The Lost Records Gaming Universe?

[Barny600]

Outside of the brief plot synopis, I found interesting how Dontnod plainly states the game as first entrt of their own connected universe, before we even got a full glimpse on what the full story of the game is about, how the gameplay is going to work and how much players are going to connect with the story and its characters.
It is surely ambitious, but at the same I feel is it a bit premature to talk about. Before any big talk, it should be better for them to focus on the game on its own ground, rather than hype up the big universe already. I'm sure we'll know more of the story and characters before relase, but still.

[Marshall of the Templars]

I agree that Dontnod should definitely concentrate their efforts in making this game great first and foremost.

There's a quote from a certain box office analyst from Forbes that I feel is a very relevant piece of advice for Dontnod in attempting to birth a new interconected universe:

The "cinematic universe" as an abstract concept which would appeal to moviegoers was always a fallacy. Audiences showed up to The Avengers because it was a unique (at that time) gimmick and because they had already grown fond of the specific versions of those respective Marvel characters, not because the mere notion of theoretical superheroes (or somewhat known characters) interacting was inherently appealing.

[Barny600]

Originally posted by Marshall of the Templars:

There's a quote from a certain box office analyst from Forbes that I feel is a very relevant piece of advice for Dontnod in attempting to birth a new interconected universe:

The "cinematic universe" as an abstract concept which would appeal to moviegoers was always a fallacy. Audiences showed up to The Avengers because it was a unique (at that time) gimmick and because they had already grown fond of the specific versions of those respective Marvel characters, not because the mere notion of theoretical superheroes (or somewhat known characters) interacting was inherently appealing.

That quote summarize all my concerns pretty well. After all, the MCU didn't start as a big multimedia universe from the get go, it took time and effort to even be at the current status with multiple films and tv series being made like in a factory line.

If we want to do a better comparison tho, Dontnod devs talking about Lost Records as being the start of an upcoming bigger universe before being relased reminds me a lot of that Tom Cruise's Mummy reboot, which was being hyped as being the first entry for a larger franchise focused on classic Universal studios monsters (called the Dark Universe) which as we know never happened due to it being a box office flop on relase.

At this point in time, we can't tell for sure which fate Lost Records will met. But one thing is certain; Dontnod needs to make people interested in why they should go look at Lost Records: Bloom and Rage for its own merits and what the story and gameplay would offer, rather than the concept of a multi entries franchise.

[Marshall of the Templars]

Originally posted by Barny600:

If we want to do a better comparison tho, Dontnod devs talking about Lost Records as being the start of an upcoming bigger universe before being relased reminds me a lot of that Tom Cruise's Mummy reboot, which was being hyped as being the first entry for a larger franchise focused on classic Universal studios monsters (called the Dark Universe) which as we know never happened due to it being a box office flop on relase.

At this point in time, we can't tell for sure which fate Lost Records will met. But one thing is certain; Dontnod needs to make people interested in why they should go look at Lost Records: Bloom and Rage for its own merits and what the story and gameplay would offer, rather than the concept of a bigger shared universe beyond it.

While I hope that Lost Records doesn't end up as bad as the 2017 Mummy movie, a part of me feels that the game is sort of like Dontnod's attempt to catch lighting in a bottle twice - to replicate the success they enjoyed with Life is Strange... if not surpass it.

If you ask me, for a "Lost Records gaming universe" to realistically happen, somehow the game needs to be so good that it will need make a splash similar to how Life is Strange ended up being a sleeper hit back in 2015.

[Barny600]

Originally posted by Marshall of the Templars:

If you ask me, for a "Lost Records gaming universe" to realistically happen, somehow the game needs to be so good that it will need make a splash similar to how Life is Strange ended up being a sleeper hit back in 2015.

That's a big milestone, don't really know if Lost Records can repeat the same success of Life is Strange or even come close to it. Maybe it will be enough for Dontnod still to invest in new games for the Lost Record franchise? Or it will end up like Jusant, which was well received but wasn't a commercial success so the higher ups at Dontnod completely disbanded the developer team behind it, as reported by the French Videogame Worker Union here: https://www.stjv.fr/en/2024/02/dont-nod-ascension-or-free-fall/

This is one of those cases in which only time will tell, so let's be patient and see how it develops.

[Marshall of the Templars]

Originally posted by Barny600:

Or it will end up like Jusant, which was well received but wasn't a commercial success so the higher ups at Dontnod completely disbanded the developer team behind it, as reported by the French Videogame Worker Union here: https://www.stjv.fr/en/2024/02/dont-nod-ascension-or-free-fall/

Thanks for the link!

