Starfield Review

"Off Into the Unknown"

Campaign

September 6, 2023 at 7:57pm
By Jason Stettner

Growing up I often wondered what video games might actually end becoming, and or offering. One of those trains of thought would lead to the ultimate experience of space exploration, to hop into a spaceship and venture across the cosmos. That dream has finally been realized, to some extent within the vast role playing adventure that is Starfield.

This was not only long awaited for me in concept, but also it was a game I had anticipated highly for quite a long time. While I wasn’t part of the initial coverage for this game which was greatly disappointing considering the long term work with Xbox and that drought the platform has had, it was nice to finally be able to dive in to compile my thoughts on this mighty expansive offering.

I will start by noting that this truly is one of the most compelling and awe inspiring experiences that I’ve had with a game. It’s a near perfect dive into space exploration and it’s a fascinating time that really does feel as though it could potentially be endless in content.

I do feel compelled to note that it is best that you do rush through the main narrative for the new game plus setup as that somewhat feels like the time the game really begins. It’s such a weird note and I never like telling folks to swiftly move through a title but it really does make an impact here to the point I felt it should be mentioned.

Everything gets reset aside from some new gear you get and your perks, so if you’ve done customization it can be annoying to hit that reset point. I just wanted to give fair notice as I would have been more direct in what I was doing initially had I known. Anyways, let’s dive into the story. You’re a miner that’s somewhat fresh to the industry and you happen on one calm day upon this mystical artifact.

This specific item sets you forth on a spiritual cosmic journey of sorts and from there you end up on a path to joining Constellation. This is of course after you’ve gone through the extensive character customization to adjust how you look. We need more haircuts though! Constellation is a group that’s given themselves the task of collecting these artifacts and that in itself is the main narrative. You’re going across worlds gathering these relics through various means and your story is crafted through the interactions you have while doing so.

You’ll meet a cast of colorful characters, venture to strange worlds and engage in some really cool sci-fi moments. The length of that main narrative is at least twenty hours which is impressive, and your overall story will go far beyond that since this game is stuffed to the brim with activities. I do however wish the main narrative was stretched out a bit more towards the end since they introduced some really cool elements that felt briefer than the journey to gather the artifacts.

Still, the journey was filled with twists and crazy moments that really hid feel like well hidden surprises that left me pondering along the way as to what was going to happen. That was an awesome feeling to have, as it did provide some philosophical thoughts. With that, a brief reminder that new game plus is a magical time after this point and really where I believe the excitement truly kicks off. I felt ever free from that point with new narrative bits and an opportunity to freshly explore.

You’re able to do such a ridiculous quantity of things. There are free space missions such as hunts, you could get a gossip tip that provides a multi-hour quest or perhaps even you join a faction which are these impressively lengthy stories that feel like their own main line narrative. That’s just even really scratching the surface of things to do as you’ll likely find yourself off task just exploring for hours and get sidetracked constantly. I mean, I’ve spent like twenty minutes just chatting with a dialogue and bringing her coffee, it’s hilarious.

Gameplay

Since there are so many narrative based things to do, there are also many more side elements that help support that. The game is split into two key areas of play, you roaming about and you flying a ship. The spaceship portions are heavily focused around loading screens or brief space battles. The space battles were a mix of rather difficult or too easy. After new game plus I had a better ship which helped a ton, but in general this aspect was slightly tiresome.

When it comes to flying about it really is a tedious setup. You fly to a system, then a planet, then onto a place on the planet. So while loading screens are fast, you do an awful lot of it and I can’t help but feel the process could have been streamlined further. There’s also not really space exploration since you’re not just flying about which I believe you can to a degree but it’s not really designed around that.

Moving onto the you roaming about portion there are many places to go. The game features over a thousand planets and yes, you can explore them all. It’s limitless almost, you land and have a generated area to explore. It’s these tile placements that go on for awhile. You really can essentially explore an entire world, you would need to pick a slightly differing spot after landing to generate more space but you can go on forever to some extent.

Whatever the case, a dune buggy would have been nice to help with the walking. You can get some things such as a booster from your really in-depth skill tree but the encumbered system is annoying. There’s so much to pick-up and even with upgrades you’re constantly overloaded with items or goods to do anything with. The game punishes you by making it quickly take away your oxygen levels and suffocating you. It’s truly annoying.

