In '14(?) the Pathfinder got a different CVT that uses a chain instead of a belt. Those appear to be holding up a lot better. But you are still at a gearing loss. They are geared for the highway, not offroad. Low speeds are very dependent on the torque convertor to make the torque. That is not good. Fine in normal driving, you flash against the convertor for a few seconds to get off the line and start rolling. That is a flash of convertor heat. But to stay against the convertor for extended periods of time, that just makes massive amounts of heat. If you are at the point where an old school 4WD would be better in low range, you are not in the right place.
You can do a lot running trails that you should not be on by just carefully picking the right line. In my days of wheeling stuff would break. I remember popping a front axle and having to finish the trail in 2WD. I just had to take a better (easier) line. Drove myself out. Didn't get to have the fun of the harder areas others were still running. Another time I was out with a bunch of stock rigs. They would carefully pick a line through the creekbed, and they did just fine. But in a built up rig, I could just drive right down the middle. A new Pathfinder, you would be one of those carefully picking your line.
As the TFL video shows, the downfall for any of the modern car based vehicles is lack of articulation. They will not twist up like a true off-road rig will. Leaves you with tires in the air. Within reason they can go a lot of places. Don't expect the Rubicon to be one of them. But there is a guy driving a crown vic around in Moab, it will absolutely be able to do what he is able to do. And I guarantee that the crown vic is choosing his lines very carefully to not get hung up.
