Lost Records Bloom & Rage, from the creators of Life is Strange, involves "blending reality, dreams, and the weirdness of the unknown"
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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.”
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.”
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“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.”
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.”
“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.”
I started out writing for the games section of a student-run website as an undergrad, and continued to write about games in my free time during retail and temp jobs for a number of years. Eventually, I earned an MA in magazine journalism at Cardiff University, and soon after got my first official role in the industry as a content editor for Stuff magazine. After writing about all things tech and games-related, I then did a brief stint as a freelancer before I landed my role as a staff writer here at GamesRadar+. Now I get to write features, previews, and reviews, and when I’m not doing that, you can usually find me lost in any one of the Dragon Age or Mass Effect games, tucking into another delightful indie, or drinking far too much tea for my own good.
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