CYGNI: All Guns Blazing review

Video games – just like any other modern form of art – have greatly evolved over the years, adapting to new technologies, new entertainment needs, new consumer tastes. What didn’t happen on a grand scale with films, music or TV shows that did happen with games, though, is this: the latter have changed so much with every passing decade that globally popular genres dominating this industry, say, 30 years ago are now widely viewed as anachronistic, largely unexciting niches few people really care about anymore.

Arcade 2D shoot’ em ups – of the horizontal and vertical variety alike – is a perfect example of this. Once one of the most commercially successful types of games, in coin-op or home console form, they had been more or less confined to retro territory up until fairly recently, addressing a narrow demographic of gamers in their 30s or 40s largely based on nostalgia-driven interest. Which is a shame, as the core gameplay mechanics of these titles remain as intriguing and challenging as ever, also allowing for the kind of layered tactics that can keep things interesting for a long time.

KeelWorks and Konami seem to believe that this storied genre has got what it takes to become relevant again – more to the point, if CYGNI: All Guns Blazing is anything to go by, they understand that what arcade shoot’ em ups really needed all along for a comeback was a modern approach in terms of presentation, a focus on high-quality visuals and audio, as well as a couple of interesting, well-executed ideas. They were not wrong: this is precisely the kind of game that really could catapult a 45-year old genre into the 21st century. So, does it?

Superfluous presentation, demanding gameplay

One of the things that KeelWorks was keen to point out regarding CYGNI was the backstory and modern presentation it aimed to make use of, as several of its members have working experience in the film and special effects industry. Both of those elements are indeed present but, truth be told, they do not really help it stand out as much as one might have hoped: the story is rather vague, even incomprehensible at times, not helping gamers feel that the beautifully directed clips between missions are an important part of the experience.

Do we really need a meaningful backstory or cinematic sequences in arcade shoot’ em ups to enjoy them? No. Would it have been nice if CYGNI had managed to pull that off? Probably. Does anyone mind? Probably not.

Another thing that KeelWorks mentioned several times in the past, during presentations or interviews, was that CYGNI was not just targeted at arcade shoot’ em up fans, people who were already into these games and probably have been for decades. It aspired to also introduce the genre to new players, consumers who did not have the chance to see what this type of gameplay is all about in the past. Well, it seems that a stylishly retro but brief tutorial on the basics will initially be all that newbies will have to go on, as they are pretty much expected to figure out the rest on their own – the rest being rather… a lot, admittedly. KeelWorks realized this right around CYGNI’s launch, as there are now a few explanatory videos – like this one, this one and this one on the game’s HUD, shooting patterns and weapon upgrades respectively – published on its official YouTube channel. They are definitely worth a watch, as it quickly becomes apparent.

After getting past those two unexpected weaknesses, though – the welcome but pointless story/cinematics and a large part of its mechanics being unclear – one gets why CYGNI is something special. It all comes down to its core gameplay, which is carefully balanced between staying true to the legacy of those iconic coin-op vertical shoot’ em ups and borrowing ideas from similar games, implementing them in interesting ways. CYGNI‘s aircraft, for instance, shoots both at air and ground targets but not at the same time, so players will have to prioritize accordingly depending on the situation, the seriousness of the threat and the state of their protective shield. This matters because the only type of pickable power-up available to players can be used to re-enforce that shield or increase the ship’s shooting power. It’s a key feature that CYGNI players will have to constantly make use of if they are to survive the types of threats this game throws at them.

These two game mechanics – managing power defensively or offensively and picking up targets in the air or on the ground – would initially be enough for new players to learn or veterans to master, but… there’s more. An airship’s line of fire can be directed independently of the ship’s movement (what twin-stick arcade shoot’ em ups allow players to do), so players can pick off targets from different angles. Gamers have missiles and rays at their disposal, but they are both numbered (so they must be used where it counts). Then there are all the weapons that can be added to an airship’s arsenal and all the ways they can be upgraded (the same power-ups work as virtual currency for that). Choices can be made about what weapons work best on which battlefield before each mission. There are even ways to customize the spread/shape of the ship’s fire output and several different modifiers for each weapon combination. In short: it will take even experienced shoot’ em up players quite a bit of time to explore all the ways their airship can fight in CYGNI – always a good thing.

