I like Starfield. I always look forward to returning to that world. However, I've never seen so much negativity about a game on the Internet, and, yes, I do remember Cyberpunk 2077. This is worse for a game with far fewer bugs. YouTubers and most of the people doing write-ups now (2-3 months post launch) seem to view it as a failure, something I'm glad is inconsistent with the numbers reported here. I would say it's just PlayStation fans who have a grudge, and that might explain some of it, but not all of it.
The common theme among critics (and I agree that these are weak points):
1. What was annoying but acceptable as jankiness in Skyrim or Fallout is no longer acceptable in 2023, now in a world with games like Red Dead Redemption 2, Cyberpunk 2077, and Baldur's Gate 3. Specifically, loading screens, lack of motion capture for facial animation of major NPCs, and other things that just feel painfully dated.
2. What has always made Bethesda games fun was the wandering exploration and stumbling upon interesting quests. Because of the nature of required fast travel to get everywhere, this core strength of prior games has been destroyed.
I'm hopeful the upcoming updates address some or all of these concerns. Either way, personally I love the game. I don't disagree with the criticism. On the contrary, I strongly agree with the two points above. But I also really enjoy its positives. For example, I do appreciate how huge Starfield is. I like exploring the planets and try to get every planet I land on to 100% explored (that's an in-game thing meaning you've explored it enough to have discovered its special features, studied the various flora, fauna, and found all of its minable materials, which does not actually mean you've seen the entire planet -- that would be impossible). I didn't expect to, but I love the shipbuilder. I never cared much about building settlements in Fallout (and don't care much about outposts in Starfield), but I find I care about my ship. I also think the dialog is fine. It's Bethesda dialog, which means that every character you meet tells you their personality and motivations as soon as they meet you and then instantly trusts you enough to ask you for a personal favor. It's goofy, but, it's fine. But I love just how much there is. That's the core way they give you the story and background lore, and for me, those are hugely important, so more dialog usually means a better, more engaging story. Combat is good for an RPG, especially the new twists with the jetpack. And the hand-crafted locations are excellent, big enough to get lost in. I wish there were more because it's all so spread out, but there is a lot (Bethesda says more than in any prior game) and what's there is great.