The artistry on display in Trek to Yomi is an impressive feat for developer Flying Wild Hog that doesn't overstay its welcome across the short and simple experience. However, some issues do appear across the game's collection of chapters that do hold it back.

Many of these issues come from limited puzzle and enemy designs, although the shorter length of the game keeps any of Trek to Yomi's problems from becoming glaring detractions. That being said, the combat still shines bright enough across an initial playthrough to keep players satisfied right up until the end of the game.

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To begin on the strongest positive Trek to Yomi has going for it, the combat shines with a unique twist on both side-scrolling fighting and samurai dueling. The biggest gimmick of the combat comes from how the player faces enemies, requiring a specific button input in order to turn around to anyone approaching from behind. This adds a layer to combat that beginners need to master quickly if they want to make it through each chapter and the boss fights that cap off each level.

trek to yomi length

The addition of combat skills that can expand the player's toolkit with combos and ranged abilities continues to add depth to gameplay across an entire playthrough. Without traditional RPG-style levels, these skills, along with the health and stamina upgrades, go a long way to give Trek to Yomi a sense of progression. It makes for a compelling combat system that only continues to evolve from chapter to chapter as new enemies are thrown at the player in each level.

On the other end of combat, the enemy variety is surprisingly vast for such a short title. After the first two chapters, it can be easy to write off the combat as simply including a repetitive set of katana-wielding bandits, but the remaining experience takes a sharp turn along with the story. The introduction of blighted enemies and spirits in the mid-game pump some much-needed variety into the selection of combatants, with new variants appearing as mini-bosses before reappearing again and again.

While the actual selection of enemies is pleasantly varied, the dozens of combat encounters per chapter can quickly make even this expansive bestiary feel shallow. This is one of the few problems Trek to Yomi struggles with as the player is tasked with dispatching a lot of enemies across a single playthrough. The problem comes from the way that combat encounters start to feel monotonous by the end of each chapter.

Fighting enemies in Trek to Yomi

One final part of combat that is open for criticism would be Trek to Yomi's stuns and finishers. These can be the key to easily dispatching some of the more difficult enemies, with mastery of this mechanic helping players speed through many encounters. The critique here is that one combo found early in the game can quickly stun and is easily exploitable to instantly kill tougher enemies and breeze past combat. It's an otherwise fantastic addition to the depth of combat that can unfortunately turn into the only tool that players need to get through the entire game.

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To continue with the parts of Trek to Yomi that are lacking, many of the puzzles are simple enough to feel unnecessary. A few amount to as little as pushing a cart out of the way and then quickly moving on to the next screen. Other puzzles involve finding glyphs and lining them up on a grid, but even these are unimpressive and easily completed. These specific puzzles can also be brute-forced with little effort, although that is definitely a question of player choice.

Outside the moment-to-moment gameplay, Trek to Yomi's stylized atmosphere stands out as another one of its stronger aspects. The inspiration of classic samurai films, such as the works of Akira Kurosawa, is expressed from the surface level and all the way down into the deeper aspects of the presentation. This is expressed not only from the black and white visuals, but also through the flavor added to this depiction of Yomi and the artifacts that can be collected throughout.

Exploring the world in Trek to Yomi

In addition to the blending of the supernatural and classical styling of Japanese film history, the atmosphere is strengthened by the impressive cinematography. It's an aspect that isn't often explored in games outside of cutscenes, but the way that Trek to Yomi leans into its genre turns individual screens into sprawling shots. The effect lets some screens act as part explorable world and part establishing shot for the impressively built locations leading up to Yomi.

These visuals themselves are unfortunately in service of a lackluster story, with a few choices here and there to allow the player to shape their ending the way they would like. However, the simple tale of revenge is told in a straightforward way with a few twists that are somewhat predictable. Beyond some changes to the final scenes, the endings don't really change much about the overall experience. That being said, the story isn't exactly the leading draw for Trek to Yomi's inspired world design. So, lacking a powerful story doesn't mark too strongly against the rest of the game.

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.

Trek to Yomi is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. Game Rant was provided a PC code for this review.

Trek to Yomi
Trek to Yomi

Trek to Yomi is a cinematic and monochromatic 2.5D samurai game where players step into the role of Hiroki, a character who is tasked to protect and defend his town and people per a wish from his dying Master. The game features intense combat encounters, light exploration, and a striking presentation.

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