Two months after the release of Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Tape 1, Tape 2 is finally here. It feels like embracing an old friend again — a fitting parallel to the game’s central theme. But is this reunion everything I’d hoped for and looked forward to over the past two months? Or have things changed, and have we grown apart?
In this review, I’ll focus more on the story’s conclusion, so be warned: spoilers ahead. In my review of Tape 1, I covered the gameplay and general impressions without spoilers, so feel free to check that one out if you still want to experience everything for yourself.
The Friendships Reach a Powerful, Emotional Conclusion
Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Tape 2 picks up right where we left off. Swann is still sitting in the bar with Autumn and Nora, reminiscing about that summer of ‘95. And once again, that mysterious, unopened box stares us down. For months I’ve felt like Brad Pitt in Se7en, shouting “What’s in the booooox?”, and I’m thrilled that we’re finally going to find out.
But not before we’re treated to a few more tearjerking scenes, showing how the girls are coping with the heartbreaking news that their friend Kat has leukemia and doesn’t have long to live.
This is where Tape 1 truly shined, and Tape 2 is no different. The friendships that were so carefully built in the first part now face some serious challenges. For Autumn, it all becomes too much — she finds herself teetering on the edge of a full-blown panic attack.
By choosing the right dialogue options, you can help calm her down. But if you push too hard, or show too little empathy for what she’s going through, it’ll only make things worse. In the next sequence, where you play a kind of observational game by naming things you see around you, you again have a chance to either ease Autumn’s stress or unintentionally heighten it. For example, mentioning anything that reminds her of past supernatural experiences or painful memories is definitely not the way to go.
In my playthrough, the scene ended beautifully. Autumn still chose to leave the girls’ hideout, but not before sharing a touching moment with Swann. Swann wrapped her in a big hug from behind, and it was clear that, despite everything, both girls deeply valued their friendship. The way present-day Autumn reflects on those moments, and the emotions she felt back then, adds another layer of depth. Her doubts, but especially her love and appreciation, are conveyed with quiet power, gently reminding me of what made Tape 1 so memorable in the first place.
Lost Records: Bloom & Rage gives each of the three friends the same thoughtful, personal treatment. I was especially invested in the scene with Nora, as she was my romance choice. It was a touching moment that clearly hinted this was much more than just a fleeting summer fling. When adult Nora later admitted that in the present, it made the fact they had to part ways 27 years ago all the more painful. And now she’s with someone else. Life just isn’t fair.
Still, despite my soft spot for Nora, Swann shares the most powerful scene with Kat. Knowing Kat doesn’t have much time left naturally makes you, and Swann, want to make the most of every moment. At the same time, though, you can’t help but want answers. Kat, however, makes it clear right away: she doesn’t want to talk about her illness; she just wants to enjoy the time she has left. Pushing her for answers is, of course, not appreciated. Still, among the group there’s a lingering sense of disappointment and mistrust that Kat kept this to herself.
“Her doubts, but especially her love and appreciation, are conveyed with quiet power, gently reminding me of what made Tape 1 so memorable in the first place.“
But it’s not about Kat lacking trust in them, quite the opposite. She simply wants to live the rest of her days freely, without pity. Sadly, her family makes that nearly impossible by confining her to her room. Thankfully, Nora and Swann decide to “break in” to see her, and it’s in that moment one of Tape 2’s most beautiful scenes unfolds. At Kat’s request, I chose to cut her hair. It was tender, intimate, and well..heartbreaking.
When Kat took Swann’s hand, I felt a lump rise in my throat. They shared a moment of deep appreciation for one another. It felt like a calm before the storm, because not long after, all hell breaks loose when Corey catches wind of your little infiltration, and throws a wrench into everything you had planned.
Corey Could’ve Been a More Nuanced Antagonist
In Tape 1, Corey was your typical bully; the kind we’ve seen countless times before. He was a bit of a stereotype, though still fairly believable in that role. In Tape 2, however, it felt like they leaned a little too hard into that archetype. I really would’ve liked to see more layers to his character, and maybe more emotional weight to his relationship with Dylan. You can influence that relationship somewhat through your choices in Tape 2, but I didn’t personally notice much of an impact. Maybe a different playthrough would change that.
