Bright Memory Infinite: Gold Edition - Switch Review

Leigh Wynne -

In the year 2036, a strange black hole appears in the skyline of a bustling city for unknown reasons. The Secret Organisation (SRO) sends out field agents to investigate the strange phenomenon, but they soon learn that our world is colliding with others, bringing a terrible storm that will ravage anything in its way. Not only that, but a new enemy is also bent on destruction and to put an end to our way of life, so it’s up to us in Bright Memory Infinite to prevent this from happening!

The Good

Starting up Bright Memory Infinite: Gold Edition, you’ll be introduced to a brief introduction to the story about the incident that occurred on that fateful day. However, the story plays second fiddle to Bright Memory Infinite’s core gameplay. You'll immediately be thrown into a series of stages as you progress on a fairly linear path with very little deviation. Mechanically, it’s quite a standard first-person shooter but to make things unique, you can also use your trusty sword to slice and dice your foes with a tap of the X button, as well as repel attacks, reflect bullets by holding R bumper and even manipulate enemies with your mech arm, dragging enemies closer and using your EMP to obliterate them (which is very cool). There are also a few other skills that you’ll unlock later on after discovering scattered green artefacts that allow you to unlock new abilities and secondary ammo types for your guns later in the game.

The gunplay is a real highlight here. It feels fast, fluid and punchy. You can use one of five different types of guns, such as an assault rifle, shotgun, handgun, sniper rifle and unique ammo types like sticky bombs and incendiary grenades (and don’t forget your trusty sword). During the first stages, you’ll be fighting armoured humans however, you’ll soon be introduced to the supernatural element which are these strange undead soldiers brandishing swords, axes, shields and crossbows among other ancient weaponry. Encounters against these supernatural monsters are really cool but not as cool as the mini bosses against the Chinese Guardian Lions or the towering mace-wielding giant. These encounters are equally thrilling and visually stunning to behold.

You play across seven stages, all the while shooting enemies, using your grapple hook across pits, blowing up armoured cars and doing some very lowbrow quick-time events.

You can select from eight different costumes for your main character before starting your adventure. In addition, you can choose from eight skins per-gun for sum extra flair on the battlefield. Finally, there are extra options like increasing text size for handheld users (thank you!) and gyro support.

TL;DR

  • Fast responsive gunplay
  • Unique sword attacks and skills
  • Cool enemy variety
  • Seven stages
  • Cosmetic costumes and gun skins

The Bad

Bright Memory Infinite: Gold Edition’s biggest fall from grace is its incredibly short length. My completion time was 2 hours and 36 minutes which is pretty short when comparing it to other shooters in the same elk like Crysis 2 which took me 15 hours to complete. Don't get me wrong, I've loved what I've played, but it makes me wish there was more of it.

Halfway through the game, there's a short stealth section that feels out of place considering how fast-paced the combat is up to that point; it really puts a halt on the flow of the game and it feels like it's been added as padding to extend the run-time.

At the time of this review, partway through, I came across a Nintendo error code that appeared saying that you have a corrupted memory card. However, after checking my memory SD card, it appeared to be fine, and I don’t seem to be the only player having this issue.

Finally, there is very little to return to once you've completed the campaign apart from playing on different difficulties. Considering this is the gold edition, this seems lacklustre and including some extra modes (like a horde mode or online co-op, for example) would have added some value. But sadly, we’re left wondering what could have been.

TL;DR

  • Incredibly short
  • Boring stealth section
  • Strange bug
  • No replay value whatsoever

Final Score: 7/10

I like Bright Memory Infinite: Gold Edition for its fast and responsive gunplay, sword fighting and for its enemy encounters that make for some really fun fights, I just wish there was more of it. The performance is solid and looks great (if not a little blurry at times) and what is here is enjoyable enough. However, some additional modes would've helped with its longevity. Yet despite this, I've enjoyed my time with the game and for fans of the FPS genre, there is something to enjoy here. Unfortunately though, it's more of a taste-test than a full course meal.

Thank you for checking out our Bright Memory Infinite: Gold Edition Switch review and thank you to our Patreon Backers for their ongoing support:

For more reading, check out our Freshly Frosted review.