LifeisXbox’s Bright Memory Infinite Platinum Edition review | Who remembers Bright Memory, a game released at the beginning of the worldwide pandemic? If you don’t, let me refresh your memory: it was a short, demo-like game that got a lot of attention, both positive and negative. Preparing players for more, a sequel was finally released with Bright Memory Infinite at the end of 2021. Unfortunately, only PC players could enjoy said sequel, until it was recently released for next-gen consoles. Hooray! A promising FPS for sure, but is it really worth the $20? Before we continue with the actual review, allow me to point out that Bright Memory Infinite was created by FYQD Studio, a one-man operation from China. And to give away a little something already: this guy has done a hell of a job, damn!
ℹ️ Reviewed on Xbox Series X | Review code provided by PR/publisher, this review is the personal opinion of the writer.
What we Liked!
- Active gameplay | The absolute highlight of Bright Memory Infinite is its amazing gameplay. Even though it’s a rather short campaign, there is never, not for a moment, a dull moment. You are constantly on the verge of action and have to be alert at all times. Enemies lurk behind every corner and adventure is found on every part of the map. With seven scenes to play through, you’ll have plenty of killing to do. What helps with the gameplay is that you can attack in many different ways, but more on that in my next point! Other interesting techniques that were included are stealth mode where your only weapon is a knife, a grappling hook to swing you from one place to another, and even riding in a car with rocket launchers for a brief moment! It all added value to the gameplay and kept the game from getting too monotonous.
- Weapons | As I mentioned, the weapons are top-notch. You have your basic weapons: a shotgun, sniper rifle, handgun, and assault rifle, but then you also have your light blade which is basically an incredible sword to slash your enemies’ throats in many different ways. And last, but definitely not least, we have something called the ‘Exo Unit Arm’. This allows you to create electromagnetic pulses to send enemies flying, punch them with a heavy fist, and so on. Unlocking further skills for all three types of attacks can be done using a basic skill tree. For upgrades, you’ll need to gather Reliquaries that are scattered throughout your journey. They were green and the map was rather bleak, so finding them wasn’t that difficult.
- Balanced difficulty | Bright Memory Infinite manages to keep the gameplay challenging but not too difficult to overcome. Either way, you can choose between three difficulty settings: easy, for players who want to take it easy; violent, for players who are familiar with FPS games; and revenge, for people looking for a real challenge. If you manage to finish the game in that last mode, an extra difficulty opens up. This one is called ‘Hell’ and is described as ‘for those who wish to taste hell’. I honestly could never unlock this as I’m an absolute loser when it comes to FPS games. But if you are looking for the real deal, you get it in Hell mode, I’m sure.
- Good looking game with a fitting soundtrack | The game absolutely shines when it comes to gameplay, but the graphics are a close second. The futuristic theme of Bright Memory Infinite is definitely executed in the best way, including plenty of detail without overdoing it. The environments came to life, the enemies looked neat, and the action that was provided when engaging in battle was spot on. Add to that an anticipating soundtrack that builds suspension when enemies are nearby and you get one amazing experience.
Mixed Feelings
- Negligible story | It’s the year 2036. A strange anomaly appeared in the sky and scientists seem to have no explanation for this. Enter Shelia, a solder who works for the Supernatural Science Research Organization (SRO) and is tasked with the mission to investigate the unknown phenomenon. It soon becomes clear that the strange occurrences are connected to an old mystery that has to do with an unknown history of two worlds. This sounded really interesting to me, but unfortunately, it seemed like the story was not a top priority for the developer. The story got lost along the way somehow, I feel like? I mean, there was constant communication from HQ, and there were plenty of cutscenes to provide some information but they might as well have cut that out. Let’s just say that the story did not contribute to the quality of the game.
What we Disliked
- Short campaign | Bright Memory Infinite is quite a short game, and I’m sure this will be the biggest complaint from players. The campaign can be finished in like 2 hours (a tad more for me as a total noob), which is really quick. It’s not necessarily a bad thing to release a short game, and this game was made by just one man, but when a game is as good as this it’s a bit double. On the one hand, I get that you don’t want to make a game longer than it’s supposed to be and lose quality. But on the other hand, the game is so much fun that 2 hours is not nearly enough. Anyway, personally, I’d feel hesitant paying $20 for a 2-hour game. Especially since it doesn’t really have any replay value (except for getting all the achievements maybe).
- Bugs | I wish I could say that Bright Memory Infinite is without any bugs, but I’m afraid I did encounter some. The biggest one was definitely getting stuck in the environment. This only happened like twice, but it was still annoying because I got in the ‘smash all button repeatedly to break free’ kind of situation, you know. That is not a situation that you want to find yourself in in any game. Next, I also sometimes heard gunshots and there was no enemy nearby. This kind of got me confused as I thought I hadn’t finished all enemies yet, but I did. Luckily, I didn’t find any game-breaking bugs, so the glitches that I encountered weren’t that bad.
How long to beat the story | 2 to 4 hours
How long to achieve 1000G | 5 hours
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Head of PC team. PC, Switch, and Xbox game reviewer. Also a marketeer, concert and animal lover, and photographer in training 🙂
Steam: Mauitje
Xbox: Mauitjexo