I have derived much more enjoyment from this game (despite its bugs which sometimes feel like they're being replaced rather than resolved) than I have from a game in a long time. The pace and surroundings are a welcomed contrast to what has become the norm. No pointless flashy lights and bright colors in this one.

The interactions between player and NPCs feel important and every word is meaningful. Very well written with few wasted words to wade through. It requires close attention and good retention to progress in the game.

This game came along when it was exactly what i was seeking. A bit sick of games which require little thought and only passive involvement. I only end up playing them for a couple of hours and getting bored.

If the developer is able to find someone to help squash the bugs, the game will be a favorite very soon.

tl;dr: Still buggy, but the feeling of exploration is definitely there already. Updates every day, the developer is serious, hard working and honest. Do not jump in right now if you expect a smooth ride since some of the mechanics are not reliable yet. One thing is bug-free: the peculiar mood, the intriguing and well-written story, the surprising landscapes, the feeling of exploration and discovery.

As this is an early access review, I want to stress the fact that the game is not finished. Not all the features have been implemented, and some implemented features do now work quite well. I'm writing this on December 24th 2014, the game has been available in Early Access for about two weeks and open for beta testing for about a month. The game has been thoroughly tested since day one. A hundred of issues have been raised; some very minor (weird pixel on button texture), some critical (crashes); and all are being addressed by the one developer, Railboy, who's been working full time and releasing patches almost every day, often several times a day.

The result is a game that is working better and better every day. From my point of view, it is already good. I keep jumping into the game with the goal of breaking it and reporting a new bug, but I end up each time walking down new paths for hours, exploring new lost villages and discovering strange events. What you can see in the trailer videos is all here already, and much more. I have put fifty hours into the game and still haven't explored half of the continent. I haven't finished the main quest either, and haven't tried 10 % of all these crafting recipes. I still haven't even cast a spell (even though I did find the dark luminite to do so)! The world is Big, in the sense that it will take you a lot of time to get to know it, and believe me, you will be lost. Even with the maps, there are places I saw once and have never found again.

Frontiers has this sandbox feel to it: you set your goal yourself and just roll with it, or you follow the story. There is no pressure to finish the main quest. Actually, pretty much everything is optional in this game; there is even an option for disabling survival if you do not want to bother killing bears for their meat (a very hazardous activity, believe me). I like the main quest very much, though, because it isn't just about big epic things, it's about people, trust, friendship, vengeance, broken hopes, and what one is ready to sacrifice in order to be the first to accomplish the impossible.

In addition to the main quest, there is something about the world itself that feels... weird. Abnormal. Out of place. It is subtle but you can tell something is wrong. I do not know yet whether it connects to the main quest, but I will definitely walk the paths of Frontiers until I find out.

A pretty good game to play multiplayer adventure/survival and the big + is that you can burn people alive in then village or hut

FRONTIERS is a fantastic game, even in early access. The developer's have said they wanted to make a game where exploration is rewarded, and they've done just that. Not only is discovering the world rewarding in the sense of game rewards, but it's fantastic fun and just feels like a rewarding experience over all.
I don't tend to take games too seriously, but for those looking for immersion, FRONTIERS will absolutely deliver the experience someone that appreciates story, world, and lore would look for.
There are also survival elements. I'm terrible at survival, but I'm still having a lot of fun freezing to death and dying of thirst.
The game is not without its downsides, but nearly every drawback the game has presented me can be attributed to the fact that the game is still in early beta. With that said, I can't stress it enough. This isn't a finished product, but it does still have a lot to offer, and I would recommend it to anyone that is a fan of large open world exploration type games.

If you'd like to see my playthrough, you can find it here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sw5zDgHfDOk

Strong sense of exploration. Not a combat heavy game, it's more like taking a walk and seeing what you discover along the way. Early Access so expect bugs but also expect that your feedback will be taken seriously.

First the positive. This game captures that wonderful essence of games from days gone by - it has that sense of wonder and really makes you want to explore the world and see what is out there. The graphics fall somewhere between Morrowind and Skyrim - certainly serviceable. I read another review that said the game is unplayable on mid-level machines. My PC is the embodiment of mid-level and it ran fine, although the frame rates need to be improved a bit - other wise I had no problems.

