Forgot password
Enter the email address you used when you joined and we'll send you instructions to reset your password.
If you used Apple or Google to create your account, this process will create a password for your existing account.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Reset password instructions sent. If you have an account with us, you will receive an email within a few minutes.
Something went wrong. Try again or contact support if the problem persists.
Lightyear Frontier Co-op Group
Image via Frame Break.

Lightyear Frontier Early Access Impressions | Titanfarm

Protocol one: link to pilot. Protocol two: uphold the mission. Protocol three: Protect the crops.

Anyone who knows me knows that farming games are generally not my forte. Even when I do find one intriguing, it’s usually because it’s something for me and my friends to sink our teeth into. I like games with a lot more depth like RPGs and colony sims, or games that are much more fast-paced like FPS titles. However, the odd title in another genre manages to catch my attention, and Lightyear Frontier’s combination of mech-based movement and farming felt unique enough to give it a go. While I have my issues with this early iteration, Lightyear Frontier’s early access launch sets a solid foundation that could thrive with a little time to grow and evolve.

Recommended Videos

Up the Creek With a Mechanized Paddle

Lightyear Frontier Radio Tower
Image via Prima Games.

I can’t go any further without first focusing on Lightyear’s key feature, its mech-based gameplay. This large vehicle does just about everything you want it to. It can break minerals and foliage, plant and water crops, help you farm trees, and sprinkle some light movement tech for those who like to get fancy with traversal. It’s surprisingly versatile and can serve a lot of key roles, meaning regular traversal is often very situational or downright unnecessary.

However, developer Frame Break is careful not to deal their hand too early. While the mech offers plenty of toys to play and experiment with, it’s the upgrades that you slowly unlock as you find new resources that truly make the mech shine. From severely speeding up farming (more on that later) to letting you restore more of the map to even plowing fields of soil using just the mech, it covers just about every base you could conjure up in your head. While I didn’t get every upgrade in my time with the game, what I did get felt impactful to my journey and rarely felt like a waste of time.

That being said, there are a few kinks that could be worked out. Namely, the fact that the mech doesn’t take too kindly to inclines or slopes of any form. I couldn’t count the number of times stubbing my toe on a rock decided the cockpit would be kissing the grass occurred, and while it’s a simple fix to get out of the mech, it did get annoying after some time. Trying to turn with the mech while running was also unnaturally slow, forcing you to get out of run mode, turn, then go back to running. Still, these issues are minor compared to how good the mech can truly feel at times. It’s an extension of you as the player, rather than a vehicle to get from point A to B.

Farming, Exploration, and Waiting…Lots of Waiting

Lightyear Frontier Farming With Bird
Image via Frame Break.

The farming side of this mech-based adventure starts uniformly for fans of the genre, having you kick off a small farm before quickly expanding to accommodate more crops of varying types. The bigger your farm, the more chores you have to handle each morning and the more rewards you get toward the end of the day. However, progression also leads to much faster ways to handle these chores in ways not often seen in the genre.

Chief among these is how the game uses the mech’s tools to severely speed up daily chores. Upgrades you acquire can let you plant multiple of a specific seed type at once, water an area of crops instead of one at a time, and even harvest a group of crops instantly. These come gradually and help a ton to let you focus on other aspects of the experience instead of spending half of each day staring at your massive farm. Occasional rain adds to this efficiency.

Farming isn’t the only feature that sees a welcome bit of quality-of-life too. Storage is based entirely on weight values instead of a grid-based system for example. This means you could store 40 different items in a chest provided it doesn’t meet the weight cap. There’s also the ability to get a seed for each crop you harvest, meaning you don’t have to find or purchase seeds constantly.

It’s a gorgeous game at all points, whether you’re observing the longer vistas during the day or appreciating planets in the sky at night.

