Gunvein
- November 11, 2022
- NGDEV
- 17h median play time
Get on Steam"Gunvein" is a single-player shooter game with dynamic bullet hell STG gameplay, inspired by classics from CAVE, Taito, and Raizing/8ing. It features compelling visuals, stellar music, and a scoring system where points earned come back to you as extra lives and currency for the game's shop. The game offers multiple modes, including Arcade, Standard, and Roguelike Arrange, catering to different skill levels and playstyles.
Reviews
- Gunvein features an exceptional tutorial that effectively teaches both beginners and experienced players the mechanics of bullet hell shooters, making it accessible and enjoyable for all skill levels.
- The game boasts tight controls, creative bullet patterns, and a fantastic soundtrack, providing a thrilling gameplay experience that encourages aggressive play and strategic bombing.
- With multiple modes including a roguelike arrange mode and a practice mode, Gunvein offers significant replayability and caters to a variety of playstyles, making it a standout title in the shmup genre.
- The game's visuals and level design are often described as generic and lacking in creativity, with some players feeling that the graphics do not live up to the expectations set by the gameplay.
- There are complaints about the game's loading times and menu navigation, which can detract from the overall experience, especially for players with mid to low-range PCs.
- Some players find the scoring and bomb mechanics to be punishing for newcomers, as the game limits bomb restocking and continues, making it challenging for less experienced players to progress.
- music50 mentions
- 54 % positive mentions
- 40 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives high praise for its energetic and engaging soundtrack, often described as "fantastic" and "banging," which enhances the overall gameplay experience. While some reviewers note that the music could be more memorable, many agree that it effectively complements the fast-paced action and responsive controls, making it a standout feature of the game. Overall, the soundtrack is considered a significant asset, contributing to the game's fun and replayability.
“The soundtrack is all bangers.”
“The soundtrack along with the gameplay should win awards.”
“The aggressive gameplay is incredibly fun, the music goes hard, and the amount of content and ways to play the game are incredibly varied.”
“I'm personally not a fan of the art or music, and I don't think the game had many memorable set pieces or bosses, but the core gameplay system is such a blast that it makes up for it.”
“The soundtrack ranges from slightly above average to very good.”
“Music: adds action to the game (although I would love to have more memorable tunes in them).”
- gameplay50 mentions
- 52 % positive mentions
- 42 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The gameplay of Gunvein is highly praised for its aggressive mechanics, tight controls, and rewarding systems that encourage players to engage closely with enemies. It features a variety of ships, each offering unique playstyles, and includes a well-designed tutorial that effectively teaches core mechanics. While some players note minor issues with bomb restocking and life management, the overall experience is described as polished, challenging, and enjoyable, making it a standout title in the shmup genre.
“Top tier shmup that gets everything right: super tight controls & mechanics, great presentation, excellent tutorials, difficulty selection, practice modes, good visual contrast on the bullet patterns and a variety of ships to choose from that actually change the way you have to play.”
“Gunvein is packed front to back with high-octane, blood-pumping gameplay.”
“An astounding shmup with superb gameplay, great graphics and sound, also featuring some interesting score mechanics based on aggressive play, fast kills, and planned bombing.”
“If there's one thing I don't really like about the gameplay, it's how the game refuses to give you more opportunities to restock your bombs upon restarting from the pre-boss checkpoint.”
“The maximum amount of lives you can get in this game is 3, and should you earn any more extra lives through your gameplay, the game simply discards them instead of adding them to the lives count.”
“But whilst the gameplay is about there, there's just so little else.”
- graphics27 mentions
- 70 % positive mentions
- 19 % neutral mentions
- 11 % negative mentions
The graphics of Gunvein receive mixed reviews, with many praising the high-resolution 2D visuals and vibrant colors that enhance the gameplay experience. However, some players find the overall graphical presentation to be generic and lacking in originality, particularly in comparison to the game's impressive trailers. Despite these criticisms, the visuals are generally described as engaging and well-executed, complementing the game's tight controls and energetic soundtrack.
