It has finally arrived! Well, almost. For those of us lucky enough to play this game in early access at least - it has finally arrived! 🙌
I have been playing Bethesda RPGs for over 20 years now. And this is Bethesda's biggest release in over a decade. As such, it is prone to scrutiny of every kind. Biased opinions come from all sides. This review will try to remedy that by giving you an honest review of the product.
It's hard for everyone to be level-headed when a title this big shows up on the market. But you'll find that if your expectations are "a Bethesda RPG" it's hard for you to be disappointed. For better or worse. 😅 And believe me: if this game is anything, it's a Bethesda RPG through and through.
DEVELOPER: Bethesda Game Studios, id Software RELEASE DATE: September 6, 2023 ENGINE: Creation Engine 2 PLATFORMS: Xbox Series X and Series S, Microsoft Windows GENRES: Shooter, RPG, Action-adventure, Nonlinear gameplay
https://images.ecency.com/DQmVGHD6Xb9X9NeNCjhcDXptYxepp13qc3CR5ZeaTu3Vvd3/elegant_up.png
🔷 SETUP 🔶
Before we begin this review in earnest, if you want to see what the game looks like for yourself without any spoilers, then I highly recommend the Starfield Direct. A very well-done short doc about all the game's features. Great watch for any gaming fan.
In every interview out there, Todd Howard (the Game Director and lead in Bethesda) has said that Starfield was his dream game. They've always talked about creating the big one - the space game. 🚀
The hype of the game raised, and raised. Until there was nowhere else to go. I think the only game that has been more hyped was Elden Ring, oh, and Cyberpunk of course. This building of hype was fascinating, as people kept raising their expectations. Kind of like what happened with No Man's Sky and Cyberpunk. And exactly like those games: people didn't get what they wanted.
This confuses me to no end as people seem to have forgotten what types of games Bethesda makes. The people who went in with the expectations of it being a Bethesda RPG got exactly what they were hoping for. And frankly, more.
SYNOPSIS: In the distant future, humanity has spread throughout the galaxy. Colonizing most of known space. You create a character and start off as a miner on a pretty unknown chunk of rock. When you encounter an artifact that is totally alien to you and those around you. You take said artifact to the city of New Atlantis - ostensibly Humanity's home. To meet up with a group of explorers called Constellation, to help unravel the ever-tangling mystery - are we alone?
https://images.ecency.com/DQmVGHD6Xb9X9NeNCjhcDXptYxepp13qc3CR5ZeaTu3Vvd3/elegant_up.png
🔷 MECHANICS 🔶
You can play the game in both first-person and third-person. And they've done a really good job with the third-person in this one. Best yet for sure. But now let's talk about id's involved first off. id is a renowned FPS developer, mostly known for their groundbreaking titles (DOOM, Quake, Wolfenstein). It is weird at first glance that they would help Bethesda out on this, but they are all now part of the Microsoft umbrella. So with that in mind, it's not weird at all.
You would think that id helped with the shooting in Starfield - since Starfield has the best shooting/and in-general combat, out of any Bethesda game - but the truth is much more boring. They just helped out with the lighting in the game. I know, lame. 👎 Doesn't match the script at all.
So the game has great combat. Enemies can be a bit bullet-spongy, but it's not as big of a problem as in Fallout for instance. You also have a beam weapon/tool that helps you harvest resources, and even get through certain locks. This tool is a great addition that makes the tired Bethesda formula feel fresh.
Resources you ask? Yes, Starfield can feel eerily similar to No Man's Sky at times. Apart from collecting resources with your aforementioned tool, you can also scan alien creatures and wildlife to map a planet and even a whole system. Doing this is incentivized as it gives you XP. A neat mechanic, but I doubt anyone would spend long hours doing it. But you never know - the freedom is there.
The planets themselves are baron. There are a thousand of them, but they are all like 200 meters wide, in essence. 😅 Bethesda has said that the joy of arriving at a new planet should override the need to explore it. Is this a contradiction of their promise of having an explorable galaxy? Sort of, but who cares? The game is about space travel, landing on planets, getting some nearby procedural events, and fast traveling out. 😁
So yes, there are a lot of loading screens. All over the place actually. It makes the game feel very dated at times. You can just fast-travel from one planet to another, leaving a lot of people wondering do you even need the spaceship. Well, if you choose to explore space, it's there. When you arrive at a new system, you get the same procedural event generation as you do on planets. So you can dog fight (which I found very fun if you have the appropriate ship) damage a ship, steal that ship, then sell it or use it for yourself. That's great that they let you do that. 👍
Dog fighting is good, and the shipbuilder is also very fun. You can spend hours upon hours building your ship if you have the funds to do so. You can also spend hours building your base (the system is very similar to Fallout 4, but you now have a top-down building view (thank god)). There is also crafting. All of these systems take a lot of time to use, however. As in the beginning, you won't be able to do much of anything. And there's a reason for that.
Skills have been giving meaning like no other Bethesda game before. They are very impactful and not just stat dumps, which is great. When you create your character you get to choose a background and traits. Some of these are very consequential, and some not so much. 😅 The system is there still, making the the character creator in this game the most involved. And that's saying something for a Bethesda RPG.
https://images.ecency.com/DQmVGHD6Xb9X9NeNCjhcDXptYxepp13qc3CR5ZeaTu3Vvd3/elegant_up.png
🔷 PRESENTATION 🔶
Game looks and sounds great. Seeing as how all of these games rely heavily on modability for their longevity, Starfield's 'out-the-gate' standard is pretty high. At launch this game has fewer bugs than Skyrim and Fallout do today. So that's saying something.
So yes, the presentation is top-notch. Real-time global illumination that lights up each planet dependent on the galaxy? That's some fancy $£!% right there. Moreover, the faces look almost normal! 😮 This is a first for Bethesda, and I am so very proud of them for managing to pull off realistic-looking faces.
It also sounds great. The tracks have this soaring quality to them that makes you feel like you're above the stars. The combat music is great, the exploration is great, and the theme is great. The SFX also sounds like they belong in this futuristic space universe.
So it's safe to say that this is the best-looking and best-sounding Bethesda game yet. Seeing as how it's 2023, you would hope. Well, hope no longer, as this is reality.
https://images.ecency.com/DQmVGHD6Xb9X9NeNCjhcDXptYxepp13qc3CR5ZeaTu3Vvd3/elegant_up.png
🔷 VERDICT 🔶
I intentionally didn't talk about the story since that should be experienced by everyone in their own time. Suffice it to say it's good, real good. Better than most Bethesda RPGs. Also, I recommend you finish the main story first, then start a new in NG+. This design idea is refreshing, especially for Bethesda.
Should you play this game? Yes. Should you pay full price for it? If you like Bethesda RPGs, yes. Does it live up to the hype? No. Is it in your opinion a good RPG? Yes.
If you've never played a Bethesda RPG, then you're in for a ride. All the clunkiness and jankyness is still there. For many that gives these games a charm, but for others, it also is unacceptable in 2023. Soon enough, however, you will look past all of that in favor of the boundless adventure awaiting you.
Thank you for reading, you rock! (and maybe roll) 👏👏👏
Shout-out to the 🍕PIZZA🍕 gang, 🤙 gang. 🤙
We will probably make a pit stop to talk about Elden Ring before returning to our horror schedule. I hope you all enjoyed this review. 😌
👊 Follow me on my HIVE blog 👊
I hope you are having an amazing start to your week! 🙌
Return from Starfield - REVIEW to Јоцко's Web3 Blog
