The journey of growing Cygni has not been easy, especially as a startup., because this is our first game. However, every step in this journey has been filled with passion.
Our inspiration came from the joy of playing arcade shooters as a child – a fun experience that was fun for everyone, regardless of high or low scores. We wanted to recreate this exhilarating experience with next-generation technology, powered by PlayStation 5. This allowed us to bring a new perspective on shooters, with epic storylines and innovative gameplay features to a new generation of gamers.
Ava’s Fight for Survival
Cygni, a planet colonized by humans, thrives on ancient technology found in the ruins left behind by an unknown civilization. These ruins serve as a vital energy source and catalyst for technological advancement. Konami’s protagonist Ava, a new recruit to the Cygni Air Force, pilots the Orca in a desperate fight against a sudden and powerful attack by biomechanical aliens—possibly native to Cygni.
Beyond the Bullets
Energy management: Switch between shield (health) and weapon (stronger firepower and missiles) on the go.
Fight: Air-to-air and air-to-ground combat includes real-time crowd systems—more than just background props; they’re gameplay-related, where players can interact with allied forces on the ground. This mutual support is not only important for gameplay, but also aids in collecting items and increasing your score.
Weapon Improvements: Upgrade and prepare your weapons – even equip your ship with two extra drones – before entering battle.
Design mode: Allows players to create, save, and manage bullet patterns on the fly. This feature adds an extra layer of customization and strategy, allowing players to switch between saved patterns on the fly.
Three difficulty modes: Easy (more accessible as there are 3 lives per level) Normal and Hard.
Local cooperatives: Players can revive each other by sacrificing shield points, while still enjoying double the firepower.
Arcade Mode: For high score enthusiasts. Players start from Level 1 and continue to the end of the game without interruption or cutscenes, but with only one life. This mode is for those who enjoy a never-ending challenge and the highest score can be recorded on the global online leaderboard.
Giant Boss: Cygni features massive bosses, each with their own unique combat mechanics, providing players with challenging and memorable combat experiences.
Innovation with a passion for independence
Using our previous experience in filmmaking and animation, we wanted to push the boundaries of visual storytelling in Cygni without compromising gameplay. This included short cutscenes between levels and creating full-scale high-quality CG cinematics (the game’s Intro and Outro), which are uncommon for most indie games and games of this genre. Cygni takes full advantage of the PS5’s power and SSD, allowing for sharp visuals, fast load times, and a smooth experience running at 60FPS/4K.
We wanted to create a shooter that wasn’t a complete bullet hell experience – you WILL get hit sometimes, but that’s okay. The core gameplay mechanic of balancing your ship’s power between its weapons and shields means you can strategize an offensive versus defensive (firepower versus shield) playstyle. We used the DualSense controller’s directional haptic feedback to help enhance and improve this in a tactile yet logical way.
Cygni: All Guns Blazing is coming to PS5 next month on August 6.
