Starfield Review - Written In The Stars | MMORPG.com

System · September 2023

Starfield Review - Written In The Stars | MMORPG.com

Jason is finally ready to render a verdict on Bethesda's latest open-world RPG, Starfield. Does it reach for the stars or crash back to Earth?

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[Deleted User] · September 2023

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MikeBC · September 2023

I'm very much looking forward to trying this game out... your complaint about many of the worlds not being very interesting is the same complaint I have of exploration in Elite Dangerous....and that's still my favorite game.... this looks and sounds fantastic though

Nanfoodle · September 2023

The one area of the game Im really not enjoying is the damage types and all the different types of meds you need to carry. Everything from burns, breaks, poisons. I think there is something like 8 different things you need to be healed from. On top of that, if you dont get the treatment for it, you need to go see a doctor and get healed that way. You can even become crippled and have long term things like speed reduction, lessen your ability to breath and the like. You can gimp your char to the point you will have some real handy caps. IMO, this is not fun at all.

Pher0cious · September 2023

I'm addicted to the ship builder. It's like a jigsaw puzzle mini game. What pieces do I use?! Where do I put it!?

So last night, it was 12 am. I thought, ok I'm just going to spend 1 hr in the ship builder to play around, experiment. Not going to confirm anything then go to bed at 1 am cause you know, work 9-5 next day. I ended up spending 2 hrs and ended up with something I liked and confirmed it then went to bed.

Didn't get enough sleep for the next day. Worth it. Would do it again.

Pher0cious · September 2023

MikeBC said:

I'm very much looking forward to trying this game out... your complaint about many of the worlds not being very interesting is the same complaint I have of exploration in Elite Dangerous....and that's still my favorite game.... this looks and sounds fantastic though

Just remember that Elite Dangerous is a simulator. Starfield is RPG. Space travel in Starfield is part of the game with fast travel and not a simulator experience for good reasons.

One example is ship parts in the ship builder. Different vendor in different star systems sell different parts from different manufacturer brands. If you want to build a ship using different parts from different brands, you really don't want to realistically space travel from vendor to vendor. You'll never get anything done in this game.

Just a small tip if you want to research and craft weapon mods. Adhesive. A crafting component that is very confusing on where and how to obtain at the start, and you need so many. The best way to get adhesive at the very start is to just buy it from a general store, they're really cheap. However, each store will sell only 10-12. So anytime you touch down at a city or anywhere with a general goods vendor. Check for adhesive and just buy it. Hoard it on your ship.

Aeander · September 2023

Not even the best RPG released in the last few weeks with the word "Star" in the name.

Kyleran · September 2023

templarga said:

Starfield is not perfect. But it is the game I dreamed of for years. I wanted a game where I could be Malcom Reynolds and command the Serenity or James Holden on the Roci and explore the universe. I wanted to help others, make questionable decisions, have space battles, explore the universe and its planets, build a base, and craft. I wanted more than No Man's Sky but less than space sims.

Starfield is it. It has its issues. Encumbrance in this game is magnified 10x fold. The inventory system leaves a lot to be desired, I am not a fan of forced-space battles and forced lockpicking on main quests. and there are some bugs but nothing game-breaking so far.

I have gone to bed after 1am for 3 straight nights because I get so lost in game. Just one more mission, one more outpost to design, one more planet to explore, one more existentialist experience. One night I just stood at my base and watched a sunrise. It was amazing. Its been years since I got that lost in a game and I love it.

Starfield may not be perfect, but its the perfect game for me and I could not be happier.

Keep flyin'.

But...no zombies?

Game is utter trash then.

[Deleted User] · September 2023

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Samhael · September 2023

I've enjoyed my time in Starfield and have almost 50 hours in. I'm parking it for a few weeks though -- too many bugs that had stopped progress in quest chains. NPCs I need to talk to floating through walls outside of the area I can access, a couple of guys inside a lab waiting for me to kill the bad guys I killed 10 days ago, some missing mission targest, etc. While nothing was the usual Bethesda show-stopper that keeps me from buying their games at launch, I've got over a dozen quests right now I can't progress on. Without googling and spoiling the plots, I don't know if I'm almost at the end of these quest chains or what. So I'll park it and wait for a patch or two. I'm running out of interesting things to do that won't complete the main story (I think I'm close?) and the NewGame+ thing sounded pretty stupid to me so once I cross that threshhold, I'm going to be waiting for the DLC to release.

