooler in my head,” she’d think later.
Swann is introspective, and she hasn’t always been kind to herself. She definitely sees her place as being behind the camera, rarely in front of it. But she still has a story to tell and a voice she wants heard, she just doesn’t know if her audience would ever grow outside herself. The summer of ’95 is her first chance to change that.
When we first meet Swann in 1995, we get a great introduction to her. In her room, we can see she likes sci-fi and horror, she likes movie nights at home curled up in bed with her cat. She’s always felt closer to animals and nature than other people. Part of that comes from her mom making her feel worse about herself and her body image. With society constantly barraging young girls with the image of the “perfect body,” many girls will feel like Swann, never good enough. Many of us carry those feelings into adulthood too.
Swann’s comfortable being an introvert. She’s not unhappy with her life, but it’s clearly missing something she has had just out of reach and out of mind. Her favorite color is green, like the nature she loves exploring.
Nora
Nora is forward. As the player, you’ll quickly figure out what Nora wants, even if she hasn’t quite worked that out yet. She’s in the dictionary next to the phrase “glass closet.” It’s okay to be forward back with Nora. She likes that. In fact, she likes it when other people are willing to open up and use their voices as much as she does. So many of the people in her life tell her she’s too much, and over time, this can cause her to retreat within herself. She likes assurance that her feelings are valid. Those feelings range from wanting to be heard and encouraging others to do the same, as well as her fears. She’s more worried about physical injury than she lets on, and she cares more about what other people think about her than she’d like. She challenges her fears, even if it isn’t always easy for her.
Nora’s putting on a brave face to hide a girl who is unsure about herself. She can actually get quite nervous, and likes validation about those fears. With the wrong influences in her life, she could shut down, become withdrawn, and hate herself. She could learn to not trust her own voice. Fortunately, Swann, Autumn, and Kat are not the wrong influences. Or, at least, they don’t have to be. Unfortunately, they’re not the only influences in her life.
If there’s a yang to Swann’s yin, it’s Nora. Her favorite color is gold. It stands out and contrasts with its surroundings, just like Nora.
Autumn
Every group needs someone with a level head, and for the SNAK pack, that’s Autumn. Autumn is cautious. She worries what authority figures think of her. It seems like she may have strict parents. She’s still rebellious though, liking punk music and skateboarding, but she also worries that others will think less of her if she doesn’t live up to her responsibilities.
Autumn is an army brat, which can mean a few things. First, she’s moved around a lot. This can make it difficult for her to feel like she belongs in a group. So often, she’s pulled away from a place she called home that she may be reluctant to feel at home anywhere. Secondly, it means she was raised with at least one highly disciplined parent who likely expected her to follow authoritative voices.
Autumn is a good skateboarder and a good musician. She’s at odds with her desire to rebel and her need to stay out of trouble and be self-sufficient. She’s the only one of the girls with a job. Autumn is constantly on edge. A punk with anxiety. Fears of being a “model minority” in a predominantly white town, the pressures her parents put on her, and what she herself wants to do with her life are constantly at odds. She’s a girl under pressure, and that can lead to cracks. She doesn’t like joking around when she’s stressed, but softer distractions are more than welcome. She feels like no one really gets to know her, so make the effort with her.
Autumn’s favorite color is purple, a color you may see so much in this game you might miss it.
Kat
Kat is fiercely independent and protective. She didn’t really understand who she was until someone introduced her to Riot Grrrl music. Feminist punk music liberated Kat and helped her see see herself in a community. She’s brash, in-your-face, and unapologetic. But it’s not just her anger that’s at the front. She’s an emotional and artistic person. Introspective, she writes her thoughts down in her notebook, with many of those thoughts becoming poetry. She’d just as happily fight a bully as she would write a poem cursing them out. She’s fearless, determined, and unstoppable.
Kat’s the opposite of judgmental. She loves when her friends let their freak flag fly. She sees the good in people because of their weirdness, not in spite of it. She has strict warden-like parents who not only home-school her, but restrict her travel and friends. She’s constantly escaping those confines to live her life.
Kat’s a poet with a punk’s soul. She is protective and caring, and willing to fight for people she cares about, even perfect strangers.
When Kat’s at home, she’s constantly being told what to do, where to go, how to act. When she escapes authoritarian rule, the last thing she wants to be told is how to behave. She’d risk her life for the thrill of it. If she gets hurt, she’ll be fine with it, as long as she had fun.
Kat’s favorite color is blue.
Bloom and Rage
That’s not just the title of the game, it’s also a hidden mechanic you’ll want to pay attention to. Throughout the game, you’ll have the choice to be bold, brash, and argumentative, as well as the option to stay silent, be more passive, or apologetic. You should go with what feels right, but understand that if you push some people too hard, they may become distant from you. However, if you let them step all over you, you may find yourself constantly frustrated. Keep in mind that no decision happens in a vacuum, and you have to be true to yourself and your friends. There’s no wrong way to play. You don’t have to try to find a balance or stay restrained. You can play for you. The game never tries to “teach you a lesson” for your choices, which I really appreciated. Many of the pathways can be satisfying in their own ways. Play how you want to play before experimenting.
I hope these tips have helped get you excited for your first playthrough of the game. You’ll know Swann’s friends better, but they’re not the only characters in the game. I had to let some secrets out because describing them too well would spoil things, wouldn’t it? Just go in ready to explore, and pay attention to everything, and you’ll do just fine. Enjoy your stay in Velvet Cove! You may not ever want to leave.