Nayuta no Kiseki : Actually a really good game ?
I didn’t plan to play this game at first because for the most part, out of all the Trails games this one is the least talked about of the bunch. You hear constant praise of all of the other titles and arcs but this one tends to be an outlier that people oftentimes either skip or ignore as the weird one of the bunch.
I just kinda assumed that it wasn’t a title worth sinking my teeths into just because of its reputation and also because let’s be frank calling this a Trails game would be like calling “Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland” a Zelda game.
While the game is part of the Trails franchise it plays nothing like Trails and seemingly has no actual connections to the overarching narrative of Trails. The only things it borrows from Trails are some of the gameplay formula (like the way handle side quest but it’s not like quest boards), the way the story is divided into chapters (even with the exact same splash screen whenever a chapter starts or end) and some terms borrowed from the main games (such as measurement system or the name for the in-game currency).
I don’t know why they would even call that a Trails game aside from branding which to be frank at the time the game was released the Trails franchise was picking up some speed and this was the last game of the PSP era of Falcom so they probably thought to use the name as an opportunity to sell slightly more units instead of releasing this game under a new name but I can still be proven wrong by subsequent entry (and there’s no shortage of indirect references and similarity between the lore of this game and what has been presented so far into the mainline titles).
If anything this game is closer to the Ark Engine Era Ys games in terms of feel, action-rpg’s with a heavy emphasis on platforming, exploration and quick moment to moment action and those are amongst my favorite Falcom titles.
One “controversial” opinion that I have is that Falcom has always excelled at making some of the best Action-RPG’s out there and that their output in that department has always been relatively stellar compared to their more story-focused but also much more mixed design wise turn-based RPG’s and I don’t think that’s a stretch since Falcom pretty much invented the genre in the 80’s and has continued to iron out these skills for decades which is sad to see that the Trails games are now so popular that Falcom has pretty much abandoned that whole side of their identity (outside of releasing a few Ys titles every moon to more or less great result).
So it must come to no surprise that Nayuta no Kiseki has become one of my favorite Trails Game almost by default, it’s one of Falcom's best action-rpg titles and it can definitely stand on its own as a great video game regardless of the rest of the franchise it originated from.
The game starts-off with pretty limited movement options but the more you play and the more ability you unlock. The game has a pretty addicting and fun ranking system to push you to complete every level 100% which is how you eventually unlock more combat options but also through simply playing the game and completing side-objectives.
The game is legitimately super fun and like the Ark Engine Ys games has almost an arcade feel to it that makes the action exciting on a moment to moment basis. Much like Trails, you have arts which are used by your fairy looking companion “Noi” as some sort of satellite that shoots projectiles on top of your sword combat and using those in tandem with your own ability quickly lets you crank up that combo meter to a ridiculous degree. Like the Ys games it’s inspired from chaining moves and combo gives you different stat bonuses like increased strength and magic power but also more useful ones like doubling the money and exp obtained from enemies or giving you more chances for critical hit pretty much the better you do at the game and the stronger you become as a result which is such a satisfying feedback loop that I tend to miss from the more modern Ys titles for example.
Level-Design wise it’s also pretty solid, there’s a large selection of levels but most of them are recycled with one another but in a surprise twist this doesn’t actually matter because Nayuta’s best idea when it comes to recycling areas is to put a new spin on them through the season system. Pretty much after completing a world you unlock a Master Gear that lets you change the season on a particular continent which recolors all the levels in that area, make them more challenging and changes the layout significantly to feel like brand new areas that just happen to share similarities with their original counterparts.
12 levels out of the 37 levels in the game are affected by that mechanic and each of those 12 levels has 4 different variations (3 available in the main game and 1 exclusive to new game+) so in reality there’s 48 levels on top of 14 other levels not affected by this mechanic which makes for a total of 63 goddamn levels fill with really fun level gimmicks, decently challenging platforming and a bunch of other stuff.
What I like about these level variations is that they don’t feel like cheap recolors, they really went all out to make them feel like new levels and while they do share some gimmicks each seasons puts a new spin on that specific level gimmick and man I just really like the general consistency of the game in terms of its sheer gameplay content.
Bosses aren’t too shabby either, a lot of them are pretty fun to mash through thanks to the very generous healing system which is like the herbs from Ys on crack steroids. The game reminds me a lot of platformers like Klonoa or Kirby 64 and I personally love these games to death.
Had Nayuta been released in Europe and I stumbled upon it while searching for PSP games to play, this would’ve absolutely 100% been one of those hidden gem scrimblos that my autistic kid self wouldn’t be able to shut the fuck up about.
