Just like every time a new console is launched, I couldn’t wait to get my pre-order for day one Xbox Series X release all set up. I was fortunate to grab one, but then the realization set in and I remembered: No launch exclusives, Halo was delayed. Of course that was just for brand new games, and luckily I remembered that Bright Memory was the Xbox Series X’s only console launch exclusive. If that name sounds familiar to you, it should. Bright Memory: Infinite was the first Xbox Series X game announced earlier this year, and it will release in 2021.

A little backstory on Bright Memory to start. First, it was released back in March of this year on PC only. It is developed by one man, Zeng Xiancheng, in his spare time. That information should get any gamer worth their salt to play the game out of respect alone, even if they are generally not fans of the genre. It was originally meant to be a prelude to full game and serve more as a demo to that game (Bright Memory: Infinite). It’s developed using Unreal Engine 4 utilizing developer grants, and it really shows just how far you can go. Think of Bright Memory as a video game’s version of a fan film come to life.

The basic premise of Bright Memory is, well, confusing. You begin the game in the middle of a story without any explanation of how you got where you are. Imagine starting Game of Thrones halfway through season 5 and trying to figure out what happened. Our character is trying to stop the villains from stealing a Lazarus type artifact that can raise the dead. So far, nothing seems odd about this, right? Well, let’s continue. This artifact is on a floating island high above the North Pole in the Arctic. Oh yeah, it’s also inhabited by mythological Chinese monsters as well as enemies straight out of Dark Souls. This blew my mind. As I was playing this first person shooter, the last thing I expected to come across was a bonfire checkpoint that literally says “Bonfire Lit” like it was copy pasted straight from From Software’s programming code. While unusual, my reaction was more along the lines of “Ok, this is cool. I love the mashup” opposed to “Lame hack job”. The unusualness is where the intrigue ended however, as the technical aspect is a total mess.

The main thing about any first person shooter is the control system. A game can be made or broken dependent upon the weapon recoil, aiming system, etc. Remember, Bright Memory was originally a PC launch back in March of this year. It’s a console exclusive launch on Series X, however, doesn’t appear to have been integrated for a console. On the flip side, it appears to be a port that’s not actually a port. It took me a little bit to understand why simply turning around seemed to take forever. Then I realized, it’s a direct PC port. By that I mean, it’s a direct PC port. The control setup in the options menu talks about keyboard and mouse settings on a console game. This got me thinking, the reason it takes forever to turn around is because the analog stick is like using a keyboard to turn around. In other words, WASD keyboard keys are integrated into the up, left, right and down on the analog stick.

Shooting itself was all over the screen. I tried to change the sensitivity, but saw that there wasn’t any option to do so. Basically, every time I shot it became a spray and pray in hopes that I hit my mark. I found this unusual. Even though the aiming itself was highly sensitive, the actual shooting was very good. The gun stayed on point and didn’t bounce around the screen. It made me really wishing for a sensitivity option because it would have improved the overall gameplay immensely. But this is Bright Memory, nothing is what it seems – literally. It’s a first person shooter that also has swords. Yes, swords. These act like a special ability in Bright Memory that needs to be recharged for several seconds before you can use it again. I found myself playing majority of the game like this for two main reasons. One we mentioned in the aiming sensitivity. Second, I really loved the animations that occurred after every sword hit. Remember, Bright Memory is made by one guys. It’s literally a fan made game, so all the things that are generally overlooked in most games are highlighted here. The “squishy” sound effects when you stab someone with the sword or hack them to pieces are addicting, and was one of my favorite parts of the game.

At this point in the game I start to feel like one of those infomercial sales guys yelling “But wait, there’s more!” In addition to guns and swords, there are also special abilities that let you throw enemies up into the air or simply blow right through a blockade hindering your progress. Other attacks like lightning elemental damage can be unlocked and upgraded as well, infusing even more variety to the game. I couldn’t figure out whether it was magic or your character was actually some sort of human/robot hybrid, but it didn’t really matter. Each of the individual features alone would normally leave you with that “Are you serious?” reaction. In Bright Memory, however, they all flow together pretty brilliantly when all added together.

My favorite part of Bright Memory were the boss battles and puzzle systems. I know, you’re probably saying “Mike, this is a first person shooter. How are their boss battles and puzzles?” Well, my response would be this is Bright Memory and like Forrest Gump said, you never know what you’re gonna get. I love puzzle games. They are one of my favorite genres and parts of games in fact. I fully expected to see puzzles that were basic and lame in nature when I came upon the first one. To my surprise, that is not what happened. They are actually well detailed and go hand in hand with the boss battles. Now, remember up top when I spoke of the Dark Souls like Bonfires? The boss battles hold true to the same setup. You won’t simply be running around on an ammo dump in an attempt to beat the bosses. Party because of the aiming, but mainly because the bosses are very detail oriented. They require you to shoot, use your sword, special abilities and dodge in and out after a couple hits in order to avoid getting wiped. When you do die, the only thing missing from the animation is the classic Dark Souls “You Died” popping up on the screen.

Although the gameplay was fun, Bright Memory is full of glitches. The screen tears so frequently it’s as if someone literally ripped my TV in front of me in my living room. Even though it’s developed by one person, and I stress the point that deserves so much respect, it doesn’t excuse the extremely poor performance. It’s as if they completely skipped over the technical review portion of development. It also needs to be mentioned about the overall length of the game. Most games allow for errors like these to be forgiven due to the overall length of the game or its story. This doesn’t happen in Bright Memory. The entire game lasts for a total of 40 minutes. Yes, correct, 40 minutes. The story is so crazy and convoluted that it doesn’t get a chance to live up to its potential due to the miniscule amount of time spent playing.

Bright Memory is the only Xbox Series X console launch exclusive, and that bothers me because of all the problems surrounding the game. The most technically powerful console ever created deserves better than a game riddled with so many basic technical issues. It’s a shame, too, because the bones of Bright Memory are very good. There are a good variety of abilities, puzzles, gun play and more. If given more time, the game’s unusual story could definitely flourish. This is where I think Bright Memory: Infinite comes in. That game looks incredible. When I first watched the trailer, my initial reaction was asking myself if Titanfall 3 got rid of the mechs. It looks incredible, and all of the issues I encountered in Bright Memory don’t appear at all anywhere in the trailer for Infinite.

Normally, I would scoff at the fact of paying $7.99 for a game the likes of Bright Memory. There are, however, always mitigating circumstances. Remember, this is developed by Zeng Xiancheng and Zeng Xiancheng alone. One dude in his spare time with more talent than I can ever hope to possess when it comes to game development. For that reason alone, I am giving Bright Memory a pass. Based on the overall length of the game itself, it’s not completely necessary to play in order to get ready for Bright Memory: Infinite next year. Just remember what you are signing up for if you do decide to purchase it. You are 100% getting a $7.99 video game when you purchase Bright Memory, and you get what you pay for.

The varying abilities and surprisingly well-blendedness of them has me intrigued to see how Bright Memory: Infinite can capitalize on the technical aspects come next its release next year. Seeing as it will be a full priced game, there is no excuse for it. The trailer alone leaves us with a high level of intrigue, and playing Bright Memory made me feel as if I was part of the development process myself. Human perseverance is the most powerful weapon we have as people, and Mr. Xiancheng shows us that very point.

I wouldn’t rush to play Bright Memory. It’s not very good overall, but it’s fun, has strong bones and the potential for a great game in Bright Memory: Infinite is there. I hope Mr. Xiancheng gets some assistance on the development, because it’s really not that far away from being a solid overall game.

For now, the only recommendation I can make is to hurry up and wait.