Windows 10 and a solid-state drive are mandatory across the board, though the required installation space isn’t specified. The minimum requirements are pretty forgiving with an Intel Core i7-2700K or AMD FX-8350, 8 GB of RAM and a Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 Ti (4GB), AMD Radeon RX 560 (4GB) or Intel ARC A380 (6 GB) needed for 720p/30 FPS at Low settings.

Recommended requirements include a Core i5-11400 or AMD Ryzen 5 5600X, 16 GB Ram, and a GeForce RTX 3080 (10 GB) or AMD RX 6800XT (16GB) for 1080p/60 FPS on High settings. Finally, playing at Very High and 2160p/60 FPS requires a Core i5-12600K or AMD Ryzen 5 7600X, 16 GB of RAM, and a GeForce RTX 4090 (24 GB). Support for Nvidia’s DLSS and AMD FSR will be available, but ultrawide monitors must deal with black bars on the sides.

Lost Records: Bloom and Rage launches on February 18th with Tape 1 for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC, while Tape 2 arrives on April 15th. Both Tapes retail for $39.99 and won’t be sold separately.

This figure likely only accounts for a single playthrough rather than all the potential choices one could make. Take Life is Strange, the studio’s first title. HowLongToBeat reveals it’s 14 hours to complete the main story on average with an additional 4.5 hours for completionists.

Life is Strange 2 is 16 hours on average for the story and 20 hours for completionists. With multiple endings confirmed, past and present decisions changing things in both, they’re more than likely to contribute to the playtime. Of course, the total may not even factor in all the cutscenes and dialogue interactions.

Lost Records: Bloom and Rage’s first Tape launches on February 18th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC with Tape 2 arriving on April 15th.

In a separate FAQ, the developer wanted to provide the team with “the necessary time to refine the experience, address more bugs, and enhance the storytelling for a truly immersive continuation of the journey.” It believes the additional time will ensure a “richer experience” for players.

Lost Records: Bloom and Rage costs $39.99, with a 10 percent discount available until March 4th. The price includes both Tapes, with Tape 2 being an update to download when it launches.

The title is about four friends – Swann, Nora, Autumn, and Kat – spanning two different periods – 1995 and 2022 – in Velvet Cove. While they were inseparable during high school, an event occurs that causes them to split. Twenty years later, they must return to the town and confront a “long-buried secret” for mysterious reasons.

While it leverages DON’T NOD’s experience with narrative titles like Life is Strange, Lost Records: Bloom and Rage is also aiming for a “slightly more interactive” dialogue system. Head here for more details.

The trailer sees Swann, the protagonist, being bullied by another teenager. Kat is threatened in a separate scene while Autumn expresses her anger at someone named Cory. However, the tail-end of the trailer is most intriguing as it seemingly showcases the Abyss in question – a massive hole brimming with mysterious, seemingly malignant, energy.

Aside from the new gameplay, DON’T NOD confirmed that Milk and Bone are working on the soundtrack, playing a “major role.” In a press release, they said, “We’re so thrilled to be able to announce our collaboration with DON’T NOD for the original soundtrack of Lost Records.

“Scoring a narrative video game like this has always been a dream of ours, and we could not have ever hoped for a better partnership. As gamers and big fans of previous DON’T NOD games, it was such an honor to infuse the game with our identity and tap into our melancholic signature sound!”

Lost Records: Bloom and Rage is coming to PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC in 2025. Tape 1 is out on February 18th, with Tape 2 following on March 18th.

While the third-person perspective traditionally seen in previous titles like Life is Strange is apparent, there’s also a new first-person view. Players can select dialogue options and manipulate a camera to take photos. As we learn more about each girl’s character, it becomes clear that the reunion between Swann and Autumn is anything but joyous.

The latter reveals that her mother received a package addressed to Bloom and Rage, the name of the group’s band from the old days. What’s in it, and how does it relate to the incident from decades prior? We’ll have to wait and find out.

Lost Records: Bloom and Rage is divided into two tapes – the first launches on February 18th, 2025, while the second is out on March 18th.

Speaking to Actusnews Wire, CEO Oskar Guilbert said, “We know that many of our fans are eagerly awaiting this game, just as they are the recently announced next installment of Life is Strange. Let’s give both titles the space they need to be enjoyed by our players within the large community we have built.

“We firmly believe the wait for Bloom and Rage will be worth it. We look forward to sharing this new adventure, which we hope will become another memorable chapter in the DON’T NOD universe.”

Lost Records: Bloom and Rage comprises two parts set in 1995 and 2022. The story sees four friends – Swann, Nora, Kat and Autumn – who face an “unexplained event” and spiral downwards. After splitting up, they reunite nearly three decades later, presumably to face their demons.

