Bright Memory

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Critics Recommend

Average Score

Total Reviews: 32

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Despite the score, Bright Memory is a rare good-bad game that’s enjoyable and features surprisingly decent gunplay in a short, janky blast of fun.

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Critics Recommend

Critic Reviews: 32

Critics Consensus

# Reviews: 32

Despite the score, Bright Memory is a rare good-bad game that's enjoyable and features surprisingly decent gunplay in a short, janky blast of fun.

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Critic Reviews for Bright Memory

Critic Reviews

Score Distribution

32

Reviews

Average Score

100

Ranges

5/10

Metro GameCentral (GameCentral)

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.

November 11, 2020 |

Full Review

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.

November 9, 2020 |

Full Review

7/10

Chris Carter (Destructoid)

55/100

Alex Everatt (COGconnected)

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.

November 18, 2020 |

Full Review

Metro GameCentral (GameCentral)

5/10 - (Read Review)

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.

Chris Carter (Destructoid)

7/10 - (Read Review)

Alex Everatt (COGconnected)

55/100 - (Read Review)

**Read all 32 critic reviews on the desktop version of VSG.

Read the Reviews (32 total)

Outlet	Author	Score	Date	Quote	Read
33bits	Juanma F. Padilla	85 / 100	06-01-2020	Not only is it a surprise that Bright Memory is developed by a single person, but forgetting that aspect the game continues to be a good exponent of its genre offering enough playable variety and adrenaline to become a title that is almost forced to give it a try. . Its short duration is compensated by its price, replayability, and the fact that if you buy it now you will get the Bright Memory Infinite at launch.	Read review
But Why Tho?	Derrick Pittman	7 / 10	11-15-2020	Bright Memory has so much potential and I am eagerly awaiting Infinite’s release in 2021. Gameplay looks and feels familiar as far as first-person shooters but when it comes to graphics, the Xbox Series S makes it look so good. If you’re looking to kick back after a long day and just want to shoot things up in style, Bright Memory is definitely that game. Granted this is only a taste of what’s to come, its replayability just might hold you over, especially if you’re an achievement hunter looking to boost your Xbox Gamerscore.	Read review
Chalgyr’s Game Room	Pierre-Yves Lanthier	8 / 10	11-13-2020	So overall, for a launch title, Bright Memory even while super short and basically being a tech demo, for how pretty things can look and sound, is still an amazing fast paced experience. At twenty-five to thirty minutes per playthrough, and a total of three to get everything, I would say pick it up and enjoy it as it’s really hard to go wrong especially at its current price tag.	Read review
COGconnected	Alex Everatt	55 / 100	11-18-2020	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.	Read review
Destructoid	Chris Carter	7 / 10	11-09-2020	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.	Read review
Digital Chumps	Steven McGehee	6.7 / 10	11-28-2020	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.	Read review
DualShockers	Charlie Wacholz	4 / 10	11-11-2020	Bright Memory is a profoundly bland experience riddled with hints that the game was never meant to be played anywhere but PC.	Read review
Explosion Network	Dylan Blight	5 / 10	11-11-2020	Although Bright Memory is utter nonsense, in a good way, it is still just a gloried tech-demo	Read review
FingerGuns	Andy Manson	7 / 10	11-23-2020	On its own merits, Bright Memory is short, rough around the edges and has a somewhat forgettable storyline. But as proof of concept and a playable teaser for the forthcoming Bright Memory Infinite, it’s a tantalising look at what’s to come and I personally cannot wait. For the price of a large Big Mac meal, it’s a no-brainer.	Read review
GameMAG	Unknown	7 / 10	12-01-2020	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.	Read review
GamingBolt	Shubhankar Parijat	5 / 10	11-16-2020	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.	Read review
Generación Xbox	Pedro del Pozo	7 / 10	11-12-2020	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).	Read review
God is a Geek	Mick Fraser	5 / 10	11-22-2020	Bright Memory is a short, janky blast of fun that almost makes up for in ambition what it lacks in execution.	Read review
