I'm gonna give this game a thumbs up with several caveats. This being an early access, I'm gonna split my review into 2 parts. One directed at other people that might be interested, and another at the devs.

To other players:

The idea of metroidvanias with more complex and robust combat systems is one that appeals to me, and this is the niche this game is trying to cater to. There's 3 playable characters that you can switch between on the fly, and even call fourth to assist during a brief period. Each character can hold 2 weapons and 2 spells at once, and perform a variety of special moves using fighting game style inputs. You can launch enemies into the air for combos, cast spells mid attack, and so on. There's a lot of variety here, but the game doesn't push you to do any of it. Doing the cool stuff is up to the player, so if you're one of those that call any game that does fast melee combat a "button masher", than this might not be for you.

For the story, thankfully, you don't have to play the original (Tower Hunter) to understand what's going on, as that game is very light on story anyway. There is a LOT of japanese cheese here, and the game doesn't take itself seriously at all. Of course, the story doesnt conclude in this build, but I don't expect things to become much more interesting on the final release.

The visuals are sadly on the weak side. The art design is nice, with distinct and colorful environments, but the dated 3D graphics really don't help. Things are at their worst during cutscenes, with character models lacking facial expressions. With so many beautiful indie metroidvanias on the market, this game sadly falls well below average.

In terms of design, its a typical metroidvania that doesnt reinvent the wheel, but its put together nicely. Some clever puzzles are sprinkled in which is nice. There's a robust RPG element, with crafting and customization systems.

The main issue with this game so far is a general lack of polish. Problems registering inputs and collision, and occasional bugs and slowdowns. Hopefully all these issues are solved before the final release, but as of right now, theres a "jank" feel to this game. Its a nice game with cool ideas, but I can't really recommend this over the more popular indie metroidvanias avaliable. But if you have already played those, and the idea of a "character-action" metroidvania entices you, keep an eye out for this one.

To the devs:

Here's some of my feedback on things I feel could be improved upon the current build in order of importance:

1: Clean up the directional input reading. Playing on a PS5 controller, in several occasions, the game would eat my inputs or register incorrect ones. Even trying to choose a teleport room in the map, the cursor would jump all over the place. There seems to be problems with how the game handles analog sticks, at least for the ps5 controller.

2. Work on the collision detection. Sometimes my hits simply wouldnt register even when I was hitting the enemy.

3. Work on partner AI when calling them. When calling an assist, the AI will often not follow you.

4: Don't split the words in the english subtitles. I'm not a native english speaker, but it's impossible to not notice the words getting chopped up in the subtitles, completely disregarding grammar.

5: The water controls shouldn't be the same as the air controls. Currently, trying to go down is the water is very awkward. Make it so we can dash in all 8 directions in the water.

6: Work on facial animations during cutscenes, specially for NPCs.

FULL RELEASE UPDATE:

This review got a fair bit of visibility, so I think its worthwhile to do a post-launch update. Most of the previous review still applies, so I'll try to focus on what changed and what didn't.

First off, let me address the input reading problem. This time around, I tried playing with the D-Pad and... had no issues whatsoever. Tried analog again, and weird inputs all around.

After a bit of testing, I think I figured out what the issue is. This game has virtually no deadzone for the analog. The slightest tilt will be interpreted as a direction. So naturally, in a game with several motion inputs, this can be a problem. For comparison's sake, I booted up SF6, and it takes a noticebly higher angle for the character to leave the neutral state.

They completely overhauled the teleporter room choice (likely other analog users reporting the same issue), but the root of the problem (the overly sensitive analog) persists. Unlike our friend in the comments, I still belive analog is viable for fighters, let alone 2D platformers. But for this game specifically, I highly encourage playing with the D-Pad.

This time around, I had no issues with collision detection. Partner AI and water controls remain the same, but these are minor nitpicks. I've encountered just 1 substantial bug, but from the patch notes, it seems it was already fixed.

The text boxes no longer split the words, but there's still grammar mistakes. A native english speaker will likely encounter more than I did. The translation still needs a couple rounds of proofreading.

The character models also remain the same, so lots of doll-like faces and uncanny expressions. Again, the environments look good, so they stick out even more.

All that said, let me reiterate that despite highlighting these issues, I do so in an attempt to be helpful to players and devs alike. I still think this is a really good Metroidvania that carves it's own identity with deep combat and customization systems, and I've had a lot of fun playing. The devs should be incredibly proud, the improvement since Tower Hunter was massive, and I hope to see this franchise continue in the future.

Veteran Metroidvania/ARPG enjoyer here. This game either clicks or makes you rage-uninstall. Let me save you $12 ramen money:‌

HARD SKIPS IF YOU HATE:‌

• Grind-heavy RPG mechanics‌ – This ain’t your "git gud" Hollow Knight/Ori-style purity test. You’ll need to farm upgrades or get bullied by late-game bats (yes, bats) and teleport-spamming bosses.

