Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Tape 1: Review (PS5)

Spoiler

Honestly, this game sucks.

 

I went into Lost Records: Bloom & Rage (affiliate link) totally blind. I didn't know what this game is about, and what kind of game it is. I only knew that it's from the same company that brought us Life is Strange, and that should have been my first warning.

 

 

What was my first problem with this game?

Bullies.

What this obsession with bullies? Why there always has to be bullies in Don't nod's games? But no, mean and evil bullies are there to ruin everyone's day, and life. And game. And mental health. I can't stand bullies. I have been traumatized by bullies in real life, so I need to avoid games with this theme.

 

Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Synopsis 

This game is about a woman named Swann, who returns to her hometown after a long absence. Then the story goes back to the summer of 1995, when loner Swann meets new friends, while fighting against a common enemy.

Then something happened to Swann and her friends. But what? It takes forever to get to that point in the story. In fact, you never get anywhere in Tape 1. 

Recording footage with Swann's video camera is a big part of the game. So if you don't enjoy that kind of game mechanic (like I don't), don't play Lost Records.

 

 

 

What's in the box?

The reason for the girls' reunion 27 years later is a mystery box, adressed to their punk rock band Bloom & Rage.

You won't find out what's in the box in Tape 1. So don't bother to play Lost Records until Tape 2 is released. Tape 1 is just big set up, without any reward. You don't get any answers to your questions.

 

 

Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Romance 

What I hate about this game that it tries to force lesbian romance everywhere, and literally with everyone. Well, if all the males in the story are assholes, then that's understandable. But if you are looking for heterosexual romance, you certainly won't find it here.

I wholeheartedly recommend this game to those players who enjoy girl on girl romance, walking simulators, long and endlessly boring summer days, and so called character development without anything ever actually happening. 

This game was clearly made for female audiences.

 

Cats in Lost Records: Bloom & Rage

Right from the start of the game cats are prominent in this game. Even the first trophy is about naming your cat. And I think that by naming the cat you also decide that cat's fur color. I named mine Snowy, and the cat is white. Just like my late cat Olivia...

 

 

You can pet the cat multiple times, and many ways. Why would Swann even ever want to leave her room, when she has her best friend there? I'd much rather spend time with Snowy, than those girls...

 

 

For story progress reasons, you have to feed the cat. You can even call the vet, but luckily there's nothing wrong with Snowy. He does look a little weird, or should I say old.

 

 

In present day, Swann has another cat, called Casper.

 

 

Besides an actual cat there are also other cat references in the game, and I loved it.

 

 

Summary

 

Cons

-extremely boring game

-bullies

-unpleasant all around

-forced lesbianism

 

Pros

-cat(s)

 

Stars

1/5, and that one star is only because of the cat. 

I thought I'd never write these words but don't bother with Blood & Rage, go play Life is Strange (affiliate link) instead. At least there you can meet with the charming Mr. Jefferson.

 

Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Tape 1 is free to play on Playstation Plus Extra.

 

 

Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Game Guide (affiliate link)

 

 

Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Tape 1 Gameplay

 

 

Warning

At least on Playstation there's a game breaking bug, which can delete your savefile. It's recommended NOT to play this game until a patch to fix this bug has been released. 

And because of story reasons, I wouldn't recommend playing Tape 1 until Tape 2 has been released.

 

Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Tape 2 Release Date

April 15, 2025. Also the second part will be for free on Playstation Plus Extra. 

 

I had absolutely no interest to pay and play the second part of the story, Tape 2. But since it's free I'm gonna have to suffer through it. If I'm still alive then.

 

So see you in hell (affiliate link)! (Besides the cat there's one other thing I did enjoy about this game: the song which is a curse against bullies!)

 

Concrete Genie: Game review (PS5)

A few years ago I fell in love with Playstation Plus' game Concrete Genie (affiliate link). This little gem about a boy being bullied by his schoolmates should't have had that effect on me. 

 

 

Concrete Genie bullies

In general this topic traumatizes me. Bullying is the reason why I didn't like Life Is Strange. That is the reason why I couldn't play as the killer in my all time favorite game, Friday the 13th: The Game.

So why Concrete Genie managed to steer clear of that trauma?

The reason must be the adorable spirits, the Genies. I can't get enough of them. I'm totally in love with them. I could spend hours just watching them.

 

 

 

Concrete Genie video game

In Concrete Genie you play as a boy called Ash, who is living near a dark town of Denska. Some time ago something terrible happened to Denska, and darkness consumed it. But now Ash finds a magic paintbrush, and he is then able to bring the town back to light. With his new friends, the genies. 

Say no to Move

By default on Playstation the game's setting has the painting minigame on Move motion function. If you hate Move as much as I do, be sure to change that setting. Then the painting is done with the right stick, and it's much easier that way. 

Ugh, I had so much trouble with Heavy Rain because of this stupid Move.

 

Is Concrete Genie worth it?

I can't recommend this game enough. I love it, or should I say the genies, too much. 

