Starfield

Starfield is a jack-of-all-trades and a master of none. It desperately needs an editor to cut through all the idealistic but useless features to remind the developers that quality always trumps quantity. A rich world and fantastic side quests clash with an uninspired main quest and a plethora of performance issues that render the game's push for exploration anything but. It's a mix of the studio's Skyrim with the genre-defining Mass Effect series, but never quite satisfies those itches and leaves the player thinking of stronger experiences. I ran into a plethora of issues from glitches to outright crashes, spent an inordinate amount of time troubleshooting issues I shouldn't be worried about on console, and doing my best to accept that Bethesda doesn't seem to care to learn from lessons that have hurt them for decades.

While Starfield seems stuck between generations and intentions, it's still fun (frustrating fun, sure, but fun nonetheless). Its side quests shine and its crisp combat only gets better the more skills you unlock. Character creation and crafting your journey are both solid in design and execution, and the game does reward your investment. With all my criticism, I am excited for the universe's future and the undoubted refinements to come, but quality control needs a firmer, more moderate hand.

Never before has a video game been able to give that sense of depth that space as a starfield can give. I'll say it right away for the most demanding, this is not a game that is worth its high expectations but it is so vast, complex and original that it is still worth a high rating and a purchase. Unfortunately, a fluctuating frame rate and 30fps resolution have weakened Starfield to the point of making some define it as a big disappointment, but that's not the case. Bethesda certainly promised something unattainable which was not achieved but the production remains solid, original and well studied, with an exaggerated amount of things to do and secondary missions to discover. Not excellent but certainly excellent, worth trying!

The scope and vision cannot be grander. And Starfield indeed looks grand from the first minutes. The various mechanics and systems built into the game, from spaceship building to planetary exploration, are truly amazing, enough to fill multiple decent games.

But that's where the positives end. Starfield produces almost no gel, either in the form of a good story or cohesive world building, to hold its different parts together. The grand scope becomes pointless and bleak when there is no narrative to drive it. The various mechanics do not talk to each other and start to feel redundant very early. The saddest thing is when you push yourself to invest in some of them and they are proven to be redundant by the end of the game.

Bethesda seems to think that just because it's the first universe in 20 years for Bethesda (it's Bethesda!), players will just stick around for hundreds and hundreds of hours until they eventually truly appreciate all that's built within this grand scope. That's hubris. I felt a tinge of nostalgia I completed the game. Then I immediately deleted it and all my saves. What a disappointment.

(Based on Patch 1.8.86) Pros

• Art design suitable for the concept of space exploration.

• Exceptional soundtrack quality.

• Large volume of game.

• Fresh new type of new game plus mode.

• Large selections of weapons.

• Significantly improved game engine.

• A procedural generation system that operates more naturally than other games.

Cons

• Boring main quests
• Not a good AI
• An uncertain game concept that is neither a space opera with a rich story nor an adventure where exploration is the main goal.

• Awkward character animation.

• Still bad optimization and frequent stuttering.

Conclusion The game that sparked doubts about the future of Xbox.

Other than the faces of people (and a few bugs which most games have today unfortunately), this game is absolutely incredible. I'm almost 100 hours in and really feel as i'm just getting into the thick of it. There's is literally so much to do in this game and all of the environments are beautiful. I was a little disappointed when I found out that there wouldn't be as much in space (or "In the Starfield" as they call it in game) but the rest of the game definitely makes up for it. Maybe it's because I have been waiting for a game exactly like this forever, but it's definitely my new favorite game.