Bright Memory Reviews
One of the few games that can accurately be described as so bad it's good, with a gleefully bizarre mix of bad voice-acting, appalling console optimisation, and surprisingly decent gunplay.
Bright Memory has the potential to be great once Infinite arrives, but for now, it gets a very light recommendation with some provisos. It's not technically impressive even as a Series X launch title, but Bright Memory is worth pursuing either way if you grew up on classic action romps.
The technical razzle-dazzle and the interesting gameplay proposal can't hide a flawed, graphically simple experience. Although it feels poor at the moment, it has the potential to become something really better.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Bright Memory is a rare good-bad game that's enjoyable partly because of its oddities and flaws, but there's signs that its sequel Bright Memory Infinite could actually just be good.
Good initial sensations that don't hide their technical and control problems that we hope will be solved in the complete work.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
If you like stylish FPS with action-platform elements, Bright Memory could give you more than a surprise, even if between a very low longevity and a confusing narrative.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Bright Memory is a short, janky blast of fun that almost makes up for in ambition what it lacks in execution.
It's hard to actually review Bright Memory, as it's not a game you can easily recommend, even for its relatively small price. But what we can definitely rate is a passion the developer has put into this project, while trying to give a new life to a slowly withering genre. We can only wish luck to the FYQD studio with their next game, which we will judge accordingly.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Bright Memory is a very, very short game. I played through it twice, each time the total game time was between 30-40 minutes in length. There isn’t a lot of reason to replay the short campaign either, save for earning Achievements – they even included an Achievement for finishing the game three times. You can dress Shelia up in four different costumes, including the ever-popular school girl outfit, but you really only see them during cutscenes. The game hits a lot of high notes visually, but some design choices, like the bizarre water drop issue and the screen tearing issues, detract from the overall presentation.
Bright Memory isn't inherently bad, but it feels like a demo for a game that promises to be bigger and better. In addition to that, it's not the best showcase for the new features of the Xbox Series X|S. Regardless, it's a fun romp, but you shouldn't go in expecting this to feel like a full-fat action shooter, because it's not that, not yet.
Obviously, Bright Memory has some important shortcomings, which are noticeable in the cameras, animations of our character in the cinematics or in the manufacture itself and details of characters or enemies. Everything is disguised as graphic effects, but we cannot forget again that it is an indie title, created by a single person on Unreal Engine and that it costs € 7.99. Knowing that this was the first chapter and that he finally decided to make a complete game, which we also know as Bright Memory: Infinite, we have many unknowns to solve that in an 8-hour game they manage to keep the user attentive with something more quality than the brilliance-brilliance of the graphics (beware, there will be many for whom this is enough).
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Bright Memory is a profoundly bland experience riddled with hints that the game was never meant to be played anywhere but PC.
Bright Memory can be completed in just over 30 minutes the first time through, but suffers from technical and control issues. It was designed as the first episode of many but came across as an unfinished product or proof of concept, with pieces that seem ripped from other game series. There are even bonfires that don't seemingly serve any purpose, complete with a "bonfire lit" message when activated. The narrative lacks substance and any reasoning about why the events have transpired, unless you read through the game's description page, which features all the information you'd expect to find in-game.
So there’s any awful lot going on in Bright Memory in a very short period. I can say that I had fun and I am looking forward to the complete game, but with some caution: I do hope and anticipate that FYQD will do a lot more to tighten up the experience on console as the cursor-driven menus are no fun, and this feels like a rushed port from its original platform (PC). Gameplay has got get more focused as well; I’m all for such an unusual mixture of enemies and cross-genre gameplay blends and inspirations, but it’s got to tie together somehow to make some sense and matter to the player. I don’t need a grand story, but I am hoping that the full game makes a lot more sense than this current offering which seems like someone brainstorming out loud, so to speak. All that to say, for $8, and with very limited new game+ options, you could do worse — but it might be just as well to wait until Bright Memory: Infinite launches in full next year.
Bright Memory is an utterly fascinating Swiss Army knife of a game that, despite its several ideas clashing in glorious cacophony, forces you to overlook the imperfections and other side effects of lone wolf development. It's an utterly confusing, but equally compelling, sub-hour whirlwind through a Chinese cultured fever dream that writes a few checks that I pray Infinite can cash when it releases next year.
Despite some minor issues, Bright Memory is a taste of what’s to come next year from Bright Memory: Infinite and I couldn’t be more excited
Plagued with a plethora of issues, but still occasionally fun, Bright Memory is one of the most confusing games I've played in some time.
There is a lot to like in Bright Memory, and I can’t help but wonder how fantastic it could be as an eight or ten hour experience with a coherent storyline and some extra polish. Hopefully the next game will deliver a more complete package, whenever that might be.
However short, Bright Memory lets you glimpse its capabilities but does not have time to apply itself thoroughly given its brevity. Many clever ideas, weapons at a distance and melee, environmental puzzles, quasi-platform phases and huge bosses to face give hope for the future of this "one-man saga". It brings home sufficiency, which wants to be not only an encouragement but also a recognition of a promising future and a product that, despite being quite short, is playable and fun.
Review in Italian | Read full review
As a playable teaser for Bright Memory: Infinite, Bright Memory sadly underwhelms. Some of its default control methods feel unwieldy, your foes take far too much damage to put down, and the completion time tied to it is extremely short. While its combat mechanics and graphical output shine, the litany of issues present within Bright Memory will keep you from enjoying yourself for too long. Here’s hoping that Bright Memory: Infinite irons out all the kinks and realizes its full potential in 2021. You might be better off watching a playthrough of this teaser and waiting for the full release instead of ruining your hype for it by playing this disappointing first episode.