Lightyear Frontier Review: The 1.0 Mech Farm Finally Feels Finished

I played Lightyear Frontier when it hit early access in March 2024 and walked away charmed but underfed: a lovely alien planet, a mech that doubles as a tractor, and not nearly enough to do once the novelty wore off. On November 4, after six content updates, Swedish studio FRAME BREAK (published with Coffee Stain) pushed it to 1.0 on PC via Steam and Xbox Series X|S. It's a different game now - not radically, but where it counts.

What it is

An open-world farming adventure with no combat. You crash-land on a far planet, build a homestead, grow alien crops, deliver produce to distant colonies, gather resources, and slowly uncover what happened to the place. The twist is your mech: it waters, harvests, vacuums up pollution and, later, drives and flies. Up to four players can share a farm in co-op, and that's honestly the best way to play.

What 1.0 changes

The headline is that the story now ends. The final region, the Sandswept Highlands, brings new plants and resources, and late-game missions close out the main storyline. More important for me: mech upgrades are streamlined. You no longer recraft tools tier by tier, which was the most tedious part of early access. Fully upgraded, the mech gets continuous flight through the Skyblazer transform mode plus a rapid-fire seeding chip, and zipping across the map planting fields from the air is the most satisfying thing the game has ever done. Add the earlier Automator update and the endgame finally has a loop worth sticking around for.

What still doesn't land

The farming itself is shallow compared to Stardew Valley or even Coral Island. Crops don't demand much planning, the economy is forgiving to the point of being irrelevant, and the neighbours are pleasant rather than memorable. The story is fine, but you won't remember the dialogue. Steam's recent user reviews sit at Mostly Positive, which matches my feeling: a solid, warm game, not a revelation.

Price

With 1.0 the price went up to EUR 29.99, but there's a 20% launch discount (EUR 23.99) on Steam until November 12. At that price, especially if you've got a co-op partner, it's good value - the full journey is a comfortable few dozen hours, and the mech toys alone justify it.

Verdict

Lightyear Frontier 1.0 is what early access should look like: the studio listened, cut the grind, and delivered a proper ending. It's still a relaxing game more than a deep one, and farming veterans will find the systems thin. But if you want a cosy, combat-free co-op adventure where you pilot a farming mech across a gorgeous alien world, this is now an easy yes.

Score: 8/10

Image: World Travel Adventures / CC CC0 1.0, source: https://stocksnap.io/photo/farming-field-NEWDFJLN0W