That article is concerning, not just for the general well being of your rank and file Dontnod employees, but also if the company can realistically sustain development of several projects without burning out teams behind them. I just hope for your typical Dontnod employee that the development of the Lost Records gaming universe won't result in a similar situation to what VFX developers experienced under Marvel in the form of "Pixelf--king" and other stressful situations.

[Barny600]

Originally posted by Marshall of the Templars:

That article is concerning, not just for the general well being of your rank and file Dontnod employees, but also if the company can realistically sustain development of several projects without burning out teams behind them.

Back in 2019, I was starting to think Dontnod's approach to plan and relase multiple titles by splitting their workforce in many multiple development teams inside a company of 300 (at that time, as right they seems to be at 414 ) employees wasn't the best approach in the long run for a company that want to expand and grow bigger. The union report seems to give credence to this issue.

We also have to take in consideration Lost Records being the first game developed by the Dontnod Montreal studio, which was probably a big deal for the company trying to be independent, but which require at least the game to be successful enough to justify the investment for an upcoming whole franchise.
If the situation cited in the report isn't addressed quickly and if somehow LR fails to met Dontnod higher ups criteria of success, there's a serious risk of massive layoffs coming to the company.

PS. I'm glad we are having a insightful conversation compared to the other discussions being low effort reactionary bait, but at the same time wished more people jumped in to discuss as well..

[Marshall of the Templars]

Originally posted by Barny600:

PS. I'm glad we are having a insightful conversation compared to the other discussions being low effort reactionary bait, but at the same time wished more people jumped in to discuss as well..

My pleasure!

As you've said, I too would love to hear other opinions with Dontnod's attempt to establish a new interconnected universe.

[SoulSteppe]

kinda wanted to butt in and add a few thoughts.

It was a bit surpripsed that the producer of the game wanted to produce more titles in the Lost Records name, because they made their ambitions a little too obvious. It could dilute the current and future works int heir games because it runs the risk of corporate inference makng the same game, but different names, in a copy paste mold, as referenced in the example with the MCU. And I read what the labour union wrote. Hopefully, their teams of 8 micro teams could do something better.

I remember seeing their annoucment about Montreal, and got excited over what their pipeline would entail. Just wnating it to avoid being a sewer pipeline.

Just some random speculation on Lost Records myself. In universe, there are probably local stories tat are told, and then, gradually, come to gether in a grand unique story, similar to how “unique” the Avengers are to defeat the granddaddy villain.

[Barny600]

Originally posted by SoulSteppe:

It was a bit surpripsed that the producer of the game wanted to produce more titles in the Lost Records name, because they made their ambitions a little too obvious. It could dilute the current and future works int heir games because it runs the risk of corporate inference makng the same game, but different names, in a copy paste mold, as referenced in the example with the MCU.

I don't think corporate interference will be a major issue, since the IP is fully owned by the company and presumably the Dontnod Montreal team has been given freedom on how to handle the series.

At the same time, its interesting to see how the main developers from Life is Strange and now Lost Records have made clear how we will have the possibility of seeing the main characters and settings appear again in possible sequels, as told by creative and game director Michel Koch in this Eurogamer article[www.eurogamer.net]:

"With this game we're also setting up the cornerstones of, maybe, something bigger where we can directly write those characters in a way where we know we can bring them back, where we can have other stories with those characters, with the world and universe we're creating," Koch said. "We already know where we could go in the future to tell other stories within the same setting and the same set of characters in the future - if things go well."

If we want to take this quote into context, the first Life is Strange game was designed to be a standalone story with (semi) conclusive endings, and by that the developers clear took a lot of pride in it being a massive hit and stated multiple times afterwards, mainly in promotion of Life is Strange 2, how Max and Chloe's story is over and they wanted to move on in a radically different direction, which resulted in 2 being so different to the point of barely feeling part of the same series (from the roadtrip storyline, narrative design and power gameplay) aside from two cameos.
At that point, Dontnod didn't expected Max and Chloe to be that popular to become the main face of the franchise by fans and casual player alike. So they probably reconsidered their approach, and this time around they are willing to build the series around those characters rahter than an anthological approach if there's enough interest.

Originally posted by SoulSteppe:

Just some random speculation on Lost Records myself. In universe, there are probably local stories tat are told, and then, gradually, come to gether in a grand unique story, similar to how “unique” the Avengers are to defeat the granddaddy villain.

The game seems heavily inspired by Stephen King's IT, so part of the story will be the main girls reuniting back to fight whatever supernatural force is lurking around. As for the local stories, my hope is for a more cohesive background lore behind what causes whatever superantural events are going to happen in the Lost Records world, doesn't have to be explicit but at least it has to be something that can be explored and expanded upon.

Anyway, appreciate your contribution in this discussion!