But there are some cons too.

I don't like the fighting against monsters towards the end, especially the big boss.

Hint: You can change the game's difficulty to easy. That's what I did.

Also way too often I'm having trouble seeing which designs the genies are requesting. That's so frustrating, for both the genies and the player. 

 

 

How long is Concrete Genie?

Concrete Genie is a relatively short game. My second playthrough took about 5 hours.

 

Cats in Concrete Genie

Yes, there are cats in this game. Or to be honest, I don't know if it's always the same cat. It probably is.

 

You can pet the cat, and the genies can pet the cat. So freaking adorable, both genies and the cat.

 

 

Is Concrete Genie free to play?

Concrete Genie is available for free on Playstation Plus Extra.

 

Concrete Genie gameplay (PS5)

Here's some of my Concrete Genie gameplay on Youtube:

 

Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town - Review (PS5)

I get commissions for purchases made through the links in this post, at no cost to you.

 

Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town  is, despite its name, a Harvest Moon game. For some reason at some point the name of the Harvest Moon games was changed to Story of Seasons. Currently Olive Town is free to play on Playstation Plus Extra.

 

 

I never got past the beginning of the second year in Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life because it's such a damn boring game. And so is this one, even though it has tried to copy some of the finest things from the highly entertaining My time at Portia. 

 

Yes, you can still get addicted to Olive Town, even though it is a numbing repetition of the same things, and there are about a million times fewer story missions than in Portia. But a word of warning, in the end the game is just a boring grind. 

 

Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town orichalcum

And mining the last mineral of the game, orichalcum, is very slow and even difficult at first, as it can only be obtained from the lowest levels of the last mine, which are full of annoying and dangerous electric orcs. Later in the game you can get orichalcum easier from a place where it respawns every few days (Stonebreaker Valley).

 

 

Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town romance

 

There aren't that many bachelors/marriage candidates to choose from, and I didn't really like any of them. To be able to marry in Olive Town, you have to go through the character's romantic heart events. They happen at specific times at specific places. Good look finding them without a guide (wiki is always a good source).

 

Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town Damon

I chose Damon as my husband for some reason, although I don't normally prefer blondes. He gives that bad boy vibe, which I don't like. He likes motorcycles, and I don't. But he does work at his family's animal shop, so that is a plus. He's also like me because he prefers the company of animals over people.

 

Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town child

You shouldn't be on too good terms with your spouse because then a child will mysteriously appear from somewhere. My dear husband had no idea how that could happen. Maybe you shouldn't get married if you don't know where babies come from?

 

Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town animals

The best part of the game are of course the animals. Horse, cows, sheep, chickens, alpacas, goats, bunnies. I'm not even sure that I have listed them all.

 

Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town pets

You can buy pets from the animal shop. I named the white cat Olle after my own white cat (sadly she passed away recently). Of course you can choose your own cat from many options.

 

Olle is such a happy free-range cat that you get envious when you watch her running freely outside.

 

And then when there were 11 animals plus Olle, I just couldn't take care of them every day anymore, especially since I couldn't fit all their loots to my bag at the same time, and had to go back and forth for them. And towards the end, it also started to be a real problem that the sales box could no longer fit all the stuff that I wanted to sell on that day.

 

So in the end it was just a boring repetitive daily grind. Too many animals (I didn't even know there could be too many), and too much stuff they produce. And above all, too little main story. As you can see, only honest reviews here.

Some people enjoy cozy games like this. I want more action, like in My Time at Sandrock. In my opinion that game is close to perfection.

 

Ps. The joke is that my character's name Ripuli means diarrhea.

Cat Quest 3 release date

I get commissions for purchases made through the links in this post, at no cost to you.

 

In anticipation of Cat Quest 3 being released on August 8, 2024, the previous titles in the series are being added to Playstation Plus catalog. These games are available for Playstation Plus Extra and Premium members starting from May 21, 2024.

Cat Quest games are open world RPGs, where you play as a cat. Cat Quest 2 added local co-op, so bring in a friend, and have double the fun. Although I must warn you that the second playable character is a dog...

 

Here's a character trailer for Cat Quest III. Like I said, the release date is August 8, 2024 for PS4/PS5. The game is now available for pre-order.

 

 

 

Ps. The whole May lineup for the PS+ game catalog certainly is exciting, with some other iconic titles such as Red Dead Redemption 2, and the first Watch Dogs game. I highly recommend both of these games.

My time at Portia: Late gameplay tips

I get commissions for purchases made through the links in this post, at no cost to you.

 

As I told before I became heavely addicted to My time at Portia. Here are some stories from my playthrough, and some tips about what items are needed late in the game's main story.

The best days are when I find shit. A lot of animal feces. You can't buy, order or grow it, you have to find it yourself. And it takes a lot of crap to make fertilizer. And you need lot of fertilizer because you have to have crystal trees, even though crystal is needed in exactly one mission in the whole game. You also need nitre trees. Cotton. Rainbow flowers for pigments, you need a lot of them at one stage and even at the very end, a light 100 pcs. Giant plants for the autumn festival. 

