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Summary Trek to Yomi is an ultra-stylised cinematic action-adventure that follows an enthralling story of Hiroki during his fall against the forces of evil. Experience his heroic return to make good on his failed promise to save the people he swore to protect. As a vow to his dying Master, the young swordsman Hiroki is sworn to protect his town ... Read More

• PlayStation 5
• Xbox Series X
• PlayStation 4
• Nintendo Switch
• Flying Wild Hog
• Linear Action Adventure

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Trek to Yomi: stunning aesthetics but performance falls short

PS5 and Xbox Series consoles tested.

Trek To Yomi is a fascinating, extremely stylish release. Its aim is to emulate classic Japanese samurai movies, with Kurosawa and Kobayashi the clear influences. Everything from the letterboxed, monochromatic presentation right down to the film grain and shot framing are clearly inspired by Japanese cinema, with Unreal Engine 4's post-processing pipeline used to render this stylised, cinematic experience. This isn't a massive blockbuster title but there's a deep fidelity to the source material here and a brilliant sense of aesthetics.

There's an immediate sense that the developers have tried to really achieve something special here and that starts with the camera work: most of the game's cinematics use a mix of stationary shots and slower panning shots, typical of early Japanese film. Camera framing takes a lot of inspiration from this work as well; a lot of care has been taken with shot composition, with carefully framed foreground, midfield, and background detail. The camera ends up being quite fundamental to the game itself, and it's semi-fixed during gameplay - there's no direct player control over this element, and most shots simply follow the player's movement by scrolling or panning.

This enables the developers to use a strong and very high quality depth of field effect, even during gameplay. Shallow depth of field is present in virtually every shot here, emulating the long-lens look of Kurosawa films. In a typical game with a right-stick third-person camera, depth of field might obscure critical gameplay elements, but here the focal point of each scene is carefully defined such that this doesn't occur. The relatively sedate camera movement avoids depth of field artefacting as well, which helps particularly on fine transparencies like grass and hair. A heavy film grain is also used here, embellished with scoring marks, bright lines and other artifacts, reminiscent of grain from old film stock.

Trek to Yomi also makes a compelling use of lighting effects to really sell the look of certain shots. Volumetric light shafts are used frequently and characters often appear in silhouette against bright light sources. The attention to detail in lighting here is impressive - fire, for instance, is properly exposed as an older camera would see it and looks very bright. There's a realistic interpretation of the limits of dynamic range, with darker scenes displaying a lot of lost detail in highlights and shadowed regions.

I could go on but the fact is that this is a really special looking game. At its heart it's not tremendously complex - you're mostly engaging in a series of combat encounters, while navigation and progression is very simple. But Unreal Engine 4 is harnessed to create a novel reinterpretation of the styles and techniques that were integral to mid-century Japanese cinema. While a handful of other games have attempted similar visuals - Ghost of Tsushima comes to mind - this goes much further.

Looking at how the console implementations work, we should explain how the game's letterboxing affects resolution numbers. For PS5 and Xbox Series X, the borders encompass 276 pixels above and below the game video - and those borders are never encroached upon, with game HUD elements and subtitles always super-imposed over the central image. The effective viewable resolution of the game is reduced by 552 vertical pixels at 4K, or about 25.6 percent of the screen area that would normally be displayed. This doesn't have an impact on clarity, however - the pixels are still mapped normally. Even factoring this in, pixel counts aren't particularly relevant, such is the level of post-processing. Series S at circa-964p looks similar, but a little blurrier than PS5/Series X's circa-1602p.

All systems get a great-looking game then but performance is problematic as Trek To Yomi runs with an unlocked framerate on all console platforms. On current-gen, we're generally seeing a read-out between 40-60fps in typical gameplay. PS5 and Series X spend a lot of time around 40-55fps - a sort of frame-rate no-man's-land if you will, with constant stutter on a conventional display. Series S, curiously, has a substantial frame-rate advantage, typically leading the more powerful machines by around five frames per second in matching footage. However, none of the consoles feels particularly good to play, exacerbated by the constant lateral movement inherent with a side-scrolling camera. So yes, this is another game - like Elden Ring - that runs at an unacceptable performance level even on the most powerful console hardware available.

That said, there is a variety of tricks that can help, with reasonable solutions for each platform. Firstly, there are two visual options available in the settings menus that can give us a frame-rate boost. Disabling the bloom and grain filters claws back an additional three to six frames per second of performance on current-gen machines, at the cost of some of the game's atmosphere. This is a sort of unofficial 'performance mode' that tangibly improves performance, particularly on Series S, which now hits 60fps much more frequently. Most of the performance gain seems to be coming from removing the bloom lighting effect - the grain filter option has a much smaller impact on performance.

This isn't enough to get a truly stable experience, of course, although it does make things somewhat more bearable. VRR definitely helps too - especially so on Xbox with its wider supported display refresh window. PlayStation 5's 48Hz to 60Hz range does help, but it's not wide enough to encompass the game's lower-performing areas. Far more compelling though is to simply run the PS4 Pro code on PS5 through backwards compatibility. This manages to reach a locked 60fps on PS5, so VRR can be dropped without issue, though resolution takes a dive down to approximately 1920x804. It's a palpably softer game, but the heavy reliance on post-processing dulls the impact of the resolution cut.

This is my preferred way to play the game on consoles though - the steady 60fps provides the sort of consistency that you really want in a timing-based action game like this. On the Xbox side of things VRR does salvage the frame-rate and input issues for the most part on the native Xbox Series games, although obviously, you'll need an appropriate display.

