When the original Xbox launched back in 2001, some laughed at it for being a PC in the guise of a console. Well, they're not laughing anymore. Now that the Xbox Series X is out, the circle is complete: an Xbox game now features a complete PC-style graphical options menu, complete with varying levels of shadow quality, anisotropic filtering, and the ability to turn motion blur off. Turns out Evan was right, we've won the console war.
The game in question is the China-developed Bright Memory, and the screen was spotted by Matt Brown, editor of our sister site Windows Central, who posted it on Twitter.
Bright Memory, from one-man studio FYQD, saw a PC release last year, and has been remade for Xbox Series X. It melds a somewhat complicated backstory involving 1,000-year-old swords, raising the dead, a massive terrorist organisation, quantum transporters and a floating island to combo-based first-person hack ‘n’ slash gameplay.
And also guns, because apparently the swords weren’t enough. It runs on Unreal Engine 4, and looks kinda fun.
Best gaming PC: the top pre-built machines from the pros
Best gaming laptop: perfect notebooks for mobile gaming
It’s not often that the world of PC gaming feeds back to consoleland—it’s usually the other way around—but as the two become ever-closer in terms of architecture we’re probably going to see this sort of thing more often. Being given a choice between pretties and framerate is a positive move for gaming, but does take away from the original ideal of consoles; being a plug-and-play gaming experience for one and all.
But if you’re wondering what all those options mean, then we’ve got a PC settings primer right here for all you console folk.
It's maybe just as interesting that just as us PC gamers are more accepting of controllers, such as the epic new DualSense on the PS5, that console gamers are seeing the benefits of typically PC control systems too. As part of its accessibility drive, Ubisoft has enabled keyboard and mouse support in Assassin's Creed Valhalla, and they work brilliantly on the Xbox Series X as Dave can attest.