Kyleran · September 2023

Samhael said:

I've enjoyed my time in Starfield and have almost 50 hours in. I'm parking it for a few weeks though -- too many bugs that had stopped progress in quest chains. NPCs I need to talk to floating through walls outside of the area I can access, a couple of guys inside a lab waiting for me to kill the bad guys I killed 10 days ago, some missing mission targest, etc. While nothing was the usual Bethesda show-stopper that keeps me from buying their games at launch, I've got over a dozen quests right now I can't progress on. Without googling and spoiling the plots, I don't know if I'm almost at the end of these quest chains or what. So I'll park it and wait for a patch or two. I'm running out of interesting things to do that won't complete the main story (I think I'm close?) and the NewGame+ thing sounded pretty stupid to me so once I cross that threshhold, I'm going to be waiting for the DLC to release.

Interesting, the reviewer didn't mention hitting any bugs, yet you found a raft of them, wondering why the difference?

Slapshot1188 · September 2023

My take is that it's a good game. It seems at least so far (less than a week) that it's got a crazy amount of content if you just want to go off on your own and sandbox play.

But the problem for me personally with that, is that I want to play that type of game with friends. I want to build an outpost, crew a ship, setup a mining Empire... with my buddies.

In a single player RPG I personally just want to play my way through the story. And so far the story is decent, but not mindblowing.

I suspect there are countless diferent perspectives on what people want from a game like this. It seems like they tried to meet as many of them as possible, but personally i wish they had narrowed the scope a bit and really made it shine.

Terazon · September 2023

It reminds me of The Outer Worlds and Mass Effect with more, well....more.
I am loving it, but can see why some players would be annoyed by some design choices that are outdated and need a better engine to support updating those choices.
I will stick by an 8.5 out of 10 for now but modding is going to really get ramped up over the next few months and it will be insane.
The game will be played for years to come.

ValdemarJ · September 2023

I'm about 50 hours in, doing stuff. I'm enjoying myself a lot. It is what I wanted.

My biggest criticisms come from Bethesda not incorporating more QoL and polish improvements from Fallout 76 into Starfield. There is too much Skyrim and not enough Fallout in Starfield when it comes to how core systems work.

A few examples where Fallout 76 has improved over Skyrim and Fallout 4 and is still ahead of Starfield:
- Base building

- Food and restoratives split out from each other in inventory tabs

- inventory items show (and can be sorted) by "value/mass". They also show stack weight and "damage/time" (DPS).

- inventory and resource management

These are really minor complaints that relate more to polish and robustness, not to the core quality of the story or experience. To be fair, Skyrim, Fallout 4, and Fallout 76 started rougher and improved over time.

I do agree with Slapshot that there was a missed opportunity to offer a shared world coop experience, like Grounded.

Kyleran · September 2023

ValdemarJ said:

I'm about 50 hours in, doing stuff. I'm enjoying myself a lot. It is what I wanted.

My biggest criticisms come from Bethesda not incorporating more QoL and polish improvements from Fallout 76 into Starfield. There is too much Skyrim and not enough Fallout in Starfield when it comes to how core systems work.

A few examples where Fallout 76 has improved over Skyrim and Fallout 4 and is still ahead of Starfield:
- Base building
- Food and restoratives split out from each other in inventory tabs
- inventory items show (and can be sorted) by "value/mass". They also show stack weight and "damage/time" (DPS).
- inventory and resource management

These are really minor complaints that relate more to polish and robustness, not to the core quality of the story or experience. To be fair, Skyrim, Fallout 4, and Fallout 76 started rougher and improved over time.

I do agree with Slapshot that there was a missed opportunity to offer a shared world coop experience, like Grounded.

Let's start a petition, Starfield 76, who's with me????

Guys, guys???

Slapshot1188 · September 2023

Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?

JeroKane · September 2023

Samhael said:

I've enjoyed my time in Starfield and have almost 50 hours in. I'm parking it for a few weeks though -- too many bugs that had stopped progress in quest chains. NPCs I need to talk to floating through walls outside of the area I can access, a couple of guys inside a lab waiting for me to kill the bad guys I killed 10 days ago, some missing mission targest, etc. While nothing was the usual Bethesda show-stopper that keeps me from buying their games at launch, I've got over a dozen quests right now I can't progress on. Without googling and spoiling the plots, I don't know if I'm almost at the end of these quest chains or what. So I'll park it and wait for a patch or two. I'm running out of interesting things to do that won't complete the main story (I think I'm close?) and the NewGame+ thing sounded pretty stupid to me so once I cross that threshhold, I'm going to be waiting for the DLC to release.

Same here. Unless you focus on the main story only, though I have run into random issues there as well, like falling through the floor in Neon, stuck in a loop and forced to kill the game client and reload a previous save to start the whole quest from scratch again (before the seed was created). Losing over an hour progress! These kind of issues have happened randomly, while not completely stopping progress, it's annoying like hell when you have to start over and losing up to several hours of progress in worse case scenarios!

A lot of the side content is bugged to hell!

The "Groundpounder" questline, for example, is notoriously bugged and I highly recommend avoiding this one for the time being. Don't start the quest, do NOT land on that planet (as it will create the seed and you're screwed if it's bugged).