Even though these workarounds are generally effective, this level of performance is not where it should be. The native versions of Trek to Yomi really should be running at a stable 60fps on current-gen machines. It's nice that there are ways we can patch up performance ourselves, but the default version of a game on a standard display should provide a fundamentally sound experience, which we aren't seeing here. And that's a shame as I really enjoyed my time with Trek to Yomi. It's a unique game that exploits modern rendering techniques to create a compelling videogame facsimile of mid-century Japanese movies. Artistically, this is a novel effort and it's well worth checking out - especially if you're subscribed to Xbox Game Pass, where Trek to Yomi is available right now.

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“Trek to Yomi is unlike anything I have ever played, utterly gorgeous throughout, with a gripping story of revenge, loss, and honor all inspired by Japanese cinema, silent movies, and theatre.” 95/100 – Gaming Trend “it’s easily one of the best PC games of the year and deserving of our Editors' Choice award.” 4/5 – PC Magazine “a stylish, spiritual slice of samurai action” 4/5 – NME

About This Game

Mature content description.

The developers describe the content like this:

Trek to Yomi contains violent combat with blood and beheading.

System Requirements

• Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
• OS *: Windows 7
• Processor: Intel Core i5-8250U / AMD Phenom II X4 965
• Memory: 8 GB RAM
• Graphics: GeForce MX150 (2048 VRAM) / Radeon R7 260X (2048 VRAM)
• Storage: 11 GB available space
• OS: Windows 10
• Processor: Intel Core i7-4770S / AMD FX-9590
• Graphics: GeForce GTX 970 (4096 VRAM) / Radeon R9 390X (8192 VRAM)

Copyright 2022 Leonard Menchiari. All Rights Reserved.

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Trek to Yomi review: The path of the samurai

Devolver Digital and Flying Wild Hog don't just take players into the time of samurai, it takes them into samurai films with the dazzling Trek to Yomi.

Cinema's rich history has encapsulated dozens of genres, many of them representing different cultures. Some people grew up on high octane action movies, others grew up on big budget horror, and there's a subset of movie fans that have developed an affinity for Japanese samurai films. Trek to Yomi, from Devolver Digital and Flying Wild Hog, is a game that's designed for the samurai film lovers and one that works in introducing their storytelling style to a new audience. While the journey feels short, it's a satisfying one nonetheless.

Honor bound

Trek to Yomi's story follows a young samurai named Hiroki, an adopted orphan raised with the sole purpose of defending his village. When an evil warlord named Kagerou attacks and razes everything before him, it leaves Hiroki at a crossroads in more ways than one. After a fateful battle with Kagerou, Hiroki finds himself in Yomi, the fabled afterlife as interpreted by Shinto mythology.

What's interesting about Trek to Yomi's story is that it features a fixed series of gameplay sequences, but how the narrative unfolds is largely up to the player. At the start of the story, Hiroki is bound to his duty, just as his sensei taught him. Once he finds himself in Yomi, Hiroki's path is shaped by simple player choices. What drives Hiroki from there? Is it love for his slain paramour, his duty to protect his village, or a thirst for revenge against the fiend that has murdered dozens?

Whatever choices the player makes will influence the direction of the game's cutscenes, though they do not appear to have much influence on the actual gameplay sequences. I'd have liked to see more of how these choices influence the narrative, but unfortunately, there are no multiple save files or any other way to backtrack. Once you're on your path, that's where you stay until the story is over.

The blade cuts deep

Trek to Yomi wears its inspiration as a badge of honor. Picture a black-and-white samurai film from the 50s and 60s. This is literally that right down to the grainy film effects. When characters encounter one another, they speak about the honor of battle and clash swords. It takes a moment to realize that the playable portion of the game has kicked in and that you're not just watching a cutscene. It's one of the most unique presentations I've seen in a game and one that does a lot of justice to this style of film. From the monochromatic visuals to the clashing steel of the blades, this feels like a playable samurai movie.

The combat further adds to the immersion. Fights in Trek to Yomi are mostly one-on-one sword fights, though there are instances where groups of enemies will try and overcome Hiroki with a numbers advantage. Success hinges on finding an opening to strike, but also in balancing offense with defense. Those who mash buttons will often leave themselves open to attack. Play too defensively by holding the block button and Hiroki's stamina meter will drop and ultimately leave him vulnerable.

The game offers over a dozen potential sword-swinging combos to master, but that sometimes proves to be information overload. By the end of the story, I was mainly relying on one or two combos and paying the rest of the available button strings no mind. While enemies can hit hard, finishers can help replenish Hiroki's health. The issue here is that the window for finishers can be unpredictable. Sometimes an enemy won't register a finishing blow, even as they're standing still, other times a combo will hit so hard that a foe will just fall before Hiroki can even nail the finishing blow. Consistently hitting finishers proved to be one of the game's more undesirable challenges.

Ranged weapons are also part of the combat experience, though they're honestly something I could have done without. They feel like a shortcut on offense and almost impossible to defend on defense, though the best I can say about the latter is that there aren't too many enemies that use arrows or ozutsu blasts.

Positioning matters in battle, as well. Nailing a well-timed parry that puts Hiroki behind his opponent never stops feeling good. Conversely, inputting a combo and ending with Hiroki inexplicably turning his back to his opponent doesn't feel so great. I had a few frustrating moments with combo inputs, but outside of that, combat in Trek to Yomi feels crisp, as does the way in which the game fluidly transitions to it by putting Hiroki on a 2D plane.

Outside of battle, players explore their surroundings in a 3D space. This mostly involves searching for ammunition, collectibles, or save points. Towards the middle of the adventure, players are introduced to puzzles that involve sliding Kanji characters into their proper slots to open up new paths. Within those paths, expect to find time-sensitive escape sequences to help mix things up between sword clashes. These instances provide some extra tension and can lead to a few errant deaths, but Trek to Yomi's generous save system reduces any frustration that would normally stem from that.

