The realization comes as I'm filming the nectarine sunset in Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, Life is Strange creator Don't Nod's newest narrative game: this indie studio is one of the best at demonstrating how to be soft in the hard world, where fear and death are inevitable. It's this expertise that makes Lost Records one of the best games of 2025. The magic of childhood is the most fragile kind, but Don't Nod tucks it gently into Lost Records' supernatural story of regret – its tortured relationship to youth makes me feel understood.
Before Life is Strange, Bloom & Rage director Michel Koch tells me, "there was no narrative adventure game that had this kind of slower pacing, more slice-of-life feeling where you could just take your time." It was important to him and producer Luc Baghadoust that Bloom & Rage would be a true successor to that muted style of game, and that Don't Nod would continue championing underrepresented characters, including women and children.
