It's almost been 3 years since I posted a review on Bright Memory Episode 1, or rather just titled "Bright Memory" now, onto Steam, a forum which would absolutely not consider that version of the game to be anything less than one of the most praise worthy achievements around, especially since it was only made by "One person". It's a bit of a loaded sentiment really, yes FYQD handled many aspects on their own but the credits of the game also include different composers, voice actors, and also at many points, "UE Marketplace". Regardless it absolutely is impressive that the dev manged to release a functional game period, but it seems dishonest to bookend every single bit of praise or defense with that line all the way back at Episode 1, and absolutely now at Bright Memory Infinite.

Regardless let's talk about what's here, and what's here is... surprising. I was kind of prepared both to eat the words I shat out years ago or to otherwise do a smug little "I Told You So" little song and dance, but BMI leaves me in a position where I really can not fully do either because damn, this is just a different game than episode 1. Where episode 1 is a shooter with not so polished out design choices but filled with character action aspirations, Infinite is a game where gravity is absolute, movement is limited, and the move list is scaled way back, no more multi-button/ triple button press moves. Add the removal of the style meter altogether and it becomes clear this isn't a weird stylish action game but rather a very by the numbers "Playism published Indie" imitation of your standard triple A shooter.

Bright Memory Infinite is a game with big graphic, big QTE cutscene, big forced stealth section, big janked out vehicle section, big arrow on wall that points to where to go, big ammo everywhere, big 1 dollar dlcs in order to see the main character in a bikini, big gameplay element that serves to differentiate itself from other shooters in marketing but not really(that sword is still definitely just a gun), and not so big but bigger than the game's runtime upgrade tree where 20% is more button, 80% is to make button have better numbers. Who knows who decided this turn of direction but regardless what we're left with now is a serviceable shooty bang bang game if you don't expect too much.

Hey they addressed all the enemy design issues I had in episode 1. The melee enemies have projectiles so they don't just never touch you if you backdash away from them. The hitscan gun dude enemies, even in the worst areas in regards to cover, can be defended against with the defense button, returning all fire at the cost of meter, seemed a bit lame at first but there were plenty of times the button did not bail me out.

Speaking of say good bye to the 6 different cooldowns happening all at once in Episode one, now everything that isn't a gun is tied to one singular meter that refills faster by shooting guns. It works and as said before it balances the "I simply choose to not take damage" button, and while there is some redundancy in the moves you unlock for both your Exo Arm and your sword, that's fine especially since you're not likely to actually fully upgrade by the end (Unless you repeatedly pick up a collectible upgrade statue that is near a checkpoint repeatedly after dying, with the game remembering the upgrades and upgrade points, but still spawning the statue after each death anyways, but don't tell FYQD about that). The guns still gun, and gun differently enough that they work better in different situations yadda yadda, They each have special ammo but it's a potential waste to dump them into anything but a boss, against which it's basically just free extra damage. The defense button also is also used as a timed parry button in order to "stagger" bigger melee enemies, fun fact episode 1 used to include the dark souls bonfire, just the actual dark souls bonfire, had the "Bonfire Lit" text and everything, funniest shit anyone has ever seen apparently. Finally, you still can't dash forward, they give you the COD sprint now but for some reason you still have the dash that works in every direction but forward, it's the strangest thing, I don't get it.

All this gameplay breakdown is to say, it's absolutely the best Shadow Warrior game I've ever seen.

So I've made my point right? The gameplay of this gameplay-centric shooty game is fine but nothing seen before yeah. Let's talk about real shit. Let's talk about this fucking rain . There's a storm raging throughout the game you see. You got your standard droplets crashing down hard, you got the strong winds carrying mist, blowing leaves off trees, you got the outline of droplets stuck on the camera in gameplay and during cutscenes regardless of if it makes sense or not. As the game is it's mostly just something to look at during the downtime in between shootouts, but it's legit good stuff regardless, wouldn't be surprised to see it on @Rainingames .

The story is mostly nothing but it does have fun things like there simply being a black hole in the distance the entire time, The ancient general guy who's never explained and the guy who flies the helicopter simply having the voice acting in the English dub and I would not have it any other way, said helicopter guy nearly crashing into town trying to deliver a full on spy-car-ass spy car, said spy car being equipped with a mounted rocket launcher and this guy :). Antics like these that for one reason or another you just gotta have a nice smile or laugh when it happens.

The soundtrack is also kind of neat, no bangers really but it's neat in how it mixes some distinctly Old-fashioned "Chinese" sounds into what is otherwise just generic serviceable score.

And that's Bright Memory I guess, I'm not mad that I didn't get the game that was promised all the way back when Episode 1 came out, Ultrakill did go into Early Access since then after all, but I am surprised and confused that this is what came out of it all. I could make fancy musings about whether it would be better if they kept at it with their riskier less proven design directions. I could make possible but foundation-less conspiracies about big Playism man not wanting fun in my shooter, even though Episode 1 also displayed plenty of love for Triple A-isms and how those games are designed. In the end we have what we have, and what we have is not the biggest deal one way or another. Impressive that it exists, but goes nowhere fast.

If you read through all of this judging whether or not to buy this che- wait they sold this shit for $20? Well fuck. If you got it for having episode 1 prior to release and you're bored, go ahead. Otherwise it's probably best to play a different game, one made by multiple people probably, those tend to up well.