Trek to glory

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. The swordplay is strong and complements a captivating story. It's a story that players will want to see through to the end, though some may be disappointed by the short runtime. I was able to polish this off in just a hair under five hours, but those looking for a challenge can take on the game's hardest difficulty after completing the game for the first time.

Fans of Kurosawa films or of Japanese samurai movies in general will dig Trek to Yomi. Anyone with even a passing curiosity for this genre should absolutely check this out. Trek to Yomi aims high and proves to be as sharp as Hiroki's blade.

This review is based on a Steam digital code provided by the publisher. Trek to Yomi is available now on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox for $19.99 USD. The game is rated M.

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?

• Devolver Digital
• Flying Wild Hog
• Trek to Yomi
• Uniquely beautiful presentation
• Crisp swordplay
• Engaging narrative
• Frequent save points
• Ranged weaponry feels cheap
• Minor input issues with combat
• Finishers feel inconsistent
• Can't backtrack to search for collectibles

Ozzie Mejia posted a new article, Trek to Yomi review: The path of the samurai

This game looks cool. Like a samurai Limbo or INSIDE. Downloaded from game pass!

0h, feek yeah. I know what I’m playing this weekend.

It's on Game Pass? Nice I'll give it a shot then, also curious to see if it supports ultrawide properly on PC with that specific presentation.

Hmmm this looks interesting

Game looks great. I'll play it sometime this weekend probably.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-BkrwO_Dck :) , my body is ready for Trek to Yomi and I am going to be downloading it in a few minutes!!!!! That is a shame about the back tracking though, thanks for the review and info as always \m/ :) \m/ . Today is going to be a good day!

I agree with the ranged weapons. The game could have done with the collectibles, too.

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Trek to Yomi Review

Think of Trek to Yomi as an epic interactive samurai movie.

Created by Leonard Menchiari and Flying Wild Hog, Trek to Yomi is a game that simply oozes style, perfectly recreating the look and feel of old classics. From its moody black and white visuals to its cinematic camera angles, it really is a visual treat. And for the most part it’s fun to play, too.

Playing as a samurai named Hiroki, Trek to Yomi begins with him training as a young boy. But a bandit attack changes his life forever. The narrative then picks up years later, with Hiroki now a man determined to protect the people around him including his best friend Aiko. And so when danger comes close to his village, he springs into action. To go into any further details of the story would be to spoil it, but let’s just say that Hiroki is set to face many hardships.

The story is the driving force of Trek to Yomi , and backed up by the atmospheric visuals it does the job well. But this is a game, and so it’s a shame that the gameplay isn’t quite up to the same standard. Essentially a 2.5D adventure game, your time will be split exploring small environments with full 3D movement, and engaging in combat with enemies on a 2D plane. It’s a mix that works, but the combat leaves a little to be desired.

Like most samurai games, in Trek to Yomi it pays to play in a defensive manner. Waiting for your opponent to strike, parrying, and then retaliating with a counter will instantly kill many enemies. And others won’t take many more hits before succumbing to their injuries. Some attacks are trickier to parry than others, however, and so blocking or moving out of range are also good options. Ultimately, not being too aggressive and carefully choosing your attacks pays dividends.

A thrust attack can often hit from just outside an enemy’s reach, for example, while a light attack can beat a heavy attack if performed quickly enough. Combos are your bread and butter though, and you’ll seemingly unlock more as you play. You can even perform flashy finishers on enemies that are still standing yet close to death. And for those times where you want a bit of an advantage and there’s some distance between you and your enemy, a trio of ranged weapons are available, though ammo is limited.

When you get into a good, challenging fight, Trek to Yomi ’s combat can be exhilarating. It’s just a shame that the fights in between can grow a bit tiresome. Parry, slash, dead. Parry, slash, dead. You might do that ten times or so until you encounter an enemy that really puts up a challenge in the first hour or two of the game. What’s perhaps more bothersome is that the combat just doesn’t quite flow as well as it could. It feels a bit clunky at times.

Related: The Best Samurai Games You Can Play Right Now

Thankfully, things do improve in the latter half of this five-hour samurai epic. The enemies get more varied and fantastical, and puzzles are introduced to add even more gameplay variety. The combat is still just good rather than great, but at least it’s more exciting. Some encounters can prove be rather challenging though, and the last boss might have you cursing the screen.

Some of Trek to Yomi ‘s finest moments are found outside of combat, when you’re free to explore in 3D. Going off the beaten path might allow you to discover a collectible, some ammunition, or even a health or stamina upgrade. There are people to help in need, too, who will be thankful for your intervention. But most importantly, they give you a little time to breathe and soak in the ambience.

A short but sweet adventure, you might replay Trek to Yomi to collect all of its collectibles and upgrades, perhaps even on a harder difficulty to test your skills. It has multiple endings to discover, too. And so for its modest price it’s easy to recommend to action adventure fans, especially if they also love samurai movies. Its stunning presentation is just the icing on the cake.

Trek to Yomi Review – GameSpew’s Score

This review of Trek to Yomi  is based on the PS5 version, with a code provided by the publisher. It’s available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.

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Trek to Yomi review – a tropey but reverent tribute to Japanese cinema

Xbox Series S/X, PlayStation 4/5, PC; Flying Wild Hog/ Devolver Digital This grainy, gore-soaked katana caper slowly morphs into a compelling meditation on vengeance

E ven in the prologue, Trek to Yomi features more samurai cliches than you can chuck a katana at. Three subsequent levels of joyless brutality made me believe that this was going to be an exercise in gratuitous gore. Yet after a lot of monochromatic murder and speeches about duty, honour and bloodshed, it slowly morphs into something more compelling (though also hardly under-explored in Japanese cinema): a meditation on the inherent selfishness of vengeance.