However, this quality of life seems to have come at the (hopefully temporary) cost of development around various game systems. Those storage changes I mentioned earlier are great, but the lack of increased storage space makes this a chest spam fiesta as you constantly run out of storage space for heavier items. Other major mechanics, such as wildlife and the economy systems also offer very niche applications, meaning only those who want to min-max the adventure will find value in either.

The game also currently suffers from a major time-gating issue, something a lot of other entries in the genre tend to suffer from. While all games like Lightyear Frontier need to have time-gating to some extent, it’s the immense use of it here that makes it a problem. Almost everything is time-gated, meaning waiting is something you’ll do a lot if you don’t care to do every possible thing you can in a day as quickly as possible. It doesn’t need to be tuned too heavily, but cutting down on crafting or resource respawn times could be a huge help.

On the bright side, Lightyear Frontier makes a strong statement where it matters. Its gameplay flow of waking up, handling chores, exploring & gathering resources, and heading back to bed is a fun gameplay loop that feels rife with intrigue as you unlock new things and discover varied locations constantly. While these don’t have the depth quite yet to hold the weight of a longer experience, it’s clear from the passion that the team wants to realize that potential. They just need more time to push its mechanics further.

A Stellar Final Frontier, Mostly

Lightyear Frontier Forest Vista
Image via Frame Break.

If you’ve seen any store page for the game, you don’t need me to tell you that Lightyear Frontier is stunning in its cartoony art style. It’s a gorgeous game at all points, whether you’re observing the longer vistas during the day or appreciating planets in the sky at night. It won’t be winning any awards for detail as some closer textures will show, but its art direction is commendable.

The sound design further accentuates this, with some wonderfully serene melodies playing in between your chores and exploration. Even the mech sounds as weighty as ever, with the solid punches of your Spike Saw being a standout in terms of satisfying sounds. While I did turn the music off after some time to listen to my usual playlist, I’d attribute that less to the soundscape and more to my music tastes.

But what I can fault is the singular companion in PIP-3R. I have two playthroughs of this game with my multiplayer playthrough only just started, and in that first hour, I recall my friend wishing they could put a mute button on the robot. Having played the main story content through on my solo run, I couldn’t agree more. It’s not so much that she’s a poorly written character since there are some deeper moments hidden for you to discover, but her attitude of being cheerful 24/7 gets grating after a while. There are only so many times I can wake up with a robot’s overly positive voice in my head without wanting to turn off the in-game comms.

Like a Seed Sprouting its First Leaf

Lightyear Frontier Copper
Screenshot by Prima Games

If I had to give an analogy for the launch state of Lightyear Frontier, it’d be like a beautiful flower sprouting its first leaf as it pops out of the ground. The foundation for an excellent farming game is there, one that can make for a serene way to kill a few hours or wind down from a long day. However, it’s got a lot of work before it becomes that beautiful flower shown on the seed packet. Given the passion of the gardeners tending to it though, I truly believe Lightyear Frontier has the potential to see its way to stardom upon its full release.