The game in general has that PS2 era vibe that I love so much in all of its quirks and weird-one off charm because what the game lack in ambition compared to other Trails games especially in the Story Department which isn’t this game strong suit despite having some genuinely solid moment near the end with some emotional scenes that feels yet again straight out of a PS2-DS era videogame (even coming with the weird obsession for beach/tropical setting from that era of gaming history where it seems like every game developers on the planet was trying to sell you on beach resorts).
SOUL
That’s what this entire experience boils down to and sometimes that’s more than enough to carry an entire game, it’s not the most mind-blowing experience in the universe but I’ll always prefer a solid 7/10 that feels like a 10 by sheer vibe alone than an absolute masterpiece that fails in some areas.
The game has flaws obviously, flaws that are typical of Falcom’s design philosophy. Most of the side-quests are pretty boring and the rewards for doing them are completely meaningless for the most part outside of the shopkeepers which allows you to get more equipment and accessories and there’s a lot of point when the game forces you to backtrack through earlier levels although I’d say that in this game it’s relatively quick and I often don’t mind that aspect as much in their A-RPG titles due to the general rhythm being excellent for the most part.
The game is also a bit on the easy side, although I did play the game on Normal which probably explains the lack of overall meaningful and the game has a NG+ feature including an exclusive hardcore difficulty setting tied to it on top of a ton of content exclusive to that second playthrough of the game but for now I’m satisfied with what I have.
The Artstyle also fucking rules as it is really cute and charming and the soundtrack bangs tho for that latter that is to be expected by Falcom standard.
In the end, I don’t know if the game is worth checking if you’re a Trails fan since it’s so far-off from what the series typically is and I genuinely have no idea how any of this is supposed to integrate to the lore if at all despite the similarities (there’s a lot of contradicting shit that almost makes it impossible to connect it to the Zemurian titles) but if you happen to like action-platformers especially of the PS2-DS Era variety and you miss that Ark Engine Ys goodness, definitely pick this one out since it’s easily amongst Falcom most overlooked titles and one of their best output in that department in my general opinion.
I’d suggest waiting for the remaster tho, I played that game on the PSP with a goddawful translation and I’m pretty sure the game will profit greatly from the graphical upscaling (the PSP still is the PSP even worse when emulated) and the story will DEFINITELY feel better to read through because as it is now the game’s dialogue are very stilted and very clearly google translated and I think some of the stronger story moments would shine way brighter with a new professional translation.
TL;DR : Creha is cute, Nayuta is my boy and you can give you fairy companion glasses as an accessory so it’s an automatic 10/10
I didn’t plan to play this game at first because for the most part, out of all the Trails games this one is the least talked about of the bunch. You hear constant praise of all of the other titles and arcs but this one tends to be an outlier that people oftentimes either skip or ignore as the weird one of the bunch.
I just kinda assumed that it wasn’t a title worth sinking my teeths into just because of its reputation and also because let’s be frank calling this a Trails game would be like calling “Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland” a Zelda game.
While the game is part of the Trails franchise it plays nothing like Trails and seemingly has no actual connections to the overarching narrative of Trails. The only things it borrows from Trails are some of the gameplay formula (like the way handle side quest but it’s not like quest boards), the way the story is divided into chapters (even with the exact same splash screen whenever a chapter starts or end) and some terms borrowed from the main games (such as measurement system or the name for the in-game currency).
I don’t know why they would even call that a Trails game aside from branding which to be frank at the time the game was released the Trails franchise was picking up some speed and this was the last game of the PSP era of Falcom so they probably thought to use the name as an opportunity to sell slightly more units instead of releasing this game under a new name but I can still be proven wrong by subsequent entry (and there’s no shortage of indirect references and similarity between the lore of this game and what has been presented so far into the mainline titles).
If anything this game is closer to the Ark Engine Era Ys games in terms of feel, action-rpg’s with a heavy emphasis on platforming, exploration and quick moment to moment action and those are amongst my favorite Falcom titles.
One “controversial” opinion that I have is that Falcom has always excelled at making some of the best Action-RPG’s out there and that their output in that department has always been relatively stellar compared to their more story-focused but also much more mixed design wise turn-based RPG’s and I don’t think that’s a stretch since Falcom pretty much invented the genre in the 80’s and has continued to iron out these skills for decades which is sad to see that the Trails games are now so popular that Falcom has pretty much abandoned that whole side of their identity (outside of releasing a few Ys titles every moon to more or less great result).
So it must come to no surprise that Nayuta no Kiseki has become one of my favorite Trails Game almost by default, it’s one of Falcom's best action-rpg titles and it can definitely stand on its own as a great video game regardless of the rest of the franchise it originated from.
The game starts-off with pretty limited movement options but the more you play and the more ability you unlock. The game has a pretty addicting and fun ranking system to push you to complete every level 100% which is how you eventually unlock more combat options but also through simply playing the game and completing side-objectives.
