PlayStation 5 played
It would be incorrect to call the French studio Don’t Nod the authors of one hit, but it’s hard to argue with the fact that it was Life is Strange that won them universal fame. The other releases, although there were good games among them, did not enjoy the same popularity, and attempts to make something in the same genre mostly failed – hardly anyone remembers Tell Me Why and Twin Mirror now. And Life is Strange is now being worked on by other people, who sometimes do well, and sometimes not so much. But in the case of Lost Records, the studio apparently understood which strings of the soul need to be touched, how to improve the gameplay and what story to tell. The first episode of the two turned out to be imperfect, but, as in the case of the first Life is Strange, there is charm in this.
⇡#Friends, but not forever
The main character is called Swann, and she has many complexes. She is plump, short, covered in freckles, and her best friend is a video camera that will never offend or ruin her mood. At first, the character is a bit reminiscent of Max from Life is Strange (only she used a camera), but during the game, such a parallel does not arise in your head – Swann has her own character, and she has nothing in common with Max. She is just a nice shy girl who meets new friends near the cinema and is embarrassed at first, but then feels more and more confident in their company.
The translation turned out very good, and some jokes and comparisons in it were made more understandable – in the original, for example, it is not Aivazovsky who is mentioned
The trio of new acquaintances turned out to be motley: there is a young ice cream seller Autumn, and a rocker Nora who dreams of playing in a band (but not as rebellious as Chloe), and a miniature, but clearly biting Kat – at first glance similar to Kate Marsh, but you quickly understand that you will not bring her to tears by bullying. The first episode is dedicated to the girls getting to know each other: they walk near the cinema, get into squabbles with someone, find an abandoned cabin in the forest and arrange it. Like a road movie without a car and a road – it seems like you visit many locations and do different things, but everything happens within one small area.
These events take place far in the past – in 1995. And in 2022, the girls decide to meet in the same place. It turns out that they have not communicated for 27 years and even swore not to meet, which is strange, because once they were almost best friends. One of them (Autumn) received a strange package – a box covered with tape with different inscriptions, including a mention of a rock band of girls, which they still got together. The packaging scared Autumn so much that she decided to call everyone – grown up, who managed to either get married or even divorced, got a job, and so on. These are no longer the same cheerful girls who crossed the ravine on a shaky log and broke locks – these are adult women, and the game constantly switches between the past and the present, allowing you to compare them and make certain decisions that affect what is happening.
You see the sad faces of your friends so often that you involuntarily begin to think that they are all hiding from the law.
Of course, we won’t learn the reasons for the breakup in the first episode. More precisely, we’ll start to learn about it in its final scenes. Up until that point, there’s a feeling that the player is being bullied — dangling a carrot in front of them and not being allowed to bite into it. “The memories will be painful.” “When I try to remember, my brain refuses to work.” “A lot of water has flowed under the bridge.” “Maybe we shouldn’t have discussed this.” Phrases like these are said over and over again, and while they’re intriguing at first, they eventually become tiresome — you want everyone to stop speaking in riddles, exchanging meaningful glances, and trying to change the subject. Moreover, even when the game begins to hint at what happened in the finale, it’s impossible to understand the reasons for all this mystery. Let’s see what the second episode will be about — for now, there’s a feeling that the secret isn’t as deep as they’re trying to make it out to be.
⇡#Warmth squared
But even if the secret turns out to be a dud, it’s unlikely to spoil the story much — it’s more about the characters themselves than what happens to them later. Special thanks to Don’t Nod for no longer pausing scenes when making fateful decisions — there’s no such pressure on the player here. And the plot doesn’t feel like it’s turning 180 degrees because of certain actions. The choices are mostly about girlfriends — who you’ll take which path with, who you’ll decide to call, what color logo you’ll choose for your group, and so on. You’d think that this would make the narrative boring compared to Life is Strange, but no — here it’s structured differently: if there we lead the heroes and heroines through labyrinths, choosing a direction, then here we follow a well-trodden path and decide who we’re more comfortable doing something with. And none of the girls are offended by this.
All such decisions will affect the level of friendship with a particular girl, but they will not change the plot as a whole.
