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As Life is Strange goes on without Don't Nod, so too does Don't Nod go on without Life Is Strange – Lost Records: Bloom & Rage is refining the formula the team established way back in Arcadia Bay. Great as it was to see the studio trying something new with its last few titles (fantastical climbing sim Jusant, and atmospheric choice-driven action adventure Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden), this big story-heavy return is a particularly exciting prospect for longtime fans.
The unspoken promise is that Lost Records: Bloom & Rage will take the heart of Don't Nod's most famous series, and mold it into something new yet equally mesmerizing. A narrative adventure split between two time periods, it's once again a tale that will revolve around love, choices, secrets, and danger. A group of friends in the 1990s has little to worry about apart from music, boredom, and bullies until… something happens. Something that they agree must be kept secret from the rest of the world, which leads to them vowing to live their lives apart. Until, that is, the arrival of a mysterious package forces them to reluctantly break that vow and reunite 27 years later, in the town where it all began.
Bloom box
Developer: Don't Nod
Publisher: Don't Nod
Platform(s): PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S
Release date: February 18 (Tape 1), March 18 (Tape 2)
Bloom & Rage will be an episodic release, split into two 'tapes'. This is in part to encourage discussion amongst fans between the two releases, much as fans of a TV show in the 1990s would chat about their favorite series while waiting for the next episode. "It created a sense of community around a piece of media, a piece of art," explains studio creative director Michel Koch, "but also increased the strength of storytelling, giving time to think about what we experienced. It made the art go further than just the hour-long episode, [...] A lot of today's media is done the opposite way, everything needs to be immediate, fully available, and I think it reduces the possibilities to get immersed in a work of fiction, you barely start to get in then poof, you are already out and looking at the next product to absorb".
Koch explains that the story structure incorporates a 'Bloom' element and a 'Rage' element, further supporting the idea of a two-part release. More literally, the Bloom & Rage of the title is the name of the band that the group develops as teenagers. You'll get to see them in action and, yes, listen to them play. As Swann, you encounter Bloom & Rage when the band, still in its infancy, is in the early stages of writing a song ('See You In Hell') that plays an important part in the story.
"The first demo Nora [Kelly] sent us blew us away," says studio executive producer Luc Baghadoust, "with its 90’s grunge vibes, its catchy lyrics, and a chorus that you have trouble getting out of your head. [...] Once Nora and her band completed the recording of the song in the studio, the fun part is that our audio lead Beatrix asked the band to play some of its parts badly, in order to get material for the game, to use them in different scenes and recreate the magic of a new song being composed."
In addition, there will be era-appropriate licensed tracks, and an original score featuring contributions from Ruth Radelet and Milk & Bone. While you'll get to participate in the writing of Bloom & Rage's See You In Hell to an extent, your character – Swann – is more comfortable as a music video director. Like Life is Strange's Max, she's constantly capturing life through a lens, although her weapon of choice is a video camera rather than a photographic one.
"You have a list of subjects Swann wants to cover and film before she leaves at the end of the summer," Koch explains, "and as a player you'll need to find those elements and film them the way you want. You can frame and time those at your will, do a new shot and replace a previous one, reorder the videos to create mini documentaries about various topics. [...] As the summer gets darker and more mysterious, the camcorder will become a tool to help Swann and her friends along their journey: using it as a flashlight, showing some videos to others to unlock situations, or looking through your videos to remember things."
And if you remember the 1990s yourself? The teen sections of the game will give you the most satisfying of nostalgia hits, in terms of both music and pop culture references. But there's more to the dual timeline narrative than that. "Having the opportunity to explore both timelines and ages at the same time, with the way our story and gameplay is setup, allows us for the first time to tell a coming of age story," says Koch. "We are using the premise of this story, this mystery, in a way that allows us to put the player in the shoes of both adult and teenage Swann, trying to remember this summer, and while doing so, you as a player will recreate this summer, what happened, what kind of teenager Swann was, and how you found your place within this new group of friends."