Sporting a try-hard, Kurosawa -inspired black and white aesthetic – complete with filmic grain – this game’s influences are not so much worn on its sleeve as embroidered into the entire kimono. Still, credit where credit’s due – solid Japanese voice talent helps this Polish/American collab feel more authentic. Trek to Yomi inevitably lives in the shadow of 2020’s Ghost of Tsushima , US studio Sucker Punch’s similarly reverent tribute to samurai cinema. Where Ghost breaks up the bloodshed with jovial jaunts chasing foxes across its open world or solving people’s problems, Yomi is a slash-happy side-scroller that doubles down on brutality, channelling the manga series Lone Wolf and Cub’s sadistic spirit.

A disarmingly gentle introduction has you sprinting through a bustling feudal-era town, overhearing the grumbling townsfolk. Predictably, the peace doesn’t last. Protagonist Hiroki’s katana spills its first drop of blood around the 20-minute mark, and your blade’s thirst never seems to be quenched. Swordplay is more tactical and involved than it looks, letting you control the direction of slashes, combining parries with stance changes and light and heavy attacks. From testing your mettle against heavily armoured behemoths, to dispatching merceries under a hail of arrows, there’s just enough variety in duels to keep you slashing away and unlocking new blade skills to up the body count.

Just as slaying samey bandits begins to lose its sheen, a fatal encounter sees a guilt-wracked, bloodstained Hiroki banished to Yomi – purgatory – where he slices his way through his literal demons. Leaving the generic feudal villages and terrified townsfolk behind, unsettling cries, warping environments and scuttling undead become the new normal, and that’s when this katana caper finds its footing. Yomi’s portrayal of consequences and remorse isn’t going to win awards for subtlety, but gives you a reason to see this journey through.

A smattering of puzzles and the occasional chase scene offer some respite from slaughter. Taking the time to turn down branching paths rewards the player’s curiosity, too, whether that’s with crucial ammo for ranged weapons, hidden story collectibles, or coveted health and stamina upgrades. The checkpointing, however, has led to some of the most swear-inducing moments I’ve ever experienced in a game; their entirely inconsistent placement is baffling. Infuriatingly, after barely surviving multiple intense combat sections, there is often no save point, and you end up replaying the same skirmishes over and over. Other times they’re generously placed after a single, not even particularly challenging encounter.

But despite its repetitions and frustrations, I warmed to this grainy, gore-soaked journey after the tedious early hours. Thanks to a smattering of player choices, the game offers just enough player agency to make you feel involved in the narrative, too, giving Trek to Yomi’s surrealist slaughter a sense of purpose. There’s a strong argument that a Japanese-made attempt at this genre would come closer to doing the samurai fantasy justice, but as with the many Japanese takes on virtual America, there’s a schlocky charm to Yomi’s tropey inauthenticity nonetheless.

Trek to Yomi is out now; £15.99

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Trek to Yomi Steam Review

Trek to Yomi is a combat action game developed by Leonard Menchiari and Flying Wild Hog and is published by Devolver Digital. The game released on May 5, 2022 on all major platforms including Game Pass, and is a blend of both linear 3D environments and 2D sidescrolling action combat, with the visuals and sounds of an oldschool samurai movie. Limited to just black and white colours and with a film grain effect that can be toggled on and off, along with the outstanding and authentic Japanese voice acting, the game had me enthralled from the opening sequence to the end several hours later.

The intro cinematic starts with a dramatic scene of a burning village with the narrator Sanjuro setting the scene. You see a young man, the main character Hiroki, head bowed with a sword held in front of him. The scene transitions to a younger version of Hiroki where he is sparring with Master Sanjuro, his sensei, and you are taught the basics of movement, combat combinations, rotation, blocking, parries, and counter attacks. I loved the amazingly detailed 3D explorable environments which gives life and mood to the backdrops of each scene.

Your training is interrupted as the village has come under attack. Master Sanjuro rushes off leaving Hiroki with Sanjuro’s daughter, Aiko. They decide to investigate and head through the village. It’s here where the clever use of fixed camera angles encourages you to explore freely, displaying incredible detail in the villages and environment backdrops around you. Occasionally you will be able to help a villager who will give you a reward such as a collectible item. The use of bright lighting helped show you the direction to head, and before long you’ll come across the first of the bandits who have slain many villagers. The sound design in the villages, with screams, crying and the crackle of fires spread over the place set an intense mood. Then in the forests away from the screams, the woosh of wind through the trees, sounds of bamboo ornaments rattling and bangs on bells or drums come to the fore and really place you into the Japanese setting.

Combat switches seamlessly to 2D sidescrolling gameplay and is fluid, but even in the easiest Kabuki story mode, you need to time your blocks and parries well as stamina quickly depletes and can leave you in a tired state which opens you for attacks. Enemies can sometimes appear out of the background, which is a great effect, jumping down from a roof, climbing over a fence or appearing from behind cover. The first chapter ends on a rather grim note, and you then fast forward in time where Hiroki is now of the age, we see him first in the intro.

By now you have been awarded things like extra health and stamina, found collectibles and unlocked Bo-Shurikens which you can throw at enemies. You can only carry three at a time so need to be used sparingly. In Kabuki mode, a quick throw of a bo-shuriken and a swipe with your sword will take down the easiest of enemies, while the armoured ones take more tactics. The boss fights require everything you have learned thus far to slowly deplete their health, and on the Bushido difficulty, you really had to plan your attacks and defences.

I am not afraid to admit that after chapter three, I switched from Bushido difficulty back down to Kabuki as I started to struggle with almost every fight involving multiple enemies and an armoured character. You do unlock more skill combinations as you progress the game, to the point you can do such manouvers as pressing back, then light attack to turn around and swing whilst turning. You can also dodge and attack which means you sidestep and swipe back at the enemy, as well as the use of finishing moves if you see your enemy in a staggered state.

