❕ Informational ❕

Bright Memory is the prequel to the upcoming game Bright Memory: Infinite and doesn't offer a lot of content on its own. Owners of this game will get the full game for free, however, when it gets released, so the asking price basically constitutes a pre-order with early access to the first story mission.

Bright Memory features fast-paced, brutal first-person Shooter combat, Style!, traversal of a pretty but pretty linear world, some very light RPG-style character upgrades and some simple environmental puzzles.

• Combat
  Typically for the shooter-genre, combat is the main focus of the game and definitely its strong suit. It is fast-paced, responsive, visceral and diversified. In addition to your three primary weapons, which are a submachine gun, a shotgun and a pistol, you also have a variety of unlockable skills, a grappling hook and the Light Blade that shoots energy beams with each strike.
  https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2105166651
  
• Style!
  Much like in games like Devil May Cry V, there is a Style-meter that goes up to "SSS" if you manage to keep the action going and varied for prolonged periods of time, giving you a huge incentive to switch up your weapons and skills and stay in the thick of the action.
  
  
• Traversal
  Saying the game contains "exploration" would be quite a stretch, as the world is extremely linear and limits your ability to explore and backtrack with collapsing hallways and, sadly, invisible barriers. Instead, you traverse the world on a guided path by jumping, climbing, crossing chasms with your grappling hook and balancing. At certain points you get to clear obstacles, like wooden barriers or fires, with one of your abilities.
  
  
• Upgrades
  Defeated enemies will often leave experience points behind, which can be used to unlock a multitude of active and passive abilities, which include faster running speed, a higher defense value, a bubble that temporarily freezes enemies within, a rage mode that makes all nearby enemies float helplessly while raising your damage, and many more.
  
  
• Puzzles
  Occasionally you will have to solve an easy and short environmental puzzle to progress. These can involve a platforming section to take you from switch to switch or one where you have to align pictograms with a set of murals by rotating rings on the floor using three pressure plates. They are way too easy to pose a challenge but they are a welcome change of pace either way and don't overstay their welcome.

While casual players will find the game quite challenging and may die a lot during certain encounters, it could definitely use a higher difficulty setting for veterans in the genre, especially considering that it openly pays homage to the Dark Souls games.
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2105165319

The plot follows 21-year-old protagonist Shelia, an agent of the elite SRO Emergency Inspection Team, on her maiden adventure. While pursuing SAI terrorist Carter, who is infiltrating an SRO research facility using a device called the "Quantum Transporter", Shelia accidentally activates the device and gets transported to the Floating Island, a mysterious place near the North Pole, along with anyone else in the vicinity. Here she discovers ancient ruins, artifacts, and most importantly, deadly beasts and undead warriors intent on killing her.

The story is quite generic and certainly not the highlight of Bright Memory but it's presented very nicely and does its job of connecting the battle sequences, the game's actual specialty, just fine. The voice acting is pretty decent and the plot moves along very dynamically without ever dragging on.


The game is visually stunning and offers some generic but well-made environments, ranging from the Floating Island's lush exterior spots, to the damp caverns beneath the surface, to some temple-like structures reminiscent of the Tomb Raider franchise, deadly spikes and all included. Developer FYQD-Studio used the capabilities of the Unreal Engine 4 to the fullest of its potential, implementing a huge range of visually impressive effects and particles. Volumetric lights and shadows, Chromatic Aberration, Cinematic Motion Blur, Depth of Field, Refraction and other effects can all be toggled in the settings and make the game look truly gorgeous.
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2105137996

In a couple of encounters where you fight a group of enemies, the music swells to a metal tune that is quite evocative of the DOOM or DOOM: Eternal soundtrack and gets your blood pumping. It is very satisfying to watch your enemies die in explosions of gore to that kind of frantically energetic music.


This game feels like a poor man's Doom (2016) but that's not a bad thing to be compared to. Fans of fast-paced, brutal First-person Shooters and Science-fiction will feel right at home.


