LogFAQs > #979381810

LeonhartFour posted...

So did anyone play that Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails game? I got a 15% discount code from Nintendo for my birthday, and I'm trying to figure out what to use it on.

I have! It has some good aspects, but it feels like they cross the action of Ys with the story of Trails, and wind up with inferior versions of both. Here's my review if you're curious:

Nayuta's a game with a lot of highs and lows. I do admire what Falcom did here, trying out some new stuff that stretches the bounds of what they usually do, but it didn't quite work for me. First, the title's a bit of a lie: this is essentially an Ys game. It takes place in a different world and doesn't star Adol, but the combat and design in general feel a lot like Ys. This comparison is generally unfavorable, unfortunately, for one major reason: Nayuta's combat isn't good. At the start of the game, I'd call it actively bad. You have practically no moves, so all the fighting is just repetitive attacks. It does get more interesting as the game goes along, especially when you get magic, but I believe the game would've been better if you started out with more moves and got even more as the game goes along. There are some stupid design decisions too, like how the last couple bosses don't let you use magic, so you essentially just spam the attack button against them until they die (there's some dodging and blocking too, but they're still the most boring bosses in the game, unfortunately). The main story isn't the greatest either. The bad guys' scheme ends up being pretty cliched, and the main villain just sucks. The later parts of the story really took me out of it, since a lot of the villain's motivations were kinda dumb. I think it could've been done better if they'd sprinkled development throughout the game rather than saving it all for the end, maybe? Maybe that would've just made the earlier story worse too, though...

Now, moving on to the good parts. Though Nayuta himself isn't very interesting, having an actual character as the protagonist definitely helps, just like in Ys Origin. The game's structure has you living on an island, where you talk to people and sometimes get quests, then going on missions to another world where you do fights. It's stage-based rather than a connected world like Ys or Trails. Running around the island is pretty fun! It's not a huge island, with a size and character count just right for talking to everyone when they get updated dialogue after story beats. Ys 8 succeeded with a similar formula, though I think Ys 8's NPC cast was quite a bit better. Of all Falcom's PSP games, this one has the best graphics by a lot. People don't look like horrific monstrosities like they did in Ys 7 despite using a somewhat similar graphics style, and there are a few charming animations in there, especially Lyra and Noi freaking out. Noi's your fairy companion who's always with you, and she's the game's best character by a lot. I always enjoyed scenes focusing on her, since she's the soul of the game.

The stage-based system also works in the game's favor, for the most part. Nayuta's level design is way better than any Ys game's. Levels are fun to play through and explore, with minor platforming elements and good enemy placement. Unfortunately, Falcom apparently thought the game was too short, since you get alternative versions of levels after beating them too, which you're encouraged to do to get to a level necessary to progress. Some of these variations are fun, but I think the game would've been better without as much stage revisiting. You get sidequests that have you going back to old stages too, and those aren't that fun either. Every level also has a ranking for it, where you have to complete certain objectives to get a better ranking. This would be a fine optional system, but it also unlocks more combat options, so you'll be redoing levels a lot if you want to unlock your full arsenal, which isn't very fun IMO. Bosses seem quite well designed. They're more like setpieces than a lot of Ys bosses are, including stuff like fighting a boss while rafting down a river. They're not that hard, but they're entertaining and creative. Would love to see more epic bosses like these in Ys games too.

tldr, play some Ys games instead.