Starfield: Bethesda's Ambitious Leap into the Cosmic Frontier

Slated for release on September 6, 2023, all eyes are on Starfield to take the video gaming industry by storm.  Developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks, Starfield is an action role-playing game that’s based on the science fiction realm of outer space.  The game has been designed to cater to gamers using the Xbox Series X/S and Windows.

More About Starfield

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Played either in first-person mode or third-person, Starfield boasts an open world that allows gamers to travel the galaxy between fictional and nonfictional planetary systems.  There are over one thousand planets to choose from, as well as a series of moons and space stations.  Within Starfield’s universal realm is New Atlantis, the largest city Bethesda has created yet as a development team.

Within the game, players encounter a variety of non-playable characters (NPCs).  Some of them may also become part of the crew.  The NPCs will also respond according to whatever choices are made by the player as the game progresses.  As for members of the crew joining the player’s roster, they can either offer assistance in combat or at a designated outpost that’s been constructed by the player.  There are even opportunities to engage in a bit of romance should players wish to go that route.

From the ground up, plates can customize their characters by how they look and what kind of background they have.  This will lead to three starting skills that become unlocked.  As the game progresses, additional skills and traits become unlocked that will dictate the direction of the character as it is being played.  Whatever players choose for their characters from the start of the game onward will determine how they perform in various environmental and social conditions they’ll encounter.

Skyrim in Space

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Starfield’s open-world environment enables players to explore about from planet to planet to see what they can find as resources.  Opportunities to craft various items allow players to come up with armor, spaceship design, weaponry, and consumables.  The possibilities for players to engage in character development, combat, exploration, and trade seem endless.  

For the first time in over twenty-five years, Starfield is the first new intellectual property coming from Bethesda Game Studios.  Considered to be the deep space equivalent to Skyrim, Starfield was a project the development team had been working on since 1994.  Going into 2018, the production of the game commenced, using Creation Engine 2 as a platform to turn the dream of Starfield into reality.

Setting Expectations

After Bethesda teased the audience during its E3 2018 presentation, director Todd Howard was focused on making sure Starfield continued to make progress as the gaming industry’s next big release.  After the demonstration showing improvements at E3 2021, members of the gaming community have been anxiously waiting to get their hands on Starfield.  However, as the majority of Triple-A gaming developers and publishers have been letting gamers down with the release of one broken game after another, there are expectations Bethesda does not repeat the same mistakes companies like Activision, CD Projekt Red, and Rockstar Games had been making.

Will Starfield measure up to the high expectations placed by gamers when the game launches on September 6th, 2023?  Based on the forty-five minutes of gameplay that was presented by Bethesda Game Studios on June 11, 2023, the answer so far is “yes.”  While the debate of Starfield possibly having microtransactions ensues, there is reason to believe there will be expansion packs and modded content brought forth by members of Bethesda’s development team and talented gamers who want to jazz up their experience while playing the game.

It’s About the Future

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Aside from Starfield set in a futuristic setting, Bethesda’s vision as a respected group of developers and game publishers looks beyond the expectations of today.  When Skyrim was presented for the first time in 2011, little did members of the gaming community realize at the time the game would still be incredibly popular today.  Over the stretch of time, it has been modded like crazy but that merely demonstrated how dedicated fans of the game were to optimize their experience with it.

What Bethesda wants in Starfield is a similar experience it had with Skyrim and the rest of the Elder Scrolls series.  Instead of grabbing a quick profit at the expense of the gamers, Bethesda wants a legacy it can be proud of.  Should Starfield meet or exceed player expectations upon its release, this will set a new standard in the gaming industry.

Among development teams and publishers in the gaming industry that seemed to have lost touch with what gamers really want, the demand for Triple-A companies to do better has been on the rise.  Many members of the gaming community have lost patience with companies like Activision who’ve been putting profit and personal agendas as top priorities instead of focusing on what the people really want.  Gamers are fed up with this and are looking to companies like Bethesda to steer the direction of the gaming industry back on course as one of the best forms of entertainment.