When Tape 1 ended on Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, I was eager for more. The first Tape had left a lot of holes in the plot that needed to be filled and we had to wait 2 months for them to be filled, the downfall of a staggered, episodic release. With Tape 2 finally here, did it do enough to bring everything together? For me it’s an emphatic yes.

I’ve been sitting on my thoughts for this one for a few days now, not because I didn’t have my thoughts together, but because I didn’t really know how to write an episodic review. We try to avoid spoilers after all, so how am I to write this without spoiling Tape 1. So if this comes off as a bit vague for a review, my apologies but this is all about completing the story.

Everything Comes Together Just Right

My biggest concern going into Bloom & Rage Tape 2 was, how would they tie everything together. As I said there was a lot to finish up in Tape 2 and Don’t Nod nailed it out of the park. While Tape 2 mostly focuses on Kat and Swann, all 4 of them have their stories tied up nicely. Things will change, including the ending, depending on how your relationships are with each of the girls, but the major plot points will stay the same.

I also found the scene’s in Tape 2 to be much more enjoyable. Not that Tape 1 was bad, but the highlights of the whole package definitely come more often from Tape 2. There’s a scene where you have to sneak into Kat’s house, and from that point on I was hooked on both the story beats and the game play.

As for the game play there is nothing new here to talk about. Tape 2 plays exactly the same as Tape 1 in terms of using Swann’s recorder and the way she interacts with things. The one thing I will say is Tape 2 is much shorter. While Tape 1 clocked in around 10 hours, Tape 2 was probably only 3-4 hours. Considering it tied everything together in such a short time is no small feat, so kudos to Don’t Nod for doing so and not prolonging the game just to add some more length to it.

The Best (Worst?) Antagonist In Recent Memory

One thing I really wanted to highlight here is the games Antagonist Corey. If you’d played tape 1 then you know Corey is an asshole to put it nicely. There’s very brief moments where you think that maybe he’s not as bad as you think, but in Tape 2 its turned up to 1000. Quite frankly I’m not sure there’s ever been a character in a game that has made me hate them as much as I hate Corey. For his purpose that is certainly a good thing to get players that invested, even if it is hatred.

The rest of the cast outside of him is quite good as well at getting you emotionally invested, but in a good way. There’s a scene in which Dylan, Kat’s sister and Corey’s boyfriend, really gets humanized and more likeable. In Tape 1 she is more closely tied to Corey and his bad side, but they did a good job of turning me around on her. She’s really just in a bad relationship and its reflected in how she sometimes acts.

There is also a lot of potential moving forward with more games in this franchise. The game ends on a cliff hanger (what game doesn’t these days?) but even if they didn’t pursue that cliffhanger there is a lot they could do that would be interesting to me. Since a big part of the game takes place in current day it would be interesting to see what all the girls have moved on and done since. Wherever they go with it, I’ll be back for it.

Summary

Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Tape 2 is exactly what I needed it to be. From tying all the stories together and making me feel super connected to the characters, to bringing the big mystery to a close, I was quite happy with it. Where this franchise goes from here is anyone’s guess, but after this I do hope Don’t Nod continues it. Lost Records has proven that Don’t Nod is one of the premier studios when it comes to narrative and character building in video games.

Lost Records: Bloom & Rage was reviewed on Xbox Series X. We’d like to thank Don’t Nod for the review code that was provided.