You need wheat (!) for the horse. At one point I started to wonder why the horse's statistics showed a sad face and 100 percent hunger. I read horses like to eat mostly wheat and pumpkin. Well, the wheat didn't help, the hunger is still and always 100% (or maybe it's 100% full?). Fortunately, it doesn't matter, in Portia, for example, horses and children have not been developed. Children never grow up and you can never get rid of them, so it's not worth getting them.

 

How many ways has Portia tried to make me to stop playing it:


1. I was moving boxes from the yard inside and I put them in my inventory but the inventory was full. Normally, things that don't fit in your backpack fall to the ground and you can pick them up, even several days later. Now the boxes and the things they contained disappeared completely, they were nowhere to be found. In the end, I had to load an earlier save... or accept the loss of all the important stuff. I read online that this is how you get rid of things permanently in this game. So beware...

 

2. And then a new attempt at moving the boxes inside. When I had the box in my hands and came inside the house and my husband Gust happened to want to give me money right then, the box and the things in it disappeared forever. I tried to play the same morning many times, and always the same result. If the busband wants to give money, the box in my hands and its contents disappear. In the end, when moving the boxes, I had to make sure that Gust was not at home.

 

3. Then I was just working on my yard when I suddenly fell into the void. A terribly traumatizing experience. There were two options: to wait until the night, but to lose the (work) hours of the rest of the day. Or load up a save and play the day again. I chose the first option.

 

 

4. And then I went to the final boss unprepared and ran out of stamina and couldn't get any more of it. In earlier fights in the game, it hadn't mattered at all. No matter how long I kept watching the sidekicks, they didn't do any damage to the boss. So there was only one option, i.e. rage quit and the day was lost. When you know that in the first stage of the final boss you only need to reach 70% and the sidekicks can handle the rest of the stages completely by themselves... I almost reached that, but no. So don't go to the final boss unprepared like I did.

 

And then the many times when the PS5 claimed that "game access will expire in 15 minutes". Well, it didn't. Not even that one time when the game went dark and I thought that really was the end of it. Well, it was not. All this was because Portia was on Playstation plus extra.


And then I spent many days looking for a racket, because I knew I would need it in the future, and I sold all the old ones... I finally found a racket, but it was out of reach behind a floor/wall. This is a common problem in Portia's mines.

 

 

I always made sure that I had all the needed stuff ready in advance... But in the last mission of the main story (before the end credits) you have to build an airplane. Of course I had all the stuff ready and done. Except one. You need 45 pieces of carbon fiber for that mission and I think I only had 8. And you can only get carbon fiber in two ways, and both require fighting. I had already thought that after the last boss I would never have to fight again. I hate fighting.

Okay, so... you can either send the civil corps to the Ingalls mine to get that carbon fiber. But it is really expensive and requires that you first play through the levels required for the Ingalls mine. Another option is the Deepest ruin, and there if you get an S grade in the level, it is possible that there is carbon fiber in the prize box. Grade S requires you to get through the level in less than a minute. I can't really do that. But luckily you can buy drugs in the Deepest ruin. When you buy a cola, you get an S grade even if it takes more than two minutes. I really wouldn't have wanted stressful fights right then... but who could wait for a better time?

So, just when I was desperately trying to save money for Syphilis (Phyllis), too much money was spent on carbon fiber. Syphilis is an expensive woman, but because of the trophies, she is mandatory. I wouldn't have wanted to give up Gust, but fortunately you can... save the game, and then re-load. In other words, the second divorce was just a bad dream. When I finally made Syphilis' dream come true, I gave her a gift... thank you and goodbye without saving.

Is it a sign of addiction if I keep playing the game even after getting the platinum? But I had to, because the main story missions continue even after that. With the money I saved from Syphilis, I bought a barn where I could finally place the cows that had been waiting in the storage box for a very long time. And I bought some lambs too. They are so cute I can't stand it (and they produce that precious shit!).

 

 

As the main story was threateningly coming to an end, the lack of things to do started to feel bad, so it was time to have a child. During pregnancy, health and stamina are 30% lower than normal, so it's not really worth it if there are going to be fights.

 

 

 

What is a suitable name for Diarrhea's child? At least Poop.

 

 

If the child is left unfed and uncared for, the only consequence is that the relationship with the child suffers. That is, social workers do not take the child away like in the Sims.

 

The main story of the game ends with building of a ship and the epic I'm on a boat moment. It's nice that after many years, my husband thinks this way about me. ("Well, thanks for all your hard work over the years. I suppose I could say... in some regard... I have a lot of respect for you.")

My time at Portia gameplay videos:

0

1

2

3 (ending and end credits)

4

 

 

I have started to play Portia's sequel My time at Sandrock, and made a first blog post about that game's Macchiato the cat. But more posts of Sandrock will follow...