Bloom and Rage is a narrative-driven game that launches players in a world where every action is weighed with emotional consequences. Developed by Don’t Nod, known for their incredible work on Life is Strange, bloom and rage explores themes of personal growth, mental health, and the complexities of relationships.
You play as Swann (with two n’s) and progress through her last summer before moving to Canada. Swann is a socially isolated young girl who seems to much prefer her own company. However this last summer in velvet cove sees Swann creates a tight knit friendship group consisting of three other girls, Nora, kat and Autumn, bonding over mutual disgust of a bully. Set in 1995 there are lots of nostalgic little Easter eggs from the 90s including video rental and a Tamagotchi. As with life is strange, bloom and rage once again shows that your choice matters, this time however it is manifested through your interactions with the other characters. You can build the relationship with the other girls by carefully selecting dialogue….and yes, you can romance any of the three girls of you so chose, but if you want to keep it completely platonic you can. The game will indicate whether you have helped or hurt your relationship with the person you are interacting with and there are certain moments where you can only chose to focus or interact with one of the other girls, so dialogue wise the options are pretty varied. At the end of tape one you will get a summary of your relationship status with each of the girls.
its not just the 1995 storyline however, you also play as Swann just after the pandemic, and this is where you start, as older Swann. You are meeting back up with your friends, turns out something happened and you have not seen them for 27 years, in fact you all made a pact not to. As the game moves on you jump between the two eras piecing together they story line as you go and learning more about who your friends are now. I really liked this dynamic and I thought it was really cleaver to switch between perspectives for each timeline, in 2022 you have a first person view however in 1995 you get a third person view which really helps to separate the time period. The game is full of mystery and in the current day you discuss your memories of that summer, it is apparent that all of you seem to have pretty hazy and even missing memories which all seems to be linked to the slightly magical nature of the story.
The art style is truly beautiful and the world seems rich and full which I really enjoy. However the animation is at times dodgy the speech seems a little disconnected and movement can be a little janky. It feels like the animation skills have not really progressed much since the original life is strange game, however this game is at the more budget friendly end of the pay scale.I didn’t find that it overly took away from my experience.
whilst Max had her Polaroid Swann has her cam corder. You use this to document your last summer, you can edit the clips into different memoirs as well and you are able to move the order of the clips and swap and change them as you like. There are also different collections to complete and things to film. This is quite a fun little part of the game. My only gripe is that sometimes the length of clips you need to take can drag out the game and I feel 90% of my time was just recording animals, objects and scenery. So the focus on recording does feel a little heavy.
Tape one in isolation has left a bit of a cliffhanger and not really explained much and tape two is not due until April so if you are the type of person who likes to binge a game to completion I would wait for the release of tape two to avoid any frustration. Good news is it will be a free update and you can pick up bloom and rage as part of your playstation subscription (at the time of writing).
Overall I think this has been a great game from don’t nod and I feel like if you enjoyed life is strange you will probably enjoy this too. Plus side there is a cat and you can pet it….all included in the game… Not locked behind a pay wall (I’m looking at you double exposure)