Starfield, for a very long time, was not on my GOTY list this year. After playing around 5 hours or so around the initial launch window, I realized that a lot of my fears about this game seemed to be true: there was a lot of different kinds of content, but not a lot of depth; the lack of different species to talk to would seem boring; there would be nowhere very interesting to explore even though there are 1000+ planets. This was my experience for those first 5 hours - I tried very hard to get into the game but there was nothing that hooked me very much, and none of the experiences that Bethesda claimed were in store for me felt realized at all. The combat was feeling pretty good, but ammo management in the early game was hamstringing some of the fun of it for a while. As much as I was really trying to give it a fair shake, I was left feeling rather cold, and often disappointed.
Then something happened - I'm not entirely sure why, but right before the end of the year I decided to pick it back up for a casual session on a Saturday morning. I think taking a bit of space (lol) from the initial launch of the game, plus coming back to it with reduced expectations allowed me to finally find some fun, and many hours later I'm really starting to enjoy Starfield. I debated putting it on this list because it's the only game that didn't immediately hook me, but I've put enough time into it now (as well as found more hooks) that it became more of a go-to game as the year ended than I ever thought it would.
Starfield is a game where you can: explore different cities each with different vibes, touch down on more remote planets or dock onto space stations to find enemies and loot, engage in interstellar ship combat, design/modify ships, follow a mystery that could unfold secrets of the universe, and talk to a wide variety of different characters, often gaining quests in the process. If Starfield did all of these things at a high level, then it would be one of the best games ever made, but unfortunately it only really excels at a few of those things. Space travel is merely dressed-up fast travel, broken up by loading screens. You can also skip space travel altogether if you want even faster-fast travel. Unlike games such as No Man's Sky or Elite Dangerous, space travel doesn't add much of anything to the overall gameplay. There are thousands of planets, but most of them are pretty dead, with only a handful of repetitive activities to do once you touch down, such as exploring a cave or some sort of human installation, usually with enemies to fight. The combat feels good at least, but seeing the same types of enemies and small variations in locale doesn't do the combat any favors.
Like previous Bethesda games, I think the best part of this game is the faction missions. These have become the biggest hook for me, as they spend more time in the larger cities vs the more remote/generic areas of the game. These bigger hubs are way more interesting to be in, as they have more characters, more activities, and more visual variety in set dressing. Anything in this game that can keep you in the larger cities is a great idea, and is what has kept me coming back to the game more than I thought I would. There is still a good amount of what Bethesda does well in their games in Starfield, but it's underneath more clutter than usual. I don't think this will have as intense of an overhaul like Cyberpunk 2077 did, but I do think there is a lot of potential for this game to grow into more of what they envisioned here in the coming years.
Then something happened - I'm not entirely sure why, but right before the end of the year I decided to pick it back up for a casual session on a Saturday morning. I think taking a bit of space (lol) from the initial launch of the game, plus coming back to it with reduced expectations allowed me to finally find some fun, and many hours later I'm really starting to enjoy Starfield. I debated putting it on this list because it's the only game that didn't immediately hook me, but I've put enough time into it now (as well as found more hooks) that it became more of a go-to game as the year ended than I ever thought it would.
Starfield is a game where you can: explore different cities each with different vibes, touch down on more remote planets or dock onto space stations to find enemies and loot, engage in interstellar ship combat, design/modify ships, follow a mystery that could unfold secrets of the universe, and talk to a wide variety of different characters, often gaining quests in the process. If Starfield did all of these things at a high level, then it would be one of the best games ever made, but unfortunately it only really excels at a few of those things. Space travel is merely dressed-up fast travel, broken up by loading screens. You can also skip space travel altogether if you want even faster-fast travel. Unlike games such as No Man's Sky or Elite Dangerous, space travel doesn't add much of anything to the overall gameplay. There are thousands of planets, but most of them are pretty dead, with only a handful of repetitive activities to do once you touch down, such as exploring a cave or some sort of human installation, usually with enemies to fight. The combat feels good at least, but seeing the same types of enemies and small variations in locale doesn't do the combat any favors.
Like previous Bethesda games, I think the best part of this game is the faction missions. These have become the biggest hook for me, as they spend more time in the larger cities vs the more remote/generic areas of the game. These bigger hubs are way more interesting to be in, as they have more characters, more activities, and more visual variety in set dressing. Anything in this game that can keep you in the larger cities is a great idea, and is what has kept me coming back to the game more than I thought I would. There is still a good amount of what Bethesda does well in their games in Starfield, but it's underneath more clutter than usual. I don't think this will have as intense of an overhaul like Cyberpunk 2077 did, but I do think there is a lot of potential for this game to grow into more of what they envisioned here in the coming years.