CYGNI: All Guns Blazing Reviews
CYGNI: All Guns Blazing is a heart-stopping, adrenaline-fueled shoot-em-up. Its steep learning curve may initially deter gamers, but mastering its intricacies leads to an incredibly rewarding and satisfying experience. The sheer intensity of the action is almost overwhelming, pushing the limits of human perception, yet it’s undeniably impressive in its fearless approach.
Cygni: All Guns Blazing is a SHMUP with some seriously high production values behind it. For a genre that is usually quite niche, seeing something that pitches higher like this is impressive. It’s not always perfect – the budget spent on the cut scenes was a noble idea that ultimately misfired – but once you’re into the thick of the swirling maelstrom of activity, it’s hard to be disappointed with what the developers have achieved.
Cygni: All Guns Blazing is a "jack of all trades" type of shooter. It isn't afraid to use as many different gameplay mechanics as possible, and it isn't fearful of creating chaotic situations almost all of the time. You'll wish that more time had been spent refining these elements or adding some quality-of-life elements and tweaks to make the mix stand out more positively. What's available is good enough that hardcore shooting fans will enjoy it, and the hope is that improvements are made to tighten up the experience either through various patches or a potential sequel.
If you're willing to practice and learn its ins and outs, CYGNI: All Guns Blazing becomes an absolutely thrilling shoot 'em up that will stay with you for a very long time. It may be divisive now but let me assure you, genre fans will eventually hold this gem in high regard. 💥
Visually stunning and with its own personality, Cygni: All Guns Blazing represents an interesting approach to the shoot 'em up genre. While the narrative efforts are not very convincing, the gameplay and presentation shine. With unique mechanics and a tactical touch, the visual presentation brings spectacular firefights to life. The overall longevity is not stellar (a common genre flaw), and the ability to shoot at the ground is marginal, but the Scottish team's debut is highly convincing.
Review in Italian | Read full review
CYGNI: All Guns Blazing is an ambitious title that combines exceptional visuals with some innovative gameplay mechanics. However, behind the breathtaking aesthetics, the game suffers from core gameplay issues that can occasionally make the experience frustrating and less engaging than expected.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Cygni All Guns Blazing is really an excellent game. It's definitely the best-looking shoot 'em up I've ever played, surpassing even "Sky Force" in terms of visuals. The game does suffer from a few issues, but these are not things that couldn't be fixed with appropriate updates. Playing it was fun, and I hope the developers will decide to add more content to the game, as there's a lot of potential in it.
Review in Polish | Read full review
CYGNI: All Guns Blazing started out with a glorious purpose: to renew and modernize the bullet hell genre. It was an ambitious goal that aimed to bring enough novelty to the contemporary landscape to be able to make a ludic typology born to satisfy the masochistic desire of a few more attractive to the general public. Unfortunately, not everything went right: while the graphical and musical aspects are fully promoted, the gameplay adopts some ideas that make it not only punishing but also far too confusing. The result is a title that, instead of opening up to the general public, ends up speaking to an even smaller, Mesozoic circle of fans.
Review in Italian | Read full review
What CYGNI: All Guns Blazing lacks in tightened combat it makes up for in visuals, though sadly that might not be enough to win over die hard shoot ‘em ups fans.
CYGNI: All Guns Blazing is the answer to the prayers of many nostalgics who complain about the lack of challenge in modern games. Konami and KeelWorks' bullet hell is ruthless and punishing, and as much as such features may appeal to some, it inevitably cuts off many others, who may be gripped by utter frustration after a few minutes. So if you want to play a complex but satisfying title without spending an insane amount of money, CYGNI: All Guns Blazing is the product for you.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Cygni: All Guns Blazing is a hair-pulling experience which will enrage many people, if they are not used to how intense (and often unfair) old-school bullet hell shooters can be. Its level of difficulty is borderline insane at times. With that being said, it’s also one of the most engaging, beautiful and immersive bullet hell shooters I’ve ever played.
Cygni: All Guns Blazing provides an exhilarating and action-packed shmup experience for hardcore players. The customizable ship options are impressive, the energy allocation mechanic is unique, the visual and sounds are immersive, and the game is sure to keep players on the edge of their seats, bringing its full bullet hell twin stick shooter glory to modern audiences.
CYGNI: All Guns Blazing may bring new players to the genre due to its appealing presentation but it's underwhelming in design for the experienced fans of shoot'em ups. The idea of risk and reward from converting shields to missiles is interesting but it quickly becomes repetitive due to the lack of variation in the shots, making it only a way to deal with tough bullet patterns.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
CYGNI: All Guns Blazing is a very surprising release. These kind of games usually aren’t done well enough to garner attention from today’s gamers, but Konami really hit it out of the park with this one.
CYGNI: All Guns Blazing attempts to modernize shoot 'em up games with modern visuals, but the overall formula is basic, turning an initially exciting journey into something generic – but still welcome.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Cygni: All Guns Blazing is an awesome shmup that goes a bit light on the innovation but goes hard on visual quality. That’s not to say that the game isn’t good, but it doesn’t introduce mechanics or systems that revolutionize the genre. For some, switching resources between shields and weapons while in the middle of everything may be a bit too much, but when you add the weapon direction presets on top of that, you’ve got another thing going. Despite its layers of systems, the game is mostly fair and manageable, and Cygni impresses with fantastic visuals and a responsive shooter that is a good and reasonable recommendation for fans of the genre. While gaming on a portable device works, Cygni is best played on current-gen consoles and a capable PC that can show off its stunning visual flair.
KeelWorks did a great job bringing vertical-scrolling shmups up to speed with modern trends. Despite its pacing issues and overall visual clutter, Cygni delivers an intense shoot-'em-up experience.
All in all CYGNI: All Guns Blazing is a terrific title for shoot ‘em up fans. It has everything they need, such as a twisting take on the gameplay, the rudimentary plot of kicking alien butt, an RPG system to make your ship your own custom weapon, and even a mandatory co-op mode for your partner or friend to enjoy the game as well. It just requires some tweaks here in there, especially in the graphics department, to be enjoyed thoroughly, but still plays and feels like any other arcade shoot ’em up.
CYGNI: All Guns Blazing followed the shoot 'em up genre's traditional standards and absolutely nailed it. It creates a fantastic gameplay cycle that demonstrates how less is frequently more, staying true to the simplicity of vintage arcade shooters and bringing back all the feelings we had for these games.
Unfortunately, "Cygni" didn't really convince us. Yes, the game looks incredibly good and conjures up a real fireworks display on the screen. And yes, the snappy bullet hell battles are fun. Nevertheless, we felt that the spark of genius that is necessary for a game of this genre was missing. The balance between the difficulty levels isn't really right. The pacing within the missions isn't right for our taste either: "Cygni" keeps us stuck at certain points too often, and far too often these snapshots drag on too much. Then the action game is almost boring despite all its qualities. And the upgrade system and its options could also be more intuitive. All in all, "Cygni: All Guns Blazing" turns out to be a solid action game with some clever approaches and a first-class presentation. However, it is nowhere near as good as classics like "Gradius" and the like.
Review in German | Read full review