Starfield Review: A flawed perfection

When I first took off on my spaceship in Starfield, I was a tad bit disappointed. Instead of seamless ground-to-air-to-space takeoff and achieving escape velocity, I was greeted with a cutscene/loading screen showing the spacecraft taking off, after which I was transitioned into space. However, as soon as I opened the map, my disappointment was overtaken by excitement and wonder.

The fairly sizeable area I was in was only part of the moon revolving around a gas giant, which in turn was part of a celestial star system in a massive galaxy dotted with hundreds of similar stars. Space has always intrigued me, and Starfield turned the vastness of the universe into something tangible.

Starfield isn’t a perfect game, but in a true Bethesda RPG sense, it captures an experience unlike any before and makes you fall in love with the game.

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The universe of Starfield

Bethesda is known for its lore-rich worlds, be it the fantasy realm of Tamriel dotted with dragons and elves in The Elder Scrolls series or the post-apocalyptic USA stuck in the 1970s in Fallout. As the first original title in over two decades, there was a lot riding on it as fans expected a lore-rich universe.

The Nasapunk world of Starfield (image via Bethesda)

The concept of a futuristic society has a lot of different interpretations and has been explored in various popular mediums, be it the neon-lit futuristic cyber society in Cyberpunk 2077, the post-apocalyptic bloom in Far Cry New Dawn, or the depiction of Afro-futurism in Black Panther’s Wakanda. Starfield depicts the final frontier of the future society in a unique way, unlike any other, creating a unique aesthetic of the ‘digital from the analog’ era called Nasapunk.

Nasapunk depicts a futuristic society built upon the grounds laid by the 1960s space race, a digital world of the analog era. The resulting artistic depiction creates a world of minimalist design with a white and primary color palette and a mechanical sound effect of dials and knobs. This creates a unique look and atmosphere that is both fresh and appealing.

The planets of Starfield

With the backdrop of Nasapunk, each planet carves out its distinct identity, some more than others. From the bright and near-futuresque look of New Atlantis creating a safe warm feeling, to the ultra-futuristic streets of Neon giving you the sense of danger and edge, and to the hearty and muddy streets of Akila City, each carves out their own identity.

However, once you step outside the main planets and stroll on a random ball of dirt, Starfield starts to show its shortcomings. Outside the settlements and cities, the world started falling apart as some resource planets appeared too barren. I understand it is more realistic to have the majority of the planets barren, but for the sake of gameplay, a bit more diversity wouldn’t have hurt. This could have led to different terrain types like mountains or creators, changes in color palettes of soil, and different atmospheres.

With Bethesda strongly advocating for modding as well as announcing future expansions, I hope some of these planets become home to new and unique societies in the future and be more than just a resource deposit.

The exploration of Starfield

One of Starfield's most fun and enjoyable aspects is undoubtedly its exploration, be it discovering new corners of New Atlantis and talking to its citizens or simply flying through the vast space in tranquillity. Even in some of the resource-rich barren planets, it's fun to come across a new mineral or a new species of flora or fauna.

The bustling and densely packed cities are designed in different districts, each full of life and its own identity that is fun to explore. I felt a clear lack of ridable vehicles for all its scale and design. That, paired with the disappointing surface map which was only a blue digital screen with icons not up to scale, meant that I was often lost and running around to find my way.

The interstellar trave of Starfield (Image via Bethesda)

The lack of land vehicles was also clearly felt while exploring barren planets for resources. Perhaps a rover-type explorer vehicle, like Mako from Mass Effect, could have been an additional module for the spaceship. This could have been deployed and used to explore the planet at a greater distance instead of running around for hours.

Another issue that often came up with exploration is the amount of loading screens. Just as an example, when I go to a spaceport and select to get into my spaceship, a loading screen appears. Then, after taking off from the planet, another loading screen appears. And when I fly through space to another planet and plan to land on it? Yet another loading screen appears. While the loading screens are quite quick, and I understand it might not be feasible to make a seamless transition between every area, frequent transitions with the loading screen sometimes break the realism.

The story of Starfield

Starfield isn’t a narrative-driven game like other single-player titles, but it still managed to surprise me and got me excited to immediately start the next mission, even though I got distracted five minutes later with something new I discovered. From the main quest to the different factions and their missions to the one-off side missions, each manages to stand out and, at the same time, be part of a greater something.

Exploring an intriguing story (Image via Bethesda)

While the main story quest takes a beat to get rolling, once it does, it captures you in the mystery of the artifacts. From being a miner on a distinct moon to becoming a member of the Constellation, it tells the familiar hero’s journey that never gets old. As of writing this review, I have yet to play the NG+. However, according to many, it adds to the mystery and lore of the Starfield.

Moving onto the factions, while the Constellation is your primary faction, the other factions like UC Vanguard, Freestar Rangers, Crimson Fleet, and Ryujin Industries, as well as the religious factions like House of Varun, offer a strong diversity both from a narrative and gameplay perspectives. If Starfield wasn’t as rich in gameplay opportunities, the story beats along would have kept me engaged for hours on end.

The characters of Starfield

Throughout the journey, you will come across some really charismatic characters, each with their own agendas. From Barret to Sarah to Sam to Vasco to other side characters, it never gets dull interacting with the different characters and learning more about their backstories. Even though most of the dialogue options are done as stationary people, the smooth facial animation translates their feelings and understanding quite well.

Vasco is your first companion and one of the most fun to have around. Almost all Constellation member becomes your companion at one time or another, and each exhibits very three-dimensional characteristics that can help you understand their motivation and why they do certain things.

