GamesRadar+ Verdict
With the story complete, Lost Records: Bloom & Rage is dazzling.
Teen rage, girl power, sapphic love it’s all explored with care and consideration.
Just a moment ago the four had been unstoppable, but this revelation changes everything.
As a finale to Don’t Nod’s new teen drama series, it’s magnificent.
Break out the waterproof mascara for this one, girlies.
Tape 1 was filled with the girls goofing around, angsty band practice, and dreamy sunsets.
This tape is different.
We see the gang get angry, rebellious, and even violent.
Grrrl Power
“Female friendship, girl power, sapphic love - it’s all here.”
The girls' fraught relationship is heightened by the game’s decision-making dialogue system.
Here it’s different.
The situation has changed.
In Tape 2, I really did feel like I was messing up my responses.
There’s a moment where Swann and Autumn have a conversation about the car park concert.
We feel differently, she regrets the whole thing, but I don’t.
I bumble through my choices and pick dialogue options in a panic.
It feels intentional on Don’t Nod’s part, and incredibly evocative.
In this episode, the game continually pushes you out of your comfort zone.
It perfectly communicates that friendships are messy and complicated.
More supernatural shenanigans are a given, but instead of teens, potentially queer adults?
How about instead of a pit, maybe there’s a ‘zone’ like in Annihilation or Stalker?
That would be amazing.
The camcorder takes on a new meaning too.
Looking back on what I’ve recorded in the game’s camcorder menu is bittersweet.
The girls in the recordings don’t know what’s coming.
What I chose to record in Tape 1 is different from Tape 2.
Before, I would try and capture more of the environment, building a portrait of a place.
Now, it’s purely about recording the girls.
I look back and wish I had recorded certain moments differently and focused on different things.
It makes my heart ache.
Something different in Tape 2 is that the camcorder is used in a more ‘gamey’ way.
However, other experimentation doesn’t quite land.
Controlling Swan, you better jog away while not being able to control the game’s POV.
It feels like Don’t Nod agrees because after about 30 seconds it quickly gets tossed aside.
Another experimental part of the game is a sneaking section, which iswildfor a Don’t Nod game.
Having the girls make decisions based on my dialogue decisions feels meaningful, but for failing a sneaking section?
Gurl, delete it.
But Tape 2 keeps it mysterious and ominous until the very end, which I love.
There’s an abstractness to The Abyss, which leaves it open to many different readings.
I’m talking about young women taking back power because to be a teenage girl is to be powerless.
Lost Records: Bloom & Rage is charged with a queer supernatural energy that feels electric.
This goes beyond bisexual lighting, folks.
It’s an expression of 90s teen queerness that still resonates now.
Their answer to this is to draw power from a dark supernatural force, but also from each other.
It’s rough around the edges in parts, but the overall sentiment is clear.
With the story complete, Lost Records: Bloom & Rage is dazzling.
Together withlast year’s 1000xResistand 2022’sSignalis, the sad sapphic games club is beginning to bulk up.
Check out our recommendations for thebest game stories!
