A Quick Hit: Trek to Yomi

This indie samurai action game is good but not great.

Developer: Flying Wild Hog

Publisher: Devolver Digital

Released: May 5, 2022 (1/30/23, Nintendo Switch)

Trek to Yomi is beautifully crafted. Directors Leonard Menchiari and Marcin Kryszpin brought together some incredible design elements and a wonderful score by composers Cody Matthew Johnson and Yoko Honda to set a Kurosawa-esque style and tone to the game. Its story and design are steeped in Shinto mythology, and the game looks and sounds like everyone involved with its production did their research.

Menchiari and Alec Meer wove that Shinto mythology with other mythological tales of death and rebirth and redemption into a compelling if not original tale. Hiroki, our protagonist, is an Edo period samurai who just wants to honor his master’s dying wish — to protect their village and his daughter, Aiko, from bandits. Sanjuro was killed by a bandit leader named Kaguro when Hiroki was young. Sanjuro prevented the village from being destroyed, and he asked Hiroki do the same. Hiroki respects his master and loves Aiko, so agrees to protect the village.