Perhaps in the second episode all this will have much more meaning, but I doubt it – it is unlikely that someone will die because you decided to help one girl clean the hut and not another. The friendly atmosphere remains until the very end of the first episode, and thanks to the lively dialogues, you immerse yourself in this atmosphere. Here you do not just choose your lines – the system is much more interesting. Firstly, some answers do not appear until you examine the environment. Secondly, you can interrupt speakers – this does not affect the story at all, but if you want to shut someone up, you can do it. Thirdly, you do not need to rush with pressing – if you listen carefully, something may sound that will add another line to the list of options – for example, a clarifying question. It seems like a small thing, but it is enough to make you want to actively participate in conversations, and not just read the text on the screen.
The only criticism I can give the story is that it’s drawn out. It was predictable that the first episode wouldn’t reveal the main secret, but it goes on for quite a long time (about six hours), and at some point you start to think that it’s time for the girls’ fun adventures to end and for the scriptwriters to get to the point. Some dialogues seem unnecessary in modern times, since they don’t develop the plot in any way, and some walks and get-togethers take up more time than necessary. Perhaps this is due to unfamiliarity – in the case of such a “movie” you expect a two-hour episode, after which a screen with statistics pops up and the credits start rolling. But here the duration is like that of some story games that are sold for almost full price. In any case, I would still like to see the second episode more concentrated and filled with important events.
The locations are so beautifully drawn that sometimes you want to spend more time in them
Because of the protracted nature of Lost Records, at some point you lose interest in the gameplay, although at first you almost admire it. In Life is Strange, Max was engaged in photography, but you couldn’t use the camera — just press a button in certain places so that the heroine would take a photo and you would be credited with a collectible. Here, everything is much cooler — at least because you can take out a video camera at every step. You can shoot everything in a row and in any scene, although some objects are more important than others — various birds, animals, graffiti, hunting gear, and so on. The game prompts with white frames where they are, and you just need to stand comfortably and shoot everything. But the process doesn’t end there — when the entire collection on a certain topic is collected, you open the menu and can watch a short “documentary” with Swann’s comments. And all the shots in it will be exactly the same as you shot them, only a filter in the spirit of cassette recordings of that era will be added.
The idea is great – not only does it suit the character perfectly, but it also inspires the player to be creative with their shots rather than just mashing buttons for the sake of an “achievement”. I tried to capture all these highlighted objects in different ways, zooming in and out, moving away from each other, tilting the DualSense controller to shoot from different angles. There are no fancy filters or settings here, but that’s a good thing – in feature-packed photo modes I always get lost trying to click something normally, but here you use very limited options and try to squeeze the most out of them.
It’s easy to catch a squirrel in your lens, but some other animals are much less common
***
It’s a pity, but due to the drawn-out story, the video editing towards the end doesn’t cause such enthusiasm. However, overall, the first episode of Lost Records leaves mostly pleasant impressions. It’s too early to draw conclusions and say that Don’t Nod from the time of Life is Strange has returned, but this game has the familiar signature of the studio – with lively and interesting characters, atmospheric locations and an intriguing story. And it’s unlikely that the second episode will cross all this out – even if the secret around which the narrative is built turns out to be some kind of nonsense.
Advantages:
- Excellent graphics – the locations are beautiful and the characters are charming;
- An updated dialogue system brings conversations to life;
- Cassette filters and references to films of that era inevitably evoke nostalgia;
- The opportunity to film the environment yourself and then use the footage in your films encourages you to approach filming responsibly;
- An intriguing plot with an interesting narrative structure…
Disadvantages:
- …Which at times seems drawn out and tires with hints of a secret that we will never know about;
- Because of the six-hour duration of the editing process, you have time to cool off towards the process of editing your videos.
Graphic arts
The facial animations are a bit “wooden”, but otherwise the game looks great – the locations are very beautiful. It’s a pity that when switching scenes the textures do not have time to load quickly.
Sound
Everything is as usual: a lot of indie rock, which the developers always include at the most appropriate moments. The characters are also voiced wonderfully.
Single player game
An adventure in the spirit of Life is Strange, which you are unlikely to want to replay for the sake of making different decisions – what you chose, you chose. But you will want to return to some scenes for the sake of collectibles, fortunately this is done very conveniently.
Estimated time of completion
From 6 to 7 hours – depends on how often you take out the camera.
Collective game
Not provided. At the time of writing, even world statistics showing other players’ decisions were not shown.
General impression
It’s not yet clear that the old Don’t Nod from the Life is Strange era is back, but Lost Records seems like a good start to a heartfelt and memorable adventure. The first episode is drawn out and doesn’t reveal the most important thing, but there is hope that the second will provide answers to many questions.
Rating: 8.0 / 10
More about grading system
Video: