Gunvein

This is one of the best modern bullet hell shumps. It will teach you the basics of shumping and the skills learned here will translate to other games, including classics. Also the only game i know with true psytrance soundtrack, gotta love that

Just got my first game clear on the easiest difficulty + all allowed crutches. At first I really did not get this game, I wouldn't even be able to finish the first level consistently. After having played more shmups I can say this is a really good one. You have to play agressively though, if not you won't make it very far. Bullet visibility is amazing, lock-on missile system is super fun to use even though it can get tough on the fingers after a few hours. Music is great, visuals as well. Tutorial is super good but the hitbox for one of the maneuvres is a bit weird so toom me a lot of time to figure that out. Overall highly recommended if you want to get into the shmup genre but beware, it is a difficult game so perhaps play some easier ones first.

I've very much enjoyed my time with Gunvein!! The production and presentation is excellent, with adrenaline pumping music, satisfying explosions, interesting enemy and bullet pattern design. As a casual shmup player, I can't comment on the skill ceiling but for a dad of two with limitted gaming time, there's a lot here to chew on with satisfying, short play sessions. I also like the "capping" of resources (lives, bombs) and the "bomb to score" mechanic, it really pushes you to use the stuff the game is giving you rather than save it up. I particularly appreciate the hand holding in the "mission mode", which teaches you the basics and some advance techniques (some that I didn't know before like "bullet retreaming"!) as well as some quickly playable/repeatable score and boss rush challenges. I don't know if I'd recommend this as someone's very first shmup (maybe Jamestown and Devil Blade Reboot might be better places to start?) but it's a definite contender. These are excellent features that I hope other designers pick up. I haven't gotten beyond "Mild" difficulty or explored the "rogue lite" game mode but looking forward to exploring those!