Trek to Yomi

Lore & Background

The idea for Trek to Yomi emerged when game director Leonard Menchiari was experimenting with black and white imagery using Unreal Engine. Publisher Devolver Digital approached Polish studio Flying Wild Hog, who was developing Devolverland Expo at the time, about a game set in the Edo period. The studio agreed to develop the game, and Devolver brought Menchiari and Flying Wild Hog together. The game was heavily inspired by classic samurai movies, most notably those directed by Akira Kurosawa, the 1925 film Orochi, and Eiji Yoshikawa's novel Musashi. Menchiari also drew inspiration from Sergio Leone's spaghetti Westerns and 1930s movies starring Buster Keaton. Its 2D side-scrolling gameplay was influenced by silent films from the 1920s to 1930s, designed to look like a magical moving theatre stage.

Reader's Guide

Trek to Yomi received mixed or average reviews from critics, according to Metacritic. Reviewers concluded that while the game excelled in aesthetics and visuals, its combat, exploration, and narrative were underwhelming. Zoey Handley of Destructoid gave it a 7 out of 10, noting that the gameplay was overwhelmingly underwhelming and that poor exploration, unimpressive combat, and a merely passable narrative could not be made up for by terrific aesthetics. Michael Goroff of Electronic Gaming Monthly commended the game's visual presentation, describing it as a beautiful game with detailed backgrounds, dynamic camera angles, and lighting that makes the most of a black-and-white color scheme, giving the sense of a living diorama. Jill Grodt of Game Informer wrote that the tedious gameplay loop and visuals were reminiscent of a PlayStation 2-era game with all the faults and little of the nostalgia. Jason Faulkner of GameRevolution likened the game to a Kurosawa film while praising its grayscale visuals and music, but criticized its lack of character, saying it was missing much of the human element.

Did You Know?

• The game features a secret fourth ending unlocked if Kaguro is defeated in Chapter 3, with Hiroki finding Aiko's corpse and abandoning the village.
• The game's music was recorded using Edo-period Japanese instruments such as taiko drums and shamisen, performed by a gagaku orchestra.
• The team consulted Japanese historian Aki Tabei Matsunaga to ensure period-appropriate dialogue and historical accuracy.
• The game includes a cinematic mode that lowers difficulty, and an extra difficulty mode unlocked after completion where the player dies immediately upon being hit.