Though it will play similarly to Life is Strange 1 and 2 (both developed by DON’T NOD), there are some new elements, like playing in both timelines. Decisions from the present can affect and vice versa. Swann’s camcorder also plays a “big part” and can be used for puzzle-solving. The development team also seeks a “slightly more interactive and naturalistic” dialogue system to allow for “much more urgency.” Stay tuned for further updates on its release date in the coming months.

“We are also trying to learn from what we did before for the dialogue system because talking is very important in a game like this,” said studio creative director Michel Koch when speaking to CG Magazine.

“You are talking for your character, you are making choices, you are talking to other characters, you are listening, and what we’re trying to do with Lost Records: Bloom and Rage is to make the dialogue system slightly more interactive and naturalistic in a way that you will be able to have much more urgency about when to talk when not to talk, how to use some of the things that are around your surroundings to bring new dialogue topics to the discussions.”

This might sound similar to Oxenfree, Night School Studio’s adventure game, where players could reply in various ways (or not at all) while other characters would react naturally. “We want to try to make you feel like you’re part of a group of friends and try to find a new space within this group by how you communicate with others. But for the rest, we are still keeping the same DNA where Lost Records: Bloom and Rage will be a narrative adventure game where you have a lot of world-building, moving around in an environment, finding clues and looking at environmental storytelling like we did in the previous games.

“It will be a lot of just exploration of the environment, dialogue with characters, using some of the interactive tools we are giving to our players to recreate the story, and, of course, playing with all the branches and hopefully, that will create a lot of replay value where you can replay the story at the end and make a different choice, make different decisions, both in the present and the time to change the outcome of the stories, both at the end of the Summer of 95 and at the end of the reunion evening in 2022.”

When asked about the replay value and whether there are multiple endings, Koch was reluctant and couldn’t comment on the number of endings and branches. However, he noted, “It’s still Swann’s story, but it’s your version of Swann’s story where, hopefully, in this game, even more than some of the others, we want you to have the opportunity to put more of yourself when you decide what to answer, where do you want to drive Swann and the group storyline, both in the past and the present time. So, I think replay value is important, but for me, it’s okay if you decide to play the game only once.

“What’s important is that the version of the game you played makes sense for how you wanted to behave with the other girls, what kind of relationship you want it to have and if you want to replay it, of course, that’s great because you will be able to experience different branches, different endings both in the past and the present, what would be the fate of the group in 1995, in 2022.”

Koch feels this is more important than “replay value for the sake of replaying the game; it’s making sure that when you play the game, you feel that the game is reacting to what you do in a meaningful way. That’s important so that even your first playthrough feels complete and feels like you have your version of the story and the character you enjoyed – that you loved – and it all makes sense with the choices made.”

Lost Records: Bloom and Rage launches in late 2024 for Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC. Check out the latest trailer here, which sees one of the four protagonists, Swann, using a camcorder. Koch didn’t go into much detail on how it works, but confirmed it would play a “big role”, and used for solving puzzles and storytelling.

In an interview with CG Magazine, DON’T NOD Montreal studio creative director Michel Koch explained how this works, “You’ll be playing in both timelines, and the choice you make in the present will affect something you’re playing in the past, and the choice you make when you’re playing in the past will change who they are today and what’s happening in the present.

“So we are thinking that having this kind of setup would allow us to bring some new interest and twists on the choose-your-own-adventure genre we did with Life is Strange, and Life is Strange 2.”

Also, Swann’s camcorder isn’t just for show – it plays a “big part” and creates a “connection with you and your character,” per Koch. “I don’t want to spoil too much of what we are doing with this one, but as you’ve seen in the teaser we showed you at the beginning of this meeting, Swann used a video camcorder during her life in the ’90s.

“So when you play the Past Memories in 1995, you will have access to this camcorder, and I won’t give away how it will be used in the game, but it will be a big part of how you will be able to use it at any moment that will create a connection with you and your character, and it will be used for both puzzle solving and storytelling.”

Lost Records: Bloom and Rage will be available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC when it launches later this year. The story focuses on four friends – Swann, Nora, Kat, and Autumn – who end the Summer of 1995 vowing to never see each other again following a “downward spiral” from an “unexplained event.” Of course, they reunite in 2022 and must deal with the fallout. Stay tuned for more details on the narrative title in the coming months, including its release date.

Lost Records: Bloom and Rage is set in 1995 in the fictional town of Velvet Core, and will follow the story of protagonist Swann and her group of core friends. Billed as the first instalment of a two-part story, Bloom and Rage will see the friends reuniting 27 years after a tragic event drove them apart, and being forced to confront it and its fallout.

The trailer, which you can check out below, showcases various locations from the town of Velvet Core and gives us glimpses of the game’s core cast, all presented through the lens of Swann’s old-timey camcorder.

Lost Records: Bloom and Rage will launch in late 2024 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.