4/5 ★ – jared_c's review of Bright Memory: Infinite.

Bright Memory Infinite is the second release by game developer FYQD Studio, a one man developer. The first release being Bright Memory, technically the tech demo. I picked up the game on sale for probably $5 and got just shy of an hour of entertainment out of it before completing. The developer then gave away the "full" release of Bright Memory Infinite to all who had the first game for free up until a specific date. My 4 star review is based on the fact I did not pay for this game. Had I paid for this, I would have removed a half or maybe a full star. Beginning with the visuals of this game, as that's what stands out the most. This game is beautiful. Runs smoothly (most of the time) even at 4k, Ray Tracing, and DLSS on which are implemented very well. There isn't too much to enemy variety but for all the longer the game is, it's not that big of an issue. The weather effects and rain specifically look fantastic. Moving on to the gameplay, you start off with just basic sword slashing and a rifle. Eventually you unlock additional guns, alternate fire modes for each gun, advanced sword techniques, and even some fantastical abilities. It does a decent job of slowly introducing each new attack so you aren't getting overwhelmed initially. Thankfully it's not too difficult a game that you won't be handicapped if you can't grasp new abilities. Once you get the hang of everything and get some upgrades, combat is really chaotic. You'll be dodging all over the place, throwing out sword slash projectiles, firing flaming ammunition, and sending out pulses to stun enemies. The game is really fun to experiment with different abilities and play styles. The guns feel really good as well. Throughout the game, I only experienced one bug where somehow I clipped into a building that had no entrance or exit. It was a softlock that I had to quit to main menu for, but thankfully the quicksaves are frequent enough I only lost maybe a minute of gameplay. Moving on to the story, I guess there is SOME kind of story here but it's not really explained and it ends right as you believe you'll get to figure some stuff out. Hopefully that means there's additional chapters or games in this "series" but I'm not holding my breath. You are part of some kind of policing organization, getting sent in to investigate weird environmental phenomena. As you are arriving, your boss informs you that some underground all powerful and funded organization has been spotted in the area. You will fight these enemies, then randomly something happens which changes up your enemies drastically (avoiding spoilers here). It doesn't make much sense, and honestly I didn't care too much as the gameplay was enticing enough. Unfortunately I completed the game at I believe just over an hour and a half, with some additional time to pick up some Steam achievements. If you can pick up this game on a sale, I recommend it. The fact that it was developed by one individual is incredibly impressive. They show more passion with this game than we see many AAA titles these days.