There's potential here, but overall I recommend skipping this; I feel like I paid $20 for graphics, $5 for the actual gameplay, and $5 for the new ideas towards a good shmup. The game opted for quantity over quality in actual combat and quality in the wrong places.

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The game rolls through 7 stages with 3 difficulty options, but it has a really rough introduction with the first stage being arguably the hardest due to being one of the longest, requiring the most multi-tasking between air and ground management, and giving you multiple boss fights; you also have to play it on initial boot with none of the upgrades that the game is very clearly balanced around you already having.

The next-to-last stage is exactly at the level of difficulty I expected for the opening stage of a shmup, with super simple enemies, almost no ground interaction, and a boss that I probably could have literally beaten blindfolded based only on sound cues; by that point in most shmups, you're expecting a constant storm.

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The devs dropped a "character trailer" a bit before launch with a gratuitous jiggle shot, pretending like the game has anything more than an excuse plot. I probably should have taken that as a warning to skip.

Past the opening cutscene of the first mission and the closing scene of the final mission, every other scene is a lower quality, mostly still image aside from simple looped animations and maybe the occasional model click-and-drag movement. Nobody is ever named, no personalities are developed, the aliens just want everyone dead, and the high-point of drama is an unnamed presumed relative of the main character appearing on a memorial wall to imply their death in the war.

It looks great in actual gameplay; that can't be argued. Funny thing about shmups, though? They can look like garbage and still be really fun; 'Frantic' is a free Flash shmup series with barebones graphics and I'll end my life with more time and enjoyment in just one of those games than I will with the entirety of 'CYGNI'.

All those fancy explosions are really great at hiding enemy projectiles and concealing small enemies so they can escape from you and cost potential points.

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Mechanically, this game does have potential. It's one of the few shmups to have distinct targeting between air and ground targets, you collect energy cells that can go towards shields or weapons, and you can fully customize your basic shot pattern!

Oh, excuse me, that's not wholly accurate. You can fully customize your shot pattern after clearing the entire game with the default "all turrets focused forward" pattern that you'd already wanted for maximum DPS. Durrrr...

And ground targets? Most of the time, they're just point padding with no bearing on actual combat; a few dedicated elites do pose an anti-air threat in a couple of levels, but you can usually safely ignore the ground in most missions. And only a single boss requires managing both ground (the boss itself) and air targets (the helper tendrils it summons). Early on and in another level you can see allied ground forces fighting enemies and help them out a bit, but this ultimately has no bearing on anything other than a pointless "allies lost" numeric counter.

A lot of segments boil down to spamming missiles and then immediately transferring a shield point back into weapons as defeated enemies spray out energy cells to replace the point lost from firing missiles; a few people said back during the demo days that collected energy should automatically filter into both shields and then weapons, but the devs ignored that crucial advice in favor of making us wear out our mouse-wheels' ability to scroll up.

The devs also straight up lied about alternative weapons being available; you have your starting basic machinegun array, ground barrage beams, and homing missiles, with the only extra weapon being a cooldown burst damage weapon that does not completely alter your basic weapon set-up.

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"Well, maybe the game is super straight-forward because it's designed for perfecting it and getting the highest score!"

A lot of shmups are but still have more charm and are easier on the eyes with stylized, unique art styles. I didn't really feel hyped when playing 'CYGNI' like I do with things like the 'Gundogs' trilogy, 'Tyrian 2000' (the thing I judge all other shmups against!), or even ye olde 'Galaga'; I don't feel motivated to get back in and do a perfect 1CC with the maximum possible score.

---

There's potential here. The devs are so close to it. Maybe for the DLC or a sequel, spend a little less time on the graphics and a bit more on the soul and interesting implementation of your stand-out mechanics, yeah?

Or, ya know, swap gears entirely and make a visual novel about the MC post-war; gods know the Youtube crowd would be interested in that based on the "most replayed" tracker for the trailer.

You can skip a lot of the grinding grief and arbitrary padding wait for unlock flags by entering the Konami Code at the title screen: UP, UP, DOWN, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT, RIGHT, B, A, and ENTER on keyboard. This will immediately unlock all levels as if you had completed them, unlock Arcade mode, unlock shot pattern design, skip the level completion requirements to unlock gear and instead give you the gear directly, and give you 500 credits for creating custom shot patterns.