Prima Games is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission.?Learn more about our Affiliate Policy
Author
Image of Shawn Robinson
Shawn Robinson
Shawn is a freelance gaming journalist who's been with Prima Games for a year and a half, writing mainly about FPS games and RPGs. He even brings several years of experience at other sites like The Nerd Stash to the table. While he doesn't bring a fancy degree to the table, he brings immense attention to detail with his guides, reviews, and news, leveraging his decade and a half of gaming knowledge. If he isn't writing about games, he's likely getting zero kills in his favorite FPS or yelling at the game when it was 100% his fault that he died.
seductrice.net
universo-virtual.com
buytrendz.net
thisforall.net
benchpressgains.com
qthzb.com
mindhunter9.com
dwjqp1.com
secure-signup.net
ahaayy.com
tressesindia.com
puresybian.com
krpano-chs.com
cre8workshop.com
hdkino.org
peixun021.com
qz786.com
utahperformingartscenter.org
worldqrmconference.com
shangyuwh.com
eejssdfsdfdfjsd.com
playminecraftfreeonline.com
trekvietnamtour.com
your-business-articles.com
essaywritingservice10.com
hindusamaaj.com
joggingvideo.com
wandercoups.com
wormblaster.net
tongchengchuyange0004.com
internetknowing.com
breachurch.com
peachesnginburlesque.com
dataarchitectoo.com
clientfunnelformula.com
30pps.com
cherylroll.com
ks2252.com
prowp.net
webmanicura.com
sofietsshotel.com
facetorch.com
nylawyerreview.com
apapromotions.com
shareparelli.com
goeaglepointe.com
thegreenmanpubphuket.com
karotorossian.com
publicsensor.com
taiwandefence.com
epcsur.com
mfhoudan.com
southstills.com
tvtv98.com
thewellington-hotel.com
bccaipiao.com
colectoresindustrialesgs.com
shenanddcg.com
capriartfilmfestival.com
replicabreitlingsale.com
thaiamarinnewtoncorner.com
gkmcww.com
mbnkbj.com
andrewbrennandesign.com
cod54.com
luobinzhang.com
faithfirst.net
zjyc28.com
tongchengjinyeyouyue0004.com
nhuan6.com
kftz5k.com
oldgardensflowers.com
lightupthefloor.com
bahamamamas-stjohns.com
ly2818.com
905onthebay.com
fonemenu.com
notanothermovie.com
ukrainehighclassescort.com
meincmagazine.com
av-5858.com
yallerdawg.com
donkeythemovie.com
corporatehospitalitygroup.com
boboyy88.com
miteinander-lernen.com
dannayconsulting.com
officialtomsshoesoutletstore.com
forsale-amoxil-amoxicillin.net
generictadalafil-canada.net
guitarlessonseastlondon.com
lesliesrestaurants.com
mattyno9.com
nri-homeloans.com
rtgvisas-qatar.com
salbutamolventolinonline.net
sportsinjuries.info
wedsna.com
rgkntk.com
bkkmarketplace.com
zxqcwx.com
breakupprogram.com
boxcardc.com
unblockyoutubeindonesia.com
fabulousbookmark.com
beat-the.com
guatemala-sailfishing-vacations-charters.com
magie-marketing.com
kingstonliteracy.com
guitaraffinity.com
eurelookinggoodapparel.com
howtolosecheekfat.net
marioncma.org
oliviadavismusic.com
shantelcampbellrealestate.com
shopleborn13.com
topindiafree.com
v-visitors.net
djjky.com
053hh.com
originbluei.com
baucishotel.com
33kkn.com
intrinsiqresearch.com
mariaescort-kiev.com
mymaguk.com
sponsored4u.com
crimsonclass.com
bataillenavale.com
searchtile.com
ze-stribrnych-struh.com
zenithalhype.com
modalpkv.com
bouisset-lafforgue.com
useupload.com
37r.net
autoankauf-muenster.com
bantinbongda.net
bilgius.com
brabustermagazine.com
indigrow.org
miicrosofts.net
mysmiletravel.com
selinasims.com
spellcubesapp.com
usa-faction.com
hypoallergenicdogsnames.com
dailyupdatez.com
foodphotographyreviews.com
cricutcom-setup.com
chprowebdesign.com
katyrealty-kanepa.com
tasramar.com
