!! This is a review of the Early Access version !!
Lightyear Frontier's world is an idyllic one. There's no real danger, the animals are cute and friendly, and resources are abundant. This is not a game where you are fighting for your live, but instead one that pitches the fantasy of a beautiful frontier homestead that you can grow on your own time. It's a wonderfully relaxing game thats thematically adjacent to titles like Terra Nil and Slime Ranger.
The Terra Nil comparison is important, because like that game your goal is environmental cleanup. You get access to new resources by cleaning up regions of the world. But the further out you go, the stronger the tools your cleanup efforts require, which is what defines the central progression loop of the game
Cleanup a region -> Get new resources -> Craft new workstations and new tools -> Cleanup more difficult regions
This loop makes for a great sense of progression, where each goal feels manageable with a bit of time and effort. Some environment design choices can pose a few annoying obstacles to this loop, but on the whole progression is consistently satisfying.
On the smaller scale, you spend your days building out farms, crafting resources to use in upgrading your tools and building new decorations and crafting stations. While there is a day/night cycle, you are never forced into certain actions by the cycle, like you are forced to sleep in Stardew Valley. If a new day rolls around while you're out exploring, you get the daily summary of the things you accomplished that day just like if you slept at home, and afterward can continue where you left off.
All of this makes for a wonderfully relaxing experience you can take at your own pace. There are still a few issues with the currently pointless economy, some awkwardness with how fertilizers work, and the necessity of certain buildings, but this early access build still provides a satisfying experience.
Lightyear Frontier's world is an idyllic one. There's no real danger, the animals are cute and friendly, and resources are abundant. This is not a game where you are fighting for your live, but instead one that pitches the fantasy of a beautiful frontier homestead that you can grow on your own time. It's a wonderfully relaxing game thats thematically adjacent to titles like Terra Nil and Slime Ranger.
The Terra Nil comparison is important, because like that game your goal is environmental cleanup. You get access to new resources by cleaning up regions of the world. But the further out you go, the stronger the tools your cleanup efforts require, which is what defines the central progression loop of the game
Cleanup a region -> Get new resources -> Craft new workstations and new tools -> Cleanup more difficult regions
This loop makes for a great sense of progression, where each goal feels manageable with a bit of time and effort. Some environment design choices can pose a few annoying obstacles to this loop, but on the whole progression is consistently satisfying.
On the smaller scale, you spend your days building out farms, crafting resources to use in upgrading your tools and building new decorations and crafting stations. While there is a day/night cycle, you are never forced into certain actions by the cycle, like you are forced to sleep in Stardew Valley. If a new day rolls around while you're out exploring, you get the daily summary of the things you accomplished that day just like if you slept at home, and afterward can continue where you left off.
All of this makes for a wonderfully relaxing experience you can take at your own pace. There are still a few issues with the currently pointless economy, some awkwardness with how fertilizers work, and the necessity of certain buildings, but this early access build still provides a satisfying experience.