Developer: Don't Nod
PS5 Review
It's been a while since I played a Don't Nod game. I know I'm going to like them as they're unique and the kind of games I find myself getting lost in. Lost Records was announced at State of Play not long before its release (I think it was less than a week). From the style of the game, I knew it would be one that would be relatable to me, and I was right. The game focuses on a young girl called Swann Holloway (yes with a double n), she is a teen in the 90s with lots of hobbies that are funny enough the same as mine, she loves film, books, movies, nature, photography, filmography and much more. Her room is a huge reflection of her personality. This is something the Don't Nod games get spot on: they can reflect their characters with their bedrooms, and the more you look, the more you find.
It's clear that Swann tries to look on the bright side of things, even with negative thoughts and feelings; she is an introvert who finds it hard to speak up for herself against bullies. She also comes across as an empath. Swann has a cat called Pumpkin, Snowy or Shadow, and every name you choose reflects the colour of her cat. I went with Pumpkin, as I sometimes call my own cat that, and choosing that option gives Swann a ginger cat. One day, a random turn of events leads her to make 3 different unlikely friends, and she has two bullies who happened to be in a relationship together to thank for that (it's about all she can thank them for with how disgusting their attitudes are). Her new friends are Autumn, Kat, and Nora, each with a different style and personality. The least likely people you would think would form a friendship group are I loved each of them; they had annoying qualities and lots of cool quirks, which is what I like to see, people are flawed.
Throughout the first tape, Swann interviews all 3 of them. There are several choices of questions to choose from; it's not the deepest insight into them, but it gives us enough information to know the kind of friends we are dealing with. Swann did feel awkward throughout the game; she is trying to find her way, and being a teenager isn't always easy. I'm not sure if it was my untrusting nature or not, the game did come across that the friendship group wasn't the biggest fan of Swann's, or it could just be because we are viewing how things were from her perspective, which would make more sense.
Even so, the vibe in the bar was weird, so much tension and forced interactions compared to how freely they spoke as teenagers. I felt like Swann tried her best but still hasn't been able to be her true self in this first tape. I hope that's a different case in tape 2. I was a lot like her as a teen; she is far too relatable to me, and it's kind of scary! I do feel like the first tape was dragged out to the point where I was getting a little bored with how slow some of the events were moving.
Let me explain it a little better, Lost Record: Bloom & Rage switches between Swann's teen years and the current year, she reminisces on memories and events of the past and is leading up to what actually happened in their past that the girls swore to never speak of again. Tape 1 and 2 relate to the name of the game, one is Bloom and the other is Rage. Instead of giving away what the big event was, we go right to the start of their friendships in tape 1, then it switches back and forth between the bar and the girls as teens. Unlike previous Don't Nod games that release episodes of certain chapters that are around 2 hours long, this game releases tapes that have longer chapters within them. It took me around 7 hours to complete the first tape.
Some players will like how long they made the first tape, but others may feel like it was too long. I much preferred when we went back in time, the nostalgia and vibes were much more interesting than the gloomy bar where the girls are now in their 40s and are now strangers to one another. Besides this, the writing was brilliant; I had no idea what was in store for me or what could possibly happen at the end of this first tape and was shocked when it was revealed. The next tape came out April 15th, I'm holding out on playing until I post this.
The soundtrack and visuals were absolutely stunning, photo mode was great fun, I could have taken a million photos instead of playing the game, but I chose to crack on and find out what I got myself into. The voice actors were the same for both young and older characters. I would have thought they would change it up the older they are, because even my voice is different in my 30s to what it was as a teenager. They still did an amazing job of getting emotion out through their voices.
As I mentioned at the start Swann and I have the same kind of hobbies, photography and filmography are the two that I do a lot in my daily life, especially when it comes to filming nature and what I see around me. The game is heavily based around what Swann films from her teen years, and what is on them tapes is the secret to unlocking what went on. I'm buzzing to find out what we unearth in the next tape. I want to see where it leads them as a group and what could have made them decide to never speak of the events ever again.
Have a cosy day
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