Trek to Yomi Preview: Stab, Stab Again

ign.com:

Like a living Samurai film, Trek to Yomi borrows the aesthetic of Seven Samurai or Thirteen Assassins to give you that same sword-swinging drama you love so much. I sat down and played the first two levels of Trek to Yomi, an upcoming side-scrolling action game. While I came in expecting to be delighted by the looks, I was also pleasantly surprised to find that Trek to Yomi had an interesting game under the hood, with some promising action combat with a variety of moves and matchups to explore.

Switching seamlessly from free exploration to side-scrolling in environments with a fixed camera, Trek to Yomi makes the most of its film influences, taking the dramatic lighting and understated duels of Akira Kurosawa's films and blending in the more cinematic violence of directors like Kenji Misumi and Takashi Miike during action combat.

Trek to Yomi sounds as good as it looks, the crackle and pop of fire overlaid by a dramatic soundtrack and the clash of swords from backlit silhouettes. The use of sound is key to make the genre work, and it seems like Trek to Yomi gets that. The voice actors also delivered pretty solid performances in what I played, with all dialogue in Japanese with English subtitles.

I can't say enough how much I enjoyed the environments of just two levels. Though the title and story promise at least some connection to supernatural events, the environments I saw were very mundane rural and woodland places. It didn't matter: They were generally rich, well-composed scenes that took advantage of the fixed camera angle to give a really cinematic experience. Effects like lighting were well-placed, as were background movements. The driving storm and lightning that came during one section were wonderfully used. Many