Now for the downside. I know that this is a survival game but if I eat a loaf of bread, a sausage and a banana, should I really be starting to get hungry less than five minutes later? Honestly, I don't mind foraging for food but in all these types of games, your character must be an insatiable, gluttonous hog-demon for all the food and water that they need. Also, by all appearances it seemed to be mild weather outside with people milling about, yet I am freezing to death in a matter of minutes and need to run to the fireplace to get warm again. There isn't a backpack or wheelbarrow big enough to get you a mile down the road for all of your "needs". I hope that this gets tweaked - I'd like to see a survival game that actually let you explore for five minutes without your dashboard flashing red for some trivial thing that you took care of three minutes previously.

That said, I am enjoying exploring the initial town and hope to be able to get outfitted to explore further. I'd recommend this game highly to anyone who misses that good old fashioned game that doesn't hold you by the hand and doesn't feel the need to knock you over the head with contant tutorial style gameplay. I really hope this game succeeds and wish there were more like it.

Great game, it has a few bugs here and there and some crashes once and a while. It is very fun and there is lots of stuff to explore and discover!

A great game that is perfect if you liked the exploration of other open world games. Feels sort of like a more up to date morrowind. Note, this game is a bit buggy at the moment but for what it's worth, and how amazing that this runs on Unity, it's worth it if you like exploration. Animations aren't that great, but it's made by practically one guy on a limited budget. Overall, I'd wait until the full release to get the best experience.

This game is great even at start, the base of the content is ALL there. BUT this game isn't playable currently, i'd say wait at least a month before buy. I'd give this game a 10/10 when it's completed most likely. But at the moment 6/10, obviously you shouldn't mind my current rating because its still in Beta. The base of the game is all there and its pretty good. This game will be amazing when its completed. But again, I do not recommend currently buying it. But I am not going to give this game a thumbs down, I will give it a thumbs up for now even though I do no recommend to buy it currently.

Aside from not being able to get past the "six months later" area in the school (crashes), I really have enjoyed the first 40 minutes of play so far. The graphics are well done, character movement is smooth, and the music is flat out fantasy awsomeness. I'll give it a few more tries getting past the area that has been constantly crashing, and hopefully will succeed - I want to explore!

So far I'd say 7/10.

Edit*

I have finnally gotten past the school. It seems it was the graphics settings that lagged the game to crash - was running everything maxed on desktop gtx 760, quad core i5, 8gb ram. Strange becasue I thought my computer would easily handle this game... Must need to be optimized better. Other than that I have been able to explore more so that is a good thing.

Cannot recommend a game that i cant even play, have done the prolouge three times now only to get stuck on a loading screen when leaving the starting area.....Everything was fine just until that specific part i don't understand what the problem is buy hopefully it gets resolved.

*******
Edit after the fifth retry the game is now working correctly and i'm able to play it through, explore etc.... This is game is built for people who enjoy exploration, building/crafting items from scratch with a minecraft type system. I didn't reccommend this game at first becasue i simply could not play it but as of now i have changed my mind and i DO recommend this game, there is a lot of content for a 15$ price tag hopefully this review helps you figure out your deciosion of purchasing this title.

(For the sake of full disclosure, I should mention that I was one of the contributing writers for Frontiers. I was not the one responsible for most of what you'll find in the game, though [I mostly worked on sidequests and some of the books/letters you might come across]- the lead writer is Ryan A. Span, and he deserves the credit for the main storyline and most of the dialogue!)

Frontiers is not just a game, but a vision. The world of Kantvarld has many secrets tucked away for those willing to find them, but keep in mind that Frontiers is a specific type of game for a specific type of person.

You won't cut down hordes of enemies in this game- that isn't what this world has to offer. Instead, if you want *exploration* and to a degree survival (with occasional combat) then Frontiers may be for you.

Frontiers is about the curiosity in each of us, and what we do with it. If you find yourself wanting to take in your surroundings- not fighting in them, just *enjoying* them, then know that this game was made by people like you, for people like you. If you find yourself in videogame worlds, staring far into the distance, basking in the light of the morning sun, then Frontiers is for you. If you enjoy the challenge of mapping out the known world, including every nook, cranny and orifice, then Frontiers is, without a doubt... for you.

