Video Game / Fantastic Frontier

Fantastic Frontier is an action/sandbox RPG created through and hosted on Roblox. It was released on September 24th, 2016, and can be found here.

Set in a vast-yet-isolated land known as the Frontier, the player must venture out into the unsettled wilds to gather items of all kinds to sell back in the populated towns. The gold retrieved is, of course, used to purchase various forms of equipment to help the player journey longer and harder, eventually becoming a renowned hero.

But it's not as easy as it sounds - for the Frontier and its inhabits pack many mysteries, including just who it is you're fighting.

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Fantastic Frontier provides examples of:

• Adam Smith Hates Your Guts: The different spirits which can raise your HP get ludicrously expensive as you progress. The Spirit of the Forest offers an increase for 100,000 gold (meager amounts for people who venture out into the deepest regions of the Frontier), and the Spirit of Commerce charges 2.5 million gold, in an area that lays host to a slew of endgame shopkeepers.
• Air-Vent Passageway: The door in the Ratboy's Nightmare with a cyan seal is implied to work this way, connecting the Supermarket to a room in the Mansion's entrance containing a bunch of frogs playing poker by means of what appears to be a large ventilation shaft.
• Alien Geometries: The Nightmare exhibits traits of this. Of particular note is that when exiting the Supermarket through the padlocked "entrance" to the Road, a normal street and city block can be seen behind it. Once behind the door, though, neither the door nor the city is anywhere to be found as the Road stretches onward in a blank void. For extra Mind Screw, the shortcuts that dump you a little less than halfway in are located a full story above ground level in the Back Room, and the Nightmare's padlocked gates are not portals.
• All Planets Are Earthlike: The Frontier is not an island in a Fictional Earth. Earth itself exists elsewhere, though a strange metallic construct from the planet falls to the Frontier on occasion.
• Alternate Universe: The Frontier exists in close proximity to many parallel worlds and dimensions. Of note is the location in the Ratboy's Nightmare only known as Inside, where the boundaries between the Nightmare and topside are so thin it is possible to reach into the real-world version of Inside (a purchasable home in Topple Town) and bring items into the Nightmare.
  • The Town of Right and Wrong has a direct portal to the dimension known as the Otherworld; at least one person (the Weaponsmith) originates from there and possibly more, given that all of the shopkeepers are not human.
  • Wonald Izzi exists across all known worlds through means of this. Inside contains a large amount of "reserve" Wonalds, and the Otherworld Tower contains a hostile Wonald turned Inspector. Only Jackson, the version of Wonald living in the Frontier, is helpful in any way.
• Ambiguously Human: Linkman appears to have a small core directly powered by the Frontier's magic in his back, suggesting he isn't completely human.
  • Stick looks human, but is always fully covered in cloth and may or may not be a resident of the Otherworld. His obssession with Firefly Stones and his payouts sharing similar patterns to other extradimensional loot givers isn't helping any.
  • MANAGER SUPREME also resembles a human, but is similarly fully clothed and obscured like Stick. He's also about twice as large than the player's default model.
• Ambiguous Situation: It's unclear whether Mr. 58, the malevolent entity possessing the Frontier, or the looming threat created by the death of Circus is the true threat to the Frontier.
  • Who's the real antagonist of the Nightmare: the Old Tin Toy for tricking you into seeking out the peaceful Journeyman to help kill Circus, or the Journeyman for giving up his third of the mechanism in the first place?
  • The Changing Machine's Flavor Text implies that particularly horrid dreams are only born in the Frontier out of negative emotions and are willed by the victim upon themselves, calling into question the innocence and/or mental state of the Giant Ratboy.
• An Arm and a Leg: No-Legs lost his legs in a Noodle Incident. He lives out the rest of his life in the attic of Inside, an Alternate Universe version of a house in the real world, and offers goods to anyone who can break the seal on the door leading to his abode. Despite his condition, the chair he's sitting in has a visible footrest that seems to have come with it, though he claims that it was cheaper and doesn't mind anyways, since an entity named "Mr. Earth" sometimes puts him on the footrest itself.
