Starfield review: An absolute triumph in gaming that reveals the continued brilliance of Bethesda's storytelling

[Windows Central]

Starfield is an absolute triumph, pushing the Creation Engine to unfathomable limits with Bethesda's greatest storytelling to date. Vastly improved shooting, deeper choices, and spectacular setpieces make this exclusive a must-play.

Starfield review: An absolute triumph in gaming that reveals the continued brilliance of Bethesda's storytelling : Read more

 

[GraniteStateColin]

Great review. I've read a few and this one is the best with examples and describing the game in a way that tells me if it's for me or a different kind of gamer. Most others, in spite of being long, seemed to focus on opinionated conclusions, only giving examples to support a thesis rather than describing features in a way you can tell who it's for. Those are all fair and fine, but don't deliver a lot of information to help with a purchase decision -- like just seeing the Metacritic score or a Rotten Tomatoes rating for a movie.

Looking forward to 8pm EDT, and I'm planning to take off part of tomorrow afternoon to play, something I never do for a game (but I did want to for Cyberpunk -- currently my favorite game of all time).

 

[fjtorres5591]

If I may: a suggestion for newcomers to Bethesda RPGs - Consider your first character or two, each played for a dozen hours or so, a disposable familiarization tour. Use it to learn the interface and the different systems.

Also, don't be too quick to get onto the main questline. Or any one. If you are going to spend the next 3-6 months in the game it is best not to invest too much in the first playthrough. Once you understand the game's internal logic, then you can commit.

I learned this way back on Morrowind and it has saved me a lot of grief in Oblivion, Skyrim, and all the fallouts. Especially Fallout 4: no need to suffer Garvey nagging.

I expect I won't start my first run (DAVID STARR) until monday. The enture weekend will be just getting my bearings.

Of course, everybody will pay their own way. That is the whole point. Just don't let the game stampede you.

 

[Daniel Rubino]

If I may: a suggestion for newcomers to Bethesda RPGs - Consider your first character or two, each played for a dozen hours or so, a disposable familiarization tour. Use it to learn the interface and the different systems. ..

Great tip and advice, thanks!

 

[Zachary Boddy]

Feels unbelievable that we're actually on the eve of Starfield's release. Great review, Jez, I really enjoyed reading it.

 

[GraniteStateColin]

If I may: a suggestion for newcomers to Bethesda RPGs - Consider your first character or two, each played for a dozen hours or so, a disposable familiarization tour. Use it to learn the interface and the different systems.

Also, don't be too quick to get onto the main questline. Or any one. If you are going to spend the next 3-6 months in the game it is best not to invest too much in the first playthrough. Once you understand the game's internal logic, then you can commit.

I learned this way back on Morrowind and it has saved me a lot of grief in Oblivion, Skyrim, and all the fallouts. Especially Fallout 4: no need to suffer Garvey nagging.

I expect I won't start my first run (DAVID STARR) until monday. The enture weekend will be just getting my bearings.

Of course, everybody will pay their own way. That is the whole point. Just don't let the game stampede you.

That is great advice. Having played just a few hours of Starfield now, my main reaction: it's more similar to Fallout than I expected (including the very BSG way that enemies chatter when you got close to them), but with better graphics and MANY new control mechanisms. I think the list of mappable controls in Settings is the biggest I've ever seen in an Xbox game, which shows how many different systems there are.

I'm embarrassed to say that I missed a door in the very first new world where you're supposed to defeat the local pirates and spent a ridiculous amount of time looking for the remaining pirates to finish the quest. I didn't know if they were above me or below me, so I spent an hour or so looking through the building, hitting things to get the pirates to talk ("What was that?") and try to find them by sound. Finally, I found a door I hadn't realized was a door at the time in an area I had cleared a long time ago on the top floor, which opened to the final part of the building. 100% my fault, but it shows how it is good to play for a while just to get the hang of the controls and actions, like using the scanner to help find things.

I'll be starting over with a real character sometime this weekend.