The majority of the time, the term “walking simulator” is used in a derogatory manner to downplay many quality experiences. However, in the case of The Trail: Frontier Challenge, there sadly isn’t a better fit. From developer 22cans and the legendary (though some might say infamous) designer Peter Molyneux, this stroll across the countryside attempts to add more mechanics to its surroundings, but in doing so it forgets to make the actual act of walking even the slightest bit interesting.
After picking your character, you’ll arrive on the shores of the New World with the goal of making it to Eden Falls, a nearby town where you look to set up shop with a house and eventually run for mayor. With not even an item of clothing to speak of, you follow in your Uncle Rufus’ footsteps, charting your trail to the aforementioned town and stopping off at various camps along the way.
It’s a fairly flimsy premise, and it never amounts to anything substantial. You’ll exchange letters with your family back home in England as you progress and let them know of your travels, but it’s never too in-depth as you select specific details to be included in the messages. The disappearance of your uncle is an ever-present subplot, but it never becomes the clear driving force for progression. While other games of the genre place the story front and centre, The Trail’s paper-thin narrative quickly fades into the background.
For saying its core concept revolves around travelling from camp to camp, the game doesn’t do a good job of making this process interesting. You will follow a strict path that you cannot deviate from; the only actual directions you can move in are forwards and backwards. You’ll be able to swing the camera around you and pick up nearby objects once they become highlighted with a press of the ZR button, but thanks to the minimal amount of interaction, navigation just isn’t exciting in the slightest.
Once you do reach each encampment, you’ll be able to craft new items out of the materials collected on your travels, barter for goods or sell objects off for cash, or spend your currency in the surprisingly large skill tree. As well as that, you’ll be able to accept challenges to be completed on your next excursion, such as finishing within a certain time, collecting a set number of items, or chopping down enough trees for wood. These goals do add an extra layer to travelling, but they’re tasks that you really should be carrying out anyway, especially if you want access to higher quality goods.
You could craft a slingshot to be used for hunting rabbits while on the road, an axe will chop down trees by the wayside of the path; alternatively, you could stock up on food as you pass it to conserve energy, but this really is all the gameplay loop amounts to. Things do get a little more in-depth once you reach Eden Falls and begin to construct your house and customise it, but it’s going to take you a fair few hours to even get there.
Despite how simple its gameplay mechanics are, the skill tree that weaves its way through every activity is surprisingly deep. Split into five separate branches, you can look to improve your overall navigation, enhance your hunting skills for catching food, and then upgrade your cooking knowledge to fry it, or develop your tailoring so you can invest in fashionable clothing. With a number of advancements to be found within each branch - along with smaller developments to boost them - there’s a genuine amount of improvement to be embraced.
The quality of a port to the Nintendo Switch is always a hot topic, and unfortunately The Trail: Frontier Challenge fails to do the platform justice. In handheld mode, the game fails to hold a consistent framerate as the experience stops and starts with frequent hitches and brief pauses. The menus suffer too, as it can take a second to load everything in while the sluggish control scheme makes them a chore to navigate. The title fares a little better when docked, but those on the go are in for a rough time.
When it’s not stopping and starting, the game’s art style does stand out. Its blocky and bold colours help to paint a vibrant world that is a joy to observe, and with a relaxing soundtrack to compliment it, the overall experience can be a peaceful one. It’s just a shame that when things kick into motion, the vibe can be ruined by the inconsistency of its performance.
Conclusion
The Trail: Frontier Challenge is too much of a barebones experience for us to give it anywhere near a solid recommendation. The act of getting about is minimal when it comes to interaction, and the performance issues turn the game into far too much of a slog. The skill tree and the art style itself are two brief high points, but they’re not enough to make us recall this trip through the countryside with any degree of fondness.
Comments 17
(to be read in the voice of Larry Bundy Jr.) Ha! The bald one makes a turkey yet again!
ouch
No thanks!
More like The Entrail I guess.
Darn - had high hopes for this one.
This game died of disentary.
And yet, I still plan on grabbing it on sale. The gameplay loop is just stuff I enjoy doing in games. Can it be controlled via touch only? That would be a big plus for me as well. Love putting Ironcast in my pocket when I ride porcelain pony.
@Pahvi Was this a mobile game first? Reading the review I was thinking it would function better that way, you have so much energy to walk so far each day, you could pay for sneakers to walk faster, or buy an energy drink to go longer, or pay to spend the night in a hotel to make that go faster. But you wouldn't, b/c playing an hour a day would be more than enough.
I still think this could have worked if you played as Beedle in BotW DLC, he could comment on changes in the world as Link fought the machines. Game story could be he has to bring supplies to each of the stables, one big circuit around Hyrule, start and end south of the castle. Start when Link wakes up, end after he defeats Ganon. "Beedle's Guide to Hyrule". Actually sounds better than Champions Ballad now that I stop to think about it.
As soon as I saw this is by Peter Molyneux, I knew not to keep my fingers crossed
@Grawlog
"I didn't feel the game was that bad"
Gives it one more star <
Most revolutionary game of the century!
@Pahvi
This game includes everything so no microtransactions.
@PhilKenSebben
Yes. You can mix and match controls between touchscreen and joycons just like Ironcast.
I kind of like this game. It's relaxing and you can't lose. Trading goods with other players at camps is fun too. Especially halfway through the game because that's when you start to rely on others to craft the better stuff in the proffessions you haven't leveled.
You can level up everything yourself but it's going to take tens of hours! Working together with random people online is more effecient.
It's highly repetetive and there is no real motivation at all except progress so that you can learn more things to craft.
I give it a 5. If they fix the slowdowns it's a 6 for me.
How did Peter Molyneux fall so low? Guy was at the top of his field and now he’s producing pap. Weird how it goes
Wait, doesn't this game have online bartering at campsites and cities or something? Odd it wasn't mentioned . Seems like a big part of the game
Again it’s ridiculous how many mobile games ported are actually the worst games! This is a trend that is showing that most of these are cashing in with half done broken buggy trashy games that have no right being on the eshop in a world.
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This game is wonderful. I get the concerns but man, there's something fun and serene about traveling, grabbing items, slowly upgrading, etc. It's a pain sometimes, but that's live on the trail, yeah?
It’s not that bad. I’d give it a 6.5
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