The game can be started in DirectX 11, Infinite RTX Tech (Nvidia) or DirectX 12 RTX modes and while I could not test Nvidia's technology with my graphics card, the other two modes both worked for me, however, the game occasionally stutters and/or lags in DirectX 11 mode and some of the textures take a while to load. In DirectX 12 RTX mode the game not only looks a lot better but it also runs smoothly on the highest settings on my machine. Mid- to High-end PCs should have no problem running this game without issues but weaker machines and especially graphics cards that don't support DirectX12 might have problems. Overall I'd say the game is excellently optimized.

Tested with the following setup:

Classic:
Buy the game, play the game.
No paid DLCs, items, loot boxes.

Make no mistake, Bright Memory is pretty much a paid demo for the upcoming Bright Memory: Infinite, however, since owners of this game will get the full experience for free when it comes out, it's definitely worth the relatively low price, as long as you get it before Infinite comes out.

If you're looking for more quality reviews like this, follow our curator page, Devils in the Detail.

[h1][i]»These two worlds are connected. Like a pair of twins. For one to survive, the other must be sacrificed.«[/i][/h1] [quote][h1]❕ Informational ❕[/h1] [i]Bright Memory[/i] is the prequel to the upcoming game [i][url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1178830]Bright Memory: Infinite[/url][/i] and doesn't offer a lot of content on its own. Owners of this game will get the full game for free, however, when it gets released, so the asking price basically constitutes a pre-order with early access to the first story mission.[/quote] [table][tr][td][h3]🟢 [b]Pros[/b][/h3][/td][td][h3]🔴 [b]Cons[/b][/h3][/td][/tr][tr][td][list][*]Stunning visuals[*]Fast-paced gameplay  [*]Good voice-acting[*]Great soundtrack[*]Visceral gore[*]New Game+[/list][/td][td][list][*]Uninspired, cliché story[*]Very short and linear campaign[*]Invisible barriers[*]Experience resets between sessions   [*]No multiplayer, no challenge modes[/list][/td][/tr][/table] [h1]🎮 Gameplay[/h1] [i]Bright Memory[/i] features fast-paced, brutal first-person Shooter [b]combat[/b], [b]Style![/b], [b]traversal[/b] of a pretty but pretty linear world, some very light RPG-style [b]character upgrades[/b] and some simple [b]environmental puzzles[/b]. [list][*][b]Combat[/b] Typically for the shooter-genre, combat is the main focus of the game and definitely its strong suit. It is fast-paced, responsive, visceral and diversified. In addition to your three primary weapons, which are a submachine gun, a shotgun and a pistol, you also have a variety of unlockable skills, a grappling hook and the Light Blade that shoots energy beams with each strike. https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2105166651 [*][b]Style![/b] Much like in games like [i]Devil May Cry V[/i], there is a Style-meter that goes up to "[b][i]SSS[/i][/b]" if you manage to keep the action going and varied for prolonged periods of time, giving you a huge incentive to switch up your weapons and skills and stay in the thick of the action. [*][b]Traversal[/b] Saying the game contains "exploration" would be quite a stretch, as the world is extremely linear and limits your ability to explore and backtrack with collapsing hallways and, sadly, invisible barriers. Instead, you traverse the world on a guided path by jumping, climbing, crossing chasms with your grappling hook and balancing. At certain points you get to clear obstacles, like wooden barriers or fires, with one of your abilities. [*][b]Upgrades[/b] Defeated enemies will often leave experience points behind, which can be used to unlock a multitude of active and passive abilities, which include faster running speed, a higher defense value, a bubble that temporarily freezes enemies within, a rage mode that makes all nearby enemies float helplessly while raising your damage, and many more. [*][b]Puzzles[/b] Occasionally you will have to solve an easy and short environmental puzzle to progress. These can involve a platforming section to take you from switch to switch or one where you have to align pictograms with a set of murals by rotating rings on the floor using three pressure plates. They are way too easy to pose a challenge but they are a welcome change of pace either way and don't overstay their welcome.