TouchArcade Game of the Week: ‘Bright Reappear’ – TouchArcade

A funny title. A not-amazing icon. A somewhat dodgy App Store description. Why is it that games that have these types of outward-facing red flags sometimes end up being these brilliant hidden gems? Is it like a natural defense system, like the prickly rind of a pineapple, that wards off casual passersby but rewards those bold enough to slice into the sweet fruit within? Am I just, like, totally reaching with this fruit metaphor? That last one was rhetorical, because obviously I am, but that doesn’t change the face that Bright Reappear, a game from a company that I can’t pronounce and that on first glance you might simply pass by due to its small but noticeable red flags, is in fact one of those brilliant hidden gems.

Now, I don’t want to overhype it, if I haven’t already, because Bright Reappear certainly has some flaws. That dodgy App Store description bleeds right into the in-game dialogue, and it can be off putting. There is a bit of guidance to the gameplay but most of the more nuanced parts are left for you to discover through playing. There seems to be a few character builds and abilities that feel borderline broken in the right circumstances. And there’s also some pretty intense difficulty spikes that are accentuated by the reliance on RNG because, since it seems I have gone this long without mentioning it yet, Bright Reappear is a match-3 game and sometimes the board layout can just plain screw you.

You know what, though? Forget all that. This game is rad. It does something unique with its mechanics that I don’t feel comfortable saying has never been done before, but at least I’ve never seen it and it really makes the gameplay stand out. That unique thing is letting you choose two (and potentially more) tiles to move when making matches on the board. You’ll need to move all tiles in the same direction but the strategic possibilities this seemingly small tweak open up make a tremendous difference. All of a sudden making those big 5+ matches that are rare in most match-3 games becomes more of a core component in Bright Reappear.

There’s more, though. Since this is a match-3 RPG hybrid, the different characters in the game all have various unique abilities that can include giving you additional tiles to select beyond two. You might find yourself with four, five, even six or more tiles to move at once meaning if you’re smart about the board layout you can create huge matches and combos that can absolutely turn the tide of battle. It’s also incredibly satisfying to orchestrate such monstrous matches or see some sort of crazy combo opportunity on the board like you’re Neo looking at the Matrix.

I’m glossing over plenty of other details about Bright Reappear, but I imagine you get the gist of things if you’ve ever played a match-3 RPG before. It’s got all that type of stuff, but also this really cool and unique core mechanic that makes it feel like a totally fresh experience, at least to me. Like I made very clear at the onset, this game isn’t perfect and you’ll likely come across things that bug you or things that could be better, but the core gameplay is just so much fun those things can be forgiven and there’s nothing here that can’t be ironed out with future updates. I think if you like these kinds of games you owe it to yourself to risk the couple of bucks to check out Bright Reappear.