Other than that you can view your journey in first, third or further back third person which is nice. There are layers upon layers of menus which can be confusing for inventory management but you’ll get used to it. Back on track for exploration the game planets are gorgeous and you’re never sure what you’ll get to see. There are many rocky moons, planets with some life and others filled with a strange mix. Each and every area felt distinct and lovely in its own way.

There are also random placements to hop into, such as forgotten mines or secret bases. You’ll find pirates and loot galore at these locales, it’s exciting as there really seems like an unlimited amount of them to dive into. If you want a more civilized experience you can visit cities that are filled to the brim with citizens, quests and things to buy. It feels like a lively, but still distant universe and that is an amazing feeling to have when playing this.


There are also ever so many people that you interact with and you have many chat options when doing so. This is another area fueled by skill perks. The skills are plentiful in many categories and you level them by doing tasks for each skill. It will take forever to fully fill that out. It’s an aspect that leads into your customization aspects too. Sure, you can build weapons or modify gear but the game goes further.

Akin to Fallout 4 we have settlements and perhaps a dream home or regular housing area to adjust. I called them settlements, but they’re outposts here and become mining operations or just spaces where you have crew working. You can setup supply lines, manage housing mods and have little robots roaming. The housing stuff is really cool, as I got a dream house which I had to pay a mortgage on twice due to new game plus.

Here you can place items you’ve gathered, build stuff and live out your fantasy life. It’s like The Sims in space, I even have mannequins like in “I Am Legend” setup for friends. Whatever the case, it’s an impressive area of the game that continues to grow as you get skills going and then do the research afterwards to get more items.

From a technical perspective I have mentioned that visually I do find the game to be rather visually impressive and just enchanting to take in. The character model improvements are excellent from previous Bethesda titles of the like, but also awkward at times too which is fair. This goes further with companions that you can romance, but like with Fallout 4 I do wish we had better depth.

At least, some more extensive missions focused on individuals so we get to know them better. There are some technical problems from some bugs to tedious aspects that slow things down. I did come across a number of crashes which I’d say are common but not too often. It’s the checkpoints that really can be a problem, sometimes perfect and other times very aggravating as a death or crash causes lost chatter or gathering of items.

On the Xbox Series X you’re getting a 1440p resolution that is being reconstructed to a 4k resolution through FSR 2 which is the AMD SuperFidelty upscaling technology. The frame rate is 30fps which isn’t ideal, and there are performance issues in some areas beyond that to lower frame rate levels so I don’t believe 60fps is quite achievable here though I would love to see a 40fps target mode option. There’s also HDR support and the game features a film grain that you can turn off if you so choose.

The Conclusion

Starfield is the ultimate space adventure, a game I often dreamed of being possible in my youth and finally fully realized by Bethesda. It really does feel limitless offering over a thousand planets to explore that all have their own completely unique elements to them. Every single planet has something to offer, and every place has some hand crafted aspect begging to be dove into.

I’ve had countless hours of excitement whether I was just hopping along the familiar moon or blasting away space pirates in some forgotten base. You get to really go on a personal journey from extensive ship customization to clothing options and a wide array of weapons to shoot. You can craft the character you want through a very in-depth skill tree and then also craft a ton of things.

The outpost and home options are also vast to the point that it feels like its own game. Again, The Sims in space. I do call this one near perfect though, as I did mention some aspects feel tedious and the crashes do stack up after awhile with some questionable checkpoints. It could have provided a tad more of a sense of space exploration as that area does seem to exist just for brief battles. I don’t also love how new game plus removes items and I get why it does from a narrative perspective but it still seems silly.

Why can’t I just happen to have what I had prior when going beyond. Whatever the case, I do love this game. It’s something I feel as though I have waited my whole life for in a gaming perspective. I’ll never live long enough to explore the cosmos myself, but at least I get to live out that fantasy within the confines of Starfield. It truly is such a special experience that I highly recommend to anyone looking to venture forth into the unknown. I mean, who knows what you might find?

Read our Redfall Review
View our Starfield Hub

Starfield Review on Xbox Series X
Review Code Provided by Bethesda

Rating Overall: 9.8