Trek to Yomi is a challenging game, but players can tailor the experience to their preference by choosing one of the game's three difficulty levels. Difficulty levels are a staple of video games, so most players are familiar with how they work. That said, Trek to Yomi takes a somewhat unique approach to difficulty levels, giving them thematic names instead of the standard easy, normal, and hard modes. The game adds a fourth difficulty level as well. Understanding the different difficulty levels and picking the right one is important for players' enjoyment of the game.
Although Trek to Yomi initially released back in May 2022, it is featured as a free game for PS Plus subscribers in June 2023. This means that a whole new wave of players are getting the chance to experience the fast-paced, lethal action in the game and its branching narrative.
Starting Three Difficulty Levels
Before starting the first chapter of Trek to Yomi, players will only have three options when it comes to difficulty: Kabuki, Bushido, and Ronin. As one might expect, these relate to what most games would call Easy, Normal, and Hard respectively.
Kabuki difficulty is a great choice for players that just want to experience the story and not stress too much about the combat, or for players who are relatively new to video games as a whole. Bushido is the standard experience, and a serves as a great starting point for most players. Ronin pumps up the difficulty quite a bit, and enemies in this mode have more health and do more damage. This is best for a second playthrough, unless players are looking for a challenge and don't mind spending more time on trial and error.
Unlocking Kensei Mode
Trek to Yomi also has a fourth secret difficulty level called Kensei. Rather than directly increasing enemy health and damage like Ronin mode does, Kensei makes all attacks one hit kills. This works both ways. Any hit from any enemy will instantly kill the player, and any hit from the player will kill an enemy. This excludes bosses, who still have hit point bars. In order to unlock Kensei, players must beat the game on any other difficulty level. This unique mode can actually be easier than Ronin in some ways, but the threat of always being one hit away from death is a lot to handle. Players will need to have a comprehensive grasp on Trek to Yomi combat mechanics to pull off a playthrough in Kensei mode.
Trek to Yomi has multiple endings, so players are expected to play through the game more than once to see all the possible story outcomes. Because of this, players should consider trying multiple difficulty levels for different playthroughs, as they all provide different experiences.
Trek to Yomi is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.