December 6, 2024

The Ups and Downs of Starfield

Starfield released last month on the 6th of September and I wanted to give it a little time to really be out there before somebody wrote about it. Now it’s time for a proper review of the game.

Now first things first, let’s talk about the story. It’s boring. The main questline for Starfield is just a glorified fetch quest where you grab some shiny rock and bring it to certain people on a certain planet. Some of the side quests are unironically more interesting than the main quest. For example, there is a big important character in power that is exposed for corruption.

Second, NPCs and Bugs. Most of the facial expressions are broken and when talking to them, they will just stare at you with their eyes widened. You’ll be lucky enough if you see an NPC smile or just show any emotion in general. I think the only good thing about the NPCs is that the voice actors did a really good job, they really put their soul into voicing the many different characters. Now to the bugs, there actually aren’t very many in this game, which is surprising because this is Bethesda’s biggest project and normally their games are littered with bugs on release (Fallout 76) so it’s a good change that Starfield doesn’t have very many.

Third, Gameplay/Exploration. The gameplay is very similar to past games like Fallout 4 and Fallout 76, the gunplay is very similar. There aren’t a whole lot of different types of weapons, you might find a legendary version of a gun that already exists with some better damage and unique effects. The gameplay is very smooth though compared to previous games. You won’t feel too many stutters or FPS drops during combat. Exploration is very weak in this game, even more disappointing than what was advertised. You can’t seamlessly fly to planets, you must land on them from a menu. The maps just straight up suck, nothing else to say there. Random planets that you land on can contain absolutely nothing but rocks and invisible walls for miles. The graphics are very good though, on max settings, it truly is a beautiful game, if only the gameplay could replicate that.

A good example of Starfield being beautiful, but empty.

Conclusion, the game feels unfinished, loads of empty terrain on planets, typical gunplay from Bethesda, and terrible story. Starfield has many flaws, but that doesn’t mean it’s a totally TERRIBLE game, it just needed more time in development. As previously stated, if you liked Fallout 4 and 76, you’ll like the Starfield gameplay but I guarantee you won’t be impressed by the main story.

It does in fact, not get good after 12 hours.