bilgipinari.org
four-am.com
indiarepublicday.com
inquick-enbooks.com
iracmpi.com
kakaschoenen.com
lsm99flash.com
nana1255.com
ngen-niagara.com
technwzs.com
virtualonlinecasino1345.com
wallpapertop.net
casino-natali.com
iprofit-internet.com
denochemexicana.com
eventhalfkg.com
medcon-taiwan.com
life-himawari.com
myriamshomes.com
nightmarevue.com
healthandfitnesslives.com
androidnews-jp.com
allstarsru.com
bestofthebuckeyestate.com
bestofthefirststate.com
bestwireless7.com
britsmile.com
declarationintermittent.com
findhereall.com
jingyou888.com
lsm99deal.com
lsm99galaxy.com
moozatech.com
nuagh.com
patliyo.com
philomenamagikz.net
rckouba.net
saturnunipessoallda.com
tallahasseefrolics.com
thematurehardcore.net
totalenvironment-inthatquietearth.com
velislavakaymakanova.com
vermontenergetic.com
kakakpintar.com
jerusalemdispatch.com
begorgeouslady.com
1800birks4u.com
2wheelstogo.com
6strip4you.com
bigdata-world.net
emailandco.net
gacapal.com
jharpost.com
krishnaastro.com
lsm99credit.com
mascalzonicampani.com
sitemapxml.org
thecityslums.net
topagh.com
flairnetwebdesign.com
rajasthancarservices.com
bangkaeair.com
beneventocoupon.com
noternet.org
oqtive.com
smilebrightrx.com
decollage-etiquette.com
1millionbestdownloads.com
7658.info
bidbass.com
devlopworldtech.com
digitalmarketingrajkot.com
fluginfo.net
naqlafshk.com
passion-decouverte.com
playsirius.com
spacceleratorintl.com
stikyballs.com
top10way.com
yokidsyogurt.com
zszyhl.com
16firthcrescent.com
abogadolaboralistamd.com
apk2wap.com
aromacremeria.com
banparacard.com
bosmanraws.com
businessproviderblog.com
caltonosa.com
calvaryrevivalchurch.org
chastenedsoulwithabrokenheart.com
cheminotsgardcevennes.com
cooksspot.com
cqxzpt.com
deesywig.com
deltacartoonmaps.com
despixelsetdeshommes.com
duocoracaobrasileiro.com
fareshopbd.com
goodpainspills.com
hemendekor.com
kobisitecdn.com
makaigoods.com
mgs1454.com
piccadillyresidences.com
radiolaondafresca.com
rubendorf.com
searchengineimprov.com
sellmyhrvahome.com
shugahouseessentials.com
sonihullquad.com
subtractkilos.com
valeriekelmansky.com
vipasdigitalmarketing.com
voolivrerj.com
worldhealthstory.com
zeelonggroup.com
1015southrockhill.com
10x10b.com
111-online-casinos.com
191cb.com
3665arpentunitd.com
aitesonics.com
bag-shokunin.com
brightotech.com
communication-digitale-services.com
covoakland.org
dariaprimapack.com
freefortniteaccountss.com
gatebizglobal.com
global1entertainmentnews.com
greatytene.com
hiroshiwakita.com
iktodaypk.com
jahatsakong.com
meadowbrookgolfgroup.com
newsbharati.net
platinumstudiosdesign.com
slotxogamesplay.com
strikestaruk.com
techguroh.com
trucosdefortnite.com
ufabetrune.com
weddedtowhitmore.com
12940brycecanyonunitb.com
1311dietrichoaks.com
2monarchtraceunit303.com
601legendhill.com
850elaine.com
adieusolasomade.com
andora-ke.com
bestslotxogames.com
cannagomcallen.com
endlesslyhot.com
iestpjva.com
ouqprint.com
pwmaplefest.com
qtylmr.com
rb88betting.com
buscadogues.com
1007macfm.com
born-wild.com
growthinvests.com
promocode-casino.com
proyectogalgoargentina.com
wbthompson-art.com
whitemountainwheels.com
7thavehvl.com
developmethis.com
funkydogbowties.com
travelodgegrandjunction.com
gao-town.com
globalmarketsuite.com
blogshippo.com
hdbka.com
proboards67.com
outletonline-michaelkors.com
kalkis-research.com
thuthuatit.net
buckcash.com
hollistercanada.com
docterror.com
asadart.com
vmayke.org
erwincomputers.com
dirimart.org
okkii.com
loteriasdecehegin.com
mountanalog.com
healingtaobritain.com
ttxmonitor.com
nwordpress.com
11bolabonanza.com