One of the games that have been on my radar for 2022, even if not as a top-tier title, provided an exclusive preview build that I couldn’t pass up. Now that I have had a chance to experience what Trek to Yomi is going to provide, I can’t wait for Flying Wild Hog and Devolver Digital to release it! Going in, I was expecting some sidescrolling samurai action with the usual tale of a town defender setting out to get revenge. What I got was close to my expectations, but built up to be even more than that.

Gameplay

Starting off, the game sets you up as an apprentice to a sensei teaching you the ways of a samurai. After the basics session ends, the lesson is interrupted with a townsfolk member rushing in and asking for your sensei’s help. Knowing that danger is approaching the village and filled with the urge to fight back, you grab a real sword and head out to find where your sensei went.

It isn’t long before you cross the path of some bandits and your first real combat sequences happen. At first, you’ll have your standard attack combinations - double strike standard, double strike upwards, double strike downwards, and heavy strike. Yes, each of these striking types is different in its own way as far as speed and timing go. As you continue to defeat enemies, you will earn experience that will help you learn other attacks along the way.

Eventually, you will have a multitude of combo attacks to utilize and even learn turn-around strikes that let you turn around in an aggressive way. After I got the ability to turn-around strike, I barely used the regular turn around button again given how slow it is and you are just vulnerable the whole time since you can’t hold block while turning around.

When the game has a more 3D, or explorative 2.5D, perspective it won’t have any combat in it. All of the combat takes place in a 2D sidescrolling perspective. This doesn’t mean you can’t run into surprise situations though! While exploring, you can enter homes, shops, and various areas where you can find items to increase your stamina or helath, or even run into an enemy encounter.

The good news is that you will also find shurikans and/or kunai to throw. While they may be weak, they do a good job slowing an approaching enemy down or canceling their attack mid-throw. Plus, there are shrines every so often which give you a chance to save your progress and refill your health. Of course, shrines can only be used once, so don’t get stuck searching a building every time you load up because you saved before doing something tedious.

Expectations

With the ability to unlock new moves as you progress, I do hope to see some sort of skill tree that lets the player pick which moves they want to unlock more quickly than others. There are a ton of different ways the blade can be utilized and just as many different player-fighting styles. It would be crazy to restrict them to a set skill unlock path.

There were quite a few collectibles, but it didn’t seem that gathering them did anything for the player. I can understand having standalone collectibles for fun, but I would like to see a rare collectible set that gives the player some kind of bonus for finding all of the pieces for - if not something to the same effect.

Verdict

Trek to Yomi is definitely off to a great start and has raised my hype with just a short gameplay experience! The story itself may end up being rather general to a samurai’s tale, but they somehow made the action with the sidescrolling swordplay feel more unique than the average 2D action game. With different ways to attack with your weapon, each with its own benefits, I can see this game really giving a top-tier experience for its genre. If you were only somewhat interested in this game before, you should definitely raise that interest to a ‘must-play’ when the game is out!

Trek to Yomi is set to release in the Spring of 2022 for PC via Steam, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.