Game Review: Bright Lights of Svetlov

By Al

Players: 1
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, XBox, PlayStation 4, Steam

We're going to be looking at quite a different game than usual today, a game that stretches the definition of that very word: Bright Lights of Svetlov. It's out now on consoles, following a previous release on Steam back in 2021. This is a game that had me stumped as to how exactly I was going to review it. It's extremely hard to describe, and it's also something that can be spoiled if discussed too much without actually playing it. I'm going to do my best to give this the normal review treatment, but I think we might have a few stumbles along the way.

The game does have some great moments.

Just one of the tasks: finishing laundry.

Bright Lights of Svetlov takes place inside an apartment building in a small industrial town in Russia. While you do go outside here and there, most of the game takes place between the confines of its walls. The story weaves in and out of various time periods throughout the 80s, and mostly follows a single family. It takes a while for it to become clear what the game is actually about, but you get to know the small cast of characters pretty well along the way. The term "atmospheric storytelling" is something of a buzzword these days, but that's how much of this story unfolds. Expect to do a lot of reading of notes and journals to piece together the narrative. The characters are where it's at though, so let's talk about them briefly. You have a father who is hard-working and might or might not be facing an inquiry from the KGB, a child who is taking to smoking to fit in with her new friends, a mother who is trying her best to keep the family together, and later tenants who look back on the events of the game from a complete outsider's view. None of this is really the core of the story though, and that's what makes this game so interesting. Bright Lights of Svetlov is a very short game, but it feels like you experience a lot before you reach its end. I'm going to move on from the story now since I feel that it will spoil one of the game's saving graces, but rest assured that whatever you think the game is going to be about, it most definitely isn't.

Keep an eye on your tasks.

Beware the KGB.

Let me start by saying that I have a hard time calling Bright Lights of Svetlov a game. I don't mean that statement in a bad way, it's just that I feel this resembles more an interactive novella, or even something like an interactive short film. There isn't a lot of gameplay here, there is no win/loss mechanics, and there's practically no gaming interface. You don't even get to see other characters directly, and when they DO appear, it's usually in the form of a silhouette. It's almost an anti-game, a piece of art if you will. I don't want to sound pretentious by throwing out all those terms, but calling this a game might give off the wrong impressions. Anyhow, if we MUST call it a game though, and I guess I will throughout this review, then I guess one would categorize this as half walking simulator (sort of), and half adventure game (also sort of). Each of the game's chapters are of varying length, some chapters are relatively long, and some last only minutes. What ties them all together is the set of mundane tasks you'll have to complete in each of them. You might think you've played games that have mundane tasks before, but this game essentially revolves around washing dishes, cleaning up spills, making dinner, reading letters, and so on. Most of these tasks are done by simply interacting with objects or items, and there are no extra steps, like inventory management, to deal with. You have a task list you can pull up at any time, and the chapter ends automatically once you complete said list. That's it, that's the game. There is more to it of course, but that's what you're going to be doing here.

Who knew sleeping would be so difficult?

These posters!

Much of this game takes place before I was born, and I've never been to Russia at any point, let alone during this time period, but I couldn't help but feel that the game has a sort of nostalgic tinge to it. I can't speak of this with any sort of definite assertion, but I imagine a part of this game's existence is to simply capture a particular portrait of Russian life. Without giving anything away, this game does tie in heavily to real-life events, so I imagine (and hope) that the attention to detail is accurate. You'll hear music, see news broadcasts, and even see popular artists posted on the daughter's wall that all invoke that aforementioned nostalgia. (That Dschinghis Khan poster really took me back!) Bright Lights of Svetlov might be a fairly short experience, and a game somewhat small in scope, but it makes up for all that in sheer atmosphere. This is by no means a horror game, but the fact that you spend your time in a mostly quiet space, with no other people around, will probably make you wonder what might be around the next corner. It's hard to describe, but there's a general uneasiness that runs throughout the game, and given where the story ends up going, I'm fairly sure this is intentional.

