Lost Records: Bloom & Rage is a new story-driven adventure from the creators of Life is Strange. That statement alone is enough to get me excited, but when you add its tantalizing premise and setting into the mix, Bloom & Rage has become one of my most anticipated new games for 2024. As the reveal trailer teased during the Game Awards in December last year, we'll be going on a journey through time as we explore the story of Swann, Nora, Autumn, and Kat. For the four highschool friends, the summer of 1995 is said to be "one of self-discovery and forging unbreakable bonds", but as we see, the carefree antics of the group quickly take a turn, with flashes of a fire, and a mysterious purple glow coming from an unknown source.
Whatever happens that summer is enough to make the four friends promise to never speak again. But after 27 years of no contact, they're brought back together. With many questions hanging in the air, I can't wait to delve into what promises to be one very intriguing story-driven experience. One that, as creative director Michel Koch explains, will be the first game in a new universe that will set the scene for future stories.
"We are working on this first game as the foundation for a possibly larger universe. We are creating our characters and their stories for this game, but also while thinking of the possibilities to tell future stories with them, or other stories with the locations and the same game world," says Koch. "Bloom & Rage will be a full game with full story beats and a complete story, but with Jean-Luc Cano (writer) we're laying the seeds of what could come after, we have a lot of ideas and possible leads to where we want to go and this is extremely liberating and creatively exciting!"
Magical realism
The new Lost Records universe is "brimming with magical realism", which Don't Nod is no stranger to. Both Life is Strange and Life is Strange 2 explored different real world issues, but did so with an undercurrent of the supernatural. We don't yet know how this magical side will play out in Bloom & Rage, but Koch points to the term "liminal fantasy to describe the kind of fantasy they are infusing into Lost Records."
"It involves blending reality, dreams, and the weirdness of the unknown," Koch says. "There is this peculiar dreamy and atmospheric experience we're trying to reach and we hope will keep the players lured in the Lost Records world like in a liminal space, both fascinated and unsettled."
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With both Cano and Koch growing up in the 90s, their imaginary worlds have drawn inspiration from various sources. The time apart being 27 years in Bloom & Rage is a nod to Stephen King's It, for example, with Koch listing other influences such as The Twilight Zone, X-Files, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Twin Peaks.
"I think that's why, like when we crafted Life is Strange 1 for the first time, Jean-Luc and I strongly believe that adding a layer of magical realism, supernatural, or fantasy to a story is the best way to enhance emotions, human reactions, and create a twist that increases the stakes," Koch says. "It allows us as creators to delve deeper into our characters and immerse the audience in a world where anything is possible."
Characters and connections
"We've really pushed this love for characters even more in this game, pushing more of the interactivity, the relationships, the whole story, around our main cast of characters."
Michel Koch, creative director
In a world where anything is possible, Bloom & Rage will still put a focus on its characters. With the team applying a wealth of experience gained during the development of LiS 1 and 2 for aspects such as worldbuilding, interactive storytelling, and player agency, Koch says what they learned about the importance of character development and how best to create attachments to characters is something they're applying to Bloom & Rage: "We've really pushed this love for characters even more in this game, pushing more of the interactivity, the relationships, the whole story, around our main cast of characters."
Writing the story at the beginning of the pandemic, "in a time period where we were not about to see our friends anymore", also gave rise to a desire to create a story about connections, friendship, and how we reconnect with long lost friends. And while Bloom & Rage does "share common DNA" with Don't Nod's previous games, it promises to deliver something unique thanks to the group dynamics of the four friends when it arrives in late 2024 on PC, Xbox Series X/S, and PS5.
"Their interactions together, their relationships, how close they are to each other will be at the center of the game's interactivity," Koch says. "The notion of group dynamics is one of the main themes of the game. We really want our players to experience what it is to find their place within a group of friends, and to see if being part of a group can make someone stronger or, in the opposite, pushes them to go against their own beliefs."
