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The Guardian
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Lost Records explores the joys and dangers of our cultural obsession with nostalgia
I finished Lost Records: Bloom and Rage several days ago, but I'm still thinking about it. Developed by Don't Nod, the creator of the successful Life Is Strange series, it's a narrative adventure about four girls in a town in Wyoming, who meet one summer, form a band, discover a strange supernatural force in the woods and then meet up 30 years later to dissect what exactly happened to them. It is about growing up, growing apart and processing trauma, seen through a nostalgic lens. We meet the lead characters as adults, and join them as they scour their shared past, revisiting old places – a shack in the woods, their teenage bedrooms, the local bar – and exhuming old feelings. Lost Records has an excellent feel for the mid-90s when the girls were 16: you can explore rooms and pick up artefacts such as game carts, diaries and mixtapes and, if you were around at the time, you absorb the nostalgia as keenly as the characters themselves. While playing I was struck at what a vital role nostalgia plays in video game design. I don't mean in the extrinsic sense of playing and remembering old video games, and I don't mean games that call back to old titles. I mean nostalgia as a central theme and a motivational force for characters. So many role-playing adventures are about unlocking the past through narrative archeology. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Horizon Zero Dawn, Avowed, Journey, Outer Wilds and Heaven's Vault are all games in which your primary aim is to discover what happened to some ancient civilisation and, through it, your character's own legacy and identity. It's nostalgia that infects the landscape of The Last of Us as much as the deadly fungus – Ellie's love of old comics, songs and joke books; the repeated use of ruined museums, theatres and playgrounds as key locations – that Naughty Dog wanted to tap in to by repurposing our own nostalgia for lost childhood pleasures. I'm reading Agnes Arnold-Forster's excellent book Nostalgia: A History of a Dangerous Emotion, which looks at the origins of the concept and how it was first considered a fatal disease of the mind, a sort of mortal home sickness. In Death Stranding, this idea is made physical in the shape of the Beached Things, the smoky tar-like spirits that haunt the game's ruined landscapes. Nostalgia is the perfect theme for video games, because we have the freedom to explore and discover in them. They immerse us in landscapes and provide countless objects for us to observe and interact with. They also allow us to collect our own mementoes – most major titles now have photo modes where we can capture specific scenes, composing and editing the footage to our specific emotional requirements. In Lost Records, you can record video footage on lead character Swann's camcorder; you do this throughout the game and then there's a lovely payoff, which reminded me a little of the unforgettable climax to Cinema Paradiso. What is particularly absorbing about Lost Records, however – and it has been one of the game's most controversial aspects – is that it deals in the inconsistencies of nostalgia as much as the comforts. It is unapologetically ambiguous, with its central mysteries remaining largely unresolved. There is no comfortable catharsis, no shock reveal – what the lead characters learn when they reunite is that memory is unreliable, perhaps even duplicitous. In this way, it reminded me a lot of independent genre cinema – We're All Going to the World's Fair, Skinamarink, It Follows. It is elusive and non-compliant. We often think about games as power fantasies, but they are equally fantasies of reconstruction and remembrance. Games make us yearn for worlds that were never there. Perhaps one day, some sort of brain-computer interface will allow role-playing adventures to be set in our own memories, our own nostalgic kingdoms. It sounds idyllic, but what video games have been trying to warn us is that our brains are unreliable narrators. Nostalgia is a door, but it's also a trap. If you were playing PC games in the mid-1990s, the chances are you were a fan of the real-time strategy genre. Dune II, Command & Conquer, Total Annihilation … how the hours flew by as we harvested resources, built war machines and set out to destroy the other side's bases. Tempest Rising is a shameless paean to that era, set on an alternate 1990s Earth ruined by nuclear war and now housing two battling factions. The core loop of exploring, gathering, building and fighting is tight and compulsive, and the detailed visuals lend a modern sheen. Now let's have a new Advance Wars title for the Nintendo Switch 2. Available on: PCPlaytime: 20+ hours I love that Polygon has written a guide on how to take physical notes of the hit puzzle game Blue Prince. As someone who spent his childhood making maps of Commodore 64 adventures, I approve of this most tactile way to navigate games. Last year, I used multiple sheets of graph paper (complete with little flaps for hidden areas) to map Lorelei and the Laser Eyes and it was so fun