“You are not dark, you will be Bright”
Sometimes through the dark a sparkling gem will appear. This time it is a beautiful little gem called Memory Bright. This game, or rather demo, is made by one person called Zeng Xiancheng. Although there is voice actors and alike, but even so, not even near the size of a small indie studio.
I have to be VERY clear about one thing: This a demo to a larger game and is therefore very short. However, by buying this demo you get a taste of what the full game will be like AND you will get a copy of the full game too. The game is so short that you can get your money back if you do not like it.
Did you say… SOULS-LIKE?
No. Don’t you worry. The gameplay is nothing like dark souls, but I do intend to talk about what kind of game this is by describing one’s main tools, in this section. This way you can determine yourself if this might be a game you could be interested in.
Pew pew! Guns!
The gameplay is much like most modern first-person shooters. You have a primary and secondary gun plus a sidearm. You can’t choose the weapons and they are very basic. Primary is a cross between an SMG and an assault rifle because it’s small but powerful. Secondary is a semi-automatic shotgun, which is great for crowd control. The sidearm kind of looks like a sci-fi version of the 1911 with double the magazine size.
It may sound boring, but the amount of time you spend in the game, you do not feel like you need other guns and here is why: ABILITIES!
I am a Jedi, but… With guns?
Yes, you will start the game with some “basic” abilities. Like a strife/ dodge ability which is very self-explanatory. A double jump which works a bit different than in other games, but it actually feels great when you learn it properly.
The two proper starter abilities are very useful and the in some way opposite of each other. The first one pulls you towards the enemy and when you hit them, you damage them and, in some cases, even killing them. The second one, yes you guessed it, it shoves enemies away! There is actually a bit more to it, but that is the gist of it.
Most of the abilities can be upgraded and in some instances be changed completely, but only for the better. When you have all upgrades unlocked you will feel so powerful. You will also be able to get even more Upgrades throughout the game.
Oh! Before I forget, you should know that you have a sword too! It will probably even be your best friend since you will end up using it instead of reloading your weapons.
I’m going Shooty McFaceBlast on them enemies!
With you guns and your newfound abilities you, of course, want to use them. Fortunately for you, the game lets you. Yes, I was surprised too.
Besides from just shooting enemies there is actually quite a lot of game mechanics.
Ze Combat
As I already said there is more to it than just shoot and blast enemies. First of all there is a score system. This may turn some people off, but I assure you, it is very forgiving. If you have ever played or seen Devil May Cry you know how it works and it is basically the same system. However, I normally suck at those games, and I only get an A rank if I try-hard. It is not a problem here. I easily got S rank and more often than not I got the SSS rank. It is not hard, it just requires one to keep doing damage. You can earn more points and do more damage than just through normal combat, because the game has a funny little mechanic that makes this possible. By attacking enemies in the air, you will do more damage and earn more points. This is possible by using one’s abilities.
Remember when I said it was a souls-like? Yeah, so if you ever played a game like that, some things might be familiar, besides from owning a sword.
At the end of any section you will have to fight a boss or multiple mini bosses. The first boss you will encounter will even make fun of the dark souls’ comparison. It even has a bonfire. The first boss will be a big unknown knight. Sounds familiar? However, don’t worry the boss fights are simple, but very engaging.
But wait! There is more!
Combat is not the only game mechanic the game has. Although it is definitely the biggest. There game will throw a light puzzle at you, which is just good enough that those who hate puzzles (like me), wouldn’t mind. I actually found it quite fun. Those who loves puzzles might find it way to easy, but if you are a puzzle master, this game might not be for you.
When traversing the game you will have to do some light platforming which will test you navigation skill a small bit, since the games doesn’t tell you what is dangerous. You have to use your common sense.
I am personally a big fan of all this. It is mostly unique, but still doesn’t feel totally unfamiliar. I hope we will see more small puzzles and platforming sections in the full game. Breaking up the constant combat always seems to do well, especially when it doesn’t slow down the overall pace.
Traveling Through Greenland
Most of the game will actually be on the Giant Island Greenland. Well… Sort of.
The level layout is very linear, but the game is good at hiding that. The way the game is designed makes it looks like there is a lot of ways to go. However, do not be fooled! There is more invisible wall than visible ones, so be careful before you smack your face into the air.
Some games just thrive much better by being linear. To many games goes open or semi open world, which often makes the bland or downright boring. It is good to have a focus and it does fit the game very well.
Once upon a ti…. I do not know…
There is a story in the game…. Kind of. It does not really have a start or an end to it and most of the time it makes absolutely not sense. The main character keeps talking about a man, whose an ally, but you have never met him or even heard his voice. The plot makes no sense, since it feels like you have been dropped right in the middle of a game. We know the game is more or less just a demo, so this might explain why. However, it was once called episode one, which still can be seen in the game. That fact alone can be worrying for some of us, who likes to play games to enjoy both gameplay and a story.
To be completely fair the game original language is Chinese and therefore, it could be translation that makes the story worse than it actually is. This is a kink that most likely will be fixed in the full release. I also just played and finished the game, so there might not even have been a story for most of the development and it actually could be a story part from later the intended full product. Nevertheless, it would be wrong to look down at the game for this, but so would be ignoring it.
Is that all?
I am almost done (Sorry), but there are some small extra things you should know. First of all, the game encourages you to play though it multiple times. The takes about 30 minutes to complete if you are somewhat familiar with the genre and you would get more bang for your buck if you played it a couple of times. It will get a bit tougher, but you will end up learning better and faster strategies to beat the game.
Second of all, If you like achievement hunting this game is an easy 100%. Some of them may sound hard, but I got all the “hard ones” by accident though my first playthrough.
This game is very short and might turn some people off, but do remember how small the team is and what you get. By buying this you help fund a hopefully amazing game, which should drop sometime this year (2020). Although it might be early access. I bought the game on a discount and spend 2 hours having a blast. I have bought more expensive games that I finished faster. So no matter how I look at it or how much I try to only look negative aspects and controversies, I can’t hate it. In fact I might actually love the hell out of this game (in some aspects of course). There is just so many things I find impressive and no matter the negatives I had a good time playing it.
I do recommend this game and I admire Zeng’s way to promote his game. Buy it if you think it sounds interesting. I’m sure you won’t regret it.