Starfield

Don't get me wrong, Don't think you've got it made

Gasping and wailing do we all greet this world, fresh faced and bright eyed, innocent to the ravishes and fatigue of time, untouched by cynicism, never tired, never trite. We fight for our very first breath with righteous passion, hoping that very fire will burn unchallenged and unwavering for ever and forever. That is the miracle of the new; promise beyond all else of something pure, something hell-driven, something unashamed. And when I strip away all else I know about Starfield and look it at is as little more than a newborn to a game studio that haven't birthed a franchise in close to two decades now, I can actually somewhat see that glint of promise that so many Bethesda fans have imbued this game with  before we've seen but a frame of gameplay. This E3 marked the very first proper showcase of what it is that Starfield, Bethesda's next singleplayer open world RPG, will be; and I'm torn on whether or not I've seen something wondrously promising like so many others insist they have, or if I've just witnessed confirmation that this game is not what I wanted it to be and likely nothing I'm looking for either. (Somewhere in this diatribe I'm sure you'll get a taste one way or the other yourself.)

So as you may have spotted on this blog once or twice, I am an absolutely huge Bethesda nut to a clearly unhealthy degree. I own just about every single game they've developed and/or published in their history, I've attached my fandom to any studio they've so much as brushed past in their time from Arkane to Obsidian, I'm never out-of-the-loop for their goings ons, and I've even played and beaten Fallout 76. Yes, that's irrational levels of fandom right there, make no mistake. This all comes from the fact that, through The Elder Scrolls, they introduced me to liking, and eventually loving, the fantasy genre and the art of coherent world building. And I'm not talking about the work of molding mountains, staging towns and aligning furniture like Ubisoft have mastered, I'm talking about 'world buidling' in the sense of breathing authenticity and heart directly into your fictional world space in order to make flare the imagination of the audience. That in my mind, is the specialty of the Bethesda developers, and they are almost unmatched in their dedication to it. (at least in the games industry) And thus no matter what I have to say or think about Starfield, may it never be implied that I doubt their ability to make a spectacular world.

And now, having said all that, can I say that I find Starfield a little disappointing? (I'm going to be reiterating a lot of points I made during the leak here, because back then they were suspicions and now they're confirmed.) All I'm about to say is based on merely a trailer, mind you, although it's one with enough substance in it to confirm my belated fear regarding this title. Namely, that this game is Science fiction, not Science fantasy. Now I'm no bore, I love a bit of science fiction in my stories and even in my games for the rare times they show up. But I just feel it's a kind of a waste of Bethesda's potential to limit themselves to dictating a world of reality stretched, rather than committing themselves fully to wild abandon like they usually do. Many artists resort to science fiction and find comfort in that familiar base to build their fiction from, as building a universe from scratch can be daunting. Bethesda never had that problem, so why are they regressing all the same? And I do see it as a regression, because unless you fully commit to Science Fiction in a manner that I just plain don't think Bethesda are willing to do (For it would be too niche a direction for a company that big to pursue) what can result might be a little... boring.

I suppose that is my take away from the Starfield reveal in general. It was just boring. I know, 'unpopular take alert' but much like the majority of E3 2021 I wasn't in the least bit titillated by anything I'd seen or heard, and for something as fresh and new as Starfield, that is an anomaly. The trailer itself was rendered using the creation engine, and perhaps some of my apprehension comes from overfamiliarity with an engine I've seen used across three console generations now. (I recognise the lack of genuine environmental collision and stiff body movements instinctually at this point.) Despite the CGI trailer which tried to put the best foot forward, and was kind enough to show us a gun so that we know this won't be a game entirely dedicated to space exploration, all I saw was a space game lacking the bounty of Mass Effect, the efficacious wit of The Outer Worlds and the mind numbing complexity of Elite Dangerous. Starfield just simply was, and coming from Bethesda that's not good enough.

But these are my own misgivings, and I'll admit they might be somewhat heightened given both how Bethesda have treated me of late and the growing cynicism I'm developing for these games that play things a little too close to the chest in the reveal stages. When I suppress those feelings and try to be as objective as humanly possible, then the Bethesda fanboy in me starts to rear his ugly head a little more. That's when I start to appreciate the visual style of this game which seems to cater more towards the industrious clunker side of Science Fiction over the sterile utopianism of others. (Which leans this title more in my direction.) I can marvel at the space ship we're shown up close in this game, which has a living quarters! (I know that point sounds irrelevant, but when you've played as many space sims as me where that isn't the case, you take the victories where you can.) And I even can smile at the very concept of a Bethesda game with the scope of space, knowing that every corner of this world is going to receive the same level of devotion and love which makes Tamriel and Fallout's America so special.

Apart from this reveal trailer, Bethesda have released another video to their official channel talking about Starfield and promising a very long marketing journey ahead through their special program called 'Constellation'. (Which appears to borrow its name from an organisation within the world of the game, judging by how it appears on a space farers manual in the reveal trailer.) This second trailer came with a healthy helping of concept art, from which we can really start to get an idea of the world Bethesda is going for with this game. I'm really liking the look of some of the pockets of civilisation that seem to be colouring this world, in particular one ocean planet city suspended by massive stilts that looks like something out of Star Wars. If any of those concepts can make it the final game untouched, or at least comparable to what we're being teased here (and that's a big "if", I've seen the Fallout 4 concepts afterall) then maybe there'll be something truly special about this game afterall.

I'm also quite liking the designs of the various armours that we're getting a look at here, because style is always one of the most important cornerstones of Bethesda RPGs. One worry which permeated when those leaks were going around was the way in which it seemed this was a game looking towards pure exploration, as such we'd be looking at bulky spacesuits most of the time. That irrational worry has been soothed, because there's quite a lot of space colonies already teased in these concepts and some rugged looking colonist gear that's shaping up quite cool. Unlike the thematically garish designs we saw out of Obsidian's The Outer Worlds (which oftentimes I just found to be plain ugly) Starfield's clothing options look more sleek and, though I might be the only one making this comparison, almost Death Stranding-esque. (Can't explain quite while I feel that, I just do. It's bizarre.)

So overall it's safe to say: "I'm not in love, so don't forget it." Bethesda are going to have to pull a lot more out of their hats than a shiny CGI engine reveal and some vaguely grandiose trailer rhetoric to sell this game to me just yet, and considering we're looking at a tentative release date of late next year, they've got a lot of time in which to do just that. Some part of me does see this 'constellation' program and flashes back to the 'Space Monkey Program' for Beyond Good and Evil 2; (Which hasn't had an update since October 2019) but another part tells me that Bethesda's a tad more reliable considering they fully expect this upcoming game to their bread and butter for the foreseeable future, it behoves them to market it fully enough. The coming months will be interesting, as the gameplay details are spoonfed to us and a vague picture in our mind gets painted before the next E3 hits us with a full game showcase which either misses those expectations entirely or... well, let's be conservative and say "meets them". I'm not hyped. I'm unlikely to get hyped. But I'm curious. And if that curiosity blossoms into a fascination somewhere down the line and with a few more updates, well then... I'll keep you updated. What's your thoughts on Starfield at this point in time? Are you charmed or have you got those same misgivings that dwell around me?