to be back. The games industry can breathe a sigh of relief – it turns out Assassin's Creed Shadows has performed well, despite manufactured outrage over its use of a black samurai in the leading role. has a good opinion piece on the subject. Amid endless layoffs and studio closures, here's a piece from Eurogamer about how institutional memory helped make Indiana Jones and the Great Circle such an assured and entertaining game. It turns out that experienced teams who have worked together for years make good games together. Who'd have thought? Lost Records: Bloom & Rage (Tape Two) – love, grief and self-recrimination as the girls reunite | ★★★★☆ Now Play This 2025 – the end of an era of experimental game design | Simon Parkin 'It's allowed me to see through his eyes': Super Mario, my dad and me Piece of the action: entering the British puzzle championship Super spicy! Jack Black's Minecraft song Steve's Lava Chicken becomes shortest ever UK Top 40 hit Sign up to Pushing Buttons Keza MacDonald's weekly look at the world of gaming after newsletter promotion This week's question comes from Andrew Wilcox, head judge and founder of the Cuprinol shed of the year competition, who asked via Bluesky: 'Why are there lots of sheds in games but no games about shed-building?' Considering how big the cosy games market is, you'd think some clever indie studio would have attempted a shed sim by now. Imagine pottering about in your own virtual wooden den, perhaps doing a spot of carpentry or sorting seeds to plant. You can build sheds in The Sims 4: Cottage Living and Farming Simulator, but these tend to have very specific utilitarian uses, such as grain storage. Anyway, I put the question to game designer and keen shed botherer, Will Luton, who has worked at Sega and Rovio and now runs the consultancy Department of Play. He said: 'There are two problems to consider here: what is the main action (AKA the core loop), and what are the ways you move through the game (AKA the progression vectors)? 'There are multiple ways you could address these. Is the main game more about designing the shed? Or are you making it to a specific design? This defines if it's more open-ended and creative (like Townscaper) or more systematic (like Car Mechanic Simulator). This decision also likely defines the type of interaction: isometric drag and drop v first-person traversal. 'Once you've made one shed, why do you want to make more? There must be some kind of 'unfolding' where new mechanics or possibilities unlock. So, for example, when you complete your first shed, you unlock a nail gun, which means you can assemble much quicker and more sturdily. Maybe now you can make sheds over 10sqm. Or perhaps you install electricity, which unlocks lighting and power tools. Maybe you have a shed yourself that you can constantly upgrade and add new tools to, which allows you to then make bigger and better sheds for clients. 'So to answer the question: there is no reason why someone hasn't made this game. Indeed, if the reader happens to have £500k, I'd help them to bring it to market.' If you've got a question for Question Block – or anything else to say about the newsletter – email us on pushingbuttons@
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Lost Records: 'It's OK to make games for different audiences'
"What's in the box?" That's the question fans of Lost Records: Bloom & Rage have been asking since February, when the first part of the narrative adventure game dropped. The story follows a group of female friends, hopping between their lives as teenagers in the 1990s and as adults in the present. They are reunited by a mysterious package that threatens to expose a dark secret they've suppressed for 27 years. Part one, Bloom, was praised by fans for its characters and LGBT representation, even if it left them with an almighty cliffhanger to ponder. BBC Newsbeat caught up with creative director Michel Koch, executive producer Luc Baghadoust and lead actress Olivia Lepore to discuss the reaction to it, and what to expect from part two - Rage. Lost Records is made by Don't Nod, the original developers of The Life is Strange series, first released in 2015. The episodic adventure's narrative unfolded depending on player choices, and was praised for its emotional depth. It was also unafraid to tackle difficult subjects rarely seen in video games at the time. Lost Records is seen as a spiritual successor and uses a similar, episodic structure, split across two "tapes". While the first was well-received by critics, a common criticism was its slow pacing, with a heavy focus on characters and relationships over big story moments. Michel admits that was "definitely a gamble". But he says the team wanted to recreate the feeling of a never-ending teenage summer, focusing on "those moments of enjoying doing nothing in a world where we are always pressurised to do something". "Just sometimes having the opportunity to enter a world where you can be peaceful and enjoy the mood, I think it's important," he says. Lost Records features an all-female cast, LGBT themes and touches on social issues such as body image. That made it a target for what Luc and Michel call a "vocal minority" online who target releases they consider