Trek to Yomi

Trek to Yomi is, for me, just shy of a veritable masterpiece. Looking at it purely subjectively, I think this game is bloody brilliant, and certainly one of the finest non-AAA games I have played in a long time. Rich combat, striking visuals, a gritty narrative, and dynamic audio experiences blend together to make this game a true stand out of 2022 so far. Unfortunately, I feel the hyper-stylised tone and fixed Japanese language setting may prove a turn off for some and cause this game to be overlooked. However, if you have even a passing interest in Japanese culture, cinema, or just plain solid gameplay, then I implore you to give Trek to Yomi a look.

This samurai action-adventure embraces its contextual tone with a uniquely stellar presentation, a well-paced story, compelling positional and timing-based combat, and a cinematic flair that ties everything together. In all honesty, it's impressive how this game managed to richly condense such an experience within roughly 5 hours. I do wish that some boss fights were more challenging and that Aoki was given more focus, but those points don't take away from how enjoyable, and impactful Trek to Yomi was.

Trek to Yomi is Flying Wild Hog’s best game. Unlike Shadow Warrior 3, the studio’s first title in 2022 that was a huge step backward, Trek to Yomi is aimed at a niche audience. It’s short, violent, and poetic. The one-hit kill Kensei mode that’s unlocked after finishing the game for the first time also adds more replay value for the game while creating the potential for attracting hardcore gamers and speedrunners. The game can be enjoyed by many, but a very small group of people will hold on to it for a very long time. That’s why Trek to Yomi has the chance to become a cult title.

Actually playing Trek to Yomi is not as much fun as just looking at it. Combat turns the game's 3D world into 2D, forcing you to fight on a single axis. You can move left or right, rotate to collide with enemies, attack or block, and that's pretty much it. Those expecting a super-difficult task might be disappointed, but with the developers going down the path of getting attention rather than creating a new Sifu and Devolver Digital doing the publishing duties, it's certainly going to be an interesting project nonetheless. I think Wild Flying Hog has done an excellent job of helping the player go from a beginner swordsman to an experienced samurai.

Trek to Yomi is a well-made game, and, in some aspects, even great. If you like this type of adventure and a focus on the artistic style, as well as the samurai atmosphere, go for it! I really hope Trek to Yomi sells well since I'd like to see more.

Taken as a whole, Trek to Yomi is an impressive homage to classic Japanese action films. It looks and sounds incredible, with art direction and music that are impeccably authentic to both history and cinema. As an action game, Trek to Yomi is engaging but a bit lacking in variety and depth, with controls and animations less polished than its visuals. Trek to Yomi is a fascinating and altogether unique experience, worth playing if you're a fan of great samurai films or simply enjoy new variations on the action game formula.

People looking for a short and intense samurai game should check out Trek to Yomi. It's quick, fun, and makes you truly feel like a samurai.

An outstanding reinvention of Samurai Cinema and a stunning adventure in its own right, Trek to Yomi is a rare joy and one that shouldn't be missed.

Trek to Yomi is a solid and well-executed trip to a black-and-white tale of swords and souls, where a simple but satisfying gameplay is paired with a charming narrative that offers three different endings. Enemy and setting variety could be better, but overall this is a game worthy of your time.

Achievement hunters and completionists may find Trek to Yomi more daunting with its multiple playthrough requirements and the cursed decision to forego a chapter select feature. The majority of the game's challenges come from completing boss encounters without taking any damage, and failing to do so means rerunning the entire campaign or manipulating cloud saves to try again, which simply feels like forced padding of otherwise solid gameplay.

Trek to Yomi makes a great first impression. The black and white, combined with the first uses of the combat system, suggests an experience that will allow players to step into the sandals of a samurai. The story might not be extraordinary but there’s enough sentiment in it to keep players engaged. But combat quickly reveals itself to be repetitive, with little need to experiment or to use all the combos. And the presentation does not enhance the gameplay, even if it delivers good screenshots. Trek to Yomi has some good ideas but never uses them to their full potential, which is a shame given its initial promise.

The major aspects of Trek to Yomi that will stick with the player are the combat, the atmosphere, and the world design. All three of these key features will drive the player to continue playing and enhance the gameplay. One example would be how exploration can reveal alternate ways to defeat groups of enemies. These moments are few and far between, but their inclusion is a nice reward for players who choose to explore the map. It's one of many smaller pieces of gameplay that makes the overall experience stand out among other indie titles.

If you want a rather great combat system with a gorgeous aesthetic then give Trek to Yomi a try, but don’t expect a game that’s going to last dozens of hours. It has a story to tell, and that story is not very long.

Trek could have stayed entirely in the land of the living and still be a surprise hit of a game. It’s gone well beyond that though and cemented its place as one of the greats. The side-scrolling genre has become a place for artful indies to exist but it’s been a while since a game like Trek made gamers take notice; and they definitely should.

