The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails is an interesting game, with somewhat dubious branding. I personally am a huge fan of the Trails series, but as a Trails fan, I was actually not all that interested in Nayuta, going into it. When you consider that Nayuta as a game is

1. a spinoff
2. a spinoff that plays differently from every other game in the series (featuring real-time action instead of turn-based combat)
3. a spinoff that has barely, if any, story connection to the Trails series at large (after finishing Nayuta, at most I have a couple vague theories as to how it could... maybe connect to the other games in the series. That's it)

...then it's not too surprising that I personally wasn't that interested in Nayuta, as a game. That said, I decided to give it a try regardless, while trying to accept that Nayuta is basically its own thing entirely.

I do think the best way to approach The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails, is as a standalone experience. It's not much of a Trails game, and it doesn't really need to be one. What this is, more than anything, is essentially the design philosophy and vibes of a 2D action-platformer... that just so happens to be 3D. It really has that classic feel to it (right down to the fact that you have a level-select screen to select each stage via), and as a fan of action-platformers, I really dug this! The platforming is satisfying, and the combat can be pretty engaging. There's a bit of a quirk with regard to how slowly the game unlocks new abilities & mechanics for the player (I don't know why it took several hours to be able to guard against enemy attacks... but once I finally learned that ability, it revolutionized how I approach every encounter from that point onward), but that's fairly minor. All in all, this is a blast to actually play. The great, upbeat music (as expected of a Falcom game) certainly helps, too.

Story-wise, this features a world and lore which seems mostly disconnected from the Trails series in general. Without going too into detail, I do think Nayuta does a fairly good job of gradually raising the stakes, while providing a certain degree of intrigue as to what exactly is going on, and what is going to happen next in the story. It's not the most thematically dense story Falcom has told, but it serves the game well, and kept me engaged. There's also an island town you can visit when not playing through stages, where you can upgrade your equipment or take on sidequests or talk to NPCs, which does feel a little bit more like a typical Trails experience. The fact you're returning to the same town over and over, actually reminded me of Xanadu Next more than anything. It's nice to gradually get to know the NPCs, and learn more about them and their stories and motivations over the course of the game - particularly as the main story progresses.

When it comes down to it... I like The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails a lot! Perhaps moreso than I was expecting, going into it. I could compare it to the Trails series at large (if I were to do so, it would maybe be my 4th favorite Trails game), but it still feels weird to me to do so. I kinda feel like judging Nayuta as a Trails game does it a bit of a disservice. Unlike nearly every other Trails-branded game, this is absolutely one that you can jump in at any time, without worrying about story connections or plot details related to any other game in the series. At the end of the day, just enjoy Nayuta for what it is - a fun action-platformer-RPG that reflects a lot of the best qualities of Falcom's other assorted series.