• Sunshine-and-rainbows storytelling‌ – Zero grimdark lore hunts here. Imagine FFXV roadtrip energy with anime girls ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ instead of saving the world… until they kinda have to. Not for Bloodstained-edge enjoyers.

• Pre-Genshin jank models‌ – Characters look decent zoomed out but hit that early Honkai Impact 3rd uncanny valley in cutscenes. At least they’re not Bloodstained-tier monstrosities.
Copium-level horny bait‌ – Don’t buy this for fanservice. Go play Stellar Blade (PC port when?) if you want nut-bustingly thirsty designs.

• 40-hour Metroidvania‌ – Feels like open-world bloat with "find-the-hidden-chest" exploration. Speedrun-friendly this ain’t.

• BOSS FIGHT BLUES‌ – Most are DPS checks with ADHD teleports. "False stagger" mechanics will trick Soulslike veterans into eating instant-armor attacks.

• Boomer-compliant input complexity‌ – Combos require actual Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike fingers. Gen Zs used to one-button supers = insta-refund.

• No dude protagonists‌ – Three waifus + himbo Demon King. Dudebro crowd mald at own risk.

WORTH IT IF YOU DIG:‌

• Chill JRPG-style build-crafting (weapon combos/magic synergies go hard)
• Buttery combat flow – hitstop, aerial cancels, and gadget builds feel chef’s kiss
• Gorgeous biomes (floating islands! snow temples!) with Falcom-tier OST
• Chaotic-good party banter (imagine Konosuba cast doing a JRPG)

TLDR – A flawed gem for oldheads craving PS1-era Castlevania vibes. Casual-friendly? Hell no. Respectable 7/10 if you meet its grindset.

Good game overall with horrendous controls. Directional buttons don't work if you hold them during animations Here are some examples:
jump and hold down, character won't crouch.
-> -> Attack followed by <- <- Attack will result in double dash-attacks in the same direction.
Another super annoying control is queued up directional. eg hit up wait 1/2 seconds hit attack, you will do the up attack. It remembers the last direction you hit for like 1/2 - 1 seconds, doesn't make any sense for a game like this.

Tested this with both keyboard and controller. Will change review if they fix these issues.

Other cons:
- crafting is almost pointless, you find gear that's just as good before you get the recipes.
- ability to use multiple materials makes it so you want to always save and never craft.
- you can in theory craft items with over 99 materials but can't hold that many.
- having multiple characters sounds cool but ends up not working out. Would be better if you could just play 1 at a time, would add a lot of replayability.

I picked up this game thinking it was a metroidvania, and I definitely believed that to be the case for a good few hours. This game wears the skin of a metroidvania, but is really just a 2D action JRPG. That, in and of itself, is not a bad thing, but the game doesn't do enough to support the RPG side of things to justify it.

Metroidvanias can forgo deeper character systems and customization because they typically have intricate and interesting world designs with a myriad of cool secrets to find. This game has neither deep customization options nor interesting level designs. The areas of the game feel padded with uninspired rooms and you move through them in an essentially linear fashion. There is also no reason to backtrack to previous areas, as it is typically possible to obtain all items in a given area on your first visit.

I did find the combat enjoyable at times, but it feels really unbalanced and lacking in difficulty. There also aren't any difficulty options, so there's no way to account for this. The soul system is interesting, but it becomes pretty cumbersome when you have to place brand new souls every time you acquire a new piece of equipment.

Ultimately, this game just feels like it wasn't put together with a clear vision in mind. Just feels like a bunch of ideas slapped together and stretched out to make a game.

This is the most fun I've had with the "RPGvania" subgenre since Bloodstained.

Fronter Hunter sees you playing as 3 separate characters who are swappable on the fly. Each character has multiple weapon types to equip with their own fight game style combos. That together with the vast array of magic spells and passives creates a nearly never ending box of toys to play with throughout the game. That's exactly what I wanted out of the game, so I had a great time.

That said, there are some caveats that might hinder others enjoyment of the game. The story is ecchi anime nonsense. The map is vast, but not particularly interesting in its level design. The difficulty curve is strange. Some early fights are rather difficult, but then all difficulty disappears until 2/3 of the way through. There's an extremely difficult boss followed by a couple of rather difficult bosses, and then its back to easy for the remainder of the game.

That's about all I have to say. Absolutely worth the time if you just want to have some fun with a huge variety of combat abilities and fighting styles and aren't too worried about Hollow Knight levels of polish.

A big improvement from the last game.

Pro:
1. It has more customization to builds and characters.
2. There's Japanese voice acting to compliment the anime characters!
3. You can execute beautiful combos and performing them feels rewarding.
4. The enemies have skill sets that becomes more difficult to evade or counter as the level goes up.
5. The bosses are actually hard to beat. You srsly need to spend time learning the boss and execute moves to kill it.

Con:
1. It's kinda grindy to unlock slots on the weapons or collect ingredients.
2. I really hope the devs make a wiki and guides so new players can ease into the game.
3. The hidden easter eggs aren't interesting.

