Starfield is a fantastic update of the BethesdaRPG formula
Starfield: The Rise and Fall of An Open-world RPG in a Giant Universe with Planets to Explore and Mystery Unravelling
Even as someone who loves the Fallout games, I must admit that spending dozens of hours in an irradiated wasteland full of ghouls and raiders can be a little, well, depressing. It’s not the kind of world that evokes a sense of adventure. That’s what made the potential of Starfield so exciting: here was Bethesda applying its formula for open-world RPGs to a giant universe with planets to discover and cosmic mysteries to unearth. It is similar to the Elder Scrolls but instead of a game, it is called No Man’s Skyrim.
In it, the player is forced to work undercover within a vicious gang, becoming something like a government mole who has to gain the trust of their new colleagues while avoiding becoming the kind of bloodthirsty criminal they’re trying to take down. There are a lot of daring escapes and heists along the way. It’s one of the most compelling bits of the sprawling sci-fi RPG and, because of the game’s design, it seems like it would be very easy to miss.
All artists, from filmmakers and novelists to musicians and gamemakers, have to make countless small editing decisions in their work. Which parts of a character’s life need to be depicted to tell their story? How should multiple instrumental and vocal tracks be mixed to create the best version of a song? Which features and storylines should be included or cut in order to maintain a video game’s pace and overall coherence?
The Starfield review xbox pc: Bugs, glitches, and all that in the way of Bethesda
The game will be available in early access on August 31st, depending on the version of the game you purchased.
But these situations were pretty rare, and none had any impact on the game itself. This doesn’t put a huge mental burden on you. I wasn’t afraid of hitting a game-breaking issue that would stall my progress or force me to load an older save, unlike every time I play Fallout. I saved continuously out of habit.
You might have noticed, that I haven’t talked about bugs in this review. And that’s for a very good reason: I experienced very few of them in my time with Starfield. It was surprising to learn that from Bethesda, a studio that accepts glitch and bugs as part of the experience. But Starfield is polished like no game from the studio before. That’s not to say I didn’t see anything weird: characters run into walls or stand on top of desks, people face the wrong direction during conversations, and at one point, the floor of a saloon turned entirely invisible. The weird physics for dead bodies is still in place, too, so enemies will crumple up in occasionally hilarious ways when they die.
Source: Starfield is a stellar sci-fi refresh of the Bethesda RPG formula
Starfield: The Power of Quests in a Stellar Sci-Fi Fi Xbox Pc [Review xbox-pc]
From what I played — and there are a lot of quests I didn’t get to — it was 50/50 whether a side mission would be interesting or tedious. The one I liked the most was the quest where I had to flip switches in order to fix an electrical problem in a slum. When a coffee run suddenly became tense and violent in the middle of a cafe, others seemed tedious but turned into something more exciting. It’s really hard to tell what you’re in for until you start the quest.
Starfield’s space theme does bring some new gameplay elements to the experience, which is where the No Man’s Sky comparisons come from. You can land on any of the many, many planets to explore, complete with a scanning device to learn about local plants, animals, and minerals. The idea of exploring for it is a nice one, but I didn’t find much interesting until I found a couple strange aliens and some strange formations. Basically, the only times I found anything really interesting happened while I was on a quest of some sort, not when I ventured out on my own. Others may have better luck.
Like most Bethesda games, the experience can almost be divided into two: the main questline and everything else. Here, in a rarity for the developer, the central story is actually what pulled me in the most. It took a few hours to get going, but once I started to discover the more strange and cosmic elements of the narrative, I had a hard time focusing my attention on anything else.
Source: Starfield is a stellar sci-fi refresh of the Bethesda RPG formula
Dialogue in Starfield, a RPG that isn’t just Fallout, but a story of discovery and discovery for Jules Verne
It’s no wonder that you need a spaceship, because all of this space travel means you have to fly in one and you can’t buy new crafts or upgrade existing ones. I was rushing from planet to planet, hoping that the pirate fleet wouldn’t be waiting for me when I arrived because dogfighting wasn’t fun.
So, while the shooting and combat may leave a lot to desire, I found the role-playing elements very satisfying. I felt like I could change my name to whatever I wanted. In this case, I made someone a lot like me: a wannabe adventurer who loves to see new places, would rather talk than fight, gets annoyed with anything too technical, and still goes home to visit his parents when they send a message.
Conversation remains a big part of the experience. You spend a lot of time talking, with an up-close view of whoever you’re conversing with. It is necessary that you chat with your companion characters, make sure you do not cause any trouble, and let others know you are in a good place. Considering the sheer amount of dialogue, all of which is voiced, it’s impressive just how consistently well-written and acted Starfield is. There are a few awkward moments when there are more than two people in a conversation, and sometimes a character might not be facing you when speaking, but otherwise, it’s all very convincing.
I focused a lot on my social skills because, much like Fallout before it, Starfield isn’t the most adept shooter. It may look like one, with a huge range of weapons to collect and the ability to play from a first-person perspective, but this is not Destiny. Aiming feels wonky, and oftentimes, shots that seem to hit an enemy point blank will fail to register. It’d be nice if Starfield had the equivalent of the VATS system from Fallout, giving it pseudo-turn-based combat, but instead, it’s just a passable shooter attached to a very ambitious RPG. That might be the reason I spent so many skill points on my persuasion abilities.
Jules Verne could come up with something similar if he was asked to write an episode of Star Trek. It’s the perfect place to start a story about discovery and exploration. The group doesn’t really understand what the artifacts are and the rest of Starfield is very focused on finding out what they are.
