Gaming | Game Development
Starfield: Vacuous Galaxy
Lackluster Blockbuster
Released in late 2023, Starfield is the latest IP from Bethesda game studios and their first original game in over a decade. Initially, there was a lot of hype surrounding this game due to Todd Howard鈥檚 expert salesmanship and promotional campaigns. However, if we鈥檝e learned anything over the years it鈥檚 that Todd Howard is well known for making promises he can鈥檛 possibly keep and exaggerating key features in BGS games.
Since Fallout 4 and Fallout 76, longtime Bethesda fans have been underwhelmed, displeased, disillusioned, and highly skeptical of every new announcement and every new project Bethesda has put out, and for very good reason. Over the past few years, it鈥檚 become evident that BGS has stagnated a great deal and has only managed to churn out soulless games and half-baked updates for The Elder Scrolls Online and Fallout 76.
While both of these games have improved somewhat since their launch, both still leave a lot to be desired. The fans are suffering extreme fatigue and frustration the longer they鈥檙e forced to wait for Fallout 5 and The Elder Scrolls 6.
With Todd Howard himself set to retire within the next couple of years there was an urgency on his end to create the game he鈥檇 been dreaming of since joining BGS way back in 1994. That鈥檚 a real pity. But it鈥檚 a outright travesty that Todd Howard鈥檚 Sentimental Vanity project got put ahead of the games that truly mattered most to the studios' starving supporters worldwide.
The games that Bethesda makes have an ungodly long development cycle, as I鈥檝e previously touched on in my Fallout London article. The development cycle is so long that a person can be born, raised, mature, marry, start families, grow old, and die whilst waiting on ONE SINGLE Bethesda title.
As a consequence of Starfield launching before TES 6 and Fallout 5, fans are now condemned to wait out the remainder of the 2020s and most likely the first half of the 2030s before they even get a glimpse of either game or the faintest whisper of an official announcement, which is the most marvelous pile of horseshit I ever did see.
Cricket Circus
Once Starfield officially launched and players were able to play it for themselves, there was no applause, no standing ovations, and no roses being thrown at Todd Howard鈥檚 feet. His dream game had flopped horrendously, not because it was a vanity project but because it was a vanity project that he couldn鈥檛 even be bothered to pour his heart and soul into. At least then if Starfield failed it would鈥檝e done so valiantly in a blaze of glory.
Moreover, there is much to critique and file complaints about even with the dawn of a new year. For starters, Bathesda鈥檚 beloved Creation Engine caused Starfield to become prematurely outdated by ten years despite it being released the same year as Baldur鈥檚 Gate 3.
In addition to the outdated graphics, Starfield has ultra bland character creation options, a lack of interesting locations to visit, a lack of interesting characters that anyone would become attached to without getting stoned beforehand, the quests are boring, the writing is cringe-worthy, and there is no point in exploring 1,000+ planets with absolutely nothing on them worth seeing or experiencing.
The Tides of Change
BGS, like our dear planet, is dying, wasting away in slow motion before our very eyes and I鈥檓 afraid games like Starfield will not save the studio from being outclassed, outmatched, and outshined by better games developed by hungrier and more ambitious studios. In my opinion, there鈥檚 one card BGS can still play that might just salvage Starfield and spark a long-term process of recovery.
This card is the card of long-term support and consistent updates. While at least 75-80% of the restoration work for Starfield can and should take place in-house, it鈥檇 be a wise move to outsource the remainder of the work to other studios that have a talent for storytelling and world-building. In this regard, my top pics for these outsourced studios would be Team Folon, who Bethesda is already connected to because of the wildly popular Fallout London Mod, as well as Thunder Lotus Games, the studio responsible for the successful indie title Spiritfarer.
Sunstones and The Unknown
For now, there鈥檚 so much that Bethesda needs to do to make Starfield a game worth anyone鈥檚 time and money. The studio鈥檚 legacy and reputation have been tarnished to hell but they鈥檝e got all of the funding, resources, connections, manpower, and big time endorsements to turn the corner and make things right before they hit the point of no return. Starting this year it鈥檚 time for BGS to get the heck off Fantasy Island and come to terms with reality, and do what鈥檚 right for the sake of their supporters and the future of their terminal studio.
If such drastic measures of rescue and salvage can be taken in time and if the correct changes can be implemented with a sense of urgency, then we might witness a comeback for the ages and watch Bethesda rise from the ashes like a Phoenix reborn. At least that鈥檚 what I, as a fan of Fallout and Elder Scrolls, find myself naively fantasizing about regularly.
