RenanGRM
Starfield 2023
Log Status
Completed
Playing
Backlog
Wishlist
Rating
Time Played
80h 28m
Days in Journal
2 days
Last played
September 22, 2023
First played
September 6, 2023
Platforms Played
I was constantly surprised or disappointed.
Don't get me wrong, it's an excellent game, the balance in the end was very positive, but the game's limitations really hurt me. Let's talk about what's good first. The ole-play is excellent, feeling tiny in the vast space, the interactions with all the characters, the immersion and thecustomization are undoubtedly the game's greatest strengths. Everything is perfectly designed to make you feel like you belong in that world. For its part, the combat is decent, the basics of triple-A shooters, the classics, really, without any changes or innovations. The most it has is zero-gravity combat, which is barely used during the game. Despite this, the combat holds up well, being challenging and rewarding. It's very rewarding to collect loot after the battle and feel that you've become stronger and have more cool weapons at your disposal.
As with all Bethesda games, the strongest point is the side quests. Without exception, they all bring the vast Starfield universe to life and are crazy fun. Wandering in space and finding a ship asking for help; a fancys space-party; being arrested; overhearing a conversation with a third party; a note on a dead body; everything lead to very, very entertaining side missions. Each mission is crazier than the next, all very diverse, with unique and charismatic characters. The attention given to this is surprising and very important, especially coming from triple A games, which usually focus more on the main story, making some side missions just to make a 200 hours game. Bethesda went the other way, making a 200 hours game with side missions that matter.
Which leads to the first problem, the main story itself. It's pretty boring for the most part, you basically keep going from one place to another collecting one thing, without stopping. This loop is extremely tiring (coupled with the problem of loading times) and makes you want to stop playing (Not me, but I've seen people who have stopped because of it). However, towards the end of the main storyline, out of nowhere, everything gets super interesting. It's a leap from water to wine, the end of the game is extremely satisfying, brave and innovative, really excellent, almost making up for the 10 hours of loading screen.
Starfield's problems escalate when you put the details in check. Everything about the game is very good, the immersion is excellent, the customization, both of characters and ships, crew and outposts is also excellent and the role play is phenomenal, but that's it, everything else is just okay. Everything that was expected, the freedom to explore different planets, differentiated combat, impactful decisions and a constant gameplay loop, were promises that were not ignored, but empty. The plants aren't even very different. In real life we have acid ocean plants, planets that rain diamonds and many other crazy planets. In Starfield we have desert planets, city planets, scrubland planets and forest planets. Just giving an exemple.
Speaking more directly, Starfield's biggest flaw (I don't even classify it as a problem) is purely technical. Several loadings is the most glaring of those flaws, getting into an elevator and changing floors, loading screen; getting into a house, loading screen; getting up from the ship's seat, loading screen; getting into the ship's cabin, hospitals, stores etc (tiny environments), loading screen; everything in the game results in a black loading screen, without any kind of disguise, no cool animation or anything to distract you, a gross black screen. Then there's the optimization, which to put it bluntly, is very bad, the game doesn't run at ultra on any existing PC build, and this is definitely not because the game is extremely beautiful and detailed, it's clearly a sudden optimization error.
In the end, Starfield isn't what everyone expected (talking about that is enough for a 1-hour video essay), but it's still an excellent game that will have its place in gaming history, either with positive influences or by teaching people what not to do.
I'll definitely keep playing to do all the side missions.
Don't get me wrong, it's an excellent game, the balance in the end was very positive, but the game's limitations really hurt me. Let's talk about what's good first. The ole-play is excellent, feeling tiny in the vast space, the interactions with all the characters, the immersion and thecustomization are undoubtedly the game's greatest strengths. Everything is perfectly designed to make you feel like you belong in that world. For its part, the combat is decent, the basics of triple-A shooters, the classics, really, without any changes or innovations. The most it has is zero-gravity combat, which is barely used during the game. Despite this, the combat holds up well, being challenging and rewarding. It's very rewarding to collect loot after the battle and feel that you've become stronger and have more cool weapons at your disposal.
As with all Bethesda games, the strongest point is the side quests. Without exception, they all bring the vast Starfield universe to life and are crazy fun. Wandering in space and finding a ship asking for help; a fancys space-party; being arrested; overhearing a conversation with a third party; a note on a dead body; everything lead to very, very entertaining side missions. Each mission is crazier than the next, all very diverse, with unique and charismatic characters. The attention given to this is surprising and very important, especially coming from triple A games, which usually focus more on the main story, making some side missions just to make a 200 hours game. Bethesda went the other way, making a 200 hours game with side missions that matter.
Which leads to the first problem, the main story itself. It's pretty boring for the most part, you basically keep going from one place to another collecting one thing, without stopping. This loop is extremely tiring (coupled with the problem of loading times) and makes you want to stop playing (Not me, but I've seen people who have stopped because of it). However, towards the end of the main storyline, out of nowhere, everything gets super interesting. It's a leap from water to wine, the end of the game is extremely satisfying, brave and innovative, really excellent, almost making up for the 10 hours of loading screen.
Starfield's problems escalate when you put the details in check. Everything about the game is very good, the immersion is excellent, the customization, both of characters and ships, crew and outposts is also excellent and the role play is phenomenal, but that's it, everything else is just okay. Everything that was expected, the freedom to explore different planets, differentiated combat, impactful decisions and a constant gameplay loop, were promises that were not ignored, but empty. The plants aren't even very different. In real life we have acid ocean plants, planets that rain diamonds and many other crazy planets. In Starfield we have desert planets, city planets, scrubland planets and forest planets. Just giving an exemple.
Speaking more directly, Starfield's biggest flaw (I don't even classify it as a problem) is purely technical. Several loadings is the most glaring of those flaws, getting into an elevator and changing floors, loading screen; getting into a house, loading screen; getting up from the ship's seat, loading screen; getting into the ship's cabin, hospitals, stores etc (tiny environments), loading screen; everything in the game results in a black loading screen, without any kind of disguise, no cool animation or anything to distract you, a gross black screen. Then there's the optimization, which to put it bluntly, is very bad, the game doesn't run at ultra on any existing PC build, and this is definitely not because the game is extremely beautiful and detailed, it's clearly a sudden optimization error.
In the end, Starfield isn't what everyone expected (talking about that is enough for a 1-hour video essay), but it's still an excellent game that will have its place in gaming history, either with positive influences or by teaching people what not to do.
I'll definitely keep playing to do all the side missions.