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Sum-Up

In-depth analysis further down.
If you’re looking for some screenshots click here to view all the ones I took for this game.


🟩 Pros
🟥 Cons



• Superb optimization for the great visuals delivered, alongside DLSS / FSR support. Even lower spec machines will be able to run it without issues.
• Excellent combat that feels exciting and well-paced at all times - with enough enemy, weapons and skills variety to keep the player engaged.
• Solid variety of enemies, with new variants appearing regularly. Bosses feel unique and well-designed, despite their challenge level being inconsistent.
• Good gameplay variety for the duration, including vehicle sections, platforming, stealth and regular FPS action.


• Extremely short duration / content amount, especially for the proposed price point. It’s just too little, no matter how good the quality may be.
• Certain skills and gameplay mechanics are overpowered, making combat more trivial than it should be, regardless of difficulty settings. Late-game power creep is high.
• The story is a confusing mess that makes little sense at any point, and feels like B-movie ‘nonsense sci-fi’.





🟨 Bugs & Issues
🔧 Specs



• When a new gun is picked up, weapon swapping may stop working until a checkpoint is loaded.
• Progression triggers may occasionally not work, blocking progression. Load a checkpoint to fix.
• For whatever reason, v-sync can’t be used together with DLSS (this is possible in many other games).


• i5 11400H
• 16GB RAM DDR4
• 512 GB SSD
• RTX 3060 6GB
• 1080p





Content & Replay Value:
It took me just 3 hours to complete Bright Memory Infinite (BMI) on Revenge (Hard) difficulty . the highest available without beating the game - taking extra time to explore each area accurately when applicable. All levels are linear; there’s no reason to replay once finished, save the unlocked “Hell” difficulty, which however won’t change anything gameplay or story-wise.


Is it worth buying?
Only on a -60% or better sale. The quality may be good, but the standard price of 16,79€ is far too steep for a 3-hour-long linear experience. It’s not worth full price by any means, not even to hardcore fans of FPS and/or of cute anime girls.


Verdict: Good
Rating Chart Here
An engaging and visually-excellent FPS, that delivers exciting gameplay and varied action, despite needing more challenge. Its dismal duration is truly a shame: it will leave you wanting more.



In-Depth

Writing & Worldbuilding
In the near-future 2030, Shelia Tan works as an operative for the SRO, a paranormal research organization tasked with keeping in check all things otherworldly that may threaten humanity. Without much introduction to the lore or situation at hand, the cute anime girl / killing machine is summoned by her superiors to investigate a… *checks notes* black hole that randomly spawned outside the city’s boundaries.
This -completely plausible- incipit starts the short story of BMI, which is as barebones as it gets. The few named characters, be them bosses or otherwise, or even Sheila herself, barely have any screen time and don’t explain their motives, reasoning or plans at all. It’s as ‘B-Movie’ as it gets, with the plot completely annihilated in favor of raw, unadulterated action; this may even be a good choice considering the total runtime.
The locations and environments are mostly inspired by rural China; in the same way, some enemies are as well, in the mythological aspect. Each area is rich in detail, delivering graphics you could expect from top-tier AAA titles, with great optimization on top of that. Despite the amazing looks, no location really feels iconic or distinct, but instead they feel generic, serving as little more than containers for the enemies and bosses.
Exploration & Secrets
Each stage is linear, with regular one-way drops and transitions that prevent backtracking, which is expected from the genre, after all. Side locations that contain secrets or extra supplies are present, although in a limited amount and just slightly branching out from the main path - don’t expect wholly standalone side areas or optional open areas. Taking extra time to look for skill points, special ammo and the occasional new weapon is definitely worth your time, as only in that way you’ll gain enough skill points to have a varied roster of abilities later on. Don’t worry about getting lost or orientating: the levels are linear and streamlined enough so that this doesn’t become a problem at all.
Combat System & Bosses
The combat system of BMI plays out in a fast-paced way, having you alternate not only four different guns with normal and special fire modes, but also several active skills for your sword and power gauntlet, other than being able to jump, sprint and dodge frequently. Fights are usually against a handful of enemies that however, save for the basic weak grunts, are all to be considered a threat, and have unique movesets and behaviors each.
You’ll be able to adapt to the playstyle you prefer based on your skill choices, but generally all options are viable: stay at a distance and destroy your enemies with a rain of bullets - which will take longer, but is also the safest way - or go into the fray and use melee, energy push / pull and the parry system to perform high risk, high reward combos that can annihilate enemies quickly. Tougher enemies have shields in addition to normal health, and they need to be destroyed with attacks or parries in order to deal full damage and render them susceptible to control effects like slow, pushback and so on.
One of the main issues of the combat system is that you can block indefinitely without any stamina or limit to this mechanic - 90% of all attacks can harmlessly bounce off your sword, even if there are some exceptions to the rule, mostly with bosses. Given that HP auto-regens, you can just kite foes around while blocking and regain HP easily. Bosses don’t have evolving phases, but are generally varied enough in movesets to be interesting to fight, even if some can become quite trivial with the right skills (I’m looking at you, Tian Yu Emperor, getting perma-staggered by blade skills), but still they’re interesting and unique enough.
Character Progression
You’ll be able to gain skill points by either finding them (Reliquaries) or by collecting blue orbs from the enemies and breakable objects in the environment; ten orbs is one Reliquary, as in one skill point. There’s not enough to unlock all skills, so you’ll have to focus on what you prefer and think is best. From AoE to single target specific skills, the blade and gauntlet powers will enable you to deliver devastating attacks from a distance, with additional effects like damage over time, auto tracking and more.