Well here we are, on the verge of a new generation of gaming wherein everything we think we know about limits of designs will be pushed beyond our wildest dreams. Yes, just as everyone keeps reminding us; fidelity is closer to us then we ever thought possible with this new onslaught of tech and the world of gaming will never be the same. Suddenly we no longer need to rely on the tricks of the past and same game formulae in order to get our products out, now we can reach into our dreams and merely pluck them out for all the world to see. Am I being overly-melodramatic enough, yet? Good, because I'm getting sick of all this tinned platitude crap we've been force fed over the course of the last year or so, it's getting old. Games still have that uncanny valley to cross, Ubisoft will still continue to make the same game over and over and Dev teams will still continue pursue projects with familiarity and nostalgia to them. Point in case, just take a look at what 'Cyngi: All Guns Blazing' is about.
On the off chance that you've yet to look up the game, (And haven't looked at the above title card- somehow) I challenge you to hold back for a moment and guess what this game is based on title alone. Your first guess was probably wrong, but your second was on the money; this is indeed a bullet-hell space game hearkening all the way back to the old-school Atari days. (That's in concept, not in visuals) Proof, if ever it was needed, that the next gen doesn't need to rely on high-concept ideas in order to excite and delight it's fans, we don't need every game to be the next 'Death Stranding'. (In fact, I think the gaming landscape would get pretty boring if every game was the next Death Stranding. No offence, Kojima.) This here is a title that's every bit the top-down space shooter that anyone who's been gaming for over thirty years is probably infinitely familiar with. I'm talking screens full of enemies, various flashing lights, energy beams, and that weird way the player ships seems to have free lateral movement whilst invariably pointing forward. (What's up with that?)
If there's something that'll immediately stand out to even the most casual of observers when looking up this Cyngi, it's that the animation, fluidity and general aesthetic looks positively stellar. (Pun not intended) That's despite being an indie title from a previously unheard of studio who, according to their own Steam page, consists of two self taught artists and developers. I mean sure, anyone can make whatever they want to or are capable of, but this title looks like a AAA shmup, until you remember that publishers don't fund these kinds of games anymore, so what's going on here? Well, apparently that can be linked back to the pedigree of the three person team that is 'Keelworks'. These are some insanely talented people, we're talking a former Pixar VFX artist, another with extensive film and movie experience and an experienced project manager. (These are the sorts of folk that put us regular plebes to shame.)
So here I am, a fellow notoriously meh at these kinds of games, trying to breakdown exactly what I think about what I've seen. Basically don't expect the sort of nuance from me that you'd see from a veteran, is what I'm lampshading right now. But irregardless of my apparent inexperience, I'm impressed with everything as of so far, even intrigued to give the game a shot myself maybe. (Which is actually kind of weird for me to say. I think 'Nier Automata' might have done something inexplicable to my taste.) What I have noticed, is that for a genre that is usually characterised by it's unforgiving difficulty and utter desensitising action (something they even call out on their website) this doesn't look as inaccessible as I'd imagine it to. At least from these previews. I can actually make out the action that is happening and get a grip with the amount of projectiles on screen at once, there's yet to be a screen of deadly red and that somewhat fascinates me. Maybe Keelworks want to preserve their crazy moments for the actual game, or perhaps this is a title not just built for old school veterans but also for newer folks to get into. Honestly, I've had fights in The Binding of Issac hairier than what I've seen from this trailer. (I'm still only beaten The Heart once. Call me a scrub all you want, I don't care.)
Cyngi places itself in a one-versus-many style story as our plucky mass murderer- I mean 'protagonist', is tasked with slaying countless brightly coloured and interesting looking enemies in as colourful a manner as she can. 'Eye Popping' I believe is the term the team use to describe it all, but as an alternative I'd broach 'eye nourishing', because I cannot overstate how much these screens serve as great visual candy. The presentation boasts this cinematic angle to shots and scene layout that emphasises that 'epic' nature of scouting amidst the skies and the enemies themselves have this cool insectile tinge to their design which infers this organic feeling to them, something encouraged by their movement. In fact, there's even some bigger ships I've seen here that remind me somewhat of the Fallen's drop ships from Destiny, another game who's design I love, so this is a title with good company in that regard.
If there is one visual letdown in the reveal trailer for this title it has to be the lack of variety in their background environments, which is something I personally look for out of all my games, let alone those that propose to have me look at roughly the same scrolling location for hours on end. Which isn't to say that we see the same background in all these shots, just that they don't feel significantly different due to some of the tricks that the team use. We see battles happening amidst the cloudy skies, over a huge jet engine- through the cloudy skies, and above a metropolis- in the cloudy skies. See what I'm driving at here? Every location has this layer of cloud draped over it that mutes and obfuscates the environments so that they look overwhelmingly samey. And I understand that this was likely done in order to ensure that the, maybe visually busy, backgrounds don't distract from the foreground action, but I feel like there's a balance that can be struck here in order to permit for visual diversity and comprehensive action all in one. (Perhaps just render less clouds?)
On another note, not nearly as critical, I wonder about the potential for any actual storytelling in a title like this. I know that sounds sort of moot, given that these games usually settle in on the action and intense fighting, but I still bring it up because of another spaceship title that yearns to revive a genre; Chorus. (or 'Chorvs', whatever, I dunno.) Now that's a game which looks to evolve the space shooter genre more than pay homage to it, but there's a similar cinematic vein there which looks to be better realised in Chorus. (Again, judging purely from the incredibly sparse footage available for both titles.) Now, one might rightly point out how Chorvs is being published by a large team, whilst Cyngi has but a team of three and one composer, but there's always a way to tell your story if you try hard enough. I just feel that there's a cinematic potential that might go unfulfilled here. Also, I'm a big fan of context, it really helps with the 'ol immersion. (Selfish point, true; but I still like to think it's somewhat valid.)
So that's what I think of Cyngi so far, apart from the fact that I'm glad it's on PC where this sort of game belongs. (Seriously, who ever though it was wise for Issac to be on Console. I say this as a primary console player, it hurts.) Oh wait, it's coming to consoles too, isn't it... sigh. Though this is not usually my cup of tea, (nor is tea itself, for that matter) I will confess that something about this title intrigues me, even if it's only the fact that a team this small can construct something which looks so good. And they're from the same landmass as me, it's like my duty to check out their game at this rate. That being said there is still a lot more I want to get a look at as this game develops, such as that 'outer space' section which the team promises, so call me cautiously optimistic. Still wishlisting it though, I have a feeling this is one I won't want to miss out on.
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