CYGNI: All Guns Blazing takes flight on PS5 next month, promising high-octane bullet hell action for players starved of shoot-em-ups. Offering classic arcade thrills with modern production values for one or two players, we got a PS5 "immersion" trailer to whet our collective whistles.
Taking advantage of the DualSense's haptics and the PS5's speedy SSD, it looks pretty awesome and will appeal to ageing fans of this once-great subgenre. The bright flashing colours, sustained explosions, and bullet hell bonafide already have this one on our radar. The fact that CYGNI is Scottish developer KeelWorks' first outing is also impressive, and we'll be interested to see how it handles.
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What do you think of CYGNI: All Guns Blazing? Are you a fan of shoot-em-ups or shmups, as they are sometimes known? Run your pre-flight checks in the comments section below.
[source youtube.com]
Comments 22
Yes, this looks awesome! As someone who was just playing 1942 this afternoon, this is right up my street!
This looks amazing. Hopefully it will play well with an arcade stick.
I really like the look of this but my reaction times are not the greatest anymore so I'm not sure I'd enjoy myself as much as I used to..I might give it a shot in a sale.
Same as @Northern_munkey i love the look of these style games but i just wouldnt get off the first lvl. Ive nearly grabbed Raiden in the past but the same issues stopped me there too.
25GB for a Shmup game What an era! Can't wait
This looks pretty solid. But i really wish there's more bullet hell games especially from Japan devs.
It's just sad how Psikyo defunct and Treasure on hiatus (or defunct too?) for a decade now. Capcom also doesn't look interested to revive their 194X series which i really enjoyed.
"appeal to ageing fans of this once-great subgenre" Now why do I feel personally attacked by this lol Game looks good though, im going through a little bullethell phase atm so game is landing in my sweet spot, currently replaying Gynoug on the ole PS5, still as great as it was.
@Kidfunkadelic83 Yeah, I feel you, same here. But ... with 2 player and my son by my side, this could go well. This looks so sweet! I completed Xenon2 Megablast on the A500 back in the 90's without any cheats, so there is hoping
I love these games. But I'm also surprised by why many of the old shooters hasn't been remade for consoles; like Terra Cresta, Xenon, Xenon2, RType, Sanxion, Delta, Commando, 1942 etc. I think they would be great. Also the old platformeres like Monty on the run and Aufwiedersehen and so on. I think so extremely many cools things could be done with these games and added upon with the fidelity and possibilities the new HW has now.
This looks really cool - been a while since I've seen something that screams "classic gameplay in a modern package" this loud
@Northern_munkey and anyone else who struggles with these bullet hell style games. Try Skyforce reloaded. Great little top down shooter with full ship upgrades and plenty of replay value. Good challenge without all the bullets 😂
@BeenGamingSince_83
Ah you mention many classics that were part of my C64 tape collection (as well as the mighty Xenon 1&2 on Amiga).
I still listen to Rob Hubbard's legendary Sanxion loader on Youtube now and then, it's still awesome!
https://youtu.be/It7yJh-NwPY?si=cWPFTM4wAdB6vhxY
Happy days!
Very cool for me - I'm in. I'm not the biggest fan of bullet hell designs, preferring the older style of play, but I've had some fun with bullet hells too!
Agree with Kidfunkadelic83 - the skyforce games are excellent and the 'Rogue like' elements of it keep you interested in coming back for more - highly recommended..
Looks gorgeous, instabuy for me. PS Konami where is the Gradius V remake?
@BeenGamingSince_83 armalyte and zynaps..oh and I'll take remakes of cybernoid 1 and 2..
@Kidfunkadelic83 got both and I really like them..
@Northern_munkey yeah, definitely, me too!
can't say that I agree with the characterization of shmups as being "once great". it's just a niche genre now. lots of really excellent ones still in the indie scene which run the gamut of traditional vs. subversive/innovative. a fantastic modern example hewing closer to the classics that comes to mind is Project Starship X. (Panda Indie Studio are actually super prolific in the genre.) on the other end, you have something like Swordship, which takes the genre conventions and flips them on their head; you can't shoot in it, so the gameplay revolves around you getting enemies to shoot each other instead.
I've had my eyes on CYGNI since before Konami was attached (≈5 years, I think?), so I am certainly interested in it. I just don't like when folks conflate a genre being not mainstream with it not being good or interesting.
The game looks amazing. But... am I the only one who immediately thought that everything is hard to see? Like, everything is so detailed and such that the backgrounds and foregrounds start to blend and I can't tell what are obstacles and what are bullets, etc.
It's a me problem likely, I know. But I'll likely have to skip this because of it.
@Kidfunkadelic83 Habroxia and Habroxia 2 are both games in the genre with an achievable platinum as well. Genuinely great games.
Looks way cooler then I thought might even get it. 😁
My favourite genre of gaming, practically all I play is retro shmups. This looks great, but have heard mixed reviews about people who have played the demo. I will wait to see reviews before I jump. Personally not retro enough for me.
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