Charming indie Metroidvania with a healthy amount of content.


Live-streamer military officer Erza and her crew explore a strange new land. It's a light-hearted event-driven story rather than a character-driven one. Don't expect award-winning material, but it moves the plot along and the cutscenes are fully voiced and look good. The character chemistry is pretty good, though the characters don't stray too far from their anime tropes.

Score: 6.5/10


The first time I saw the trailer I was like "wow". For what it's going for, the vibrant, cel-shaded anime style works well. Attacks are flashy, voices and sound effects are on-point. There's a lot of detail, from the characters' outfits to environments. For the most part, the UI was intuitive too.

Score: 8/10


There's two main parts to Frontier Hunter, the Metroidvania part and the supporting systems.

The Metroidvania part is pretty solid and a familiar formula. Navigate various 2D stages, do quests, beat the boss etc. Along the way, Frontier Hunter's combat system is combo-based. Control up to 3 characters, unlocked via main story progression. Choose 2 weapons for each character. The weapons have a set of normal attacks, jump attacks, specials done with commands like back-forward+Attack or down-up+Attack, supers. Movement starts limited but eventually gets to air dashing and double jumping and wall climbing. After unlocking a few specials and getting nice gear, it's a pretty fun formula.

The supporting systems are overall not bad but somewhat janky. The map feels open but is divided into rooms. Transitioning from one room to another, for example jumping into a hole or walking through a corridor, changes the camera view completely and respawns all enemies in the new room. It can get quite disorienting to stand at the top of a stage, jump to swipe at a flying bat and oops it's the next room, then get pulled back down to the previous room where everything has respawned. Or the same thing from getting prodded and falling into a hole.

Another thing is while the game is mostly helpful with quest markers early on, later there are puzzles involving locked doors or inaccessible items where they aren't marked with a quest marker despite being important to a quest. There is a manual map-marking feature so you can mark them yourself. The label was kind of small so I missed it until fairly late -- use it!

Also, building a character involves a Tetris minigame. Enemies drop stat boosters in various shapes like horizontal bars, squares, vertical bars and so on. Every equipment piece has a bunch of empty boxes to fill with these boosters. A fairly big part of the game revolves around trying to fit everything nicely across all 3 gear slots (weapon, armor, accessory).

Score: 7/10


Fun and very well put together, just with quite a bit of getting lost, janky transitions and time spent playing Tetris.

I like it but the devs really need to consider other idle standing animation for Erza, because as it is it's basically a carbon copy of Miriam from Bloodstained. Also not having the katana always by her side whenever she's moving is kinda lame, not gonna lie.

I thought this game was fine. It was very similar to Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, except probably more special move focused/combo-driven combat. It has a lot of charm, especially in the cut scenes which are interspersed throughout the game. You play as three different characters that each use different weapon types, although from what I can tell, you don't really ever need to switch characters except for when the one you are using dies in combat and you are not at a save point. I personally would have preferred them to just use one character throughout the game and have that character have the ability to use the different weapon types because managing armor and weapons in this game is somewhat of a hassle, especially considering each weapon, armor, and amulet for each character has multiple modification slots. There is a also cooking in the game, although the degree to which it had a noticeable effect on the actual game play was not obvious to me. I mean, it bolsters stats, but given how combo focused the combat is, and how easily your character can get stun-locked, etc, the meals don't seem to have that much of an effect. Another issue I ran into with this game was money, or lack thereof. You never make that much money in the game, or at least it wasn't obvious to me how to, so I would go through a lot of my in-game saving just buying basic health potions, which I thought was strange. I also thought that parrying in the game was kind of difficult, from what I can tell, you can only do it with the katana and there is no standard block button so it seems like you have to dodge attacks, which to me wasn't super intuitive. Another strange decision on the part of the developers was having you find special moves for the weapons hidden throughout the game in chests. I think giving you these moves from the get-go might have been a better decision so that you can formulate combos and get used to the weapons while you play rather than springing new moves on you late in the game. Overall, I think that there are a lot of people that will like the combat in the this game is it seems more involved than that of other "metroidvania" type games, but for me, I never really fully got used to it, so boss fights ended up feeling kind of cheesy and I didn't feel like I was learning the moves of the bosses so much as I was repeating strong combos over and over so that they're health bar went down faster than mine. I don't think this was a bad game but also not my favorite of this type I would say it is about a 4/5. Thank you.

Frontier Hunter is basically metroidvania junk food. It's modelled after the Igavania style (think Bloodstained) - a standard ability gated metroidvania with rpg-lite character progression. The gameplay loop of combat, exploration and fetch quests is fun and moreish while the relativity large map is an easily readable tile based affair with pins for marking treasures and such. Level design is unexciting but not awful. It's all serviceable stuff.

On the downside this game has very little challenge, looks ok but lacks any real identity as a result of the bland environments and derivative anime designs, and has a trope filled anime story with a dodgy English localisation.

I still had a decent time as a fan of the genre, so a thumbs up overall.