[/list] [h1]🔥 Difficulty[/h1] While casual players will find the game quite challenging and may die a lot during certain encounters, it could definitely use a higher difficulty setting for veterans in the genre, especially considering that it openly pays homage to the [i]Dark Souls[/i] games. https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2105165319 [h1]📖 Story / Presentation[/h1] The plot follows 21-year-old protagonist Shelia, an agent of the elite [i]SRO Emergency Inspection Team[/i], on her maiden adventure. While pursuing [i]SAI[/i] terrorist Carter, who is infiltrating an [i]SRO[/i] research facility using a device called the "Quantum Transporter", Shelia accidentally activates the device and gets transported to the [i]Floating Island[/i], a mysterious place near the [i]North Pole[/i], along with anyone else in the vicinity. Here she discovers ancient ruins, artifacts, and most importantly, deadly beasts and undead warriors intent on killing her. The story is quite generic and certainly not the highlight of [i]Bright Memory[/i] but it's presented very nicely and does its job of connecting the battle sequences, the game's actual specialty, just fine. The voice acting is pretty decent and the plot moves along very dynamically without ever dragging on. [h1]💻 Graphics / Art-style[/h1] The game is visually stunning and offers some generic but well-made environments, ranging from the [i]Floating Island's[/i] lush exterior spots, to the damp caverns beneath the surface, to some temple-like structures reminiscent of the [i]Tomb Raider[/i] franchise, deadly spikes and all included. Developer FYQD-Studio used the capabilities of the [i]Unreal Engine 4[/i] to the fullest of its potential, implementing a huge range of visually impressive effects and particles. Volumetric lights and shadows, Chromatic Aberration, Cinematic Motion Blur, Depth of Field, Refraction and other effects can all be toggled in the settings and make the game look truly gorgeous. https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2105137996 [h1]🎼 Soundtrack[/h1] In a couple of encounters where you fight a group of enemies, the music swells to a metal tune that is quite evocative of the [i]DOOM[/i] or [i]DOOM: Eternal[/i] soundtrack and gets your blood pumping. It is very satisfying to watch your enemies die in explosions of gore to that kind of frantically energetic music. [h1]👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Target audience[/h1] This game feels like a poor man's [i]Doom (2016)[/i] but that's not a bad thing to be compared to. Fans of fast-paced, brutal [i]First-person Shooters[/i] and [i]Science-fiction[/i] will feel right at home. [h1]💯 Performance[/h1] The game can be started in [b]DirectX 11[/b], [b]Infinite RTX Tech[/b] (Nvidia) or [b]DirectX 12 RTX[/b] modes and while I could not test Nvidia's technology with my graphics card, the other two modes both worked for me, however, the game occasionally stutters and/or lags in DirectX 11 mode and some of the textures take a while to load. In DirectX 12 RTX mode the game not only looks a lot better but it also runs smoothly on the highest settings on my machine. Mid- to High-end PCs should have no problem running this game without issues but weaker machines and especially graphics cards that don't support DirectX12 might have problems. Overall I'd say the game is excellently optimized. Tested with the following setup: [table][tr][th]CPU[/th][th]GPU[/th][th]RAM[/th][/tr][tr][td]AMD Phenom II X4 955 @3.20 GHz[/td][td]AMD Radeon R9 390X[/td][td]8GB[/td][/tr][/table] [h1]💰 Business Model[/h1] [quote][u]Classic:[/u] Buy the game, play the game. No paid DLCs, items, loot boxes.[/quote] [h1]📋 Conclusion[/h1] Make no mistake, [i]Bright Memory[/i] is pretty much a paid demo for the upcoming [i][url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1178830]Bright Memory: Infinite[/url][/i], however, since owners of this game will get the full experience for free when it comes out, it's definitely worth the relatively low price, as long as you get it before [i]Infinite[/i] comes out. [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/37072886][quote]If you're looking for more quality reviews like this, follow our curator page, [b]Devils in the Detail[/b].