Lost Records: Bloom & Rage

One of the three best games I've played in my life, and I am 52 years young. I am father of two, I work in shifts in Petrochemical company, male gamer, and yet-I've cried like a baby! Not embarrassed to say this-I've cried after first playthrough a lot and then again multiple times during my second playthrough. Because this is that kind of game. Now, just to mention for those who wonder which are other two best games of my life. GTA Vice City and Dark Souls. So, not a soft guy when we talk about games. And yet, Lost Records: Bloom & Rage is now sealed with tears on this proud list.

embrace psychosis

A deeply emotional story (that might very well make you cry), with witchy & nostalgic vibes. You go between 2022 and 1995 (90's peak time imo). While I found this to be a bit of a slow-burn and the memoir‑taping can get tedious, it's not uncommon in DON'T NOD games. There's a quiet political edge to it too. It leaned into that era’s (1995) habit of “protecting” teens through control, and mocks how institutions treat youth autonomy with moral panic. Anger and grief (especially from women) is framed as threatening & disruptive, echoing how society still treats emotional intensity as instability or being "too much". They showed this very well going between the 2 timelines. The ending leaves you to believe there'd be a sequel, I had some questions that I had to go searching up afterwards, but I've also read DON'T NOD won't be making more games so I guess no sequel? *cries*.

This is one of the most visually stunning games I have ever played and I had to play it on low because my graphics card is old. The PROS: - Great introduction to characters - Great main story - Compelling characters - Fun mechanics - Again BEAUTIFUL scenes - LOVE the character designs The CONS (Contains spoilers): - Tape 2 felt like a little too much had been squeezed in to tie up loose ends - The extra mechanic of sneaking in Tape 2 was clunky and I would have appreciated an in-game hint of how I was supposed to execute the task, either from Nora saying something (other than getting mad at me "not remembering" or some other way - The dating aspect is a little weird (for me). I found it a bit unrealistic that I could romance any of the characters. Surely we're not all into girls or anyone? But I'm also Demi so maybe it's me haha Overall, I reccommend this game if you're into the 90s, girlhood, the supernatural, rebellion... honestly the list goes on.

Great game. Much like the Life Is Strange games. I highly recommend playing this one.

amazing game c: