discussion Starfield

[Lysrin]

So I was pondering buying the Shattered Space DLC for this, and then realized I had bought the Digital Premium Edition and already have it!

Thank goodness for my games tracking spreadsheet lol

Who knows if it is going to be any good, but I think a bit more directed gameplay in Starfield may not be a bad thing.

 

[On2wheels]

I'll probably reinstall this weekend and get familiar with it again before the dlc drops, I'm looking forward to it, there were more pros than cons to this game for me.

 

[Lysrin]

I'll probably reinstall this weekend and get familiar with it again before the dlc drops, I'm looking forward to it, there were more pros than cons to this game for me.

Yeah I overall liked it too. Never finished the main story but that was just because I was (once again) distracted by shiny new things!

 

[FreeKnight]

Been reading some of the reviews of the first DLC pack to come out and it's pretty damning. IMO Bethesda should have came out and said 'We fucked up' and attempted to do a Cyberpunk 2.0/Phantom Liberty or No Man's Sky reboot of the game and try to win back some gamer goodwill.

Although, some of the core aspects of the game were so underwhelming I'd think you'd need rewriting of the main game and quests (as well as gameplay adjustments). For CP2077 at least the main 'quest' and narratives were still pretty solid. SF doesn't even seem to have that going for it.

Really think the studio needs a major shakeup of leadership, not sure Howard will lead them to success like Oblivion, F3, Skyrim, etc. The news always seems to be negative and more often than not about how they're pushing for paid mods so they can get a cut.

 

[JD]

I haven't bothered to look at anything, but also not willing to pay for it...

If it ends up being free on Game Pass, I'll play it. If people keep up the negative feedback, maybe it will be!

Whatever "glory days" people remember of Bethesda are long gone I'd say. It's a Microsoft company now.

 

[Lysrin]

I've watched a fair bit of relatively spoiler free coverage and it isn't great. The opinion seems to be it isn't terrible if you like the way the storylines are already done in Starfield, but it really doesn't add much new, and it isn't very long. Consensus of the folks I've watched is it is isn't worth $30 USD for sure.

Another complaint that I agreed with is that you can't seem to start the content unless you agree to join the snake cult. That cramps the RPG aspect of the game I think and seems an odd decision.

Also from the little I've seen the dialogue seems stale and not very interesting. There was one funny moment in a video I watched where there was a long dialogue piece happening with an NPC and the game actually switched to the idle camera mode, the rotating camera around the screen. The player laughed and said "Oh man! Even the game got bored!!" lol

There were a lot of comparisons to Far Harbor DLC for I think Fallout 4 (?) and how it didn't compare to that at all, nor is it anywhere near the calibre of Phantom Liberty as @FreeKnight said. And it still seems to have a lot of weird bugs -- NPCs not looking at you when in conversation, other NPCs getting in the middle of the conversation and blocking the speaker, just those kinds of lack of polish things.

I have access to it because I bought one of the Digital Premium Edition, and I will likely try it out at some point, but I'd have to play more to even be high enough level for it I think.

 

[JD]

Another complaint that I agreed with is that you can't seem to start the content unless you agree to join the snake cult. That cramps the RPG aspect of the game I think and seems an odd decision.

I would be inclined to think each DLC should flesh out the factions more, but it should be free content, as the base game is a lacking in that sense.

With the whole NG+ loop, I think it makes sense that you'd have to join that faction to play through that piece of the story?

 

[FreeKnight]

I haven't bothered to look at anything, but also not willing to pay for it...

If it ends up being free on Game Pass, I'll play it. If people keep up the negative feedback, maybe it will be!

Whatever "glory days" people remember of Bethesda are long gone I'd say. It's a Microsoft company now.

I think their problems started well before the MS takeover, though I don't expect the takeover to help given MS's history with game studios. Starfield is the only game they've released since the March 2021 acquisition and it's not like F3,F4 and F76 didn't have problems at launch or release (F3 being horribly buggy, F76 being a critical train wreck).

 

[lowfat]

I think their problems started well before the MS takeover, though I don't expect the takeover to help given MS's history with game studios. Starfield is the only game they've released since the March 2021 acquisition and it's not like F3,F4 and F76 didn't have problems at launch or release (F3 being horribly buggy, F76 being a critical train wreck).

I haven't played SF. But definitely had issues long before then. They feel like Ubisoft to me. Just re-releasing the same games w/ a reskin over and over.

 

[FreeKnight]

I haven't played SF. But definitely had issues long before then. They feel like Ubisoft to me. Just re-releasing the same games w/ a reskin over and over.

I partly agree, but feel like they've tried to mix it up while staying true to their style of game at times (plus in gaming keeping your 'core' of the game isn't always bad. Lots of people are always happy to see a new Zelda even if they don't mix it up completely each game).

With Skyrim and Fallout 4 I think they were showing signs of some good changes over Oblivion and F3 (though F3 had some neat changes from the Isometric 1/2 such as VATS).

Skyrim improved graphics (particularly for spells which look like shit in Oblivion), got rid of potato faces and felt like it had more personality than ESIV. I'd say the main quest improved substantially, at the detriment of the guilds/factions (stronger in IV).
Fallout 4 tried to to take some cues from 'Mass Effect' , including a voiced MC which would have been better received if F4's main quest had better writing and dialogue. The companions (Valentine in particular) were vast improved over previous Bethesda games. Finally the power armor changes were a really good and lore appropriate improvement over PA being just 'clothes'. Sadly the main quest is pretty disappointing and the guns in F4 are just junk. Gigantic LARP foam looking things. The settlements get mixed reactions but weren't a bad idea.

Something really seems to have broken after F4. Their pace in development has become a crawl. Their PR reps are absolute amateurs (see some of their responses to SF criticism), they've made multiple attempts to push paid mods. It's like they're intentionally trying to piss off the public.

One area where I'll agree that they're just re-releasing is combat. Bethesda's floaty 'left trigger, right trigger' melee combat hasn't changed from Oblivion through SF in any real capacity and it's not a great system to begin with. They don't need to be a souls game or try and turn Elder Scrolls into the Witcher or Devil May Cry, but it's aged really poorly.