Trek to Yomi Overview – Overview

Watching samurai flicks from Akira Kurosawa is synonymous with having fun with John Wayne westerns, Jean-Luc Godard French cinema, or Alfred Hitchcock horror—reveling in an artwork type of yesteryear. Whereas rigorously looking for one thing just like satiate the thirst for these classics, it’s all the time a pleasing shock to search out somebody who simply will get it, particularly when given in a distinct medium. Trek to Yomi is one such instance, the place the loving artwork model and aesthetic simply splashes the whole lot Kurosawa imagined throughout the display screen, however this time, permitting the participant to make their manner by way of the story first-hand. Whereas the builders nailed the identical vibe because the supply materials, the gameplay can go away loads to be desired, and the Nintendo Swap {hardware} struggles to maintain up with the attractive visuals.

As a younger boy, Hiroki remains to be studying underneath his grasp on the dojo. However when marauders assault his hometown, his grasp loses his life, and Hiroki vows to guard the village from right here on out. Alongside along with his grasp’s daughter, Hiroki grows up, continues his coaching, and turns into a lone samurai towards whoever stands at odds with this nice hamlet. Reuniting in battle along with his grasp’s killer, the journey of revenge begins throughout the countryside, the place Hiroki should save the city, defend the lady, and search vengeance towards the bandits who’ve mercilessly killed so many. Whereas Trek to Yomi doesn’t attempt to break the mould with out-of-left-field storytelling, it succeeds in the whole lot it tries to do.

The cinematic nature of Trek to Yomi is compounded by its storytelling, but it surely’s the visuals that basically make it one thing price seeing. Using a method harking back to the unique Resident Evil video games, the place the digicam is about at sometimes-odd angles with a purpose to actually painting a cinematic high quality, Trek to Yomi does the whole lot it may well to make the participant consider they’re in a film, sticking largely to a side-scrolling viewpoint. Regardless that this will trigger some wonkiness with the controls and the space set can sometimes be detrimental to performing some gameplay features, the sport sacrifices in these areas to immerse the participant totally into its meant visible model.

Moreover, the black-and-white tone and cutscenes take issues even additional, the place each second from starting to finish feels repeatedly just like the participant is melting into the place of Hiroki. The wonderful sound design and soundtrack hold the richness going and the right Japanese voice performing is a should.

That is the place issues take a little bit little bit of a flip, nevertheless, as Trek to Yomi’s Nintendo Swap port leaves loads to be desired. Whereas framerate and efficiency sustain with the combo-filled gameplay, the visuals themselves fall brief with the highly-detailed environments. The shifts in lighting from very brilliant to fairly darkish are noticeably onerous to play by way of on the Swap, whereas plantlife and objects get a tough edge to them that isn’t discovered on different {hardware}.

Whereas the visuals take a knock on the Nintendo Swap, particularly, the gameplay is monotonous whatever the system you play it on. Very like different combo-based titles, Trek to Yomi has a fight system headlined by assaults, dodges, parries, and blocks. By way of these, combos will be discovered and used to make every encounter simpler, however on the finish of the day, merely hacking and slashing by way of the fundamental enemies will normally get the job performed. This turns into much more evident when the range-based weapons are introduced into the fold, with shurikens and a bow-and-arrow at your disposal. These assaults take ammunition that you will need to discover all over the world, however so long as you’re taking the time to go searching, it’s fairly plentiful. Boss fights are rather more fascinating when it comes to the fights themselves, in addition to the backing from the story, however all in all, Trek to Yomi is right here to allow you to play in a samurai film, not wow you with its techniques.

Following that line of considering, the world itself is stuffed with extra story factors to be discovered, however apart from that, it’s largely a straight-forward, linear trek from level A to level B. Collectibles can be found to be found with both a brand new combo to be discovered or some objects to be discovered. Traps will be discovered with a purpose to make upcoming fights simpler, reminiscent of a dangling log that may be dropped on unsuspecting enemies. In any other case, the participant’s principal objective is to search out the subsequent shrine, which features as a save spot, à la Darkish Souls’ bonfires.

Trek to Yomi is a love letter to traditional Japanese cinema. Followers of the style will probably be totally immersed and giddy about with the ability to expertise one thing like this, and it’s one thing to behold visually even for many who don’t include prior data. Sadly, these visuals are greatest skilled on techniques apart from the Nintendo Swap, which solely makes the monotonous gameplay extra evident. Unimaginable storytelling, although cliché, boosts Trek to Yomi in the direction of one thing price experiencing, particularly when the sport will be overwhelmed in a day.