5 ways Starfield surpasses Skyrim (and 5 ways it falls short of the legacy)

Starfield and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim are both masterpieces developed by Bethesda. No matter how you feel about both games, it’s clear they will leave a lasting imprint on the action-RPG genre. Bethesda’s epic fantasy title, to this day, still has fans actively playing and modding it. These gamers have also been sharing their gameplay experiences across social media.

Though Starfield is still quite young, fans are falling in love with it just as they did with Bethesda's fantasy-based Elder Scrolls franchise. While this game and Skyrim have a fair bit in common — with many saying it’s “Skyrim but in space” — the new release isn’t on the same level as its TES cousin in some ways. We’re going to examine how these two titles fare against one another.

However, no matter which game you prefer, it’s important not to tear the other down. With that in mind, here are five reasons Starfield is better than Skyrim.

Note: This article is subjective and reflects the writer's opinions.

---

Ways Starfield surpasses Skyrim’s legacy

5) Starfield's systems and skills launched in working order

At least this game launched with all its parts working (Image via Bethesda)

My biggest gripe with Skyrim is that it felt like so many things in this game simply didn’t work. Magic is a great example of this — far from ideal in the title's vanilla version. I shouldn’t have to mod a game for its content to work correctly. Thankfully, Starfield seems to work fine right out of the box, even if I’m bad at certain aspects of it.

Sure, this title launched with bugs. However, the issues were nowhere near as bad as what Skyrim had. On top of that, the various iterations of this decade-old game on virtually every platform launched in the same state.

---

4) Having a background system in Starfield allows players to flesh their character out more than simply being "The Hero"

This newer character creation suite offers more direction to the player (Image via Bethesda)

Both games have a classless system, where you can do virtually anything. However, much like Cyberpunk 2077, Skyrim falters in how it delivers this power to your character. Starfield, on the other hand, allows players to pick a set of abilities (background system) and extra traits to enhance their experience.

Skyrim’s start is incredibly barebones, and it takes a significant amount of time to feel like you’re truly powerful. Having a few useful skills at the start of a game also helps give you some direction and purpose, which is what Starfield does.

---

3) Starfield has mounted combat (starships) without mods

While Starfield does lack ground vehicles, you have mounted combat in the form of starships. The title lets you get into action-packed starship battles without having to alter the game in any way via an extension.

Skyrim does have mounted combat — if you mod the game to enable this feature. It never made sense to me that this feature wasn’t part of a medieval swords-and-sorcery game.

I have my own issues with starships in Bethesda’s newest game, but I’m glad it includes combat that isn’t just the characters punching and shooting each other. This might be nitpicking, but I stand by it.

---

2) The choices players make in Starfield are more meaningful and have more impact on gameplay

Depending on how you act, certain moments are much easier (Image via Bethesda)

Few choices in Skyrim really felt impactful to me. However, so many of the decisions you make can impact Starfield, even in little ways. They influence what you see at the end of this game and can also allow you access to particular factions.

In the world of Tamriel, you can just join whomever you want through a simple quest chain. Most of the decisions I made in Skyrim didn’t feel like they mattered; I just ran around and murdered whoever needed to be killed.

---

1) Starfield offers a deeper narrative than Skyrim's simplistic fantasy story

While the ending might not be for everyone, what it represents is deep (Image via Bethesda)

This might be a controversial opinion, but I’m not really impressed by Skyrim’s narrative. The whole “here be dragons” story just didn’t click with me. The notion of what lies beyond the universe and multi-versal theory — along with a great deal of introspection — in Starfield’s narrative really hooked me.

This is not the most dense or complex science-fiction story I’ve ever experienced, but it had some real meat on the bones. After a session of playing, I often found myself sitting and just thinking about what I had witnessed.

---

Ways Starfield falls short of Skyrim

5) Skyrim has superior environmental storytelling

The setting through which important moments and objects existed felt like they had more weight (Image via Bethesda)

Every area in Skyrim felt like it mattered, and that’s important. Simply wandering from one place to another, and seeing what its world offered was truly something else. However, when it comes to Starfield, some of the locales are important.

The setting and things around it are important in Bethesda's decade-old title. However, this studio's new release is filled with various planets that have nothing engaging to offer. Moreover, when a game has tens of thousands of worlds, that really makes them lose their impact and value. While I’m not crazy about Skyrim’s story, the way it’s told is benefitted by the world around it.

---

4) Starfield feels very similar to other Bethesda releases and doesn't break the mold very much

When people call Bethesda's latest game “Skyrim in space,” I don’t think it’s unwarranted. While visually, Bethesda’s latest action RPG is prettier than anything they’ve ever created — that’s about it. The gameplay still feels similar to everything they’ve done in the past, except without a V.A.T.S. system.

I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing. However, as the latest and greatest role-playing game from Bethesda, it doesn't offer much in the way of unique gameplay. Both games are still great for what they do, and nothing can take that away.

---

3) Skyrim's classless system lets players easily become anything they want

The beauty of this game is that your character can do anything, regardless of race or start (Image via Bethesda)

It’s nice that Starfield gives you some choices regarding what you can do at the start, but you ultimately are locked into using those in some manner or another. If you don’t, those skill points go to waste. However, in The Elder Scrolls V, you can just do whatever you want right from the outset. You can be whatever ridiculous thing you want to be.

Having less direction can sometimes be a benefit, especially if you’re working towards creating a chaotic, but powerful character.

---

2) Skyrim has far more freedom, allowing players to freely roam and do anything at almost any time

You can just stop being a hero and wander off into the world to join other factions (Image via Bethesda)

Starfield lets players roam the stars and do some incredible things, that’s for sure. However, it’s so much easier for TES V players to just wander off the beaten path and do whatever they want. As soon as I left this title's tutorial, I wandered off to try and find the Dark Brotherhood, for example.

You can join all factions and do whatever you want in TES V whenever you want to do it — more or less. The freedom you have in Skyrim is completely unparalleled.

---

1) Skyrim was more accessible than Starfield was at launch

My point here isn’t to say that “exclusivity is bad.” I don’t really care what games come out on what platforms. However, TES V: Skyrim was released on the Windows PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 at the same time. Players, regardless of the major platform they owned, could dive into this epic fantasy RPG right away.

In the modern day, however, we have to worry about exclusivity a bit more. Only PC and Xbox owners can play Starfield right now, along with people who own Samsung TVs.

Since its launch, The Elder Scrolls V has been re-released around seven times. Now, you’d have a harder time finding something that can’t run it. That’s an important part of the game’s legacy: Everyone can easily play it.

I think this is a problem that will be solved as the years go on, but for now, accessibility does matter.

---

Both games will no doubt stand the test of time and be hailed as incredible achievements of their time. You can read our review of Bethesda’s latest role-playing game here.