There's potential here, but overall I recommend skipping this; I feel like I paid $20 for graphics, $5 for the actual gameplay, and $5 for the new ideas towards a good shmup. The game opted for quantity over quality in actual combat and quality in the wrong places. --- The game rolls through 7 stages with 3 difficulty options, but it has a really rough introduction with the first stage being arguably the hardest due to being one of the longest, requiring the most multi-tasking between air and ground management, and giving you multiple boss fights; you also have to play it on initial boot with none of the upgrades that the game is very clearly balanced around you already having. The next-to-last stage is exactly at the level of difficulty I expected for the opening stage of a shmup, with super simple enemies, almost no ground interaction, and a boss that I probably could have literally beaten blindfolded based only on sound cues; by that point in most shmups, you're expecting a constant storm. --- The devs dropped a "character trailer" a bit before launch with a gratuitous jiggle shot, pretending like the game has anything more than an excuse plot. I probably should have taken that as a warning to skip. Past the opening cutscene of the first mission and the closing scene of the final mission, every other scene is a lower quality, mostly still image aside from simple looped animations and maybe the occasional model click-and-drag movement. Nobody is ever named, no personalities are developed, the aliens just want everyone dead, and the high-point of drama is [spoiler]an unnamed presumed relative of the main character appearing on a memorial wall to imply their death in the war[/spoiler]. It looks great in actual gameplay; that can't be argued. Funny thing about shmups, though? They can look like garbage and still be really fun; 'Frantic' is a free Flash shmup series with barebones graphics and I'll end my life with more time and enjoyment in just one of those games than I will with the entirety of 'CYGNI'. All those fancy explosions are really great at hiding enemy projectiles and concealing small enemies so they can escape from you and cost potential points. --- Mechanically, this game does have potential. It's one of the few shmups to have distinct targeting between air and ground targets, you collect energy cells that can go towards shields or weapons, and you can fully customize your basic shot pattern! Oh, excuse me, that's not wholly accurate. You can fully customize your shot pattern after clearing the entire game with the default "all turrets focused forward" pattern that you'd already wanted for maximum DPS. Durrrr... And ground targets? Most of the time, they're just point padding with no bearing on actual combat; a few dedicated elites do pose an anti-air threat in a couple of levels, but you can usually safely ignore the ground in most missions. And only a single boss requires managing both ground (the boss itself) and air targets (the helper tendrils it summons). Early on and in another level you can see allied ground forces fighting enemies and help them out a bit, but this ultimately has no bearing on anything other than a pointless "allies lost" numeric counter. A lot of segments boil down to spamming missiles and then immediately transferring a shield point back into weapons as defeated enemies spray out energy cells to replace the point lost from firing missiles; a few people said back during the demo days that collected energy should automatically filter into both shields and then weapons, but the devs ignored that crucial advice in favor of making us wear out our mouse-wheels' ability to scroll up. The devs also straight up lied about alternative weapons being available; you have your starting basic machinegun array, ground barrage beams, and homing missiles, with the only extra weapon being a cooldown burst damage weapon that does not completely alter your basic weapon set-up. --- "Well, maybe the game is super straight-forward because it's designed for perfecting it and getting the highest score!" A lot of shmups are but still have more charm and are easier on the eyes with stylized, unique art styles. I didn't really feel hyped when playing 'CYGNI' like I do with things like the 'Gundogs' trilogy, 'Tyrian 2000' (the thing I judge all other shmups against!), or even ye olde 'Galaga'; I don't feel motivated to get back in and do a perfect 1CC with the maximum possible score. --- There's potential here. The devs are so close to it. Maybe for the DLC or a sequel, spend a little less time on the graphics and a bit more on the soul and interesting implementation of your stand-out mechanics, yeah? Or, ya know, swap gears entirely and make a visual novel about the MC post-war; gods know the Youtube crowd would be interested in that based on the "most replayed" tracker for the trailer. [spoiler]You can skip a lot of the grinding grief and arbitrary padding wait for unlock flags by entering the Konami Code at the title screen: UP, UP, DOWN, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT, RIGHT, B, A, and ENTER on keyboard. This will immediately unlock all levels as if you had completed them, unlock Arcade mode, unlock shot pattern design, skip the level completion requirements to unlock gear and instead give you the gear directly, and give you 500 credits for creating custom shot patterns.[/spoiler]