I was only caught up with the news to its release date and didnt bother to check on it since then. I don’t plan to play it, but rather to check on the headlines and reviews surrounding it since I’ve heard some negative comments about the game. I know about the recent trends of the gaming industry but I was kinda hoping for Starfield to be better since I really dig the concept of open world and space exploration games.
Are you familiar with Bethesda games? The best way to describe it is that it’s a Bethesda game that sacrifices what makes Bethesda games great (the handcrafted open world) in exchange for an illusion of scale and scope by way of procedural generation.
What you’re left with is mediocre writing, boring characters and uninteresting exploration of copy-pasted points of interest.
I can’t speak for everyone, only myself. It seemed to be mostly a case of ‘What was promised is not what was delivered.’ They promised a ton of locations to travel to and explore, and we got a lot, but they are 99% empty with maybe one POI per location. However, what really killed it for me is the inventory system. Hauling resources around for crafting is an incredible chore, meaning your only real option is to use the lodge’s infinite weight box. I hated it.
In short, it’s shit. Way below usual Bethesda quality. Their engine is patently not up to the task of representing their game ideas. It’s a pity because there is some good stuff there. But not the main quest. It’s genuinely awful. I gave up the game when I discovered what the main quest was, it’s that stupid
Which is saying something, because the main quest in Fallout 4 is awful.
- Be frozen in time for an unknown number of years
- Get unfrozen, and watch your kid get stolen
- Get refrozen for an unknown number of years
You learn that you were frozen for over 200 years total. It is most likely that your child is dead, just like everyone else you have ever known, so why would you look for them?
The problem is that it flat out isn’t a space exploration game. Space is more or less a glorified loading zone. You can do some dogfighting if you want, but you’re mostly just going to fast travel from planet to planet while completing modern, bland Bethesda quests.
If you really just love Bethesda games, and have enjoyed your time in Fallout 4 or 76, there’s not anything wrong with it structurally. The gunplay is about as good as the Creation Engine allows, and there’s some actually cool new game+ additions to encourage a replay. The problem is that if you’re someone who saw both of those games as signs of Bethesda faltering, Starfield is your proof that their open-world design is outdated, and their writing can’t compete in the same arena as someone like Larian.
