Summary
In the years leading up to its release, Bethesda’s marketing forStarfieldplaced a heavy emphasis on how the game would present a grounded depiction of life in the cosmos. Nowhere was this more evident than with the repeated mentions ofStarfield’s NASA Punk aesthetic, with the developers taking great care to point out how real-world science was influencing the design of everything from the game’s spaceships to players’ robotic companion, VASCO. But asStarfieldneared release and some of its more mystical elements were revealed, a clear contrast began to emerge between the grounded reality of the game’s tech and the metaphysical mystery at the heart of its narrative.
Starfield’s setting is undoubtedly more grounded than those found ingames likeMass Effectand many other sci-fi titles, but when players finally got their hands on the game it became clear that Bethesda’s RPG wasn’t the hard sci-fi adventure some were expecting. AsStarfieldunfurls a narrative that abandons the limits of scientific plausibility over the course of its campaign, this dissonance between the realistic game world players inhabit and the fantastical events unfolding around them becomes increasingly hard to ignore. This results inStarfield’s attempt to explore some genuinely interesting concepts through its lore being undercut by a game world that often feels at odds with the story being told.
Starfield’s Realistic Setting Feels At Odds With Its Story
The first glimpse of this tonal mismatch between the game’s overall aesthetic and its story came duringBethesda’sStarfieldDirect presentationin June 2023. After filling in the details about previously mentioned settings and systems in the game, the last minutes ofStarfieldDirect showed a short scene of a player unleashing mysterious powers on their opponents. While the scene was exciting, showing a group of enemies floating helplessly as the player strutted past, it felt out of place after nearly an hour of hearing Bethesda describe how realistic the game was going to be.
This tension betweenStarfield’s scientifically grounded setting and its story is present throughout the game. Progressing through the main quest, which tasks players with tracking down artifacts to uncover the truth aboutStarfield’s powerful Starbornand the mysterious Unity, sees scientific plausibility take a back seat to its tale of multiversal manipulation. These mystical elements ofStarfield’s story could have opened the door to some intriguing gameplay possibilities but, due to Bethesda’s unwillingness to stray too far from the game’s grounded setting, are instead largely limited to unlockable combat abilities.
Dueling Identities Leave Starfield Feeling Unfocused
By trying to mix a realistic world with lore that leans heavily into sci-fi fantasy,Starfieldends up feeling unfocused. Rather than fully embracing one genre identity or the other, Bethesda’s attempts to give players the best of both worlds means neither gets the attention it deserves. The end result is a game that, while it has elements of both hard sci-fi and sci-fi fantasy, can be a tough sell to fans of both genres due to its lack of direction.
Due toStarfield’s open-world format, at least players can spend the bulk of their time focused on the aspects of the game they enjoy while largely ignoring the rest. But while players more interested in the hard sci-fi setting can simply skip the main quest, and fans of the fantasy elements can spend their time cutting loose withStarfield’s Starborn powersrather than building outposts, neither is an ideal solution.
Though fans of both hard sci-fi and fantasy are almost certain to find something to like inStarfield, its unwillingness to fully embrace either genre has left some in both camps feeling somewhat disappointed. Hopefully, with the release ofStarfield’sShattered SpaceDLC, Bethesda will be able to strike a better balance between these two dueling elements of the game’s identity going forward.
