After offering Shadow Warrior 3 two months ago, Flying Wild Hog is already back with a more modest title with a drastically different atmosphere. Trek to Yomi is a real tribute to Japanese sword movies from another era.
It is through the publisher Devolver Digital that the developers of Shadow Warrior, Flying Wild Hog, offer Trek to Yomi, an action game in a universe very inspired by the time of feudal Japan. The title is a small adventure with a lot of charm but also with many problems.
Trek to Yomi takes place in feudal Japan. We play a young boy named Hiroki, a young apprentice in the arts of swordsmanship, whose village is going to be attacked by an army of bandits. This one will see his master perish and will swear to dedicate his life to protect his family. Years later, Hiroki is once more confronted with bandit attacks that he will have to face alone. A fairly simple scenario that remains realistic at first before taking a more fantastic turn by drawing inspiration from Shintoism and its mythology. The frame is rather effective despite its classicism.
The new title of Flying Wild Hog is an entirely linear adventure alternating between moments of exploration in 3D as well as numerous combat phases on a 2D plane. The different chapters still offer small more or less hidden passages that allow you to find some collectables or other improvements in health, endurance or techniques mastered by the protagonist.
In Trek to Yomi, we spend most of our time fighting bandits and samurai who get in our way. Hiroki has strong and weak attacks as well as a whole bunch of techniques that can be used with keystrokes, the possibilities evolve throughout the adventure. He also has the ability to dodge and parry, the latter done at the right time offers a good chance of counter-attacking. Like his enemies, Hiroki has few life points, so the clashes are rather brief and require a good dose of cold blood in the highest difficulties. If the technicality sometimes necessary is very significant, the gameplay is still quite rigid. The fights aren’t the most enjoyable parts of the game.
If there’s one area where Trek to Yomi stands out, it’s in its staging. The game does not hide it, it is very inspired by Japanese cinema and particularly by filmmakers such as Akira Kurosawa. Entirely in black and white and presented in an image format that simulates the cinema format, the title is also embellished with filters and a grain that brings a rendering close to films from another era.
If it is not visually flawless, especially when the cutscenes get closer to the characters, the title skillfully highlights its sets thanks to particularly successful camera placements. It must be admitted that some passages affect the readability of the fights, but the title guides us intelligently thanks to the sources of light found everywhere. The game is directed by Leonard Menchiari, a former filmmaker who also worked extensively in the video game industry as a cinematic and staging manager (at Valve for example). A know-how that can be found in Trek to Yomi as the journey is fascinating.
To this must also be added the efficiency of the substantial work carried out on the music and the soundscape. The entire game is dubbed only in Japanese allowing a better immersion in the context. Many passages of the game take place during tragic events and the actors offer harrowing performances. As well as the music, which knows how to be discreet but which brings a lot to the general atmosphere.
Trek to Yomi is unfortunately a title that doesn’t offer much more. His adventure ends in just a few hours, between three and six hours depending on the level of difficulty and your skills. Four variants are available which will mainly change the number of blows necessary to get rid of enemies. Despite some collectables and different endings, the title struggles to offer game phases that bring variety to the experience. The adventure is strewn with fights and leaves room for contemplation between them, which brings a very redundant side to the formula despite the very good highlighting of the sets. It is above all this aspect that we retain of the adventure, an impactful staging and a particularly successful atmosphere.
Conclusion
Flying Wild Hog, developers of the bloodthirsty Shadow Warrior 3, are tackling a very different genre with Trek to Yomi. Their latest project is an action game set in feudal Japan but also a vibrant tribute to Japanese sword movies. We play a young boy named Hiroki whose village will be attacked by bandits. Witness to the death of his master, he swears to dedicate his life to protecting his family. Years later, Hiroki is once once more confronted with the horrific acts of a group of ruthless bandits. If the scenario remains quite classic, it can be followed without problem and is also what pushes us to move forward in the adventure. The title is a very linear action game, alternating between short exploration passages in 3D and numerous fights on a 2D plane. The gameplay is rather technical but its rigidity prevents it from being very pleasant controller in hand. The adventure is not very long, it only lasts a few hours, and does not offer much more. Some collectables and upgrades can be found in the different chapters. We will especially remember his very neat artistic direction and very inspired by the Japanese cinema of another era. Entirely in black and white and offering many references, the title delivers a very good staging. The work on the music and on the dubbing reinforces the already very effective atmosphere of the title.
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Trek to Yomi
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WE love :
Technical gameplay
An excellent scene
A memorable atmosphere
We like less:
A classic plot
Still tough fights
Sometimes small readability issues
Very repetitive