How this game can get a 9/10 score.....while it's your typical bugged to hell Bethesda release. /shrug

PurplePepe · September 2023

From what I'm seeing in general, Bethesda fans give this an 8.0ish while non-fans are around a 6.0. It is buggy. It already looks dated. The planets are uninteresting. The combat is lackluster at best. There are a ton of loading screens.

I am not seeing a 9.0 here at all. It's not even close to that.

Margrave · September 2023

LOVE this game!!!!

Angrakhan · September 2023

I think 9 is fair. Game is not perfect. There's bugs and some design decisions I think could have been better, but the amount and quality of the content is mind-blowing. I'm about 50 hours in and still have only done the first 3 missions in the main story, and my mission log is still full of side quests in progress and I keep getting more. If you're a completionist type, you will get your money's worth out of this game.

Things I think could be better:

Encumbrance is annoying.

For a game with no respec option some of the skills are pretty bland (discount at vendors I'm looking at you). Yes I realize you can eventually unlock all skills which is why there's no respec.

Space combat is pretty meh. All the ships are big and slow so there's no real dogfighting since you and they are shooting at floating barns in space. Trick is to get a big ship with big shields and turrets and just watch your aimbot turrets rip everything to shreds which is effective but boring.

Fast travel options make the galaxy feel small. You can go from planet surface to planet surface in a few clicks assuming you have visited both locations previously. It's a bit too convenient for a game that's about space travel.

Slapshot1188 · September 2023

Angrakhan said:

Fast travel options make the galaxy feel small. You can go from planet surface to planet surface in a few clicks assuming you have visited both locations previously. It's a bit too convenient for a game that's about space travel.

See this one doesn't bother me because it's an option. You can fly yourself if you want, and that can open up more encounters and stuff. But I appreciate the option to just fast forward over to the planet when I'm short on time, etc...

KaliGold · September 2023

I played for 60 hours and maybe I just don't like RPGs as much as I thought I would. I uninstalled yesterday.

The good:
Some of the missions are really good.

The bad:
The game's repetition and tedium really started to take hold.

Love looting those 'abandoned facilities', but most of the stuff outside of crafting resources is not worth picking up. No salvage system.

Walking around on some random planet gets real old. Killing creatures uses up my bullets, and those bullets, you CANNOT craft yourself.

This was suppose to be a space game, but the space parts are nothing more than fast travel from one place to another.

The Skill Node tree has Ship Tech and Outposts in it. Those should have been separate progression systems.

The game is really big, but the 'mile wide, inch deep' term is very appropriate here.

Bottom line:
If you really love RPGs and the missions of RPGs, there may be enough here to overlook the glaring fact that this game looks like it was made in 2015 using the same ideas as Fallout 4 and Fallout 76....which from what I understand, that is when they started making it.

BTW, I think Fallout 4 is/was a better game.

ValdemarJ · September 2023

Slapshot1188 said:

Angrakhan said:

Fast travel options make the galaxy feel small. You can go from planet surface to planet surface in a few clicks assuming you have visited both locations previously. It's a bit too convenient for a game that's about space travel.

See this one doesn't bother me because it's an option. You can fly yourself if you want, and that can open up more encounters and stuff. But I appreciate the option to just fast forward over to the planet when I'm short on time, etc...

At first I didn't like the fast travel either, but then I realized it gives me complete control for how I want to travel. If I'm exploring I do more manual space travel. If I'm focused on a primary mission and just returning to The Lodge (or wherever) then I can fast travel back and keep the flow going. It's as cinematic or interactive as the player likes. It really isn't any different from Skyrim or Fallout in that regard.

ValdemarJ · September 2023

Official Bethesda post on reddit for 2023-09-13. https://www.reddit.com/r/Starfield/comments/16hphqs/starfield_updates_and_mod_support_september_13/

It's a short post that details some bug fixes and community requested feature improvements, like DLSS. Bethesda said they are working with AMD, Nvidia, and Intel on performance/driver issues.

[Deleted User] · September 2023

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ValdemarJ · September 2023

templarga said:

I cannot speak for others but for me, I have only encountered slight bugs and nothing that stops progression. Usually its graphical, NPC's talking over one another, and NPC's stuck in a loop where I cannot talk to them. 76 still has these bugs. A simply zone in or out and reload the save works fine. I am about half way through the main quest, completed two companions stories (I think), completed one main faction, and I am around level 30.

I've had a few graphic glitches and once where I had to save and restart the game. My favorite is the guard walking around Akila in her undies. I shrugged and figured she was a Skyrim refugee (this happens in Skyrim sometimes too).

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Starfield Review - Written In The Stars | MMORPG.com

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Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV

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Starfield Review - Written In The Stars | MMORPG.com

Comments

Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV

Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV

Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV