Devolver Digital showed up big for E3 2021. Not only did the publisher debut its latest satirical cinematic E3 press conference, but it's featuring many of upcoming games too. The first big announcement of the event took even some Devolver Digital fans by surprise: Trek to Yomi, a black-and-white samurai game made by Polish studio Flying Wild Hog. Trek to Yomi will come to PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S in 2022.
Exactly what kind of game Trek to Yomi is remains unclear. The announcement trailer ran about a minute long and looked like a movie trailer. However, the entire trailer was reportedly direct gameplay footage. It wasn't a cinematic trailer, an impressive effort for Trek to Yomi's reveal.
Going off the trailer, Trek to Yomi is a third-person, potentially 2D action game that's heavily cinematic. The camera angles are reminiscent of Playdead's Inside and Limbo, with the camera moving around the player in a 3D space, despite the character itself being on a 2D plane.
Another comparison worth making is Trek to Yomi's ties to samurai film. The developers make it clear the game is stylized in a way to capture the "spirit of classic samurai film." Direct inspiration from director Akira Kurosawa seems obvious, but more will have to be seen beyond this short trailer to make a direct comparison. Nevertheless, Trek to Yomi sets expectations high, so expect to hear more in the months to come.
Partnering with Flying Wild Hog to create Trek to Yomi is indie developer Leonard Menchiari. Menchiari is known for his cinematic indie projects, for example Neo Dusk is an interactive movie that uses YouTube links to progress. Their most recent project, The Eternal Castle [REMASTERED], also received a lot of buzz in Game of the Year discussions around 2019. A similar pixel-art aesthetic can be seen used in Menchiari's earlier work, RI0T.
Following Trek to Yomi's announcement, Devolver published the game's profile on Steam. The profile suggests that what happens early in the trailer appears to be from the beginning of the game, as it's a story about a young samurai named Hikori seeking vengeance. Hikori finding his village in flames makes clear what kind of tragedy befalls him. Players will have to experience the details for themselves when the game releases next year.
Trek to Yomi releases in 2022 on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: Steam