This review contains spoilers
Got it on Game Pass because I have not trusted Bethesda with creating a quality product for years, so I sure as hell wasn't going to throw all my money at them. So, were my suspicions correct? Not exactly, I don't think the game is terrible, but I don't think it's good either. It's your run of the mill Bethesda RPG experience with loads of quests, and places to explore. What you're getting here however, is AGGRESSIVELY similar to what they've been doing with games like Fallout 4, and Skyrim for over ten years. Little to nothing on the formula has improved from what I played; Even though I put a little over two hours, I couldn't bring myself to playing it more to evaluate it better. It aggravates me that they could've done more with this, especially as someone who used to be really excited for this title when it was announced all those years ago. As we all know, though, Bethesda's reputation in the industry has shifted DRASTICALLY over the last few years. But enough of that, let's get into the details.
You start off in a shitty environment, and slowly have the world open up to you, except the world of this game compared to Bethesda's other settings is staggeringly stale. Most of the planets are just stretches of barren wastelands, with the occasional scannable ore, and buildings littered throughout. I've been told there are fauna planets, but there's only a FEW.
The story is also very by the book for Bethesda. You start off being a typical nobody, who eventually is thrust into this quest that becomes more and more grandiose as it goes on. It COULD have been more interesting, and different, and I honestly thought they would stick with the somewhat grounded setting they presented in the trailers predating the release. I do dig the aesthetic they went for, by taking NASA ships and propelling them centuries into the future, to present us with the look of the spacecraft we see in-game. Best way I can describe the presentation, it is a slightly less interesting Interstellar when talking about the look of the machinery.
What really aggravated me was seeing later gameplay footage, where you learn you're the STARBORN, and have the ability to do space FUS-RO-DAH's like it's fucking Skyrim. By the time they got to that point it's like they stopped trying, and I knew there wasn't going to be anything decent that I could look forward to, besides the ship-building system.
Overall, to conclude this, it's best to get this game as cheap as possible, or play through Game Pass. It is NOT worth the $70 price tag, and I'm not surprised that Bethesda didn't deliver anything stellar. It's definitely the least buggy experience I've had with a Bethesda RPG, but that doesn't mean it wasn't exempt from jank. This includes stuff like enemy AI getting stuck in a corner, or wall, but that's all I've seen.
What I'm trying to say is, if you haven't played Outer Wilds, you're missing out on a truly EXCELLENT experience involving a sci-fi narrative in space. It's MUCH cheaper, but it's quality outshines this, and a lot of new releases I've seen the past few years. Do me a solid and play that instead of this, okay?
should probably write that review for it, though...
You start off in a shitty environment, and slowly have the world open up to you, except the world of this game compared to Bethesda's other settings is staggeringly stale. Most of the planets are just stretches of barren wastelands, with the occasional scannable ore, and buildings littered throughout. I've been told there are fauna planets, but there's only a FEW.
The story is also very by the book for Bethesda. You start off being a typical nobody, who eventually is thrust into this quest that becomes more and more grandiose as it goes on. It COULD have been more interesting, and different, and I honestly thought they would stick with the somewhat grounded setting they presented in the trailers predating the release. I do dig the aesthetic they went for, by taking NASA ships and propelling them centuries into the future, to present us with the look of the spacecraft we see in-game. Best way I can describe the presentation, it is a slightly less interesting Interstellar when talking about the look of the machinery.
What really aggravated me was seeing later gameplay footage, where you learn you're the STARBORN, and have the ability to do space FUS-RO-DAH's like it's fucking Skyrim. By the time they got to that point it's like they stopped trying, and I knew there wasn't going to be anything decent that I could look forward to, besides the ship-building system.
Overall, to conclude this, it's best to get this game as cheap as possible, or play through Game Pass. It is NOT worth the $70 price tag, and I'm not surprised that Bethesda didn't deliver anything stellar. It's definitely the least buggy experience I've had with a Bethesda RPG, but that doesn't mean it wasn't exempt from jank. This includes stuff like enemy AI getting stuck in a corner, or wall, but that's all I've seen.
What I'm trying to say is, if you haven't played Outer Wilds, you're missing out on a truly EXCELLENT experience involving a sci-fi narrative in space. It's MUCH cheaper, but it's quality outshines this, and a lot of new releases I've seen the past few years. Do me a solid and play that instead of this, okay?
should probably write that review for it, though...