Trek to Yomi is a game you should try at some point, no matter what kind of game you prefer. It may not impress with its combat system and linear gameplay structure, but both its flawless cinematics and unparalleled atmosphere are enough to make it memorable.

Featuring outstanding cinematic presentation, first-rate voice performances, and superb sound design, Trek to Yomi wraps Akira Kurosawa-like flair around its fun, side-scrolling samurai battles.

Trek To Yomi will set you back the price of a cinema ticket, but guarantees more spectacle than you’ll find in most big-screen ventures. A killer combination of stylish swordfights and thought-provoking storytelling, Trek To Yomi should be high on your list of games to play this year.

While it could stand to be longer, if only to deliver more when it come to some of its more ambitious elements, Trek to Yomi is an amazing action game that makes terrific use of its cinematic presentation, using Kurosawa vibes to impact both the gameplay and visuals in clever ways.

Trek to Yomi is presented like a very different type of video game experience and that's largely attributed to its presentation. Flying Wild Hog went into this project with the goal of making a playable samurai film and they've capably accomplished that objective.

In the end, while Trek to Yomi is a small and deliberately limited affair, its taut structure and evocative visuals carry it well through its short lifespan.

For a small independent game without much pretension, Trek to Yomi does it with all the honors. The fights are maybe a bit basic and the journey is a bit short, but the replayability it offers allows to extend the experience, and its aesthetics is just great. If you like Kurosawa's cinema, the Edo period and the bushido code, it should definitely delight you.

Trek to Yomi is a good game. He wisely mixes action combat and exploration. Too bad for some ingenuity that often makes it not very user friendly and which all seem to derive more from inexperience than from lack of time. If you are a lover of Japanese folklore and culture you will still have something to eat.

Trek to Yomi raises the bar high for historical accuracy. It's clear how hard the developers worked to make this game feel like an act of love and admiration for the Edo period of Japan. However, the well-written story, great voice acting, and beautiful set pieces are held back by the combat.

Trek to Yomi is a trip to historic Japan in the style of Kurosawa movies. The unique monochrome look will immerse you in the game, and the fights are dynamic and realistic. You will reach the ending really quickly, but the game will leave a good impression. In Game Pass, this is a clear choice that you should not miss.

Featuring a black and white image style and a pure cold weapon combat system, Trek to Yomi creates a unique experience in the style of swashbuckler films. The abundant sense of various details in the game scenes, dynamic weather effects and unique mode of composition all make the game screen look cinematic. However, the overly monotonous enemy behavior patterns, as well as the increasing swarm of monsters in the later game levels, are making the fun of combat quickly decline. The bland story, together with some too far-fetched understanding of Eastern culture, makes the quality of the game storyline less than ideal.

Trek to Yomi is a game with great promise that, unfortunately, fails to live up to expectations. Despite this, it also succeeds in areas where most games fail. Few games can lay claim to this level of stylistic fidelity. However, its shortcomings are too vast and all-encompassing to ignore. It feels like a game that tries desperately to be more than it is, to have more nuance, more to say. Unfortunately, it's not just the color scheme that's black and white.

Trek to Yomi's excellent visual quality and sound production are enough for you to recall classic black-and-white films. But maybe they put too much effort into the visual side. Gameplay itself feels so plain and simple. The fast-paced combats are interesting in itself but barely changes. And the collectables are not attractive enough.

As an homage to Akira Kurosawa’s contributions to Japanese cinema, Trek to Yomi is an unparalleled adventure to the shores of hell and back that meticulously encapsulates and delivers an experience through his lens. It’s when you look behind its eyes that you discover the game’s soul is missing in a disappointing case where a wellspring of style and authenticity is anchored by a sad lack of substance.

Trek to Yomi is a story of loss, honour and revenge. Despite some technical issues and a combat system with unbalanced combos, it's undoubtedly a game suited for all feudal Japan fans.

The gameplay is just overwhelmingly underwhelming. Poor exploration, unimpressive combat, and a merely passable narrative can’t be made up for by aesthetics. Which is too bad, because the aesthetics are terrific. The backgrounds have a stunning amount of variety to them and are of almost poetic quality. I suppose if you saw Trek to Yomi and this is what grabbed you, then you’re all set. However, if you want strong gameplay to back that up, then it just isn’t worth the trek.

Trek to Yomi is a very beautiful cinematographic work. It doesn't have to pale before the giants who inspired it. Its use of the camera and black and white grain allow it to present us with particularly sumptuous paintings. Add to that some eye-popping fight choreography and you've got a little nugget of artistic mastery. If a game was judged by this, Trek to Yomi would undoubtedly top the charts. But unfortunately, the game is, in comparison, too little pushed in terms of gameplay. Its superfluous choices and its repetitive fights prevent it from expressing his full potential. That said, it is still worth the detour and even more so if you are sensitive to this kind of video game work.