The game is legitimately super fun and like the Ark Engine Ys games has almost an arcade feel to it that makes the action exciting on a moment to moment basis. Much like Trails, you have arts which are used by your fairy looking companion “Noi” as some sort of satellite that shoots projectiles on top of your sword combat and using those in tandem with your own ability quickly lets you crank up that combo meter to a ridiculous degree. Like the Ys games it’s inspired from chaining moves and combo gives you different stat bonuses like increased strength and magic power but also more useful ones like doubling the money and exp obtained from enemies or giving you more chances for critical hit pretty much the better you do at the game and the stronger you become as a result which is such a satisfying feedback loop that I tend to miss from the more modern Ys titles for example.
Level-Design wise it’s also pretty solid, there’s a large selection of levels but most of them are recycled with one another but in a surprise twist this doesn’t actually matter because Nayuta’s best idea when it comes to recycling areas is to put a new spin on them through the season system. Pretty much after completing a world you unlock a Master Gear that lets you change the season on a particular continent which recolors all the levels in that area, make them more challenging and changes the layout significantly to feel like brand new areas that just happen to share similarities with their original counterparts.
12 levels out of the 37 levels in the game are affected by that mechanic and each of those 12 levels has 4 different variations (3 available in the main game and 1 exclusive to new game+) so in reality there’s 48 levels on top of 14 other levels not affected by this mechanic which makes for a total of 63 goddamn levels fill with really fun level gimmicks, decently challenging platforming and a bunch of other stuff.
What I like about these level variations is that they don’t feel like cheap recolors, they really went all out to make them feel like new levels and while they do share some gimmicks each seasons puts a new spin on that specific level gimmick and man I just really like the general consistency of the game in terms of its sheer gameplay content.
Bosses aren’t too shabby either, a lot of them are pretty fun to mash through thanks to the very generous healing system which is like the herbs from Ys on crack steroids. The game reminds me a lot of platformers like Klonoa or Kirby 64 and I personally love these games to death.
Had Nayuta been released in Europe and I stumbled upon it while searching for PSP games to play, this would’ve absolutely 100% been one of those hidden gem scrimblos that my autistic kid self wouldn’t be able to shut the fuck up about.
The game in general has that PS2 era vibe that I love so much in all of its quirks and weird-one off charm because what the game lack in ambition compared to other Trails games especially in the Story Department which isn’t this game strong suit despite having some genuinely solid moment near the end with some emotional scenes that feels yet again straight out of a PS2-DS era videogame (even coming with the weird obsession for beach/tropical setting from that era of gaming history where it seems like every game developers on the planet was trying to sell you on beach resorts).
SOUL
That’s what this entire experience boils down to and sometimes that’s more than enough to carry an entire game, it’s not the most mind-blowing experience in the universe but I’ll always prefer a solid 7/10 that feels like a 10 by sheer vibe alone than an absolute masterpiece that fails in some areas.
The game has flaws obviously, flaws that are typical of Falcom’s design philosophy. Most of the side-quests are pretty boring and the rewards for doing them are completely meaningless for the most part outside of the shopkeepers which allows you to get more equipment and accessories and there’s a lot of point when the game forces you to backtrack through earlier levels although I’d say that in this game it’s relatively quick and I often don’t mind that aspect as much in their A-RPG titles due to the general rhythm being excellent for the most part.
The game is also a bit on the easy side, although I did play the game on Normal which probably explains the lack of overall meaningful and the game has a NG+ feature including an exclusive hardcore difficulty setting tied to it on top of a ton of content exclusive to that second playthrough of the game but for now I’m satisfied with what I have.
The Artstyle also fucking rules as it is really cute and charming and the soundtrack bangs tho for that latter that is to be expected by Falcom standard.
In the end, I don’t know if the game is worth checking if you’re a Trails fan since it’s so far-off from what the series typically is and I genuinely have no idea how any of this is supposed to integrate to the lore if at all despite the similarities (there’s a lot of contradicting shit that almost makes it impossible to connect it to the Zemurian titles) but if you happen to like action-platformers especially of the PS2-DS Era variety and you miss that Ark Engine Ys goodness, definitely pick this one out since it’s easily amongst Falcom most overlooked titles and one of their best output in that department in my general opinion.
I’d suggest waiting for the remaster tho, I played that game on the PSP with a goddawful translation and I’m pretty sure the game will profit greatly from the graphical upscaling (the PSP still is the PSP even worse when emulated) and the story will DEFINITELY feel better to read through because as it is now the game’s dialogue are very stilted and very clearly google translated and I think some of the stronger story moments would shine way brighter with a new professional translation.
TL;DR : Creha is cute, Nayuta is my boy and you can give you fairy companion glasses as an accessory so it’s an automatic 10/10
MBgov1133
10 months ago