One of my favorite RPG franchises that seemingly gets no attention is the Trails franchise. It just might be Nihon Falcom’s crown jewel, besides the Ys series of course. The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails is an interesting middle ground between the Ys series and the Trails franchise, and it is finally available in the West.

The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails was originally released in Japan in 2012. It is a spinoff, set in the world of the Trails franchise at an undisclosed point in time. The Legend of Nayuta tells the story of the titular character, a young man from an island known for being the site of ruins that fall from the sky.

Spending summer break with his friend Cygna, he discovers that the fabled world of “Lost Heaven” (also known as Terra) isn’t simply a fairytale. After meeting a fairy named Noi, Nayuta and Cygna are drawn into a struggle that will ultimately dictate the fate of the world. Nayuta and Cygna each discover their own fate and learn that things are not what they seem.

As I mentioned earlier, it isn’t quite clear how Boundless Trails connects to the Trails franchise as a whole. However, this spinoff also plays very differently from the rest as well. Instead of a turn-based RPG, The Legend of Nayuta plays more like the Ys franchise as a real-time Action RPG. Nayuta can attack, dodge, jump, and perform a variety of combos and skills as the game goes on.

Additionally, Noi eventually gains magic attacks and skills that allow you to progress through various obstacles. Both Noi and Nayuta have different equipment sets, so making sure their equipment is up to date is very important. This is where side quests come in.

The side quests are framed as “handyman jobs” that come via Nayuta’s mailbox. By doing these quests you may get items, money, or new abilities. As you adventure through stages on Terra, there are a variety of missions. By fulfilling the missions you’ll earn stars, which eventually can be redeemed (at certain milestones) for new swordsman abilities.

Each stage also has various treasures you can find which may consist of equipment, quest items, or food ingredients. You can cook food that can be eaten to gain both health and experience points. As time goes on you’ll also be able to donate collectibles to the museum to get money and certain quest items as well.

The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails is dense with content, but I’d wager it is probably only around 30-40 hours, maybe 50 if you’re doing all the side content. There are multiple difficulty levels, and the combat is challenging but fair, even on Easy. The boss battles are impressive too, making sure you use every tool at your disposal for each fight.

The weak spot for The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails is probably in the visuals. The text is almost unreadable in places. Additionally, while this is a re-release of a 2012 game, I think the developers over at Nihon Falcom could have spent a little more time on the graphical updates. The character and enemy designs are interesting, but people who can’t get past dated models might be turned off.

Overall, I really like The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails. As a side story in the Trails franchise, it has a lot of content and is an engaging Action RPG. While it doesn’t have the lore detail of other Trails games, fans of the Ys franchise will probably really enjoy it too.

A Nintendo Switch Review Copy of The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails was provided by NIS America for this review.

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The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails

$39.99 USD

8.5

Score

8.5/10

Pros

• Engaging Story
• Fun Combat
• Lots of side content

Cons

• Visuals aren't that polished
• Text is sometimes hard to read