Trek to Yomi Brings Something Unique to the Samurai Genre, Says Dev

gamerant.com:

To an observer of the video games industry, it might seem like the samurai genre is undergoing a bit of a resurgence. Titles like Ghost of Tsushima and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice draw heavily on classic samurai cinema to give their gameplay and environment an authentic feel. One of the latest, however, is Trek to Yomi, and it seems developer Flying Wild Hog doesn't like being compared to these titles.

“In many places, we are compared to Ghost of Tsushima,” said Marcin Kryszpin, Trek to Yomi’s creative director at studio Flying Wild Hog, but “this is a totally different type of game.” For the game’s devs, Yomi occupies a niche closer to arthouse cinema than the adrenaline-pumping combat of other titles in the samurai genre. Game Rant sat down with Flying Wild Hog to discuss how Yomi sets out to give players this aesthetic experience.

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To hear Flying Wild Hog tell it, Yomi was designed as more than just a game. As Kryzspin said,

“One of its unique selling points is an old samurai movie experience. We really wanted to make something that, when you are playing, you can feel the atmosphere from these movies.”

Samurai movies, of course, were a major inspiration for Yomi’s atmosphere and environment. Films from legendary Japanese directors such as Akira Kurosawa and Masaki Kobayashi were big influences, Kryzspin said. “There are a lot of references and parts of the game that look like some of those masterpieces.” Yomi also draws on manga and anime series like Ninja Scroll, Berserker, and Samurai Champloo.

One way the devs accomplished that goal was through a commitment to authenticity. Flying Wild Hog did research and consulted experts to accurately recreate Yomi’s Edo period backdrop.