to be "woke". "We are in a weird time for that right now," says Michel. "We are making games for people who want those kind of games. "I think video games need to start to be more mature about that. "It's OK that there are a lot of different games and different genres and different audiences. "It doesn't mean that because something exists, it's a threat to the other things you like." Exec producer Luc admits the game is not for everyone but has so far had a "great reaction" from fans who've clicked with it. "We made a game we would want to play," he says. "It's a way to really express what you wanted to and reach a different audience." Lost Records has generated discussion around its portrayal of issues many teenagers deal with. When the game was first revealed there was a focus on the fact characters had visible acne scars - an unusual feature for a video game - and references throughout to Swann's struggles with her weight. Michel says the creators didn't want to make issues like this a main theme of the game. "But it's still present, because in the '90s, there was still, of course, the peer pressure from the parents to, I don't know, just start a diet," he says. The main focus of tape one, Michel says, was having the characters find a group of close friends who would accept them for who they were. "That's where you can start to accept yourself even more," he says. "Because they are the reflection of who you are and if they like you, it means that you are likeable and you can love yourself." Olivia Lepore, who plays main character Swann Holloway, tells Newsbeat a lot of the game's themes - and her character's story - resonated with her. "I think part of the reason I got this role is because we have so much in common," she says. "And I didn't feel like I had to put on a character playing her. I definitely just, in many ways, got to be myself." Olivia says that she's been blown away by the response from fans, who've identified with many of the themes and issues raised in the game. "I have gotten some really beautiful messages from fans about how they feel like they connect with Swann," she says. "I've been really touched by some of the messages to the point where it could be a bit overwhelming, because I just empathise so much with everybody's story." The Last of Us: Bella Ramsey talks season 2, autism, and growing up on screen Chloe Qisha: Rising pop star finding fame at just the right time Chappell Roan: 'There's a new path for girls breaking the rules' As for the conclusion of the story, Olivia says "expect the unexpected". "Wherever you think it's going. It's probably not," she says. Michel says choices players made in part one will play out in the second, which is set to go to some darker places - and be much more dramatic. "You can expect things to be, let's say, less happy and sunny and more gloomy than tape one. "And we can't wait for you to open the box." Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays - or listen back here.
BBC News
15-04-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Lost Records: Fans and creators anticipate release of 'Rage'
"What's in the box?"That's the question fans of Lost Records: Bloom & Rage have been asking since February, when the first part of the narrative adventure game story follows a group of female friends, hopping between their lives as teenagers in the 1990s and as adults in the are reunited by a mysterious package that threatens to expose a dark secret they've suppressed for 27 one, Bloom, was praised by fans for its characters and LGBT representation, even if it left them with an almighty cliffhanger to ponder. BBC Newsbeat caught up with creative director Michel Koch, executive producer Luc Baghadoust and lead actress Olivia Lepore to discuss the reaction to it, and what to expect from part two - Rage. Lost Records is made by Don't Nod, the original developers of The Life is Strange series, first released in episodic adventure's narrative unfolded depending on player choices, and was praised for its emotional was also unafraid to tackle difficult subjects rarely seen in video games at the time. Lost Records is seen as a spiritual successor and uses a similar, episodic structure, split across two "tapes".While the first was well-received by critics, a common criticism was its slow pacing, with a heavy focus on characters and relationships over big story admits that was "definitely a gamble".But he says the team wanted to recreate the feeling of a never-ending teenage summer, focusing on "those moments of enjoying doing nothing in a world where we are always pressurised to do something". "Just sometimes having the opportunity to enter a world where you can be peaceful and enjoy the mood, I think it's important," he says. Lost Records features an all-female cast, LGBT themes and touches on social issues such as body made it a target for what Luc and Michel call a "vocal minority" online who target releases they consider to be "woke"."We are in a weird time for that right now," says Michel."We are making games for people who want those kind of games."I think video games need to start to be more mature about that. "It's OK that there are a lot of different games and different genres and different audiences. "It doesn't mean that because something exists, it's a threat to the other things you like." Exec producer Luc admits the game is not for everyone but has so far had a "great reaction" from fans who've clicked with it."We made a game we would want to play," he says."It's a way to really express what you wanted to and reach a different audience." 