I covered this game as part of my coverage of the Xbox Game Pass for May 2022

A great Samurai game that reminds me of the style of Akira Kurosawa.

Trek To Yomi has amazing graphics at times, this can feel like it almost came out of an old black and white samurai movie. The characters are extremely well detailed in cutscenes and the camera angles are perfect at times. The use of lighting, foliage, and pacing are exceptional, it’s clear where the inspiration came from in this game, but whether it’s the Seven Samurai, Hidden Fortress, or Yojimbo, Trek to Yomi has some of Akira Kurosawa’s DNA in its art design.

The combat is acceptable as well. Players will fight many enemies but almost every showdown with a normal enemy takes mere seconds, with the groups of enemies bringing the real challenge. Eventually, enemies will gain armor but even so, the parry system is forgiving and players will be able to mow down enemies if they remember to act with purpose. The feeling is more that you are a samurai master rather than an all-powerful deity but overall this feels excellent. If you’re looking for a challenge, Trek to Yomi lacks that.

Pick this up if you like old Samurai movies, or just want a beautiful game. There’s so much style in this title that I forgive the weaker enemy selection because it’s the levels and locations that I pushed through this title for. I have returned to play more because I wanted to see how the entire experience turned out.

If you want to see the video this was taken of, or more from me on the Xbox Game Pass, check out: https://youtu.be/62CjXwS1zQg