Nihon Falcom’s Trails sequence is an impressively bold one. Not counting enhanced ports, we’re at the moment 12 video games deep into this goliath of a franchise, and we most likely have chunk extra left to go. However with long-running interconnected sequence like this, newcomers steadily change into much less and fewer prone to attempt them out. I don’t actually ever blame anybody who decides {that a} dozen-game-long overarching narrative is an excessive amount of to maintain up with; it’s an unimaginable time sink. Actually, if I wasn’t fortunate sufficient to start out Trails again when the primary title was initially localized, I’m undecided if I’d have had it in me to catch up.
However there are forgotten and missed trails which might be extra approachable, seen in The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails. This disconnected spinoff contains a new protagonist, forged, and setting for a standalone journey. After all, it’s all the time doable that when Trails Endgame releases, we’ll see the Nayuta protagonist seem with Adol Christin as they workforce up with the Trails forged to defeat Toshihiro Kondo himself. Nonetheless, at the least for now, the entry is disconnected. As a further very important notice, we got a code of this title’s Japanese PC construct, labored on by NIS America and Durante’s workforce, PH3 GmbH, boasting stellar optimization and efficiency.
The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails stars the titular protagonist, Nayuta, a curious youth intrigued by the celebs and the potential of the world’s scope that he and others can’t fairly understand. Opposite to the consensus that their planet is flat, Nayuta believes in any other case and is borderline obsessive about studying extra. And as if to gasoline his boundless curiosity, ruins and stars sometimes fall onto the land, granting what some consider to be fragments of different worlds.
After returning dwelling from a visit together with his finest buddy in tow, Nayuta and firm witness this exact same phenomenon happen on their island. On the high of this newly discovered wreck, two harmful figures go away as shortly as they seem, leaving Noi, a fairy-like woman, behind. Then, following a string of occasions, she finally ends up asking Nayuta for his assist in discovering one thing essential taken from her.
The premise is definitely fascinating sufficient, with noticeably decrease stakes than what Trails often offers with. Granted, pressure will possible rise in later components of the story, but the final ambiance of Nayuta comes off as lighter and extra informal than what followers might anticipate. This welcome change of tempo not solely helps differentiate this entry by making its method readily distinct, nevertheless it has the potential to succeed in out to new followers. As well as, the gameplay design reinforces this altered enchantment since as a substitute of being a turn-based text-heavy journey, Nayuta is a platforming motion JRPG.
Feeling like a religious follow-up from Falcom’s much less fashionable Zwei duology with notes from Ys, gamers will progress by way of linear phases housing distinctive enemies and lite puzzles. From what I’ve performed, the phases are fairly compact, which is smart, provided that it was initially on the PSP. So, I’m positive it’ll really feel most at dwelling on the Change. Regardless, even after just some hours of taking part in, I simply discovered myself changing into addicted. Whereas nothing concerning the fight or stage design was extremely concerned or thought-provoking, there’s a comforting, nostalgic pleasure with the simplicity right here that I haven’t felt from a Falcom sport since their earlier works.
Nonetheless, there are additional layers to discover as, except for quests and such, the phases have differences due to the season that change up their format, providing new paths and, assumedly, new collectibles. With that being the case, replay worth can be an important element that I’m fairly excited to mess around with. Furthermore, in that aforementioned Zwei ingredient, cooking and meals play outstanding roles in character therapeutic and enhancement. For being a smaller-scale journey, Falcom’s regular dense gameplay content material is current.
The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails has all of the makings of a concurrently quaint and grand journey, providing one thing new to Falcom followers and newcomers. In all honesty, I need to see Falcom develop extra video games that aren’t simply the standard Ys and Trails fare, even akin to Tokyo Xanadu. Whereas Nayuta is a revival as a substitute of a completely new mission, us Western followers will lastly be capable of get pleasure from it, so right here’s hoping it proves profitable sufficient for the developer to pursue higher variance.