'Expect the unexpected' Lost Records has generated discussion around its portrayal of issues many teenagers deal the game was first revealed there was a focus on the fact characters had visible acne scars - an unusual feature for a video game - and references throughout to Swann's struggles with her weight. Michel says the creators didn't want to make issues like this a main theme of the game."But it's still present, because in the '90s, there was still, of course, the peer pressure from the parents to, I don't know, just start a diet," he main focus of tape one, Michel says, was having the characters find a group of close friends who would accept them for who they were."That's where you can start to accept yourself even more," he says. "Because they are the reflection of who you are and if they like you, it means that you are likeable and you can love yourself." Olivia Lepore, who plays main character Swann Holloway, tells Newsbeat a lot of the game's themes - and her character's story - resonated with her."I think part of the reason I got this role is because we have so much in common," she says. "And I didn't feel like I had to put on a character playing her. I definitely just, in many ways, got to be myself."Olivia says that she's been blown away by the response from fans, who've identified with many of the themes and issues raised in the game."I have gotten some really beautiful messages from fans about how they feel like they connect with Swann," she says."I've been really touched by some of the messages to the point where it could be a bit overwhelming, because I just empathise so much with everybody's story." As for the conclusion of the story, Olivia says "expect the unexpected"."Wherever you think it's going. It's probably not," she says choices players made in part one will play out in the second, which is set to go to some darker places - and be much more dramatic."You can expect things to be, let's say, less happy and sunny and more gloomy than tape one."And we can't wait for you to open the box." Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays - or listen back here.
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Life is Strange director says Don't Nod returned to its episodic roots in Lost Records because he's not "invested" in Netflix's binge model
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Don't Nod's decision to split Lost Records: Bloom and Rage into two parts was inspired by its success with episodic hit Life is Strange and the game director's thoughts on Netflix's controversial binge model. After dabbling in a few different genres - serene climbing sims, vampire RPGs, and tragic romantasy action games - Don't Nod has finally returned to the choice-based adventure games that made it a household name with Lost Records: Bloom and Rage - Tape 1 out now and Tape 2 coming in April. But it's also returned to its episodic strategy, too. "I noticed that I'm not invested as much in Netflix shows, I binge them and then forget them very quickly sometimes," Life is Strange and now Lost Records director Michel Koch said about the new game's staggered release in an interview with Eurogamer. "And then I was watching some TV shows on Apple TV and HBO, where they are sticking to weekly releases, and I found that I was investing way more. And we were thinking, we made some good episodic games, why not still go for at least a part of that?" In the years since Life is Strange's coming-of-age melodrama and TellTale's fallout, other similar games have chosen to opt out of an episodic release, with both Life is Strange: True Colors and Double Exposure, notably, releasing all chapters at once. Koch explained that Lost Records almost went in the same direction, but the studio "decided around two years" ago to split the game in half "so it makes sense for the story, for editing, pacing." For anyone out of the loop, Lost Records: Bloom and Rage follows four friends and jumps between their teenage years in the summer of 1995 and their distinctly more dour adult lives 27 years later. The tapes are then split intentionally: Tape 1 is for Bloom and Tape 2 is for Rage. A major moment in between the tapes also meant it made sense for the team to press pause and "let the player take their time, to maybe play something else, wait a bit, think about what happened." That's definitely a feeling TV can capture when it's appointment viewing - look no further than Severance Season 2 - but, honestly, I don't remember the last time I properly debriefed with my friends about a single Netflix show, aside from conversations that go, "have you seen X? It's good!" GamesRadar+'s Lost Records: Bloom and Rage review was convinced by the decision, calling it "a wonderfully sincere portrait of teenage girlhood." Check out what other exciting releases we have to look forward to in our roundup of new games for 2025 and beyond.