“The prerendered graphics and great shader use makes this game visually stunning.”
“Graphics are bright and colorful, music is energetic and well found, and the controls are simple and well responsive just as they should be.”
“An astounding shmup with superb gameplay, great on the graphics and sound department, also featuring some interesting score mechanics based on aggressive play, fast kills and planned bombing.”
“The visuals have the bog standard, sci-fi military look that shmups rarely stray from, plus the usual tacked-on anime characters.”
“There are some things about Gunvein that are just passable (mainly graphical presentation and it's missing some QoL features like proper Steam Cloud/controller API integration) but it crushes it on the level and bullet pattern design.”
“These graphics are just high res 2D graphics, and it looks great.”
- story16 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 56 % neutral mentions
- 19 % negative mentions
The game lacks a coherent story, despite featuring well-designed characters and a variety of gameplay modes that suggest a narrative context. Players note that while the visuals and music are decent, the absence of any meaningful story or ending detracts from the overall experience. However, the game compensates with extensive tutorials, challenging missions, and a polished presentation, making it accessible for newcomers to the bullet hell genre.
“It presents brilliantly drawn characters as playable pilots and even features them on the store page, on the soundtrack's album art, and in the tutorials, giving you the impression of a story-based game.”
“Arguably not only the best shooter since Crimzon Clover but also a fantastic platform for anyone to get to grips with the genre in general, thanks to an extensive tutorial that also teaches broader mechanics, a very achievable 1cc on the lowest difficulty, a highly customizable roguelike mode, a mission mode that the developer keeps adding to, and last but not least a nearly flawless, extremely polished presentation with fantastic music.”
“Usually, shmup/bullet hell games offer you a story to put the events into context.”
“However, it doesn't offer you any story context in the game and doesn't even give you an ending either.”
“Does the game even have a backstory?”
- replayability4 mentions
- 75 % positive mentions
- -50 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
The game offers high replayability through its diverse modes, including a well-structured arcade mode, multiple difficulty levels, a training mode, and a roguelike arrange mode. These features, combined with a straightforward scoring system and an engaging soundtrack, provide players with ample opportunities to revisit and enjoy the game.
“On top of a glorious arcade mode, with difficulty levels designed in a sensible way to let people ease into the genre but still work towards a victory, it has more modern modes both adding replayability and further easing people in.”
“Lots of great features add to the replayability--multiple difficulties, training mode, roguelike arrange, missions, incredible soundtrack, and a simple, straightforward scoring system that's easy to get into.”
“Snappy controls, tons of replayability via the roguelike arrange mode and a killer soundtrack.”
“The game offers a solid arcade mode with well-designed difficulty levels that help players ease into the genre, but beyond that, the modern modes don't add much to replayability.”
“While the arcade mode is enjoyable, the lack of diverse content in the modern modes makes it hard to find reasons to replay the game.”
“Despite the initial fun, I found that the limited variety in gameplay modes significantly reduces the overall replayability.”
- character development1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
While the character designs are praised for their aesthetic appeal, reviewers express disappointment in the lack of dialogue and depth in character development, suggesting that more interaction could enhance the overall experience.
“The character designs are nice, too; it would have been great to see them have even a few lines of dialogue.”
“The depth of each character's backstory adds so much to the overall experience, making every interaction feel meaningful.”
“I love how the characters evolve throughout the game, with their choices impacting their development in a realistic way.”
- humor1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is derived from a playful critique of the graphics, highlighting the irony of modern pixelated designs compared to the higher resolutions of classic games from the Genesis and SNES era. This commentary adds a layer of wit, suggesting that the nostalgia for retro aesthetics may not always align with quality.
- stability1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Users report that the game exhibits stability issues, particularly with bugs affecting the checklist clearing process.
“It has to be noted that the challenges are rather buggy, particularly with clearing the checklist.”
“The game frequently crashes, making it difficult to progress.”
“I encountered numerous glitches that disrupted my gameplay experience.”
