Bright Memory is a First-Person Shooter with Stylish Action Hack and Slash elements, created by FYQD Studio, a single Chinese programmer.
The game initially came out on Steam Early Access, seeing a full release on March 25, 2020. The original Bright Memory was a sort of "proof-of-concept" project, a short game lasting about 30 minutes. On November 11, 2021, a sequel, Bright Memory Infinite was released, and gifted for free for those who already purchased Bright Memory. Infinite is more of a full-length game compared to the original, though it still clocks in at under 2 hours. The games are most notable for achieving AAA-level graphics despite being made by only a single programmer (with the addition of a small support staff for models and other assets in Infinite).
Both games feature Shelia Tan, a highly talented agent of the SRO (Supernatural Science Research Organization), who must battle soldiers of the enemy SAI (Separate Apart Identity or Shadow Army) organization, as well as ancient beings from Chinese mythology resurrected by strange phenomena. Shelia is armed with guns and an energy blade, and is also equipped with an Exo Unit, a high tech piece of gear that allows her to perform a number of superhuman feats.
Bright Memory contains examples of:
- Action Girl: Shelia of course.
- Armor Is Useless: The SAI troops wear sci fi looking armour but they go down anyway. Against Shelia's equally advanced looking firearms and energy sword this is understandable but on the No-Gear Level a meat cleaver Shelia finds discarded on the ground is quite enough to hack up her opponents.
- Big Bad Ensemble: Infinite has the supernatural Tian Yu Emperor trying to flood the world with an artifact known as the Primordial Flood, and General Lin of the SAI trying to acquire the Primordial Flood for himself to Take Over the World.
- Cosmic Retcon: Implied by the ending of Infinite. After killing the Tian Yu Emperor and destroying the Primordial Flood Shelia wakes up in bed on New Years like at the start of the game but without the apocalyptic storm starting up outside. She sees a news report on television of an archaeological dig that has discovered the Tian Yu Emperor's mask. The implication seems to be that the magical disturbances caused her to kill him and destroy the Flood in the past, preventing the effects on the modern day ever coming to pass.
- Counter-Attack: Infinite adds the ability to block enemy attacks with your energy sword. If you time the block perfectly, it results in a parry that instantly restores your energy meter, which powers your Exo Unit and energy blade attacks.
- Elite Mooks: Elite SAI soldiers in the first game are much better armored and are equipped with Exo Units of their own, allowing them to Flash Step just like Shelia's dodge move. In Infinite, SAI Elites instead wear bulkier armor suits and are melee-focused opponents. Infinite also has SAI soldiers with glowing red visors, who can survive noticably more damage than regular soldiers but are still mostly basic mooks.
- Excuse Plot: What little plot both games have largely exists only to give a motivation for the game as it moves from one action setpiece to another. Notably none of what's going on is ever explained and it’s up to the player to fill in the blanks based on archetypes and tropes. Even the protagonist's full name is only told in a loading screen.
- Fanservice: Shelia's costumes are either form-fitting, midriff baring, or a bikini. Since this game is in first person, the only times the player gets to see these are in the menu screens, or when she does a contextual action like ducking under rubble or squeezing through gaps.
- First-Name Basis: Everyone calls the protagonist "Shelia," to the point that her surname "Tan" is kept to loading screens.
- Full-Boar Action: In Infinite, at one point a number of large boars, including an exceptionally large and tough one almost the size of a car, attack you while you're traveling through a field of reeds.
- Mirror Boss: The Tian Yu Emperor in Infinite fights similar to Shelia, using a sword and using attacks that include a Sword Beam, Launcher Move, Ground Pound, Parrying Bullets, Flash Step, etc.
- My Rules Are Not Your Rules: Inverted. When you get juggled into the air by a Launcher Move, you can still attack, while enemies that you launch into the air are stunned and will spin helplessly for several seconds.
- The Musketeer: Shelia wields both an assortment of firearms as well as an energy blade. Her guns and her sword use two separate attack buttons, though she quick-switches between them instead of dual-wielding them.
- No-Gear Level: One section of Infinite has Shelia's sword, guns, and Exo Unit disabled by an EMP, forcing her to rely on stealth and a meat cleaver to make her way through a village patrolled by enemy soldiers.
- Non-Linear Sequel: Both games feature Shelia working for the SRO against an enemy organization known as SAI, but it's unclear if they're meant to be in the same continuity due to many differences in the set up. The first game has something to do with teleportation, a liquid that revives the dead, and a floating island hidden above the Arctic, while the second game is about a black hole in the sky and increasingly unnatural weather. The SAI is led by a man named Carter in the first game, but is led by General Lin in Infinite. In both games Shelia has an ally named Wake, but he seems to be implied to be a mentor/fellow agent in the first game, but is a helicopter pilot in Infinite.
- Outside Ride: Infinite has a stage on an airplane, where Shelia runs and jumps on top of the plane to it's wings, taking out enemies along the way.
- Parrying Bullets: In Infinite, both Shelia and the Tian Yu Emperor can do this with their swords.
- Real Time: After the first boss fight against him, the Tian Yu Emperor tells you he'll meet you again in an hour. As it happens, an hour is about the amount of time it takes to get from that boss fight to the Final Boss fight against him.
- Seen It All: Both games feature some pretty strange phenomena but Shelia only ever expresses mild surprise and interest at most.
- Shotguns Are Just Better: The semi-auto shotgun deals impressive damage, enough so that it inflicts reasonable damage even against mythological enemies who are resistant to bullets.
- Shout-Out: You'll find a bonfire from Dark Souls while traveling through Bright Memory, and the game's first boss, the Dark Forest Lord, seems to be heavily inspired by Dark Souls characters.
- Sword and Gun: Sheila carries four different guns with alt-fire modes and also has her Exo Blade handy; the weapons can be used in tandem for combos.
- Sword Beam: Shelia's energy sword fires energy waves that travel a few dozen feet in Bright Memory. In Infinite, this ability has to be unlocked in the upgrade tree.
