What instantly struck us as amazing in Trek to Yomi is the feeling of taking control of the central character Hiroki. In the preview, you play as both a young and older Hiroki but regardless of the age, Hiroki clearly is a warrior with a penance for the sword. Every attack, parry, and movement has a subtle weight to it. When we launched a flurry of strikes it didn’t feel sloppy or goofy like many games similar to Trek to Yomi. Instead, when our swords moved toward an enemy and we either hit or missed them, it felt akin to watching an action movie. It’s a strange but intriguing sensation that honestly we rarely experience in many action games and can only wait anxiously for the full game to release and experience this amazing gameplay in a perfected form.

Trek to Yomi will probably take most gamers aback when they see the visuals for the first time. Despite lacking any color, the world of this old-school feeling title visually pleases with stunning design and images. Just running through a town on fire or exploring a forest takes you in visually and doesn’t let go. You don’t need to know the color of the world of Trek to Yomi to almost visualize it in your own mind. That to us here at Honey’s Anime shows how much painstaking work was put into Trek to Yomi to create an atmosphere that just wows the player every second you look at the screen.

Despite using a very simple combat system that really only has a normal, heavy, projectile, and parry system, Trek to Yomi can be quite complex when combat gets heated. While fighting one enemy, you might think Hiroki is going to be overpowered and be able to feel any threat beforehand. Sadly, we died several times thinking that but the enemies hit hard and can easily deplete your health with a few swings. You need to constantly debate on either unleashing a simple combo, going for one heavy-hitting attack, and/or waiting for the best time to parry an attack. When Trek to Yomi adds several more enemies, the stakes grow, and missing an attack or wasting your stamina gauge will lead to you restarting from the last shrine—which acts as a health/save system—and redo the battle. Trek to Yomi is simple on easy or normal settings but pumps the difficulty up. You’ll truly feel like you’re entering a real samurai bout!

Grab some headphones or a nice stereo system when beginning Trek to Yomi. We will not deny this title has some stellar sounds with music and environmental notes just brimming with energy. Running through the starting city made us feel like we were in a bazaar and when in a fight surrounded by enemies, we could hear their yells and screams as they debated how to handle our Hiroki. Trek to Yomi is an audio treat and we can’t wait to see further levels and areas with even more audio greatness.