If all that makes it sound as if CYGNI is handing players willing to experiment an unfair advantage… it doesn’t: in fact, it’s imperative that gamers get proficient in this title’s systems if they mean to master it, because it is hard game. Really hard. KeelWorks considers finishing the game on the, admittedly forgiving, Easy Mode the actual tutorial: when playing on Medium Mode or Hard Mode there are far fewer energy pickups, tougher, faster enemies and in the latter Mode… one life. Get destroyed once and you’ve just failed that mission, so one can see how hectic fighting hordes of enemies – let alone level bosses – in a sea of bullets, boxed in by laser rays, can get in CYGNI when one’s airship shield has gone down to one bar. It’s not up there with the famous Japanese “bullet hell” arcade shoot’ em ups, but it’s close.

It’s true, though, that after players get good enough to complete CYGNI‘s seven different planets/missions on any difficulty level – it will take time, but it will happen eventually – there’s not much they can do in terms of different game options. There’s an Arcade option (basically the Hard Mode without the cinematics), there’s a local co-op option (two people playing together actually makes the game somewhat easier) and a score leaderboard (for gamers who are into that kind of thing). The scope of this type of games is historically limited, yes, but KeelWorks could always add more game options to CYGNI in the future as free DLC or even as part of paid DLC (it’s easy to imagine offering extra worlds with new enemies and bosses at some point).

In terms of additional game options it’s also easy to imagine a Speedrun Mode (allowing for crazy custom loadouts in the name of record times) or a Boss Rush Mode (since these encounters do happen to be the most exciting part of every world/mission).

Graphics to die for… repeatedly

While CYGNI will also be out for the PS5 and the Xbox Series S/X, yours truly checked out the PC version of the game* for a couple of days prior to its release and came away mightily impressed. KeelWorks talked about that elusive “next-gen feel” in terms of graphics quality and one can see why: this is the first title of its kind built on Epic’s Unreal Engine 4 – a development system usually reserved for AAA photorealistic productions of various types, many of them blockbuster-level affairs aiming for extremely high sales – and it shows.

Never has there been an example in this genre offering better lighting and reflections or more detailed enemy models and special effects. The action itself may work in “2D with added depth” but graphics are basically all 3D objects, constantly interacting with each other convincingly. There’s just a cinematic quality to everything happening on screen. KeelWorks’ background in productions outside of gaming has helped it nail a look and feel unlike any other offered in the past, mixing design elements of science fiction novels and H.R. Giger drawings with organic animation and fluid patterns that set CYGNI apart from other arcade shoot’ em ups.

The fact that CYGNI is built on UE4 also means that this is a highly scalable game when it comes to graphics quality: not only should it perform well on affordable gaming PCs or the SteamDeck, but on the PS5 or Xbox Series X too, even the lowly Xbox Series S. Yours truly cannot yet comment on the PS5 version (there will be an addendum to this piece), but the PC version is flexible and highly demanding at the same time. There are enough of the usual options to tinker with – four visual quality settings beginning with a SteamDeck one, resolution, antialiasing etc. – and the game can be played at a target of 30 or 60 FPS (maybe 120 FPS can be added in the future) with or without V-Sync enabled. Owners of most gaming PCs will be able to easily find a combination of settings that delivers smooth control at all times.

That said, the system requirements published by KeelWorks are more or less indicative of what PC gamers can expect of CYGNI, but one would have to use quite a capable PC in order to hit native 4K/60 FPS at Ultra visual quality: yours truly managed that thanks to an RTX 4090 and a Ryzen 9 7950X, but even then there were occasional dips to 50s or even high 40s if 4X antialiasing was enabled. As it turns out, the level of visual detail offered by CYGNI‘s Ultra setting can be overwhelming if combined with antialiasing: when yours truly disabled the latter completely even 8K at 35-45 FPS was achievable at High settings. Needless to say that such a resolution does not make any sense as, with everything happening on screen, there’s just no time to appreciate the resolution increase. At this level of graphics quality, even native 4K resolution is probably overkill and most PC gamers should just try to hit a rock-solid 60 FPS frame rate instead.

