The Elder Scrolls series has evolved tremendously. While it may have drawn inspiration from Ultima: Underworld’s immersive first-person, open-world, medieval fantasy RPG style, it refined the formula and made it more accessible to a wider audience. Few aim for such a massive scale and impressive level of detail. When Bethesda brought this approach to Fallout 3, a post-apocalyptic Americana RPG, it once again struck gold with both players and critics. As games have become more sophisticated and development can foster larger worlds with even more detail, this brand of Bethesda RPGs is becoming more commonplace. To stand out now, having an open world is not enough. The next logical step is to have an open universe. Enter Starfield.
By the year 2330, roughly 300 years after humanity abandoned a dying Earth, people are spread across the “Settled Systems,” a group of star systems about 50 light-years from Sol. Two main powers dominate: the bureaucratic United Colonies and the more free-spirited Freestar Collective, both of which clashed in the Colony War around 20 years before current events kick off. Alongside them are the devout House Va’ruun, roaming space pirates, ambitious corporations, and a mix of smaller factions.
Players take on the role of an asteroid miner employed by a company called Argos Extractors. During a routine excavation they discover a mysterious alien artifact that triggers a surreal vision for the protagonist. This event leads to contact with Constellation, the last true group of space explorers in the Settled Systems. Constellation can be best described as a blend of NASA and space archaeologists. Their headquarters, known as The Lodge, is located in New Atlantis, the capital city of the United Colonies.
Constellation has been gathering mysterious artifacts that seem connected and may hold answers to big questions about humanity’s place in the universe. As the newest member, you set off on a journey across the stars to find more artifacts, uncover their secrets and learn what lies beyond known systems. Along the way, you get caught up in faction conflicts, meet unforgettable companions and make choices that shape the story and the universe. The artifacts are linked to a broader narrative involving parallel universes, powerful beings called the Starborn and a concept known as The Unity. The story explores cycles, choice versus destiny, and the cost of knowledge. Its ending offers multiple paths and even sets up a New Game+, explaining how the player character retains experience and skills across cycles.
The main story can be between 20-40 hours, depending on one’s willingness to explore and roleplay, but with all side content and factions it can easily exceed 100+ hours. For the PlayStation 5 release, Starfield comes with two paid DLCs, including one called Shattered Space. In it, the protagonist picks up a distress signal from a derelict space station known as the Oracle. Once aboard, they encounter strange sights: a weird blue substance, teleporting foes called ‘phantoms,’ and an unsettling sense of space-time distortion. The primary setting for this module is Va’ruun’kai, the secret homeworld of House Va’ruun.
Shattered Space takes over ten hours to complete the main questline, with plenty of solid side content on the new planet. It’s more linear than the base game, but delivers rich world building and unforgettable set pieces. It connects to the base game’s Va’ruun lore, answering lingering questions while leaning more into a horror atmosphere than anything else in Starfield.
The Terran Armada module is a more action-oriented, galaxy-spanning story DLC focused on combat and a new ongoing threat. It is shorter than Shattered Space, lasting about six hours, and is designed with repeatable incursions for ongoing, vibrant gameplay. The DLC feels more integrated into the base world rather than being isolated to just one planet. Regardless of which DLC is accessed, both are found organically within the worlds, almost like they were always there to begin with. Both are substantial additions and offer unique experiences not typically found in the Starfield base package.
Starfield‘s flexible, classless character growth system prioritises player choice over rigid archetypes. One can choose a background or class from over 20 options, including Soldier, Bounty Hunter, Diplomat, or Cyber Runner. Each choice grants three skills for free at the first rank, along with unique dialogue options and role-playing elements related to the selected profession.
Additionally, players can select up to three traits that provide significant bonuses but come with drawbacks. For example, the Alien DNA trait increases health and oxygen levels but makes medical treatment more challenging. The skill tree resembles Fallout 4’s perk categories: Physical, Social, Combat, Science, and Tech, with over 80 skills in total. Interestingly, the level cap far exceeds anything in previous Bethesda titles, with virtually no limit, allowing players to experience nearly endless growth in New Game+.
Advancing to higher ranks grants access to powerful perks, new abilities, expanded crafting options, additional dialogue choices and enhanced gameplay mechanics such as improved ship piloting and outpost construction. Unlike traditional RPGs, Starfield does not utilise attribute points like strength or intelligence. Progression feels organic and character defining through strategic skill investment. Early gameplay emphasises core survivability and exploration skills, while the late game and New Game+ encourage experimentation with diverse hybrid playstyles.
Not everything in Starfield works as intended. The loading screens are excessive, even if they are brief. Like all of Bethesda’s RPGs, the AI is laughably dumb, easily exploited and often unresponsive. It can be a bit buggy at times, but with how games are frequently updated and patched these days, those technical issues will probably get fixed sooner or later. The core loop and overall experience feel all too familiar to anyone who’s played Skyrim or Fallout 4, as much of the quest design remains largely unchanged…for better or worse. It’s definitely a “lucky used sock” kind of situation: worn out and a bit stinky, but still surprisingly comfortable.
Starfield might not truly be an “open universe” as Bethesda claims, but it captures the feeling, and that works in its favour. It blends hand-crafted storytelling with expansive procedural generation across countless planets and star systems in the Settled Systems. Early on, the protagonist gets a fully customisable spaceship to explore different systems via grav jumps.
Random encounters happen seamlessly without constant menu interruptions, making space feel more alive and inviting to explore. Sometimes it feels like too much time is spent in menu screens instead of actually doing things in-game, but that’s the realistic tradeoff in a setting where points of interest are billions of miles apart.
Most planets are randomly generated with procedural terrain, biomes, flora and fauna based on the star type and atmosphere, like in No Man’s Sky. There are major hubs like New Atlantis, Akila City and Neon that are fully handcrafted and thoughtfully designed dense cities filled with quests, NPCs and environmental storytelling. Key story locations and unique characters are also handcrafted. You can always tell an important NPC from a randomly generated one, as the latter often looks like some bizarre creature produced by smashing the “randomise” button on a character creation screen. Expect to see hideous-looking denizens with grotesque features like a sharply upturned nose, non-existent chin, or droopy, gangly eyes.
Most planets feature a mix of procedural landscapes dotted with handcrafted outposts, abandoned facilities, caves, and enemy camps. It won’t take long to recognise the templated designs, but there is enough variation in placement to obfuscate the structure. There’s just enough procedural generation to imply an endless universe, but also enough deliberately created settings and scenarios that make Starfield feel like a polished product with a vision.
The sheer levels of depth and things to see and do are staggering. A person could spend years playing it and still not uncover everything it has to offer, from the endless options for ship building and outpost construction to thrilling space dogfights, all set in one of the most immersive and imaginative visions of the future. Despite its flaws, Starfield stands out as one of the best space RPGs ever made.
