Trek To Yomi - 2D Samurai Adventure (PC/XBOX/PS)

[gospvg]

 

This was in the devolver digital presentaion and looked great!

 

As a vow to his dying Master, the young swordsman Hiroki is sworn to protect his town and the people he loves against all threats. Faced with tragedy and bound to duty, the lone samurai must voyage beyond life and death to confront himself and decide his path forward.

 

Cinematic Presentation

Breathtaking camera angles and striking visuals in the spirit of classic samurai film create a true cinematic experience in Trek to Yomi.

 

Stylish Combat

Engage vicious swordsmen and supernatural beings with a streamlined combat system based around the traditional weapons of the samurai.

 

Mythic Storytelling

Experience an enthralling story of Hiroki during his fall against the forces of evil and heroic return to make good on his failed promise to save the people he swore to protect.

 

Thrilling Soundtrack

The thrilling action and somber moments are set against a memorable score designed to feel authentic to the time and place of feudal Japan

[Jamie John]

That looks great. What with this, Somerville, Replaced and Planet of Lana, I should be set for gorgeous and atmospheric 2D action-adventure games.

[shirubagan]

This is available to pre-load and is Game Pass day one. Release date is the 5th May.

 

It looks superb.

[Jamie John]

I'm still interested in this but I've read/heard a couple of underwhelming previews. Hopefully it's as good as it looks.

[Mr. Gerbik]

I'm always up for some atmosphere Samurai shit, and this looks fantastic. And it's on game pass! Win win

[BossSaru]

That looks awesome. And if I get bored in a few hours, no frustration from having bought it at full price. Game Pass delivers again.

[Kayin Amoh]

Gameplay looks kinda mediocre, but those environments are absolutely spectacular. 

 

 

[Quest]

I think it looks dreadful. Just really one-note combat playing out the same way over and over. 

 

 

[Mr. Gerbik]

Even if the gameplay is straightforward, I'm totally up for an atmospheric trek through feudal Japan. 

[DeciderVT]

Lovely environments and I like the black and white but is it supposed to look like bad stop motion animation? I've seen more fluidity of motion in an episode of Pingu.

[phillv85]

The combat looks pretty janky, but I’ll definitely give it a go.

[Mr Do 71]

🤣

 

 

[Mystacon]

This is out today isn’t it? Can’t wait to give it a go.

[Steven]

On 09/04/2022 at 05:03, Kayin Amoh said:

Gameplay looks kinda mediocre, but those environments are absolutely spectacular. 

 

 

 

I thought it was a Mr Benn game with that YT play icon overlay.

[shirubagan]

Played up to the first save point and really enjoying the style and presentation. Very much looking forward to this.

[Hitcher]

 

[Ry]

Forgot this was on gamepass. Downloading now. 

[Strafe]

Sleepwalk to Yomi.

Played about an hour of it. It looks very nice and has some great production values but it’s still a very basic game and the fast walking, janky character movement looks out of place compared to the realistic-ish visuals.

[Wiper]

Yep, I'm sad to say that was my experience too. A really evocative art style and some nicely chosen camera angles can't hide the fact the actual gameplay is utterly pants, the controls floaty and player animation janky. Somehow in terms of combat it manages to be simultaneously less challenging, engaging or satisfying to watch than the original Prince of Persia; which is a bit of a problem when combat is the only real interaction to be had in the game.

[Strafe]

There’s no real weight to the combat. I think if you’re swinging a Katana into people or clashing it against other swords there should be some heft, some feedback (think Sekiro or Ghost of Tushima or even Elden Ring). There’s definitely a technique to it but it doesn’t feel very satisfying.

[Mr Majestyk]

And finished. I found the whole thing decent enough but i do have a soft spot for Kurosawa flicks. 7/10 and uninstalled, never to be looked at again

[Kayin Amoh]

Pretty much as I expected so far. The combat's utterly forgettable but the journey's a visual delight.

[monkeydog]

The characters break the illusion somewhat, especially in cutscenes, but I do think the look of this is fantastic.  For my money, games always struggle to have lighting that doesn't look 'flat'.  The black and white brings a real contrast and depth to the image (I'm sure there's proper cinematography terms for this).

 

 The sound design in the opening section, with the bell tower, was pretty cool too.

 

Bored of the gameplay very quickly.  I don't know if I can persevere past the 45 minutes I played. It doesn't sound like the combat clicks into place rather than just being in the way.

[footle]

Looks astonishing. Not sure how much further I’ll play than the end of chapter two.

[shirubagan]

I’m really enjoying it. Just approaching the end of Chapter Four and things have been getting weird.
 

It doesn’t have the greatest combat, but it’s not the worst by any means. 

[BadgerFarmer]

It works a little better on Hard difficulty, I think, in that it forces you to be a bit more focused and clinical, which adds a touch of tension to the combat. Although that still doesn't stop it being very repetitive.

 

It's a shame they couldn't make more of, well, everything. All those fantastic views and camera angles are badly underserved.

[smithstock]

Yeah I love the aesthetic, but the combat mechanics remind me the old Assassin's Creed games where wait > parry > kill was the most dominant strategy from the outset. 

 

Similar to others - I've enjoyed what I've played but don't know if it's got the staying power to keep me invested. 

[denisb]

I’m quite enjoying this even with the awful fight mechanic 

 

is there a technical reason for the B&W visuals or just the  style they decided on ?

 

would love to have seen colours of some of the scenes 

[Mr. Gerbik]

I'm really really enjoying this. The combat is doable with the mahoosive parry window, which you can follow up with a one slice kill most of the time - and that makes you feel like a total Zatoichi badass.

 

The environments and camera work are sumptuous - if you have any love for classic samurai films this is a visual feast.

 

Best way to think of this game, to set expectations right, is a spiritual successor to the likes of Onimusha and Soul of the Samurai on PlayStation 1 - with the (for that time) impressive and atmospheric but static 2D backgrounds replaced by similarly impressive and atmospheric 3D environments. It really is one of those.

 

If needs be, set it to easy, because the trek itself is the main attraction not the combat.

 

And I have to call out anyone overly critical or dismissive because they're directly comparing it to a triple A experience like Ghost of Tsushima or something. This is a flawed but very enjoyable indie type game. If they were to do it again I'd hope they improve the character models somewhat and tighten up the combat. But they nailed the atmosphere, environment, and camera work. I'm a glass half full type gamer I guess  7/10, if only you could walk to the Yomis etc

 

 

[Pelekophoros]

I couldn't disagree more, in so many ways.

 

The camera is awful for large chunks of the game - the fixed camera views often being opposite to where they should be as you move between them (exit scene right should result in enter scene left, which it often gets wrong).

 

It regularly pulls so far back you can't see the weapons or parry window, making the already frustrating combat more frustrating. The subtitles are often unreadable.

 

The environments are good in the real world, less so elsewhere. It descends into generic pavements in the sky and randomly introduces bizarre elements. The cursory puzzle that is repeated 5 or 6 times is broadly pointless. The crushing room appears once and never appears again after insta-killing you because why would it happen.

 

The combat is parp. Just frustratingly inaccurate and imprecise. Yet the game is drenched in it, with mid level bosses, boss battles with energy bars, multi stage boss battles....just eurgh.

 

Scenery regularly gets in the way of seeing what's occuring. They've bizarrely hidden checkpoints in some places but not others.

 

It's like the Devs couldn't make their mind up what they were making.  It's part inspired by Limbo, part Ghosts of Tsushima, and there are flashes of a metroidvania in there.

 

As a result, it's far less than the sum of its parts. A frustrating, lacking, thin experience that draws from so many inspirations but understands so few of them.