A samurai story in black and white? Much more than that: the new Devolver production aspires to be one of the most ambitious video game tributes ever made to the master Akira Kurosawa. Welcome to Trek to Yomi. We tell you what we thought of the first bars of the new video game by Leonard Menchiari and Flying Wild Hog.
What can I tell about kurosawa that has not already been said in the 10,000 studies that have analyzed each of the details that have made it one of the greatest filmmakers in the history of the seventh art? If anything surprised me when I saw Seven Samurai for the first time, it was seeing and understanding the deep imprint left by the master in the way of telling stories in Japan. From Kikuchiyo’s startled expressions and behaviors to Kanbei’s solid character and leadership, Katsushiro’s inexperience, Kyuzu’s genius and Gorobei’s mastery, we could find parallels of all of them in any video game, manga, anime or drama of success. And it is normal that the transcendence of the myth has splashed the video game and has aroused the inspiration of Leonard Menchiari and Flying Wild Hog for his Trek to Yomi.
The first minutes at his command are completely hypnotizing, showing a style and staging that will not go unnoticed for any lover of the most classic Japanese cinema. The story of Hiroki’s revenge has many of the elements that make a story of redemption and quest to master the katana great, with an invasion of bandits to the protagonist’s villa, the cold-blooded death of a teacher in the eyes of of his disciple and the battle to balance the scales. The love story and the paths that will lead the protagonist to fight a battle not only against a threat that outnumbers him are already intuited in the initial stages of the game; it also seems that he will have to face some other duel against his own demons.
There are good reasons to wait for the new video game from the creators of Riot. Wonderful setting, great job to adapt the game to everything that can smell Japan than it seems sometime between the Muromachi period and the Azuchi-Momoyama. Ready to take your own katana revenge? We tell you how our trip to Yomi has gone.
Mastering the sword
The first thing that catches the eye of Trek to Yomi is evident: the commitment to black and white and grainy which leads him to imitate the celluloid that sheltered some of Akira Kurosawa’s best films in theaters around the planet. It is a risky bet, but one that is supported by great photography that takes advantage of the three-dimensional exploration in which the software is developed while there is no fight. Fighting, on the other hand, changes the hero’s movement to horizontal scroll, like that of the fathers of the beat’em up genre. The different threats will emerge from the different locations and the limits of the stage to attack Hiroki and it will be the mastery of the swordsman with his inseparable katana that will allow him to get out of the different encounters.
One button for fast attack and one for heavy attack. The third, the block, will allow you to counteract enemy attacks if you press it at the right time. I have mixed feelings about the first few bars of Trek to Yomi and its battle system. It’s elegant, precise and simple, but I don’t know if it has enough ingredients to last through an adventure without adding many more elements to the playable scheme than the addition of different long-distance weapons. There are hardly a few combinations of weak and strong attacks for the player that, at the moment, do not seem to have a great importance between the different enemies, which beyond the armor and weapons they carry, they do not offer much difference in their combat mechanics.
Trek to Yomi aims to be more of a narrative experience with playable accompanimentAs I say, do not be alarmed yet: it is the beginning of the game and there is still much to show. It is not the first time that making an advance with the first episodes of a title ends up being confusing for those who think and those who read. What I have no doubt is that Trek to Yomi aims to be more of a narrative experience with playable accompaniment that a samurai challenge in which the gameplay is above what is counted. My clues are in the different bonfires that await the protagonist to rest, recover his life and become checkpoints to continue the adventure. If Leonard Menchiari’s team had the urge to create a real challenge for the player, they would have separated them more from each other and would have opted for another game system.
the path of revenge
Does it really matter? Well no, because it is early to know if the benefits of what they want to tell will be above visual expectations that we have created around the production because of its spectacular trailers. We were talking about photography, but we cannot ignore the moments in which Leonard Menchiari and his team tell us the story of Hiroki and we get to know the characters, settings and places that we visit in search of secrets, clues and elements that will help extend the duration of the software and satisfy the hunger of the most completists.
Have I been satisfied with what I have tried in Trek to Yomi? I have been wanting more, without a doubt, so the first impression has been more than good. yes, maybe the trailers focus on the battle system led me to think the wrong idea about production. The most spectacular animations are not executed by the player; they are done with a finish button that finishes off enemies with sword swings that are pure poetry. That the software is able to transcend between what looks like a video game and a movie with such exquisite taste for choreography in its battles is a visual virtue, but it would be wonderful to have a little more interaction. The main issue is not my satisfaction with what has been tested; lies in what still hideswhich seems to be a lot and of quality.
The aspirations of Trek to Yomi are not trivial: it is a candidate to be one of the video games that best honor the legacy of Akira Kurosawa, but it can also be one of the brand new covered in the coming months. Samurai are still in fashion and players will be able to continue enjoying the benefits of a unique historical period such as feudal Japan by putting themselves in the shoes of Hiroki and his revenge on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X | S and PC sometime in 2022. It will remain patient and continue training to be up to such a great challenge.
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