![]() ![]() I think the most important aspect of the presentation is appreciating that this is effectively one man’s vision, brought to life as a solo developer with modern tools. Going back to the positives, the audiovisual experience is consistently good, edging on great if you’re a fan of some environment and creature designs. Unlocking each new secondary fire mode or power attack makes sense and feels impactful to combat, but the subsequent incremental upgrades feel pointless given the short runtime. On the other hand, the world is littered with reliquaries – or fragments of them – that you collect to unlock upgrades for your weapons, sword, and exo-suit. My first playthrough clocked in at only 2h20, yet the repetitive flow was wearying by the end. ![]() On one hand, you’ve got the predictable level structure that sees you platform or shoot your way down a corridor, enter an arena for a boss or mini-boss battle, watch a small cutscene, and repeat. My other issues are both related to Bright Memory: Infinite’s short length. It’s clear a decent amount of effort went into directing the cutscenes, so it’s a shame they add so little to the experience. The bulk of dialogue in-game is just military orders or vaguely-coherent scientific babble. However, there’s zero world-building no insight into the organisation Shelia works for (outside of loading screen text) no context for the human military faction you’re fighting against and no explanation as to why everyone is so calm about the sudden appearance of a black hole. ![]() ![]() Starting with the narrative issues, you get a lengthy opening cutscene, mid-game cutscenes, exposition-dump finale, and plenty of radio conversations. In the case of Bright Memory: Infinite, it’s a borderline non-existent plot, predictable level structure, and an upgrade system that, in part, feels tacked on. Of course, a razor-focused, budget title will usually have caveats. Every ability is smartly mapped to the gamepad so you can switch them up on the fly – essential for hectic bullet-sponge boss fights that leave you with little space to charge up your most powerful attacks. Conventional weapons have powerful secondary ammunition types that trivialise many encounters your exo-suit grants you the ability to pull, push, lift, or even rocket punch your foes your sword can block most attacks, deflect bullets and rockets, or quickly slice an enemy to pieces. Now that’s not to say the gameplay feels entirely derivative as it rewards combo-focused attacks – a mix of gunplay and powers – essential for handling crowds and tougher enemies with shields or some sort of defensive bar. There’s twitch shooting as you’re funnelled through exterior levels that function as dressed-up corridors a few simple platforming sections that rely on double-jumping, wall-running, and a grapple a contrived stealth section with a rudimentary detection meter a rocket-launching spy car chase and frequent arena battles against large mobs or tough bosses that force you to keep mobile to survive. One of the earliest is an on-the-rails cinematic scene with quick-time events – a feature so dated in 2022 I failed most of them the first time before realising what was happening. It’s also pretty decent – if you keep your expectations in check.īright Memory: Infinite often feels like a montage of videogame history, hurtling you from familiar set piece to set piece. It reworks Bright Memory’s framework and several concepts into a cohesive 2 to 3-hour experience with a budget price tag (though unfortunately no free upgrade here while PC owners got one). Releasing first on PC, Bright Memory: Infinite arrives on consoles 8 months later as the “ Platinum Edition” (which just means a bunch of cosmetic DLC thrown in). It was a stylish, visually striking, but rough-around-the-edges FPS with a focus on blisteringly fast movement and combo-based action that blended traditional gunplay with sword and exo-suit powers. The initial release, Bright Memory, was an interesting proof of concept – initially envisioned as the first of several chapters to be released periodically. Bright Memory: Infinite (FYQD-Studio, PLAYISM) is a game somewhat burdened by its development history as a mostly one-man indie project that garnered a ton of interest and hype around the launch of the current-gen consoles in late 2020. ![]()
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