Back to Corey himself. Toward the end of Tape 1, I started to think I’d judged him too quickly. He ran toward the collapsing Kat, seemingly out of genuine concern, and it began to look like he was simply trying to protect her. He seemed to be acting out of worry, even if he came off as an overbearing, annoying brother-in-law. But any trace of that humanity is largely absent in Tape 2, and that’s a real missed opportunity. I love characters with both light and dark sides, but in this second part, I couldn’t find much light left in Corey at all.
Sure, I get that he was upset the girls trashed his workplace. That’s understandable. But attacking the terminally ill sister of your girlfriend? That’s a lot harder to swallow. And the fact that Dylan just stood there and let it happen doesn’t exactly reflect well on her either. I expected more from her, especially after sharing a few genuinely heartfelt moments in Tape 2 that made me believe there’s a good person in there, someone who knows deep down she’d be better off without Corey.
One explanation for Corey’s extreme behavior could, of course, be the influence of the Abyss. This supernatural force may have driven him to madness. That’s a simple explanation that I’d have been fine with. But that leads me to another issue: we still don’t really know what the Abyss is, what it wants, what it’s done, or what it’s planning to do. Lost Records: Bloom & Rage could’ve easily spanned four Tapes, and in my opinion, it probably should have in order to tell its story properly.
I’m totally fine with narratives that leave some questions unanswered or ask the player to use their imagination. But there’s a point where too many loose ends start to hurt the story.
Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Never Really Needed the Abyss in the First Place
What makes Lost Records such a memorable experience? Ask a hundred players, and ninety-nine will probably say: the friendship between the four girls. I can’t imagine anyone saying: the Abyss. None of the game’s emotional high points involve the Abyss at all. That says a lot about DON’T NOD’s strength in writing raw, human stories. But it also highlights the lost potential of what could have been a compelling supernatural element.
Back in my review of Tape 1, I genuinely felt like everything was being carefully set up to blow us away in Tape 2 with big revelations about the Abyss. But that payoff never really came. Was our blood pact in Tape 1 even meaningful? At the time, it felt like a major turning point — something that would heavily shape the story moving forward.
And what about the wish and offering we made to the Abyss? Did that have any real impact? As far as I can tell, not really. Unless I missed something huge, we’re left with a whole lot of unanswered questions by the end. Aside from the obvious cliffhanger that practically guarantees a follow-up, there are dozens of loose threads. And that’s not what I was hoping for. Tape 1 did a brilliant job of raising intriguing questions. Questions I couldn’t wait to get answers to. But now, at the end of Tape 2, I still don’t really know anything.
“Tape 1 did a brilliant job of raising intriguing questions. Questions I couldn’t wait to get answers to. But now, at the end of Tape 2, I still don’t really know anything.”
That said, I did come across an excellent theory on Reddit called The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy Interpretation, written by user TheRealTetro. It suggests that the Abyss links the past and the present in subtle ways. One great example is how adult Autumn learns a word game from Swann in the present, only for us to see Swann teaching that exact game to young Autumn in ’95. If, like me, you’re scratching your head over the ending, I highly recommend reading that breakdown.
Honestly, if DON’T NOD had explained things in this exact way, for those of us who aren’t great at piecing together abstract lore, it could’ve made for a brilliant conclusion. But as it stands, it feels more like guesswork. And I can’t shake the feeling this was a conscious choice, made to lay the groundwork for more installments. And don’t get me wrong, I’d pick up a sequel in a heartbeat. But that doesn’t change the fact that I was expecting more closure, not just more mystery.
Some Loose Scraps
- Late shoutout to Pam and Gus, who are quite wholesome.
- I suck at packing suitcases, so that first puzzle of Swann having to fit her stuff into a box was a good exercise. More creative puzzles like that would have added some more diversity to the gameplay
- Swann still always talks as if she’s out of oxygen. Breathe, girl.
- Seeing the broken heart icon appear after picking a response one of the girls didn’t like broke mine a little too. Not gonna lie.
- Judging by the global stats at the end, people really didn’t care for Autumn, huh? I’m always cheering for the underdog, so I’m stealing her heart next. Just you watch.
Conclusion
Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Tape 2 is a beautiful, emotional tribute to the friendships between its four central characters. The writing around their dynamic is genuinely impressive and powerful enough to leave me looking back on this journey as a truly heartfelt and memorable experience.
That said, I had hoped Tape 2 would provide more clarity around the supernatural force known as the Abyss. Instead of answers, I’m mostly left with even more questions. On that front, I expected, and wished for, a bit more.
