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Lost Records: Bloom & Rage
Capturing and Connecting (Gamescom) - Lost Records: Bloom and Rage Interview with Don't Nod
We caught up with three members of the French developer to learn more about the upcoming narrative-heavy adventure game that follows a group of girls as they experience a summer that will change their lives forever.
Audio transcription
"Hello everyone and welcome back to Gamereactor.
As you might be able to tell, or I say might be able to tell, you should be able to tell at this point, by this wonderful booth that we're currently in at Don't Nod."
"I'm here with Michel, Cathy and Luc to talk a little bit about Lost Records, Bloom and Rage, as you can see in the background there.
Now, as part of Open Night Live, we just found out when the game's going to be coming in two parts.
So, tell me a little bit about the structure that you're doing here, releasing the game in two sections."
"What's the aim with that?
I think we enjoyed telling stories in an episodic way.
You know, we've done that on Life is Strange 1, Life is Strange 2.
Here, at first, we were not sure about the episodic, if it would be episodic or not, but Michel, when he's creating the game, he thinks episodically."
"I think you're a fan of TV shows and it made sense at some point for the game to be episodic.
We know the audience like that. We didn't want too much time between episodes.
That's why one month, I think, is enough for people to engage, to talk about the game, what's going to happen in the second one."
"And then, you're able to tell a story in a way that creates excitement, possibly around the end of the first episode.
We hope people are still excited about episodic games.
And one of the things that you guys are really talented at is creating these really believable characters, like people that feel actually real."
"So, what's the sort of process with that?
How do you go about developing these characters that actually feel like people you could meet on the streets?
Yeah, you're right. We really love working.
I think a story is only as good as their characters."
"And we really start by working our stories by working on the characters themselves.
With our group of friends, with Swan, Nora, Oton and Kat, we really wanted to kind of encompass what we remember of what it is to be in the 90s and how to have a diverse group of friends where they're not all alike."
"All of them have their own unique character and personality, but they also have this strong friendship at first sight.
You didn't see that in the demo, but there is a scene where they will meet together to face some adversity and they will help each other, and that's how they are getting together."
"And we really wanted to showcase what it is to spend the summer with friends that you are bonding with very fast, and how those friendships can grow very quickly, and how they can put you in situations where you will do things that you wouldn't do by yourself."
"You're following your friends.
So we tried to create all this with this group of characters.
You guys did so much great work with the Life is Strange franchise, and Lost Records feels like it has that Life is Strange heart to it."
"Tell me a little bit about what you learned about using Life is Strange as a previous series.
What have you taken from Life is Strange to brought into Lost Records and gone, we can improve on that, we can do this better this time around?
So there is a few things that we try to improve, because of course we love to tell stories, and this is at its core, Lost Records Blooming Ridge is really a narrative adventure game with the same roots as what we did before."
"But we're really trying to improve on some of the very important mechanics, storytelling mechanics and gameplay mechanics.
I think one of the most important things we're trying to improve is the dialogue system.
As you've seen maybe in playing the demo, we are trying to put you in something that we call more naturalistic."
"It's not always static.
In the previous game, you were just talking, seeing a cutscene, making a choice, seeing another cutscene.
And now we're trying to integrate the dialogue in something that's much more dynamic."
"So you're trying to find your space within the discussions.
You can interrupt people, you can sometimes find your window when you can say something or decide to not say something.
We are also trying to put you more needing to look at the environment, where you can look around and find objects in the room that will unlock new dialogue choices."
"So the goal is really to make you feel that you're within a group of friends, trying to fit in, trying to find your spot.
And one of the things that I've always coined the Life is Strange franchise is the supernatural elements to it."
"Now, I played the demo, I know that there is some sort of things going on behind the scenes there.
What can you allude to there?
What can you tell me about what's happening beyond?
So we cannot say too much without spoiling, but you've seen things in the demo, you've seen things in the trailer."
"What I can say is that, of course, we always love supernatural stories.
Even if we are telling stories about the characters, I don't think we are telling sci-fi stories.
I think we are still telling, in a way, mundane stories, but we try to make them not mundane because we bring this supernatural element that kind of stirs, shakes things up."
"So this is the same approach we are having with Lost Records.
But I think the twist is that the game takes place in the two timelines, and right from the bat, when you start to play the game, you will see that there is this huge mystery that's looming over them, like they are breaking a promise, you don't know why, you're trying to remember the past as you discuss with your friends in the present timeline, and you will play those memories."
"And it's the way you will play both the present timeline and the past memories that will basically recreate the story and define what really happened that brought them here nowadays, and that made them promise to never see each other again."
"And you will, of course, discover what the supernatural element is bringing into that.
The game is releasing in two parts, and the first part is called Bloom, and the second part is called Rage.
So you will see part of the supernatural element in the first part, but we will, of course, have it much more present in the second part."
"And one of the things that you guys are also really, really talented at is inclusivity.
You make these characters that, you know, they apply to people, to real people, and make people feel like they can relate to them.
So how do you go about that?
What's your sort of process for developing inclusivity and, you know, making these characters the way they are, shall we say?
Yeah, sure."
"I think it's just having inclusivity in the team that you're working with as well, like pulling from real-life experiences, like things I think we've grown up with, people we've met along the way.
And I think the great part about this game is there's four girls."
"They're all very different.
They have their own personalities, and like you can see a little bit of yourself in probably each one of them, if not at least one."
"So, yeah, I think it's mostly about, you know, having inclusive people in your development team and then just pulling from your life experiences.
Now, around this room here, there's like a key thing you can see."
"There's a lot of music elements here, I think, as well.
So tell me about the music in Lost Records' Bloom and Rage.
What can we expect on that front?
So we applied the same thing we loved on the Life is Strange games, having original score composed especially for the game and also having licensed tracks."
"You know, there are tracks we thought were really perfect for the game and we're happy to have licensed them.
But also the music, you know, is part of the game itself.
Like the four girls, there's the band."
"You've seen that in the demo.
And we had this artist who composed the song for the game, who's the Sirenel song you heard.
And this is the song that the characters will play."
"It will start with a shaky version of the song until the final one, and it's really great to have music integrated this way.
I think we've never done that until now.
We can even say that for the Sirenel song, you as a player will have the opportunity to write part of the song."
"So there will be different versions of the song based on how you decide some of the lyrics.
And in the demo, you played with the drum machine and the music that you're actually choosing in the drum machine will be part of the instrument that will be in the final song that you will see later in the game."
"And you also have an original score.
We have two principal artists who worked on the game.
We cannot reveal the names yet, I think.
I think we mentioned at least one."
"I think it's okay.
We have Ruth Radley from X-Chromatix who's composing a lot of songs for the game with her band.
And we also have Milk and Bone, the Montreal electropop band."
"That's really cool, who composed the score for the game.
So you've seen some of these tracks during the demo, and we really love what they did to bring this kind of mood to all the scenes."
"And as a final question, and this is one of my favorite questions to ask people, is when Lost Records' Bloom and Rage does come out, or when the first part of it comes out, should we say, what's something you're really excited, each of you, for people to see for themselves?
I think it's the camcorder mechanic."
"Super cool to use.
I know as someone who grew up in the 90s, even though the early 90s, camcorders were such a big thing.
And as a kid, just filming stuff and being able to, I mean, you couldn't do it in the 90s, but you can do it in our game, kind of film what you want, switch up shots, make it your own, and then be able to rewatch those things after is something really cool that you'll be able to do."
"I really hope that the players will find themselves in a way, either in the present or in the past, because we're really trying to make the game in a way that feels like, for example, in the present timeline, that we really want the player to feel like they're meeting old friends and having these reunion discussions where they are discovering each other again."
"And in the past, we really hope to put the player in the shoes of trying to fit in within a group of friends.
So we hope that either, ideally both of those, but maybe one more than the other will resonate depending on the players and their experiences."
"I think what I love is the funny part of the game.
People will discover really funny stuff.
I know the team loves to do this kind of stuff.
There are really dramatic moments, intense moments, but I always love these kind of slower moments where you read something or there's a dialogue option that really makes you laugh."
"I love this part.
Well, Lost Records Bloom & Rage is coming out on...
The first part, Bloom, is coming out on February 18th, and the second part, Rage, is coming out on March 18th."
"So stay tuned for that.
And yeah, for more on Lost Records Bloom & Rage, stay tuned to your local GameRantor region.
Take care."
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