It is an absolutely stunning game with a great story and an excellent presentation (as well as beautiful audio), but it didn’t quite reach the top of the mountain it set out to climb.

Trek to Yomi is a brief but captivating journey that’s like playing through a monochromatic Japanese movie, and that excellent presentation is enough to carry it even though it falls short in most other respects. Combat is one-note and easily mastered, and exploration and puzzles don’t have much to offer aside from a fleeting distraction. Thankfully, its relatively brief story was one that still drew me in enough to absolutely feel worth my time.

Trek to Yomi is a fun enough five hours for the money. I wasn’t expecting Ghost of Tsushima for $19.99, so I wasn’t disappointed with what I got. However, I’m a big weeb, love Kurosawa, and think katanas are cool. I’m not sure if those unfamiliar with the design principle behind the game will understand where it’s coming from. It might serve as a gateway drug to Japanese cinema for some, but I think many people will just be wondering why it’s in black and white instead of color. Overall, it’s like a samurai with a dull sword: flashy, but lacking the razor edge needed to cut its way through the shadow of its contemporaries.

Trek to Yomi’s opening chapter really builds expectation for what will follow, but what does follow doesn’t live up to that promise. It’s a gorgeous game to watch, but the gameplay simply falls short of matching the quality of the visuals.

Sadly, Trek to Yomi looks and feels noticeably outdated for such an aesthetically pleasing game. And its archaic gameplay can’t be completely covered up by its artistic black-and-white filter. Trek to Yomi tried to reach the heights of lauded Japanese filmmaking, but unfortunately, it falls almost as flat as its 2D combat plane.

Trek to Yomi is a visual masterpiece with a solid story, unfortunately let down by its gameplay. Whilst there are some enjoyable elements, it doesn't hold up when compared to numerous recently released peers that do samurai combat better.

Trek to Yomi stands out with its distinctive visual and samurai movie style. But the ordinary gameplay and heavy cinematics have greatly undermined the gameplay.

Trek To Yomi's combat fails to match its visual swagger. [Issue#372, p.118]

The looks of Trek to Yomi certainly offer a nice homage to the 50s Japanese cinema. Alas, its gameplay is disappointingly simplistic from the non-existent platforming to the utterly repetitive action.

Visually excellent but extremely short and packed with repetitive, clunky sword fights, Trek to Yomi doesn't hit all the right notes.

Trek to Yomi is a missed opportunity. This game was made by real fans of Japanese cinema, who are very aware of the genre. The rudimentary gameplay however, thoroughly falls short.

Trek to Yomi feels like a victim of its own cinematic inspirations and artistic ambitions. While satisfying at times, the combat is ultimately pretty one-note and begins to outstay its welcome by the time you’ve reached the end of Hiroki’s journey. I’m a sucker for artistically driven indie experiences, but there’s got to be some strong gameplay forming a foundation for it, and I can’t say I overly enjoyed my time accompanying Hiroki on his quest for vengeance.

Hiroki's journey and his own always-spoken-aloud thoughts are what really hooked me into Trek to Yomi. The more choices I made for the samurai, the more I wanted to see how he would turn out by the game's end. It's not something I expected from the game, and it certainly doesn't redeem all of its negative traits, but Trek to Yomi's story is good enough to be more than something pushing players along.

Trek to Yomi is one of the most visually striking games to launch in a while, delivering on the promise that a samurai game can truly capture the look and feel of classic Japanese cinema. Unfortunately, good looks can only get you so far, as the gameplay and story don’t quite live up to the standards set by its art direction. But if you are in the mood for a samurai game, you could do worse than Trek to Yomi.

Although the game is still a good experience, every enjoyable aspect was brought with a caveat that diminished my enjoyment somewhat. It's a great idea, but its execution was not so much.

Despite being an undeniably beautiful piece of work, its identity as a weapon combat game lacks edge. I’m glad I stuck with it until the end – some of the late-game setpieces are certainly a sight to behold – but I left Trek to Yomi in a hungry search for something else that would give me the inherent satisfaction that comes from feeling the impact and hearing the sound of crossing blades.

A gorgeous game with frustrating combat and glitchy exploration, Trek to Yomi is the definition of style over substance.

The faults of its gameplay are especially disappointing given that Trek to Yomi is such a gorgeous and spellbinding game to look at. Its visuals are evocative of classic samurai cinema in a way few other games have managed, successfully capturing the look and feel of Kurosawa's masterpieces with aplomb. It's easy to recommend if you have an Xbox Game Pass subscription, if only to marvel at each meticulously constructed frame. If only the game beneath it all wasn't such an unfortunate letdown.