Reviewed on Xbox Series X |S

Trek to Yomi is like a fusion of Ghost of Tsushima and Inside. Imagine the story and action of Ghost of Tsushima, but in a dark 2D side-scrolling atmosphere similar to games like Inside or Limbo. On Paper that sounds like a must play indie, but the finished product is like eating a well decorated dessert and finding out it tastes like cardboard.  Trek to Yomi is a gorgeous indie that forgot that game play matters.

Lets break it down.

The Positives:

In trek to Yomi, You play as Hiroki, a samurai who goes on a quest for vengeance to avenge his fallen master.

Let Start with the good Aspects of the game. Like I said in the intro the presentation is superb. The art style is unique and dope love letter to old school monochrome Japanese films. The black and white grain texture was a fantastic call and you can tell that there was a lot of love and care put into contrast and shadows. It truly looks like an extremely gorgeous and detailed monochrome painting. This game gets an A for its presentation and art style for sure.

Another plus was how the game preformed. The game Runs Well. I didn’t see any frame rate drops nor bugs. Load times of the Series S and X were quick and snappy.  

The Flaws:

Here are the Negatives: Unfortunately this game has more going against it than for it.  Let’s start with the game play. They game doesn’t feel quite right to play. This game is all about close methodical combat. There is a back and forth between Hiroki and his enemies. You have a stamina bar that goes down as you perform skills, blocks and strikes. You have to be calculating in how you approach enemies.

That seems like a cool and unique system that wouldn’t get stale but it doesn’t play out like that. Very quick the gameplay feels antiquated and boring. The gameplay isn’t layered and feels simplistic. Enemies only attack you one at a time and the AI doesn’t react well to your actions. It often feels like an old school flash game.

There are very simple puzzles sprinkled in the game but they don’t feel fleshed out and seem like they are there to extend the game a bit.

Speaking of the narrative, it is a basic samurai quest for vengeance plot. Hiroki doesn’t experience character development nor is he fleshed out other than his primary objective. That doesn’t do much to make us care for him.  The side characters also get the short end of the sword. They hardly get anytime at all. The Narrative really just pushes players to mow through the plot.  

Overall/Should You Play Trek to Yomi:

Trek to Yomi is a game that truly lives up to the saying all flash and little substance…Which is a shame because the premise and concept is fantastic. The A level Presentation just couldn’t carry the weight of Trek to Yomi’s poor gameplay, middling story and lackluster AI.

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