The overarching story of Trek to Yomi draws you into the samurai life, playing like a dramatic 60s and 70s Japanese movie involving love, loss, revenge and honour. However, and despite knowing there would be a supernatural twist in the story at some point based on Yomi meaning the underworld in Japanese, I found it quite jarring in the chapters that featured monsters. I knew that Yomi was the Japanese word for the underworld and, given some of the strange happenings around Hiroki, it was inevitable, but still the introduction of monsters and ghosts changed the game’s outlook for me. I think in part because some of the basic monsters cackle similarly to Gollum from The Lord of the Rings. They had similar mechanics to the human adversaries with 1-2 hits for easy monsters and then more agile ones requiring better tactics.

The saving graces though were the striking visuals, moody atmosphere with clever use of camera location and shadows, and the voice acting to keep you honed in on the overarching story. I loved hearing Hiroki’s inner monologue as he kept slaying anything that got in his way to find answers about Aiko and honouring his people. Later chapters featured some environmental puzzles which were simple enough and once solved, the effects used to alter the scene to restore crumbled statues and village structures was amazing.

Overall, Trek to Yomi is a fantastic game and I can’t talk enough about how visually and audibly pleasing it was to play.  The black and white style with film grain superbly suited the graphic nature of the samurai way and this was backed by incredibly authentic Japanese voice actors. Every scene had me stopping to investigate the background and surrounds to see where I was headed, and the use of lighting to show the way but also offering side paths to explore which usually netted you with a collectible or upgrade. This game, along with Shadow Warrior 3 earlier this year, has me very on board with anything Flying Wild Hog does next.

This review utilised a Steam key provided by Devolver Digital and Trek to Yomi is out now on Steam , Xbox including Game Pass, and PlayStation .

#roundtablecoop

About the Author: Chris Inglis

Chris began gaming in the 80’s with Nintendo Gameboy and playing on his friend’s consoles such as NES/Famicom and Sega Master System. His first PC games were Dangerous Dave, Alley Cat and Secret of Monkey Island. An avid PC gamer through the 90’s and 00’s until finally joining the console crowd with the Xbox 360. A collector of all genres of games, his favourites are MMORPGs, space flight sims and good story-driven RPGs.

View all post by Chris Inglis | Website

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Trek to Yomi

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Critics Recommend

Trek to Yomi Trailers

Trek to Yomi | Launch Trailer | Out May 5

Trek to Yomi | Extended Gameplay Video | Coming May 5

Trek to Yomi | Combat Trailer | Spring 2022

Trek to Yomi Screenshots

Critic reviews for trek to yomi.

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

Read full review

Trek to Yomi absolutely nails the samurai aesthetic in a satisfying but modest adventure.

GamesRadar+

In its visuals and audio, Trek to Yomi nails its brief to create an Akira Kurosawa-inspired samurai adventure. Its interactive elements, however, along with its story, are all too ordinary and rarely combine to heighten the atmosphere or create suspense. Worth a try for the sightseeing perhaps, but don't expect it to cut deep.

Metro GameCentral

The attempts to mirror the cinema of Akira Kurosawa work on a visual level but the story and gameplay are so empty and repetitive this barely works as a homage, let alone an engaging game in its own right.

Easy Allies

Game informer.

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 oozes style by evoking the legendary samurai flicks of Akira Kurosawa, but its stilted combat lacks the substance to make this a classic in itself.

Destructoid

Solid and definitely have an audience. There could be some hard-to-ignore faults, but the experience is fun.

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Trek to Yomi : Devolver vous invite à dégainer votre katana et protégez votre village !

De Ghost of Tsushima à Sekiro, les samouraïs ont le vent en poupe en ce moment. Et ce ne sont pas les développeurs de chez Flying Wild Hog qui diront le contraire. Après une série de jeux plus dans la veine ninja (Shadow Warrior), le studio polonais a, sous l’impulsion de Leonard Menchiari, décidé de faire un petit retour en arrière pour nous emmener dans le Japon de l’époque Edo. Et le moins que l’on puisse dire, c’est que la proposition de Flying Wild Hog, validée par Devolver, est plus qu’atypique.

• Du Ghost of Tsushima dans l’ambiance
• Une œuvre artistique à la Kurosawa
• Sifu chez les samouraïs ?

Riche des enseignements de son sensei, le jeune Hiroki a la force nécessaire pour protéger son village. Un chemin tout tracé, dicté par les codes du bushidō et de l’hagakure, que les malheurs de la vie vont pourtant venir ébranler. La voie du samouraï n’est pas toujours facile à suivre. Par-delà la vie et la mort, Hiroki va devoir choisir s’il souhaite réellement l’emprunter ou s’en défaire. C’est donc un récit introspectif que nous proposent Flying Wild Hog et Devolver, le tout ponctué de duels au katana et de plans dignes des plus grands films de Kurosawa.

Du Ghost of Tsushima dans l’ambiance

Trek to Yomi tombe largement dans la case des “jeux à ambiance” . Que ce soit par sa bande-son envoûtante ou son histoire, le jeu de Devolver vous prend par la main et vous emmène pour un véritable trek (ou plutôt une petite randonnée vu la longueur). Dépaysant au possible, le titre possède sa propre atmosphère et réussit particulièrement bien à la retransmettre, notamment grâce à ses petites phases d’exploration. Entre gravité et mysticisme, on est rapidement pris dans la spirale Trek to Yomi, qui nous pousse à nous questionner et faire des choix décisifs.