Vasco is one of the best robot companions in video game history (Image via Bethesda)

One companion that deserves a separate mention is the Adoring Fan. I chose the Hero Worship trait as fun and never actually planned to have him on my crew. After he joined my crew, I never dismissed him from my ship. Yes, his banter will be annoying if you take him on every mission, but on the ship, it's very fun to have him around and interact with him. Besides, who doesn’t love their personal cheerleader?

All in all, Starfield has some excellent character design and animation that propels the already interesting stories to be unmissable and engaging.

The player of Starfield

Starfield is a true Bethesda RPG, which was apparent from the character customization screen. From the size of the nose to the body shape balance between thin, fat, and muscular to the exact tint of skin, Starfield offers a character creator that is built upon the foundations laid by Skyrim and Fallout 4.

Unlike other RPGs, Starfield doesn’t lock you in a specific box by offering you a straight-up class to select. Instead, you are asked to choose a background that gives you three starting skills as well as three completely optional traits that flesh out your backstory further, providing you with different buffs and nerfs. As you progress through the game, you will end up unlocking and upgrading more skills, giving you the flexibility of playing the game the way you want without your background locking you down.

The character creator menu of Starfield (Image via Bethesda)

Like previous Bethesda games, both first-person and third-person cameras made a return in Starfield, and I constantly kept switching between them, not because of dissatisfaction but due to the gameplay. While I personally prefer to explore an open world in third-person mode (looking at you, Cyberpunk 2077), the first-person experience of combat and aiming down sight can rival other FPS juggernaut titles.

While the character is a mute protagonist like in Skyrim, the dialogue options more than make up for it by conveying the character's personality. I can be a very persuasive diplomat or a shoot-first-ask-question-later space scoundrel, truly capturing the full range of a “role-playing game.”

The crafting of Starfield

Crafting plays a major role in Starfield. Everything from modifying weapons to crafting parts for your outpost to upgrading your spacesuit is intertwined with crafting. For the first few hours or so, I didn’t pay much attention to the crafting, but once I did, I realized I had been majorly missing out. Unlocking a silencer for my weapon helped me to do more stealth attacks and even take down enemies without alerting the whole base

There are a total of three workbenches (Industrial, Spacesuit, and Weapons Workbenches) and two labs (Pharmaceutical Lab and Research Lab) that can be found in your ship and the Constalletion’s headquarters, The Lodge. To unlock higher levels of crafting, you have to research the modification type at the lab using resources. To unlock resources, you need to unlock certain skills.

This creates a strong gameplay loop that encourages you to go out there and find and mine the resources (and pick up every single item and be inevitably encumbered). Once you craft a specific spacesuit or a specific weapon, it will become your favorite activity, helping you master it faster.

I personally enjoyed crafting new mods for my weapons and seeing how I can improve a generic Grendel from a pirate to be one of the galaxy’s best stealth killers. While I haven’t found all weapon parts and items throughout the world, I’m certain that crafting is one aspect that is sure to get a lot of future support from developers and the modding community.

The spaceships of Starfield

It's impossible to talk about Starfield without mentioning its spaceships. At the start of the game, you’ll get the Frontier, an all-rounder sturdy vessel capable of taking you across the cosmos. Once you reach the spaceport in New Atlantis, you will discover the option to modify and upgrade your ship.

Modifying and upgrading ships is truly a fun minigame I spent hours in. There are different parts that can be added and modified, giving different stats. So your ship can essentially go from a schooner to man-o-war and suit your playstyle.

The spaceship is the most essential part of your Starfield journey, as each has a different grav jump distance. As you improve your ship or upgrade to a bigger one, this distance increases, letting you explore the outer rims to borrow from Star Wars.

The ship will also have a stationary crew that will accompany you across the journey. Be it Vasco’s no robotic ‘Captain”, Sarah’s no-nonsense talk, or the Adoring Fan getting excited over small things, these crews add excitement and fun to your journey.

The review of Starfield

Reviewing Starfield isn’t an easy task. I have played around 20 hours of the game, and it demands to be played for hundreds of hours more to truly grasp its scale and excellence. Looking at the cons, it's easy to dismiss it as an unfinished title with mission features, a flawed experience. However, the truth of the matter is that the game makes you fall in love with it and be truly immersed in the world of Starfield.

A game for the ages (image via Bethesda)

The beautifully crafted world of Nasapunk encourages you to find new story opportunities and be excited and interested in the world. The smooth gunplay and the deep crafting will make you spend hours finding and taking down enemy bases or carefully tweaking every small detail to suit you. The different factions take on a larger-than-life role as you explore and find out more about their stories.

However, it’s not all bright and shiny. At times, the planets felt too barren and flat, even though that is more realistic. Furthermore, in the face of constant fast-travel loading screens and the lack of seamless travel, it took a great deal of effort not to break the immersion. The lack of a surface map and the lack of any land vehicles meant that getting lost became too easy and not in a good way. All of these add to the game's flaws, but they didn’t turn me off from the game; rather, they excited me for the future.

There is no doubt that Starfield will be a game for the ages, be it the already bustling modding community adding in exciting features before the game has even officially released or be it Bethesda announcing its first expansion, the Shattered Space, which I am very much looking forward to.

In a crowded year filled with one amazing title after another, Starfield not only manages to stand out but exceed its daily high expectations. It’ll be interesting to see if Starfield can have a decade-long impression like Skyrim, but one thing is for certain: I am not stopping my Starfield journey any time soon as I look forward to the future of this flawed perfection.