• Anti-Frustration Features: After clearing the Road's distance once, you'll likely find a Hidden Key from the mobs inside which can be inserted into padlocked gates in the Back Room to skip approximately 46% of the area.
• Beware the Silly Ones: Even with endgame equipment, getting hit with a pie or ran over by a shopping cart thanks to the clowns in the Supermarket is no joke.
  • Wonald Izzi is initially encountered as an aloof and strange merchant who only sells boots that make you jump higher. In one universe, he becomes a much more powerful Inspector and one of the strongest inhabitants of the Otherworld.
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: There's an extremely low chance that falling through a Pitfall in the Nightmare will drop the player into the Power Lamp Surgery minigame, where they assume the role of Mr. Mackey, a renowned power lamp surgeon who must pick out the correct lamp from 18 identical fakes, or die trying. Despite being needed for 100% Completion, it has absolutely no bearing on anything else in the game.
• Bribing Your Way to Victory: If you're not interested in killing certain enemies for specific equipment, notably the Frontier weapons, vendors like the Strangeman may sell them for a very high price.
• Cordon Bleugh Chef: The Deli in the Ratboy's Nightmare sometimes serves inedible objects (mostly equipment, but has included salamander eggs and a membership card) as food, though this may simply be an indication of how twisted the giant Ratboy's torment is.
  • As a more straightforward example, they can prepare and serve Buttered Greens With Extra Butter, a salad dish ruined by heaping amounts of - what else - butter.
• The Corruption: The Frontier's fundamental energies come from the Otherworld, a space of pure nothingness and corrupted by an evil presence. While it can be used to great effect by allied forces, the opening of the Otherworld Tower has infected the land with many threats in the wilderness.
  • The Nightmare appears to contain some form of this. Though the player character is immune to it for obvious reasons, royal knights are often seen twisted by this force and turned against the player. In the Meeting Area, a large Goon can also be found suffering from partial infection, causing them to develop black veiny growths that overtake the pit they're resting in.
• Doomed Expedition: A group of guards entered the Ratboy's Nightmare to explore it. By the time you find any proof they existed, only one guard is left hopelessly repelling the horrors of the Old Mansion.
• Foreshadowing: A man in Topple Hill can be seen trying to convince someone to buy a toaster (which obviously fails, given that the Frontier's tech level is seemingly on par with the tail-end of the pre-industrial colonial era.) Venturing deeper into the Ratboy's Nightmare, which can be entered near the man, highlights toasters and technology of the early 2000's as a recurring theme, somehow.
• Failed a Spot Check: The Mandrake in the Plant Room has no idea where all of his visitors are coming from, even though his home is connected to Inside, a place which receives frequent traffic due to a shopkeeper hiding in the attic. Unlike the rest of the ignorance of the Nightmare's nature, this isn't even justified as No-Legs (the aforementioned shopkeeper) and Rising Waters both occupy rooms locked by seals, which the Mandrake's home is also locked with.^note Unless you count the fact that the button which breaks the seal on Mandrake's home is one of the farthest removed from the door itself, while the button for No-Legs' room and the method of unlocking Rising Waters' study are more straight-forward and relevant to the actual location.
• Fantastic Racism: Clowns are really hated by everyone else for some reason. This escalated into a war long ago which took the life of Borezorego, an important figure to the Clowns that they now pay their respects to by emulating him.
• The Ghost: Mr. Earth, No-Legs' caretaker and his only companion in Inside.
• Greed: This is what actually powers the Ratboy's Nightmare. Because of the Rat Tokens and the fact that too many individuals use the Nightmare to gain power, wealth, and indulgence, the Nightmare's grip on reality continues to strengthen. By the time you open the Vault's mechanism to go and break this cycle, it turns out that not only has it worsened to the point that the corruption transcends its source, but you were tricked into intensifying it.
• King Mook: Mostly averted with the Frontier's bosses, but played straight in the case of The Lost, who is this to the Corrupted Onyx and Gold Knight. Likely justified since it seems to be one of the former fully corrupted by the Nightmare.