La voie d’Hiroki est également la vôtre et c’est donc tout naturellement à vous de décider laquelle il doit emprunter. Selon le choix que vous ferez, la fin de votre aventure ne sera pas la même. Néanmoins, les différences se cantonnent à la cinématique de fin et quelques dialogues, changeant la conclusion de Trek to Yomi mais pas l’expérience en elle-même. On aurait aimé en voir plus et pouvoir concrètement vivre les conséquences liées à la voie empruntée. Notez tout de même qu’il ne vous en coûtera pas beaucoup pour voir les différentes fins possibles. Le titre étant court (comptez quatre heures pour une première partie en explorant un peu), il suffit de deux petites heures pour le parcourir en ligne droite. En moins de dix heures, vous pouvez donc facilement satisfaire votre curiosité et découvrir tout ce queTrek to Yomi a à proposer.

Mais une partie pourrait bien suffire à la plupart des joueurs. Entre vengeance, amour et honneur, l’épopée d’Hiroki rappelle celle de Jin Sakai et de beaucoup d’autres. Sur le fond, rien de nouveau chez les samouraïs. Les grandes lignes sont assez prévisibles et ont ce petit goût amer de déjà vu. Mais Trek to Yomi parvient tout de même à se démarquer en nous proposant finalement une plongée au cœur de la mythologie shintoïste.

Le voyage jusqu’à Yomi (le monde des morts) ne concerne pas seulement les malfrats ayant succombé à la lame d’Hiroki. Pour trouver sa voie, il va devoir affronter ces terres putrides et les shikome tourmentés qui la peuplent. En faisant ce choix, Leonard Menchiari et Flying Wild Hog nous proposent de découvrir un pan peu connu du folklore japonais et c’est tout à leur honneur. Ce dernier est d’ailleurs particulièrement bien détaillé grâce aux différents artefacts que vous pouvez ramasser tout au long de votre voyage. Cette approche fait de Trek to Yomi un curieux petit jeu, qui l’est d’autant plus quand on se penche sur son but premier.

Une œuvre artistique à la Kurosawa

Certains l’auront sans doute remarqué, Trek to Yomi est avant tout une expérience presque cinématographique, hommage notamment aux films du réalisateur japonais Akira Kurosawa. En optant pour le noir et blanc et des plans de caméra différents, le titre se démarque merveilleusement bien et parvient à nous surprendre jusqu’à la fin de par sa réalisation. Les tableaux se succèdent et ne se ressemblent pas. Malgré des graphismes datés lors des cinématiques, le titre réussit à imposer une patte artistique atypique qui fait mouche en jeu.

De plus, cette attention toute particulière portée aux visuels n’entache en rien le gameplay. Les changements d’angles, bien que réguliers, sont fluides et jouent intelligemment sur ce dernier. Trek to Yomi passent ainsi du défilement horizontal pour les combats à une 3D un peu plus ouverte pour les phases d’exploration. Cet entre-deux fonctionne tout particulièrement en jeu, nous proposant un rendu cohérent et agréable à traverser tout du long.

Jouant sur les décors et les effets de lumière notamment, certains tableaux sont particulièrement saisissants. Mieux encore, ils donnent à plusieurs scènes de combat un côté épique qui donne envie de s’y impliquer à fond. Avec cette direction artistique maîtrisée, Trek to Yomi a trouvé son plus gros point fort. Néanmoins, elle risque tout de même de laisser certains joueurs sur le carreau, notamment ceux rebutés par l’usage du noir et blanc et des graphismes à l’ancienne. De ce point de vue, Trek to Yomi a un côté artistique certain, mais qu’en est-il de sa fonction de jeu en soi ?

Sifu chez les samouraïs ?

SI on vous a déjà parlé des phases d’exploration (facultatives mais intéressantes), le gros de Trek to Yomi consiste tout de même à taillader vos opposants à coups de katana. Après avoir fait vos premiers pas dans l’art du combat grâce à votre sensei, vous êtes jetés dans la fosse aux lion où différents ennemis ne cherchent qu’une seule chose : vous faire rejoindre le monde de Yomi. Mais il n’y a pas là de quoi trembler devant eux.

Malgré ce que certains pensaient, Trek to Yomi n’est pas un SIFU version samouraï. Ses mécaniques de combats et les patterns des ennemis sont assez simples et ne vous poussent jamais dans vos retranchements. Une fois qu’on les connaît, il est peu probable de se retrouver réellement en difficulté. De plus, l'intelligence artificielle n'arrange pas les choses. Certains ennemis se contenteront par exemple d'attendre dans un coin avant de vous attaquer en boucle sans une once de stratégie. Vous pourrez parfois même esquiver le combat et mettre certains ennemis hors d’état de nuire en vous servant du décor (point assez intéressant au demeurant).

Contrairement à la plupart des jeux du genre, la difficulté n’est donc pas franchement graduelle. Un fait voulu par Leonard Menchiari, censé mettre l’emphase sur les moments de grande tension. Mais voilà, ces derniers ne sont que trop peu présents, se limitant à un ou deux combats de boss corsés. Si la satisfaction de pourfendre un ennemi ne s’estompe jamais réellement, c’est plus grâce à la théâtralisation de l’acte et à la chorégraphie joliment réalisée des combats que sa difficulté d'exécution. Sans celles-ci, on se lasserait presque des duels ou des vagues d’ennemis nous encerclant.

Et pourtant, Flying Wild Hog a fait l’effort de nous proposer un gameplay évolutif. Tout au long de votre épopée, vous ramassez de nouvelles armes et apprenez de nouvelles techniques de combat. Si certaines ont du style, d’autres se révèlent malheureusement trop risquées ou superflues, parfois presque impossibles à placer entre les coups de l’ennemi. Au final, pour avancer sans trop d’embûches, il vaut mieux se cantonner à marteler les deux mêmes touches dans le même ordre. Outre un moment d'égarement, la seule chance qu'auront vos adversaires d'en réchapper sera de compter sur les quelques bugs (à la manette) vous laissant immobile malgré vos directives.

