The 5-Minute Gaming Take: Starfield Polarizes Between Enthusiasm and Disillusionment

Since today’s ‘big’ article is coming out around 1 PM, I’m quickly throwing in my two cents about Starfield so that your breakfast bread settles awkwardly in your stomach. Even if it might sound derogatory, here’s my subjective, final confirmation: Despite its ‘fresh’ space theme, Starfield harbors the decades-old role-playing formula that you may know from Skyrim, for example. So far, so exciting. Or not. As we explore planets, we quickly fill up our limited inventory with dozens of items, while dialogue options and various skill trees offer us a lot of freedom of choice so we don’t get too bored. Well, just a little bit. We can interact with outdated animated and often immersion-breaking NPCs. But at least you can stuff yourself with pointless side quests and waste time.

We also experience an underwhelming and rather dull main story that would undoubtedly feel strikingly short without the filler of longer quest lines featuring different people giving us the same tasks over and over. Furthermore, we get lost in random encounters with characters and often awkwardly shoot and hack our way through completely overwhelmed and sometimes wildly erratic enemies, shooter-style, armed with a large arsenal of weapons. Visually, Starfield really doesn’t impress, so Bethesda conveniently lays its own gray cloak of oblivion over this mostly colorless tale. I’ll get to GPU and CPU in a moment.

But why do you even buy an OLED? You’d think you’re sitting in front of an ancient TFT monitor from 2005, and you’re also looking at it from the side. The image is often even flatter than the mostly ultra-silly dialogues, which is quite an achievement. Yes, the space stations and ships are indeed beautiful. So, visually, Starfield can half impress, but only if you don’t leave the rooms. Or you might accidentally fall all the way down and can’t get back up. Clipping losses à la carte. And if you survive, an animated character comes along and robs you of your immersion. And your nerves, for that matter.

Starfield is in many ways, but especially in its overall design, utterly stuck in time. This may sound extremely negative, and unfortunately, it is, compared to many of today’s AAA standards. That said, it fits perfectly into a long line of botched releases. So you don’t even have to be overly disappointed. Starfield is not a game that I warmed up to quickly, and it’s certainly not a game that will suit every RPG fan. However, once it clicks, which can admittedly take quite a while, you could find yourself lost in space until 5 in the morning. You just have to force yourself to be fair.

Visuals and space? Well…

It’s not a triumph of visuals, but one could live with it. Until you talk to the NPCs. Oh, these artificial characters are a feast for the senses, really. They move through the world with the grace of a wooden board that’s been glued multiple times. And their gazes! It’s like looking into two black holes that devour any semblance of joy. And those elegant lip movements! Who needs synchronized lip-syncing when the characters speak with the emotional range of a drunken snail struggling through sand? I mean, it’s not as if we’re living in the 21st century and would expect anything better, right?

But don’t worry, there are also bright spots. Take the spaceships and space stations, for example. I’ve mentioned this before but I’ll gladly say it again: They are the real stars of the show! Every detail is crafted so lovingly that you almost forget the wooden NPCs. Almost. Because then comes the orbital control, and you realize you feel nothing. Whether it’s joystick or mouse and keyboard – it’s just utterly annoying and clumsy. Docking? Haha, nice side quest. But as a palate cleanser, there’s the star map and planets with beautiful details—simply enchanting. It’s almost as if the game is saying, ‘Look how beautiful I could be if I really tried!’ Or had been allowed to be, which unfortunately was not the case.

Oh, and let’s not forget the cities. They’re so atmospheric that you almost feel like you’re in a real Wild West metropolis or a dystopian neon hell. But as soon as you encounter another NPC, you’re abruptly reminded that you’re in a world full of ambitious yet ultimately imperfect ideas. I’d rather stick with Cyberpunk, which has at least been patched to health by now. Yes, Starfield is an emotional rollercoaster—from the peak of excitement to the valley of complete disillusionment. And somewhere in between, I wonder if the developers actually believe they can get away with this, or if they’re just pulling a rather expensive joke. I must say, considering the pre-order surcharge. I’d rather opt for Domina.

The Quintessential Space Opera

Yes, Starfield is a bizarre space opera full of contradictions! The start was about as thrilling as filing my taxes. But then came the quest lines revolving around the factions, and suddenly I found myself diving deeper and deeper into this complex labyrinth of space adventures and random systems. From building outposts to space combat—the factions were my ticket to real gameplay depth. You just have to be careful about which quests you accept; don’t let every waitress bend your ear!

And now, hold onto your seats: In some missions, I even get to sneak around and rummage through other people’s pockets! Finally, I can satisfy my inner thieving urges, after the main story felt too high-brow to indulge in such activities. But then Bethesda (would you expect anything less?) brings you back down to earth. Sometimes it feels like you’re balancing a Ming vase through a bullfighting arena. Rangers here, space pirates there, oh, and let’s not forget the high-tech military! Cyber-thieving guilds? Sounds almost like the inventory of an old RPG treasure chest you found and gleefully plundered in your attic.

I mean, we’re in space! The possibilities should be as limitless as the Milky Way itself! Where are the space hippies fueling their ships with organic fuel? Or the space truckers who spend more on flashy rims than on their own space station rent? Maybe it’s actually better that I’m just sitting here critiquing the game instead of designing the factions. Otherwise, Starfield would probably end up with a faction of intergalactic food bloggers searching for the best space tacos in the universe. Although, now that I think about it… that would be something, wouldn’t it?

All a Matter of Settings

So, let’s sit down for a moment and talk about Starfield’s graphics menu. Who needs a real full-screen mode with adjustable resolution when you can choose between ‘Windowed, but not really’ and ‘Windowed, but also not really, but at least borderless’? It’s as if someone decided that customization options are overrated, and we all just want a mini cinema experience on our screens. Or that we’re all just patronized toddlers. It fits perfectly that the window also sometimes stubbornly sticks to one place. Ah, the romance!

Starfield, the game that invites us to dream? Dream of what could be if it weren’t stuck in basic graphics. No ray tracing? Rasterizer graphics? I suddenly feel like I’ve been catapulted into a time capsule straight back to the late 2010s. And where the heck is DLSS? Not even Intel’s XeSS made it to the party. I mean, if neither Nvidia nor Intel are on the guest list, there should at least be some party hats and streamers. Bethesda and AMD obviously threw an exclusive party where only FSR 2, AMD’s answer to DLSS, was on the guest list. ‘Look, we have friends too!’ they proudly proclaim, presenting us with their bundle of Starfield and GPUs, while hoping we’ll just ignore the absence of the cool kids, DLSS and Ray Tracing.