Summary
- Lost Records: Bloom and Rage aims to offer diversity naturally, with the game's cast inspired by real people from the '90s.
- The game offers honesty in character representation without tokenism or pandering.
- Don't Nod Montreal uses diverse perspectives to enhance storytelling, though diversity is far from its only priority.
The world is full of all sorts of people, and as fiction serves as a great medium for all sorts of stories, entertainment such as video games have been asked to try to represent the world's minorities. Fortunately, one look at Lost Records: Bloom and Rage by Don't Nod Montreal might make those who don't see themselves in games often rather happy.
The Best War Games recently got to speak to some of the minds behind Lost Records: Bloom and Rage such as Producer Cathy Vincelli and Creative Director Michel Koch and asked about their ideas behind the diversity in the game's character designs to discover that it's second nature to Don't Nod as a whole.
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Lost Records: Bloom and Rage's Honesty About Rose-Tinted Lenses of Nostalgia
One of the first things that was quickly made known about Bloom and Rage was its portrayal of the '90s, so there was most certainly room to question just how accurate the game's take on it would be, and Producer Vincelli told The Best War Games that they were indeed inspired by their own memories of the time. However, Creative Director Koch also shared that the way the characters look in Lost Records was inspired by the honesty of what the developers saw looking back at photos.
I think we just wanted to create characters that felt real. That could have been real people that could have been our friends when we were a teenager or in high school. We looked at album pictures and pictures of our friends, like... Class pictures, and, yeah, and we looked at who we were... We all had different body types and we definitely weren't feeling like supermodels. We were just normal teenagers with skin issues, badly clothed, with weird photos... Yeah, we just wanted to create those characters and [have them] feel like real people we could have met in our teenage years.
While the team took inspiration from what they remember of the '90s, they reassured players that they'd done the research to avoid making things look too nice compared to reality. Above all else, the aim is to capture the same perspectives and emotions Life is Strange was known for while helping make the next narrative adventure more interactive. The previous franchise was known for focusing on teens, but according to Director Koch, adult views can complete Lost Records' overall narrative.
Through wanting to round out Lost Records' story with what one learns from growing up from a teen to an adult, Don't Nod Montreal took the time to bring in as many unique perspectives as it could. From team members hailing from the United States, Mexico, and Canada, Director Koch has stated that they aim to take feedback from everyone on the team during development.
... In our team, we had the chance to build the studio almost from scratch when we moved to Canada four years ago. And... Yeah, we are very lucky that we have a team that is almost without gender disparity. And we have also people in North America working with us, not only from Canada, we have people who moved from Mexico... Yeah, I think we are left with a team that's very diverse and they all brought their ideas to Lost Records. We play the game often with the team making sure we are listening and getting suggestions.
Don't Nod Montreal is most certainly doing all it can to make sure voices and perspectives are heard, but it's specifically because the studio wants to, not because it is catering to specific groups to boost sales.
How Lost Records: Bloom and Rage Makes an Impact By Doing What Comes Naturally
Allowing all kinds of people to have their stories told is part of why players wish to see themselves in their favorite games, but as long as that request has been around, there has been a counterpoint that views extra representation as tokenism or pandering. Don't Nod hasn't been perfect with the treatment of minority characters, as the death of Chloe Price didn't sit well with some LGBT players. And though Lost Records: Bloom and Rage isn't aiming to make strides with representation, as Producer Vincelli told The Best War Games, its approach to creating real and relatable characters comes from a very genuine place.
I think diversity is very important, not only in the team that's building the game, but also in our cast of characters. Again, it all ties back to seeing our everyday people we knew back then or even now. I don't think it's a main selling point [of the game,] we're trying to be diverse to us; it's just second nature to be inclusive in our games and have different people within it.
Lost Records: Bloom and Rage aims to be honest about what kind of people existed in the past and today. Don't Nod currently sits in a happy medium where the underdogs in representation won't be tokenized, but they won't be left out, either. At the end of it all, that's the best that people could hope for. Not much is known about Lost Records: Bloom and Rage beyond the four main band members, but what's been shown already proves the game is going to resonate with quite a few players upon release.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 75 /100 Critics Rec: 72%
WHERE TO PLAY
Rewind back to the 90s and live the defining summer of four high school girls as they forge bonds through their growing friendship, their punk band, and an unexplained event that will forever change their lives.
A 27-YEAR PROMISE
Navigate between dual timelines and shape both narratives – in 1995 and 2022 – with each offering a piece of the larger puzzle: the life-changing secrets they uncovered back then and why they’re reuniting now, after all these years. Together, in this place, they’re forced to try and remember clearly the fateful memories that have eluded them for the past 27 years.
CAPTURE & CONNECT
Connect with your newfound sisterhood through lifelike interactions and conversations that feel real: engage in immersive dialogue that changes based on where you look and what you say; where you can do things like interrupt and ignore. Grab your camcorder and explore, filming Velvet Cove and capturing the essence of its people, places, and lush nature. Film just for the fun of it or try to find the dark secrets tucked away.
GIRLS TO THE FRONT
Play as Swann and get to know your new friends, each with their own lives and battles. Come out of your shell and embrace rebellion over the summer as you form friendships with Nora, Autumn, and Kat. Through your actions and words, you’ll shape your relationships with each of them on your journey to self-discovery. Will your bond wither over the years or will it feel like you were barely separated at all?
A NOSTALGIC DREAMSCAPE
In a picturesque corner of Michigan in 1995 lies the seemingly sleepy little town of Velvet Cove. Between dense woodlands and serene lakes, it’s a place where beauty meets the bizarre. Cloaked in a carefully crafted dreampop soundtrack that blends nostalgia and ethereal vibes, you’ll definitely find it all nice and relaxing...
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 5
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC
- Genre(s)
- Mystery, Adventure, Narrative