Que vous soyez en mode facile, normal ou difficile, rien ne change, il suffit juste de répéter l’opération plus ou moins longtemps. Les trois modes de jeux influent uniquement sur la vie des ennemis et la puissance de leurs coups. Ainsi, venir à bout de vos assaillants avec la bonne technique s’avère plus long que difficile. Seul véritable défi : le mode En un coup qui, comme son nom l’indique, vous fera recommencer au dernier checkpoint au moindre coup reçu.

Trek to Yomi trailer

Points forts

• Artistiquement réussi…
• Une plongée au sein de la mythologie shintoïste
• Des combats magnifiquement chorégraphiés…
• Des tableaux dignes de Kurosawa

Points faibles

• ...malgré des graphismes datés
• Des choix superflus
• Peu de difficulté
• ...mais beaucoup trop répétitifs

Trek to Yomi est une très belle œuvre cinématographique. Il n’a pas à pâlir devant les géants qui l’ont inspiré. Son usage de la caméra et du grain noir et blanc lui permettent de nous présenter des tableaux particulièrement somptueux. Ajoutez à cela des chorégraphies de combats qui font briller les yeux et vous obtenez une petite pépite de maîtrise artistique. Si l’on jugeait un jeu à cela, Trek to Yomi serait sans aucun doute en haut du classement. Mais malheureusement, le jeu est, en comparaison, trop peu poussé au niveau du gameplay. Ses choix superflus et ses combats répétitifs l’empêchent d’exprimer son plein potentiel. Cela dit, il vaut tout de même le détour et encore plus si vous êtes sensibles à ce genre d'œuvre vidéoludique.

Note de la rédaction

L'avis des lecteurs (25).

Trek to Yomi - Review

This 2d odyssey absolutely nails the samurai aesthetic in a satisfying but modest adventure..

If you’re a fan of classic samurai movies, there’s a lot to love about Trek to Yomi. It’s a katana-swiping side-scroller with a worthwhile story that does a magnificent job of distilling old school Japanese cinema into video game form. But while it never stopped blowing me away aesthetically, the things you’re actually doing in that beautiful world are less impressive, with overly simplistic combat and exploration that only begins to scratch its surface. Even so, Trek to Yomi’s stylish presentation makes up for many of its gameplay shortcomings, making this a memorable samurai tale I’m glad I played.

Trek to Yomi’s dedication to black and white samurai movies from the 20th century is apparent in literally every moment of it, from the look of its boot-up logos and main menu all the way to the closing credits. That includes everything from the artificial sparkle dotting the screen that makes it look like it’s playing from an old film reel, to the pacing and line delivery during cutscenes, to the references to historically accurate traditions and religious practices that play a central role in the story. It’s actually hard to overstate just how great it feels to move about in such a meticulously detailed adaptation of a film style I’ve always adored, and that movie magic is the best thing Trek to Yomi has to offer without a doubt.

The story itself is your standard revenge quest featuring a stoic protagonist struggling to choose between his duty and his personal desires, complete with the good ol’ traumatic childhood massacre serving as its first chapter. It’s a cliche, to be sure, and if you’ve watched almost any vintage samurai movie then you’ll be able to see a lot of its events coming from a mile away. But with all the other ways Trek to Yomi pays homage to the classics that inspired it, an overly conventional story doesn’t end up being such a bad thing. Sometimes tropes become tropes for a good reason, and this familiar tale was like stepping into a warm bath filled with my favorite, samurai-scented candles. It isn’t entirely without its own twists and turns either, and on at least one occasion it did something I hadn’t anticipated – moments that went a long way toward redeeming the otherwise predictable plot.

Combat is never bad, it's just extremely simplistic.

You’ll spend most of this adventure ronin around and slicing your way through beautiful backdrops with a combat system that’s satisfying despite not having much to it. You’ve got light attacks, heavy attacks, a parry, and a few ranged weapons thrown in for good measure, but that’s about as deep as Trek to Yomi ever goes. Every now and again you’ll unlock a new attack combo or meet a new enemy type that requires you to mix up your strategy ever so slightly, but after less than an hour I had mastered most of the skills I needed to blow through armies of bandits and spectral samurai with unbridled ease. This was especially true once I unlocked the ability to easily stun enemies and finish them off with a bloody animation that also heals you, which you can use to bail yourself out of nearly every encounter the campaign throws at you. 

It’s not that combat is ever bad, it’s just extremely simplistic and doesn’t evolve enough as you progress to keep things feeling fresh. It’s also very familiar to many other 2D action games, with no real hook or new idea to set itself apart from anything I haven’t already seen elsewhere. Most of the time, I found myself just enjoying the awesome sights and sounds while I barrelled through every enemy in my way (even on the hardest difficulty, mind you). It’s a good thing that the whole adventure only lasts six hours, because combat gets old in less than half that time, so at least it didn’t have much chance to overstay its welcome in a way that got frustrating.

Boss fights are an exception to the breezy combat though, as they usually introduce an enemy that can’t simply be decapitated in an instant. These spongey champions must be studied so you can devise a strategy for surviving their attacks and carefully counter them. Bosses accounted for the vast majority of my deaths throughout my playthroughs, since they’re one of the only parts that forced me to mix up my strategies. Even when I was getting slapped around helplessly, it was a blast figuring out how to best these dastardly warriors, but they’re so few and far between that they just made me wish more of the combat presented a similar challenge.

