I have been waiting for a game to fill the samurai-shaped void that “Ghost of Tsushima” had left, and after having the chance to play “Trek to Yomi,” developed by Leonard Menchiari with Flying Wild Hog, I think I will be pleasantly satisfied. This preview will dive into the first two chapters and overall impressions of this side-scrolling, black and white katana-wielding adventure.

The story opens with our hero, Hiroki, training as a child with his sensei, Sanjuro. The village is suddenly under siege and Hiroki and the sensei’s daughter, Aiko, follow the destruction to assist. Years later, the past siege still haunts Hiroki as a great war is once again on his doorstep. This time though, Hiroki is no longer a boy and he is definitely ready and waiting to prove himself. As clique and tropey as these types of revengeful samurai stories are, but god, don’t we just love it when presented in a classic Japanese arthouse style. You can’t help but eat it up over and over again.

It was good to see there are three levels of difficulties so you can enjoy the story or go in focused on the gameplay. In the two chapters available in the preview, Hiroki is able to use a basic lunge stab with his katana from overhead and below and a heavy sweeping blow. A parry is a must in sword combat and shurikens make sure you can keep some enemies at length. From the menu though, it looks as though more skills and combos can be learned along the way.

Collectibles and objectives glow white against the grey tones of the environments. The game utilised A LOT of creative and cinematic angles to enhance the gameplay as it moves between the background to foreground, or from running far away into the front of the screen. It is executed and layered so beautifully, keeping this side scroller more than a running camera.

The game itself is gorgeous visually from the very start menu on boot up. As mentioned previously, the game is completely black and white and draped in grey scales tones. It is grainy like an old vintage Japanese film; an aesthetic that is admired by cinematographers through the ages.

On the rare chance, this isn’t your thing though, there are options to turn the Grain and Bloom filters off. Some fight scenes are even played out through the clever use of shadows, and the rain reflects through the puddles stunningly, a hard feat but done to perfection. The visuals and stylings are very intricate and obviously a priority in the production process.

The sound department has also impressed, with Japanese pan flutes and lutes fluttering in the menus and hard-hitting and impactful environmental sounds such as war drums or heart-wrenching screams, pounding home the direness of the situations.

There are plenty of conversations to listen in on or around NPCs as you explore that if you stay long enough really builds the world. The voice acting while not too present in the chapters we previewed, is fairly decent so far. The interactions with sensei Sanjuro feels authentic enough, commanding the attention of the younger Hiroki, but not cheesy enough to be a classic dubbed over film.

I do wish the subtitles would stay up longer as at times I missed some dialogue when distracted or too many things were happening all at once. I also feel that while the environments are gorgeous, the character models other than Hiroki in cutscenes up-close feel a bit lacklustre and overshadowed.

Overall, ‘Trek to Yomi’ is definitely on my radar even more now with its beautiful artwork and interesting swordplay. I can’t wait to play the rest of this title and see what the developers have brought to the table.

Written by: Stacey