In Frontiers, curiosity is king. The desire to make sense of the world (and to find your Zen in the process) is the drive that this game specifically caters to above all other things. The game world is plenty big (around the size of Oblivion's landmass) and the brilliant soundtrack (made by the talented Steve Barnes) will carry you as far as you wish to go.

It will be a while before most of the bugs are behind us, but the framework is already here. So if Frontiers sounds like your cup of tea- come join our community, and you might like what you find!

P.S. Lars/Railboy (the lead developer) is known for his honesty and straightforward nature for a reason. If you are worried at all about the Early Access nature of the game, just take a peek into the Community Hub and you'll find plenty of reasons to root for the guy. And you don't have to take my word for it- see for yourself!

-Matt.3

This game was a bit confusing at first, but after 30 mins of gametime i learned most of the mechanics and i must say i was immersed into the game's enviroment almost immediately. That said, this is still a early access game and thus is obviously prone to bugs and glitches, but surprisingly i didn't notice that many. This game has alot of potential and it will definatly go far if the developer sticks to it and updates it regularly, but before you consider buying the game, look up reviews and gameplay vids to see if you think it is worth a buy in its current state.

This is an early access game, so it's still a work in progress, but it is still a must buy. It reminds me of some of my favorites: the early Elder scrolls titles or Pathalogic, only with an exphasis on exploration. It feels like a huge game/experience, and is totally worth a shot.

Awesome game! I preordered it, it isn't so stable right now, but it is awesome and playable, amazing survival ambient, real survival game where you need to survive you can follow the story and then build it by yourself, Sandbox with story beggining (will be also a sandbox feature at the future)
I highly recommend to buy this, to support and to enjoy

One of the biggest open world indie games of 2014, definitely a must-have for anyone who is willing to go on a little adventure ;)

At the time of this review, I had not put a SINGLE minute into playing Frontiers. (A minimum of 5 minutes is required to write a review) However, I am giving it a thumbs up simply on the basis of pure honesty. You may be thinking I am crazy to do such a thing, but try to hear me out. I have been following the progress of this game for awhile now, so I can assure you that I have been sincerely interested in it since it was announced on Greenlight. But when I read a recent article about it, I was sold right then and there. The developer of Frontiers has publicly announced:

"A lot of folks have told me: I'm buying this game for my kid/friend/spouse for Christmas, they love exploration games! And I say the same thing every time: DON'T!"
"The only people who will love it are players who seek it out for themselves, because it's NOT FINISHED. Your kid/friend/spouse will just be annoyed with you. I'm proud of this game, and with everyone's help I believe it's going to be great - but it's not great yet, so in the meantime get your kid/friend/spouse Dragon Age or The Binding of Isaac or something, trust me."

I must say.... How REFRESHING. I am speaking from a position of having a very bitter taste of early access nightmares on my palate. Now you may be thinking that it's a genious marketing ploy using reverse psychology, but I find this to be doubtful considering this is major revenue the developer very well may be losing, especially during the Holiday Steam sale...a very opportune time to make some excellent dough. This takes guts. The game may have a long ways to go, but I believe this incredibly responsible attitude needs to be encouraged in a selfish new era of gaming where the end product is a often a deliberate farcry from an honest game players can enjoy. Here is the original article that sold me on this:

http://kotaku.com/dev-on-steam-warns-do-not-buy-this-game-as-a-christmas-1671913955

BUY BUY BUY THIS IS WHAT I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR i pre ordered this a while ago in november and now that its out its great i use amd and it runs this game with a few glitches from time to time but it does not effect the exspreience i love everything about this all detailed and sure the gme is in beta and thats great! but really this game does need some work as it says EARLY ACCESS means the game is not done but for this game its come a long way and when its out completely then i think it will go big but seriosly there is alot of great detail and adventure everything they promised is in this game so yes my score is 10/10 and i hope you enjoy getting this game as much as i do

I got a list with stuff to do.
- Reallifesimulator 2014
11/10

Might be worth something one day but it's too buggy to recommend right away, sadly. This is still too early in early access.
Here's some gameplay footage:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P89b1fX76IA