GotGame	David Poole	6 / 10	12-02-2020	While Bright Memory isn’t going to win any awards, it’s still a pretty commendable effort from FYQD. The trailer for the remake looks promising, as it seems to already address some of the issues in the original game. Looks can be deceiving, but we’ll still keep an eye on Infinite to see if it can change our minds. As for this entry, it’s not a terrible experience for $8, but it’s not exactly one we recommend.	Read review
Heavy	Elton Jones	6 / 10	11-10-2020	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.	Read review
Hobby Consolas	Daniel Quesada	53 / 100	11-11-2020	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.	Read review
IGN Italy	Francesco Destri	7 / 10	11-12-2020	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.	Read review
IGN Spain	Álex Pareja	6 / 10	11-14-2020	Good initial sensations that don’t hide their technical and control problems that we hope will be solved in the complete work.	Read review
Metro GameCentral	GameCentral	5 / 10	11-11-2020	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.	Read review
Niche Gamer	Frank Streva	7 / 10	04-01-2020	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.	Read review
Noisy Pixel	Azario Lopez	4 / 10	11-25-2020	Bright Memory shouldn’t be played; it’s just not ready. The one-person developed action is a decent concept, but it should have been released as a demo in anticipation for Bright Memory: Infinite. The Xbox Series X version adds nothing to the experience, but if you’re eager to spend an hour mindlessly shooting enemies and rolling your eyes, then, by all means, pick this up.	Read review
Press Start	Brodie Gibbons	7 / 10	11-10-2020	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.	Read review
Rectify Gaming	Mike Boccher	4 / 10	11-23-2020	“It’s not very good overall, but it’s fun”	Read review
Rocket Chainsaw	Andrew Cathie	3 / 5 stars	11-10-2020	While there are plenty of rough edges and frustrations here, these are all somewhat balanced out by the cost of Bright Memory on Xbox Series X; AU$11.95.	Read review
SelectButton	Kevin Mitchell	6 / 10	11-16-2020	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.	Read review
TheSixthAxis	Stefan L	5 / 10	11-09-2020	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.	Read review
Unboxholics	Θέμης Μπολτσής	Not Recommended	11-28-2020	Bright Memory is definitely an ambitious endeavor by a sole developer who wants to deliver high-octane action in an FPS-type Tomb Raider adventure that combines shooting and melee. The end result is unfortunately disappointing, with an exaggeration characterizing it throughout its range.	Read review
VGChartz	Lee Mehr	4 / 10	12-09-2020	FTQD Studio’s first outing is a playful shooter/slasher hybrid that’s far too finite to feel worth its retail price.	Read review
VGN	Filippo Scaboro	6 / 10	11-26-2020	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.	Read review
WayTooManyGames	Jordan Hawes	5.5 / 10	11-11-2020	The fact this was accomplished form a single person is enough to be impressed by. As a tech demo, this is spectacular, however, this is being sold as a game for $8 on the MS store, and it is not worth the asking price. Playing this did get me more interested for the upcoming Bright Memory Infinite, but be aware that you’re paying for a 30 minute teaser.	Read review
Wccftech	Dave Aubrey	5.5 / 10	11-10-2020	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.	Read review
WellPlayed	Zach Jackson	6.5 / 10	11-13-2020	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	Read review

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About Bright Memory

Game Description / Storyline:

The 1000-year-old relic swords known as “Kanshou and Bakuya”, discovered through SRO research, have been found to comprise a unique multilayered structure, containing a mysterious substance in their cores. This substance, known as the “Soul of Jiu Xuan”, possesses the ability to reanimate the dead. In an attempt to take possession of the substance, the “SAI” – a massive terrorist organization controlling its own army – has used a cutting-edge piece of technology known as a “Quantum Transporter” to infiltrate the SRO research facility and steal top-secret and incredibly dangerous data. To make matters worse, while attempting to calibrate coordinates on the Quantum Transporter, Shelia mistakenly activates the device, immediately transporting everyone in the vicinity to the Floating Island – an airborne continent near the North Pole, undisturbed in its slumber for over 1000 years. It is soon discovered that the various beasts and corpses of those who once populated the island have been reanimated by the “Soul of Jiu Xuan”, and they’re coming for Shelia…

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