Trek to Yomi also dabbles in some light exploration and even a side quest or puzzle now and again, though it’s all extremely shallow stuff. Exploration usually amounts to a few samey optional rooms with a hidden collectible or an alternate path to get wherever you’re headed – sometimes you’ll even find a way to avoid a combat sequence altogether by triggering a neat environmental kill, such as dropping logs on some fools like a vengeful Ewok. It’s just too bad these ideas weren’t taken a little further as it’s currently all incredibly straightforward and opportunities for environmental kills almost never come up. Similarly, side quests usually amount to an optional area where you can slay a few extra baddies and grab some easy loot from a grateful survivor, while puzzles are little more than mind-numbingly easy chores like pushing an object or matching some symbols. As a result, these diversions all just feel like filler. 

The Verdict

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

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Trek to Yomi

Game length provided by HowLongToBeat

Trek to Yomi: Trophy/Achievement Guide

Trek to Yomi is an incredibly stylish game. Its stark black-and-white style is a tribute to classic Kurosawa samurai films , and its bloody, difficult combat follows that influence step for step.

Befitting its filmic influence, Trek to Yomi is not the longest game . It's aiming for a sharp experience, without wasted movements, and completable in a few sittings.

RELATED: Trek to Yomi: How to Stun and Do Finishers

Still, Trek To Yomi has a few options for players who want to get the most out of their experience. Alongside multiple story paths and difficulty settings, Trek to Yomi offers 28 achievements for the player to earn.

Trek to Yomi's Achievements

Players should note that this list includes acheivements that are initially hidden on some platforms, and thus might be considered light spoilers. Trek to Yomi isn't a plot heavy game, but those who wish to go in blind should be wary.

• Complete chapter 1.
• Complete Chapter 2.
• Complete Chapter 3
• Complete Chapter 4
• Complete Chapter 5
• Complete Chapter 6
• Complete Trek to Yomi .
• Complete Trek to Yomi on the Path of Love .
• Complete Trek to Yomi on the Path of Fury.
• Complete Trek to Yomi on the Path of Duty.
• Complete Trek to Yomi in Ronin mode .
• Complete Trek to Yomi in Kensei mode.
• Complete one of Trek to Yomi's chapters without dying or using a shrine.
• Kill the game's first enemy.
• Perform 50 counters.
• Perform 50 finishers.
• Kill 3 enemies at once with the ozutsu cannon.
• Kill 10 enemies without using weapons.
• Collect one upgrade.
• Collect all upgrades.
• Find all lore collectables.
• Kill Sadatame in Chapter 2 without getting hit.
• Defeat the Kagerou Shogun in Chapter 3
• Defeat the Kagerou Shogun in Chapter 3 without getting hit.
• Defeat the Aiko Demon in Chapter 4 without getting hit.
• Defeat the Sanjuro Demon in Chapter 5 without getting hit.
• Defeat the Hiroki Demon in Chapter 6 without getting hit.
• Defeat the Kagerou Demon in Chapter 7 without getting hit.

Trek to Yomi is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

MORE: Trek to Yomi: All Collectibles and Upgrades in Chapter 1

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April 17, 2024

This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

fact-checked

reputable news agency

Next up is launch, as Boeing's Starliner takes trek to Cape Canaveral

by Richard Tribou, Orlando Sentinel

Boeing's CST-100 Starliner, set to take its first humans on board during the Crew Flight Test mission next month, was transported from Boeing's Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a 10-mile trip to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

It arrived at United Launch Alliance's Vertical Integration Facility early Tuesday where it was placed atop an Atlas V rocket ahead of the planned launch from Canaveral's Space Launch Complex 41 as early as May 6. The capsule will take NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams on a planned eight-day mission to the International Space Station.

Boeing completed fueling its spacecraft at the Starliner production facility adjacent to KSC's massive Vehicle Assembly Building earlier this month.

"Samples were taken and specialized tests were conducted throughout the propellent loading process to ensure the safety of the team performing the operation and the safe operation of the spacecraft on orbit," said Mark Sorensen, Starliner CFT Crew Module lead.

Before it left the building, Boeing performed a final weigh-in that also acted as the center-of-gravity check. Teams signed off on that, and Starliner was loaded by crane atop ULA's transport vehicle called "K-MAG" for the overnight trip between KSC and Canaveral.

Williams and Wilmore were joined by NASA astronauts Mike Fincke and Scott Tingle, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk and JAXA astronaut Yui Kimiya to see Starliner off.

Fincke, Tingle and Kutryk have all been announced as the crew of Starliner's next planned mission, Starliner-1, while Kimiya is assigned for a long-duration stay on board the ISS in 2025, so could become its fourth crew member.

Starliner is the second of two spacecraft created as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program alongside SpaceX's Crew Dragon. SpaceX completed its first test crew mission back in 2020 and has since flown what is now a fleet of four Crew Dragons an additional 12 times on both private and NASA missions carrying 50 humans into space in the last four years.

Boeing has faced a series of delays highlighted by an uncrewed test flight in December 2019 that failed to rendezvous with the ISS, forcing the company to refly its uncrewed dry run before it set up for the human test flight. The second try went well, but it took 2.5 years to get there in May 2022. Further fixes were also needed to the spacecraft, which have pushed CFT an additional two years past the last time it flew.

But everything is now queued up for the final push to space. The Atlas V rocket has been onsite since February, and ULA completed its CFT Mission Success Review earlier in April.

"Doing everything thing we can to give Butch and Suni a boring trip to ISS on the Atlas," said ULA President and CEO Tory Bruno on X.

If all goes well with CFT, the first operational mission Starliner-1 could fly as early as February 2025.

While SpaceX is in the middle of its eighth operational flight, Crew-8, with Crew-9 slated for August, once Boeing's Starliner is certified, the two companies will trade off flights to the ISS so each makes only one trip there annually.

Boeing has six operational flights to the ISS under contract, so it can support rotational crew missions through 2030, when NASA has said it plans to begin decommissioning the ISS.

2024 Orlando Sentinel. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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