Background information

Zwift has just updated their page with more exciting information about Yumezi. This post will contain the future plans for Yumezi, my initial first ride impressions, and a video recording of this exciting new world. Here is Zwift’s updated page about the new world: https://www.zwift.com/yumezi. Zwift also plans more new things for Yumezi in the future. Here is what Zwift has said about it so far, “Brand new roads. Same fast fun. Say hello to Yumezi, the tranquil countryside within the Makuri Islands. Inspired by a collective lifelong love of Japanese tradition and pop culture, this brand new world is primed for future expansion, with all-new routes and regions to come.”

This is directly from Zwift’s website. You can currently host events and meetups on all the courses so far. There are no event-only routes in this new world yet, but as more roads are added, I assume there will be some.

The design/details

This is one of the three villages currently in this world. Zwift obviously did an amazing job replicating a Japanese styled village, with the lanterns hanging and the architecture of the houses. Japan looks especially cool in the dark with a glowing Tron bike. If I reference Japan I mean the Makuri Islands.

The Cherry blossoms are definitely very well designed with some on the ground and as you pass by there are some falling from the trees. The Cherry blossoms are definitely something that attracts many tourists to Japan, except in Zwift, it is cherry blossom season all day and everyday.

What could be coming next?

This map definitely has a lot of potential with Mt. Fuji in the distance. I think that it is very likely that we will see more courses and some new roads added with Mt. Fuji later on in the year, these different expansions will likely be spaced out maybe one part every few months until the fall when things will start to settle down. Zwift does advertise this world as a place for competition which gives me a hint that there may be some more race courses released sometime soon. Originally everyone thought that we would be getting the Olympic course, but Zwift surprised us with something more unique. If Zwift does add Mt. Fuji, I highly doubt it will be the entire climb as it is over 3 times the height of Alpe Du Zwift. I think it could be the lower portion, or an entirely different climb as the Makuri Islands aren’t a real place in Japan.

The routes

Here are each of the routes.

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My thoughts

After riding all of the routes in Yumezi, Makuri Islands, I think that this is one of the better designed worlds. The world kept me entertained throughout the whole ride even when I was supposed to be doing a Peloton workout(yes I do Peloton) I still got sidetracked by the scenery and the different sprints placed throughout the route. The sprints were generally around 10-15 seconds long which is perfect in my opinion, I tend to dislike sprints like the Fuego Flats sprint which is like 40 seconds long. I managed to get a video recording of me riding the new route but it was on the computer which is not the fastest so the video is a bit laggy. I think that I will definitely be riding this world pretty frequently, even the gravel part got me pretty interested even though I hate dirt roads in Zwift. Something that could be improved about this course is maybe a crit course around the Temple area(the area with all of the technical twists and turns). The castle climb is a good 5-10 minutes long depending on the speed. Overall I think that this is one of the best designed worlds with very detailed villages and landscapes. For now we can only look at Mt. Fuji but hopefully Zwift will add it in game so that we can crest the iconic climb. Here are some videos.

Zwift definitely has big plans for this world, and it is very likely that it could become bigger than Watopia once the world of fully expanded, but expanding the world will take time as it did with Watopia. I can’t wait to see more of the Makuri Islands, and I highly suggest you check it out!