Lightyear Frontier Early Access Review

ign.com:

Who wouldn't want their own frontier world with just your friends, an agricultural mech, and a chatty satellite AI for company, setting out to build yourself a life on a planet untouched by human activity — but possessed of a deeper mystery? That's the pitch on Lightyear Frontier, a cozy crafting exploration game with a unique mech-based twist to its farming. I mean, mechs for civilian use are hardly a new concept, but I can't actually remember a game giving it a proper shot like this. Lightyear Frontier does its best at its Early Access launch, delivering a fun romp around an alien world that's a bit short on story but goes long on customization and decoration.

Unsurprisingly, the mech itself provides a lot of the fun here. It takes what would otherwise be a pretty predictable crafting and exploration game and gives it a new point of view — quite literally! You can get used to the scale, but jumping out of your mech immediately reminds you that the trees you tower over are still properly sized, or that the alien chicken creatures you enjoy feeding are as tall as a person. The mech driving is well done, too — this is a big, stompy piece of equipment, and if you've ever driven an older diesel tractor you'll recognize the clattering sound of that engine in Lightyear Frontier's Farmech. However, I am always sad to see a static, non-functional control panel in a digital cockpit.

Lightyear Frontier's biggest conceit is that it's a purely peaceful game. There's absolutely no combat here, and no real time pressure either — it's designed from the ground up as a chill experience. There are in-game days that tick by, but you're not required to sleep in a bed at night or anything, and there are no time limits to run up against. It delivers well on that angle as I found its relaxed pace to be pretty soothing. In fact, if you try to rush or optimize your way through it you'll probably stress yourself out for no reason. Lightyear Frontier is at its best when I realized it just