As is the case with many PC games running on Windows 11, when HDR is enabled on a system level and Gamma/Brightness adjusted in-game, highlights stand out way more – but in CYGNI‘s particular case a few areas of the game become too dark to play comfortably in. Yours truly tested it on a Samsung 85QN900A TV and a Sony InZone M9 gaming monitor (both LED/LCDs featuring local dimming) and came across this issue on both. OLED monitor owners, on the other hand, who are able to enjoy a much higher level of shadow detail, will have a blast with CYGNI in HDR as its special effects will look even more impressive on such high-contrast screens.

CYGNI‘s sound design and soundtrack deserve special mention, too, since they are a cut above what arcade shoot’ em ups usually offer. The orchestral soundtrack, in particular, is so great that it wouldn’t seem out of place in any Hollywood epic. It’s inspiring here, even if it can get somewhat repetitive after numerous consecutive runs of the same world/mission (like the ones most players will probably go through).

Sound effects are also very, very good, with reverberating explosions and collapsing metal coming across as especially convincing at times. CYGNI‘s sound might not impress as much as its graphics do, but it really helps the audiovisual experience of this game shine through. Yours truly wouldn’t have it any other way.

A truly next-gen arcade shoot’ em up worthy of attention

While it’s true that CYGNI: All Guns Blazing does not strive to re-invent or even redefine the arcade shoot’ em up genre – its developers, to their credit, never made such claims – it’s clear that this is a “more than the sum of its parts” kind of game. It is a love letter to the great vertical coin-ops of the 80s or 90s, yes, but it is also an audiovisual tour de force regardless of genre and a well-crafted entertainment experience overall (especially given the fact that this is KeelWorks’ first release ever).

This may not be the kind of game that sets the world on fire or walks away with dozens of GOTY awards, but it actually is the kind of game that convincingly demonstrates what it strived to prove: that old-school gameplay mechanics can work beautifully in 2024 if paired with technical excellence and a few fresh or carefully implemented ideas. It’s by no means perfect, but it delivers where it counts.

Therefore, CYGNI: All Guns Blazing can be wholeheartedly recommended to the core audience of arcade shoot’ em ups, long-time veterans and casual fans alike. Those gamers will thoroughly enjoy it. Many mainstream gamers, on the other hand, may have a kind of steep curve to overcome at first – not only is CYGNI hard, it is also not as newbie-friendly at it could have been – but those who persevere will be handsomely rewarded with lots of extremely satisfying runs through its levels later on. At $29.99/€29.99, even as a kind of nostalgia-driven reacquaintance or an affordable experiment, it truly is a no-brainer. Now, for that Boss Rush mode…

* This story was based on final CYGNI: All Guns Blazing PC code, provided by Konami. It will be updated with additional information and impressions of the PS5 version of the game in a couple of days.

UPDATE 08/08/2024: Just as expected, CYGNI: All Guns Blazing in now available for free until Thursday, August 15th to any PC gamer holding an Epic Games Store account. There is absolutely no reason, then, for PC owners to not give this great game a try. Consumers purchasing the game through Steam and anyone getting it after August 15th will be helping KeelWorks support CYGNI long-term, though, so that’s something to consider too.

UPDATE 09/08/2024: The PlayStation5 version of the game is just as high-quality as the PC one. If anything, CYGNI is even more enjoyable on a big screen – yours truly played it on a Sony 98X90L – as the game’s detailed visuals are even more impressive. The graphics on the PS5 seem to be tuned between the High and Ultra settings of the PC version, which is great, although the title’s resolution on Sony’s system is most probably upscaled from 1440p (the picture does not look as pin-sharp as it does at native 4K on PC… but then again it was a 98-inch TV so some softness is expected). Playing CYGNI on a screen larger than 65 inches in diagonal also makes the co-op game mode that much easier to enjoy. A great, great game.