• Last of His Kind: The Pommel and the Gavel are the personification of the very last traces of the force that stops the Otherworld from fully entering the Frontier.
• Lethal Joke Item: The Tall Anthony may turn your character into something resembling a walking telephone pole from how tall it is, but it grants 100 bonus melee damage. The only downside is that Tall Anthony isn't a piece of armor despite going in the helmet slot.
• Luck-Based Mission: More expensive items are almost required to move up in progression. However, the chance of receiving them is entirely luck-based and become rarer the higher the price tag.
• Marathon Level: The Road, a long stretch of battered highway in an endless and pitch-black void (which, thankfully, is solid ground and can grow harvestables that fetch decent prices.) To reach the End of the Road where the Democan and Journeyman can be found, an initial trip can take up to 30 minutes of non-stop walking, while Data Mites, Industry Giants, and several darkness-themed mobs roam the area.
• Nutritional Nightmare: Buttered Greens With Extra Butter, an otherwise-healthy salad ruined by gratuitous amounts of butter. Ironically, anything that might qualify for this trope (either in terms of ingredients or portions) is actually better for the player when eaten, healing more health and sometimes topping off their overall vitality.
• Only Sane Man: Rising Waters is the only inhabitant of the Ratboy's Nightmare who fully understands the nature of the dimension; everyone else does not seem to know or even care. When you enter his study he even feels smugly satisfied that someone else managed to figure it out (and it being immediate is justified, as his study is hidden behind a seal that can only be broken after acquiring half of all unique items that can be found within the Nightmare.)
• Pet the Dog: No-Legs seems miserable and crabby when asked about his past and the tragedy that severed his legs, and has isolated himself in one of the most secluded areas of the Nightmare, but his unseen caretaker Mr. Earth does seem to genuinely care about him, moving him around and keeping him company.
• Reality Is Out to Lunch: The Ratboy's Nightmare takes the form of a bizarre manor with many twists and turns. Though it initially seems relatively mundane (if surprisingly lethal and illogically serving as the second floor of what is apparently a reputable restaurant), going deeper into the mansion becomes increasingly bizarre as several abandoned modern-era establishments and interdimensional tunnels can be found within.
• Schizo Tech: The Frontier appears to be stuck in 18th century pre-industrial levels of technology, though clothing has advanced to common styles of the 19th century and incorporates sunglasses (as in Hutch and Torson Firestarter's shades) into the fantasy aspect. However, a man can be found trying to sell a toaster to a puzzled customer (to no avail, of course), and the Ratboy's Nightmare is jam-packed with modern and futuristic technology, starting with a modern kitchen in the deli, escalating to modern establishments like a supermarket and highway plus strange robotics and cybernetic armor, and ultimately culminating in the Ratboy killing his nightmare with an actual M1911 pistol. Which you then retrieve.
  • The Strangeman mentions being a TV show mascot despite the fact that neither the Frontier nor any of the nearby dimensions have any televisions to speak of (the Nightmare comes close with functioning PCs, but they're still not televisions.)
  • The Entrepreneur Gnome is partially dressed in office attire and carries a suitcase. It's eventually revealed that he intends to sell a straight-up modern rocket launcher to only the wealthiest of adventurers.
• Translator Microbes: Tall Anthonies are actually a sapient species. If you're wearing the rare fully-grown specimen on your head, you'll be able to talk to the juvenile ones in the Old Cave.
• Turtle Island: Matumada seems to be a drifiting landmass, though it's unclear what exactly is moving it around.
• Weirdness Magnet: The Town of Right and Wrong, having a portal that connects to the most dangerous parts of the Otherworld, attracts a large amount of non-human citizens and strange individuals. Even Torson Firestarter, a fully-integrated human citizen, still seems unnerved by the Golden Coin and Arbewhy.
• Void Between the Worlds: Both the Pommel and the Gavel, the last sentinels of the rift between the Frontier and the Otherworld, describe the latter dimension as a void of complete nothingness, whose malevolent nature twists any that enter it.
• Voluntary Shapeshifter: Many armor sets from the Nightmare such as the Pantry Leech actually change the shape of the player's body into grotesque constructs.