I guess I'll cover graphics and music together as there isn't a lot to talk about when it comes to either of them. Graphics are well-done, even if they have that sort of Unity Simulator Game-type look to them. The game's world is small, but the little touches and changes between time periods are interesting to note. The first time you go outside was somewhat shocking, as I was not expecting there to be a world outside the building. Those brief moments are aided by the graphical presentation, even if it's not technically impressive. There is music in the game, but there were multiple times when the game felt like it had gone completely silent, even though there would be music if you listened hard enough. This comes off as more atmospheric than anything, and adds to the general unease I mentioned earlier. That said, I can't tell you anything about the music beyond that it definitely exists here and there. There's probably more to say when it comes to voice acting, but all of it is in Russian, so I can't really judge its quality. Part of me wants to say that the presentation is terrible since there's basically nothing here to talk about or take note here, but I can't help but feel that calling the game out for that alone is missing the point entirely.

This looks like a horror game.

Is this real footage?

While Bright Lights of Svetlov was a ride I don't regret going on, I must say that I don't think this is a game for everyone. It's extremely short, you can complete it in about an hour, and that includes time lost figuring out what you're supposed to do next. Speaking of that, you'd think that a game that revolves around simple tasks would be a breeze to get through, but there are a lot of tasks are very confusing. Early on you have to get undressed to go to sleep. That sounds normal right? Well, would you believe that what you're supposed to do to "get undressed" is to click on a nearby chair? I definitely didn't, and I was stuck there for about 15 minutes before random clicking got me through the chapter. That's another thing, most items and actions have a very small hit box that you must click on for them to work, but your cursor is extremely tiny too. You can zoom in with one of the shoulder buttons, but this barely helps anything at all. There were many times where I'd be nudging the analog stick, tap by tap, only to still manage to miss the thing I was trying to click on. Like I said earlier, there isn't a lot of gameplay here, so at least you don't have to worry about fumbling with the wonky controls for any extended period of time. All this takes me to my biggest gripe with the game: its price. I bet you'd think that a game like this, with a short story and very little gameplay to speak of, would be priced with that in mind. I was actually expecting it to be around the 5-10 dollar range, which is relative to its $4.99 price tag on Steam. I was extremely shocked to see that Bright Lights of Svetlov is currently priced at the far too high price of $19.99. I guess that's just my opinion, but I'm sure that this price point will only frustrate those who did buy it expecting something above what this game offers. I understand that console pricing is often higher for various reasons, but four times as high? That just seems ridiculous to me.

A bad omen indeed.

You might want a beer after this game too.

Having said what I wanted to say about Bright Lights of Svetlov, and having gone through it twice for the sake of this review, I still find myself at a loss regarding if I think it's worth picking up or not. First off, I have to suggest that if you decide to get it at all, that you get it on Steam. That's not only due to price, but I'm sure the entire interface would work better with a keyboard and mouse. If you absolutely must get it on consoles, do so as a show of support to the developer, or maybe in support of the unique experience; paying such a high price for an hour-long game is asking too much for casual players. I really want to stress that this isn't a bad game, just that it's not really a game at all. Either way, if any of you do end up playing it, let me know what you thought about it. This is the kind of game I feel one has to have to discuss with someone afterwards to get full closure on its story, and I really want to do that.

Check Out Bright Lights of Svetlov on The Nintendo Switch:
https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/bright-lights-of-svetlov-switch/

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Story: A
Gameplay: C
Graphics: B-
Music/Sound: B
Value: D

Overall: C+

Pros:
+ A game that truly seems to capture a specific time and place in history.
+ While the game's world is rather limited, there are times when it can look impressive.
+ Tells a concise story that moves around different time periods to explain itself, but not in an incoherent way.
+ There's an atmosphere that almost resembles a horror game, and once you get to the end it all makes sense.

Cons:
- A very short experience, can be fully beaten in about an hour.
- Can be somewhat frustrating to figure out what to do next, and some items/actions have very small hit boxes.
- Feels more like an interactive short story, or even short film, as opposed to a game.
- There's very little reason to go back to it once you've beaten it, and its $19.99 price tag seems a bit more when you factor this in.

A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.

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#BLOS