CYGNI: All Guns Blazing Reviews
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