The Guardian
18-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Lost Records: Bloom & Rage (Tape One) review – go back to a riot grrrl summer in clever teen thriller
Ten years ago, Parisian studio Don't Nod effectively crafted a new sub-genre of narrative adventure with its teen mystery Life Is Strange. Part thriller, part relationship drama, it used music, art and relatable characters to create a touching paean to unshakeable friendship. After a series of sequels, Don't Nod's Montreal studio has crafted a new tale about teenage relationships, split into two episodes, or Tapes, the first of which will doubtless have fans on tenterhooks for the concluding part. It's 1995 and introverted teen Swann is facing a final quiet summer alone in the rural town of Velvet Cove, Michigan, before her family moves to Vancouver. But in the parking lot of the local video store, she meets fellow 16-year-olds Nora, Autumn and Kat, and the four girls bond over their boredom and frustration with small-town life. Soon, they are inseparable, spending their days hiking in the nearby forests, making camp fires, confessing their secrets – until they discover a spooky shack hidden out among the trees and decide to make it their base. Here, they form riot grrrl band Bloom & Rage, channelling their dreams, desires and fears into fantasies of fame and revenge on shitty boys and repressive parents. But when their swirling emotions seem to awaken a supernatural presence in the woods, something terrible happens and the girls swear each other to a lifelong secret. Now, 27 years later, the group are meeting again in a rough bar on the outskirts of town that holds special relevance to their story. Autumn has received a sinister package addressed to their band. Whatever's in the box may well be the dreadful result of that tumultuous summer. In a style typical of Don't Nod, the game intercuts compelling cinematic sequences with interactive scenes, giving you control over conversations that subtly shape your relationships and the direction of the story. The narrative swaps back and forth between two timelines – the adult characters reminiscing in 2022 and their pivotal summer together in 1995 – and your actions in one affects outcomes in the other. At times, decisions you make as 43-year-old Swann at the bar are then retrofitted into her youthful experiences, creating fascinating ambiguities of causality and memory. Indeed, this game is as much about the way we craft and edit memories as it is about what actually happens to the girls. Swann is a keen film-maker and her 1990s camcorder is with you throughout the game; at any point you can hit the right trigger to view the world through the camcorder lens. In the main story, you're using it to film a music video for the band, but you're free to record whenever you want. This feature is incentivised by a bunch of themed checklists – record 10 different birds, or five ruined playground rides, or snatches of graffiti. But you can also capture your own scenes from the town and its environs, or discreetly record your friends, building themed sequences that you can then store and edit. Although the interface recalls games such as No Man's Sky and Marvel's Spider-Man, where filming objects is a practical gameplay component, here the camcorder is also a metaphor for recollection and nostalgia – how trustworthy are these recorded artefacts? At the same time, the player's role as both gamer and cinematographer asks interesting questions about how we relate to the protagonists we embody in games. It's not the only clever trick the game plays with format and convention. The dialogue system, for example, is specifically designed to capture the energy and chaos of the excitable-group dynamic. Options and responses change depending on who you're looking at as you talk, characters shout over each other, and comments get lost in the noise. At times, you can simply allow the dialogue options to time-out and choose not to say anything. In several wonderful moments this mechanic perfectly captures the desperate improvisational nature of teen relationships, the way a whole day can teeter on a single comment, or a fleeting moment of eye-contact. There are times when the dialogue feels stilted and over-earnest, and the sense of authenticity gets stretched. Those who've played Life Is Strange will also see many parallels with that game, especially between Swann and Max Caulfield, both shy photographers using the lens as an emotional security blanket. But like its predecessor, Lost Records wonderfully captures how, in young adulthood, seemingly insignificant moments can be charged with meaning. There's a picnic by a lake and later a game of truth or dare that absolutely crackle with intensity. The 90s setting is also well-supported, with spot-on contemporary references, from grunge band mix tapes to video players and troll dolls – it's fun to just pick up objects in the environment and reminisce, like wandering about some themed pop culture museum. In the background, the mystery at the heart of the game is subtly introduced and there's much to anticipate from the second part. Mostly though, it's the characters and their brittle relationships that stick with you. Three days after finishing the game I'm still thinking about them, worrying about them, inhabiting that old shack with them. Unless you simply refuse to indulge in emotional young adult drama, you will be right there, too. Lost Records: Bloom & Rage (Tape One), is out now; £59.99
