Trek to Yomi Review

Trek to Yomi is an action-adventure title where players will take control of Hiroki, a samurai sworn to protect his town and those he loves. Early in the game, you take control of Hiroki in his youth as he trains with his master. Near the end of their tutorial session, the town gets raided by bandits; the master runs to protect it, ordering Hiroki to stay behind. Of course, Hiroki disobeys and assists against the raid; this sets a very dark tone for the narrative, as we get to observe a very young kid slaughter the bandits on his path. Although I won't be telling more of what happens to avoid spoilers, I will mention that Trek to Yomi doesn't have much more to offer in terms of storytelling. I struggled to connect to some of the characters, and the narrative didn't instil within me any desire to further explore the world.

I was disappointed to see that the story was poorly created, seeing that a big allure of Trek to Yomi is the game's cinematic presentation. The black and white aesthetic is interesting, though I do wish it had been colourised, as the environments are gorgeous and could have used some hue. Of course, I won't be judging the game by this, seeing as it is — in part — one of the selling points, but I actually liked the aesthetic less than I anticipated.

That said, one of the most important parts of Trek to Yomi is its gameplay, as that is the most prominent factor throughout your playthrough; despite seeming story-heavy, the game is predominantly comprised of combat sections. Each chapter will have you fighting through groups of foes throughout any given area and reaching a final boss, with some hidden areas and collectibles to find. Although the hidden areas weren't too much of a bother, I wasn't fond of their presence as it felt immersion-breaking to be walking against walls looking for which door Hiroki could kick open or which of the paths lead to somewhere with a crucial upgrade (such as to health or stamina). Seeing as I felt the hidden areas broke the flow of the gameplay, I opted to ignore most of them unless they were obvious and focus instead on pushing forward and killing my foes. 

Trek to Yomi's combat is straightforward — you'll fight on a 2D screen where enemies will surround you and attack. Although this system seems daunting, seeing as getting surrounded on both sides feels like an actual threat, it actually doesn't cause nearly as many problems as I thought it would. Being swarmed by foes wasn't a problem — in fact, it was underwhelming and immersion-breaking. Enemies would run around me and outnumber me but take turns attacking; this makes sense from a gameplay perspective, but cinematic-wise it was poorly implemented, as the choreography felt almost too obvious. Even at the hardest difficulty, enemies struggled to kill me unless I played aggressively, which Trek to Yomi punished me for.

All that said, however, the combat system in the game was fun, despite it feeling a bit underwhelming at times. I liked the combos, and varied enemies — which you could tell by their differing models — allowed me to change my fighting style accordingly... that is, until I was offered the opportunity to have a quick attack that stuns enemies, essentially allowing me to one-shot them. Suddenly, combat lost its meaning. Sure, it's fun, and you can opt to not use the stun mechanic — something I eventually resorted to — but it isn't nearly as fun if I don't have to give it my all. Perhaps it was me expecting the game to feel more difficult, or perhaps it was me expecting a more Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice-esque playstyle, but Trek to Yomi seemed to leave me wanting in most areas I was presented with.

Its visual style is unique and truly gorgeous, but I really wish that it had colour to really capitalise on the beautiful environments; the storytelling feels like it should have had more focus due to the graphics and the setting, but it overall left me wanting; the combat was enjoyable but broke immersion story-wise, or was otherwise completely nullified by an in-game mechanic. Everything I loved came with some sort of caveat that brought the enjoyment down at least a little; it was frustrating because I really wanted to love Trek to Yomi more, seeing as the heart is there. I just sincerely couldn't appreciate it as much as I should have. Perhaps more resources should've been focused on the gameplay, or more resources should've been focused on the story, but the game just felt half done in both. That said, the gameplay is fun enough, and I enjoyed my time with it; I just had to self-impose some challenges or rules in order to enjoy it to the fullest. It’s worth mentioning that, despite the flaws, I really did enjoy my time with Trek to Yomi, even if I was expecting more from it.