Lightyear Frontier review-in-progress: "The mech offers a novel, refreshing approach to the farming sim genre"

Early VerdictLightyear Frontier is a delightfully peaceful adventure in an inviting world that shows a lot of potential in Early Access. While it’s in need of a little refinement to make the experience more streamlined overall, the mech offers up a fun, fresh approach to farming, with a variety of tools to play with and a satisfying sense of progression.Pros+The mech+Satisfying progression+Plenty to discover+Inviting, peaceful worldCons-Guidance could be clearer-Lack of map markers-No way to adjust placed buildings Early Verdict Early Verdict Lightyear Frontier is a delightfully peaceful adventure in an inviting world that shows a lot of potential in Early Access. While it’s in need of a little refinement to make the experience more streamlined overall, the mech offers up a fun, fresh approach to farming, with a variety of tools to play with and a satisfying sense of progression. Lightyear Frontier is a delightfully peaceful adventure in an inviting world that shows a lot of potential in Early Access. While it’s in need of a little refinement to make the experience more streamlined overall, the mech offers up a fun, fresh approach to farming, with a variety of tools to play with and a satisfying sense of progression. Pros+The mech+Satisfying progression+Plenty to discover+Inviting, peaceful world The mech Satisfying progression Plenty to discover Inviting, peaceful world Cons-Guidance could be clearer-Lack of map markers-No way to adjust placed buildings Guidance could be clearer Lack of map markers No way to adjust placed buildings Why you can trust GamesRadar+Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about our reviews policy. Why you can trust GamesRadar+Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about our reviews policy. I’ve played a lot of farming sims in my time, but I’ve never tended to alien crops and gathered resources behind the windshield of a mech. Thanks to Lightyear Frontier, I’m doing exactly that, and from the get-go, it proves to be one of the more novel and downright fun ways to farm. With a handful of different tools that can be attached to my right arm, I use a Vacuum Harvester to suck up all the fully grown plants in my plots of land. Then, I switch it up to my trusty Seed Shooter - which as the name implies - lets me fire out seeds in the now vacant sections of soil. Coupled with an Irrigation Hose that acts as the mech’s equivalent of a watering can, a Spike Saw that can break down trees, rocks, and minerals, and a Sprout Canon that can be used to plant saplings, the tools and design of the mech make everything feel far less laborious. Fast FactsRelease date:March 19, 2024 (Early Access)Platform(s):PC, Xbox Series X/SDeveloper:Frame BreakPublisher:Amplifier Studios Fast Facts Release date:March 19, 2024 (Early Access)Platform(s):PC, Xbox Series X/SDeveloper:Frame BreakPublisher:Amplifier Studios Release date:March 19, 2024 (Early Access)Platform(s):PC, Xbox Series X/SDeveloper:Frame BreakPublisher:Amplifier Studios Restoration (Image credit: Amplifier Studios) While these initial objectives set up the basics quite well, the guidance early on could be a little clearer. It wasn’t immediately obvious to me for quite some time, for example, that you have another tool you can switch to when you’re outside of the mech that lets you paint objects. For the most part, it’s all quite straightforward to get to grips with, but there were occasions when I’d have appreciated some more explanation. (Image credit: Amplifier Studios) Your mech also has various upgrades available, which you’ll need to work towards to get your hands on more resources in the world - not unlikeStardew Valley, you have to improve your tools to break down stronger minerals or bigger trees. I can see how Lightyear Frontier is trying to encourage discovery, but I did run into some issues because the game doesn’t tell you, or provide hints, as to what you need to do to unlock certain recipes or resources - I would often being able to see resources I needed before I was able to actually make them, which did sometimes cause confusion. Teamwork (Image credit: Amplifier Studios) The main sticking point I had early on in Lightyear Frontier is how quickly I got over-encumbered. Especially when playing solo, a lot of the upgrades, constructs, and decorations are going to require you to do a lot of resource gathering, and the space your mech has is pretty limited to begin with. Thankfully, you can build storage spaces to lighten the load, and one of the mech upgrades will allow you to carry more, but it takes some time to get. This means that I was often running back and forth to deposit my bounty more than anything else to start off with. On the plus side, since you’re in a mech, you don’t ever have to worry about stamina, which is a common hindrance in farming adventures. Playing in co-op certainly makes quick work of the earlier stages of the game, since you can band together to collect resources to go towards constructs. While I didn’t get the chance to try out crossplay on Xbox and PC during my time with the game, I did test out co-op on Steam. You each get a mech and have to gather your own tools, but then you can work together to build up your homesteads. While it works quite well and it’s easy enough to host a world for other players to join, there isn’t much currently in the way of in-built features for communication. (Image credit: Amplifier Studios) On the world map, the markers are also very limited in general. You’ll only see the location of where you’ve built your homestead, along with the option to place down one other single tag. Even when playing solo, having more tags to place down on the map would make it so much easier to mark notable locations to come back to. And with so much resource gathering to do, it would be handy to have additional markers you could leave on the map to remind you where you found a good batch of copper, or coal, for example. In spite of some features I would love to see, I’ve really enjoyed my time with Lightyear Frontier’s Early Access. As a longtime fan of farming games, the mech offers a novel, refreshing approach to the farming sim genre. The satisfying sense of progression and peaceful world also kept me coming back, and my plan of doing just one more in-game day often turned into multiple as I got lost in my pursuit of advancing. The Early Access launch has so much going for it already, and I’m looking forward to seeing how Lightyear Frontier grows in the future. 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