A Quick Hit: Trek to Yomi

Originally published on FarFromProfessional.com (10/2/23).

This indie samurai action game is good but not great.

Developer: Flying Wild Hog

Publisher: Devolver Digital

Released: May 5, 2022 (1/30/23, Nintendo Switch)

Trek to Yomi is beautifully crafted. Directors Leonard Menchiari and Marcin Kryszpin brought together some incredible design elements and a wonderful score by composers Cody Matthew Johnson and Yoko Honda to set a Kurosawa-esque style and tone to the game. Its story and design are steeped in Shinto mythology, and the game looks and sounds like everyone involved with its production did their research.

Menchiari and Alec Meer wove that Shinto mythology with other mythological tales of death and rebirth and redemption into a compelling if not original tale. Hiroki, our protagonist, is an Edo period samurai who just wants to honor his master’s dying wish—to protect their village and his daughter, Aiko, from bandits. Sanjuro was killed by a bandit leader named Kaguro when Hiroki was young. Sanjuro prevented the village from being destroyed, and he asked Hiroki do the same. Hiroki respects his master and loves Aiko, so agrees to protect the village.

Hiroki will honor his master and keep his promise, even if it means traveling to Yomi. Trek to Yomi (2022).

Several years later, when Hiroki is a young man and the village’s samurai guardian, Kaguro (the bandit leader) returns and lays waste to the village. He kills Aiko and Hiroki, sending the young samurai to the Japanese underworld, also known as “Yomi.” The game kicks into another, more fascinating aesthetic once the story takes Hiroki to Yomi, with ghoulish creatures and spooky environmental effects. Trek to Yomi is theatrical from start to finish, and it’s quite lovely to look at, but I think that the trek through Yomi was the highlight of the game’s artistic design.

This game is near perfect in its execution, but where it lacks is its simplistic gameplay. Sometimes, simple is fun because it’s easy, but often that’s the case because it is simple and clever. The gameplay in Trek to Yomi underwhelms in its blandness, especially when you hold it up against its own stellar aesthetics and visual presentation. Menchiari and Kryszpin felt short of bringing a complete gaming experience to the consumer, and it’s a bit of a shame because the absence of a dynamic experience made the game feel repetitive.

Kaguro returned from Yomi to send Hiroki and his entire village there. Trek to Yomi (2022).

The saving grace is that Trek to Yomi is a quick play through if you don’t bail on it after the first few frustrating deaths by kitana. The consensus on this indie samurai action game was that it was above average—good but not great, and I agree with the consensus opinion on this title.

Trek to Yomi looks and sounds amazing, but its gameplay keeps it from being an exceptional gaming experience.