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I played all of Starfield twice for some reason, as two different characters. For the entirety of this sixty hours of thoroughly average space game I subjected myself to, I couldn’t shake one specific feeling: the story is like a muddled version of Bethesda’s earlier hit, Skyrim.
If you’re someone who likes to go into games totally fresh and you haven’t yet played this game but still care to for some reason, be warned that I’m going to get into some plot specifics here. I’ll avoid spoiling the ending or certain story-affecting choices you can make, but I need to talk about the baffling structure of this game — and the huge core mechanic that was entirely left out of its marketing.
Starfield finally launched late last year after what seemed like an eternity in development. It landed with a firm thud. Its space elements weren’t as involved as many space sim fans were hoping for, and its “Bethesda” bits weren’t as beautiful or as nuanced as the worlds and features of Elder Scrolls or Fallout. It felt as much like a lavish mod for their earlier titles as it did the next generation of their RPG design — and that complaint runs right through to the story.
In Skyrim, you play as a random person who turns out to be the legendary…
