Talking Point: One Month On From Launch, How Are You Feeling About Starfield?

Not even close its not lived up to the hype at all it's a decent game that will be great once it's patched and the bugs are ironed out it's not the game what was promised at all unfortunately is a 10 out of 10 not a chance 7 at the minute and 9 once it's patched some people are just saying it's amazing because it's an xbox exclusive that's all and fanboys will say that

The game has received the most scrutiny I’ve ever seen. Some people have been criticizing it for over 3 years. In the end all they have to show for it is some funny BSG jank.

It’s been a overwhelming success. I had immense fun with it and will continue to for years to come.

Great game. Torn between it and Baldurs Gate 3. 9/10.

I have not played it enough yet to give my final verdict, 45hours played but still only on the second story mission (when you go back to the starting mine planet) but it's been a great game so far

I've played only a couple of hours and was a little bit disappointed. It did not hook me in any way and the opening was too silly. Will definitely go back once I complete BG3 and Spider Man 2, but won't hope for a miracle.

I haven't played anything other than SF in the last few weeks so yes it's lived up to the hype despite so much nonsense surrounding it.

As of right now it is best game released in 2023 I have played. I want to play BG3 when it releases on Xbox though. The game is what it promised to be and pretty much in line with its developer track record but with a lot more systems in a way that you can ignore half of them and still have tens of hours in a single playthrough.

Not game of the year or the next benchmark in gaming but it’s a solid decent game, having a lot of fun with it and in many years time I think it’ll be remembered as one of the better Xbox series games. Will have a future cult following for sure. I’d give it a strong 8/10 which is awesome 👏🏼

@LordFunkalot definitely it's a good game game but game of the year not a chance as it stands it good but not In skyrim or the witcher 3 league at all

Still playing. Working on getting better with outposts. I’ve finally gotten my science and tech skills to a high enough level that I can start working on combat. My only complaint is some quest breaking bugs forced me into NG+ twice but it’s sorta hilarious because in any other bethesda game I would had to start over or lost a ton of progress. There is an interesting meta narrative there. Since I am exploring more planets, I am seeing how dangerous they are. Some wildlife just choose violence.

Ive really enjoyed it so far. Lots of people trying to skew the perception of it negatively but hasn’t stopped me enjoying it. It is my GOTY so far. I haven’t played BG3 though for what it’s worth.

I think it's wonderful. I haven't played anything else since I started it. Only criticism would be I think the last patch did more harm than good. Seems like loading times are longer and crashes a lot more frequent.

Its a fine game, I was expecting a bit more from the main campaign. Collecting artifacts is repetitive and tedious.
Side quests are good mostly.
For me it's an 8 game, and I was expecting more

I had a love hate relationship with it. First 10hrs 6/10 faction quests/middle part 8/10 upon completion at 70hrs I was getting annoyed with too much of the game.

The more you play the game the more dated it all feels in 2023. The load screens the menu etc etc The more issues you have. The more inconsistent things you notice. We are a month in, barely a patch to fix anything too.

That doesn’t make it bad but it just lacks current game things.

I enjoyed it but it is a letdown overall. I haven’t felt the need to log in since completing it, or felt like I’m missing out not playing NG+ currently. I wouldn’t feel short changed had I paid £70 for it. But neither is it game of the year.

I will give it a try again after some mods.

Loving the game because it has that Bethesda feeling which I can't really explain. Get some random close to dashboards though when visiting points of interests like industrial outposts and whatnot on Series S so been manually saving a lot. Also had a glitch where some spacers turned into streakers because they only had on underwear (plus the guy in the first shop on New Atlantis. Saw him sweeping in his underwear 🤣). I get tired though when playing it because there's less hostile encounters and it's relaxing just looking at things.

After putting a good 200 hours into the game I've gotta say I pretty much love everything about the game except the ending.

Without spoiling too much, the ending completely ****ing sucks.

Still love it. Close to 100 hours. On my first NG+ and still loving the exploration and constantly finding new things. The atmosphere of this game is fantastic. It's not Skyrim fantastic, but thats comparing apples and oranges. Anyways, excellent game.

@themightyant that’s how I’ve felt about the game too.

The best 7/10 game I have ever played. I’m still waiting for a good mission (aka quest) to appear, they are the dullest I have seen in a game.

This boring collection of tasks really drag things down, and that’s even before getting into game mechanics, which are clumsy.

Not a perfect game and like many Bethesda games it has it's quirks but I did enjoy my time in it a lot.

Fully distracted by Forza Motorsport now so have stopped playing.

I am looking forward to future DLC & mod support. So certainly will revisit Starfield again when either of those things drop.

It’s good. Not amazing. I’d say it’s a 7.5.

If you’re really into the ship building and side-missions, then I can see how some people will get more mileage. But for me, it was a pretty good space game but not much else.

I put in about 50 hours total. Loved it at first but I started finding it quite repetitive after around 40 hours. Also appreciate the sentiment that it’s the least buggy Bethesda game but it is still riddled with them. Some are funny, non have been game breaking but they all ruin the immersion which, for me, has been a massive problem with the game overall.

It’s a very good Bethesda game which would have got plenty more hours out of me if it released in a less packed period. At first it feels like a step forward from things like Skyrim and Fallout but then a few more hours in and I miss the more focused experience of those games. I will go back to it when I have more time but at the moment BG3 and a new playthrough of Cyberpunk are stealing my attention and the thought of playing Starfield feels more like a chore than fun.

@themightyant no exactly it's good but not great

I have cooled off the past couple of days .. I have played about 30 hours and barely touched the main quest ...its good if you like bethesda games...I think I have gassed out doing side missions but I can't help myself I get side tracked

Probably give it an 8 out of 10

Thanks god the series X loads fast or I woudnt have got this far ...one of the reasons I gave up on fallout 4 was the constant loading screens

i enjoy sf but i feel like todd should have focused on elder scrolls.

I think it's one of the finest roleplaying games I have ever played.

It's not an RPG, mind. That is a great story to play through, characters to level and fall in love with along the way.

But a ROLE playing game? Where does one begin at how wonderfully open ended the game is in playing as whoever you want to be and taking the side missions as they come. That's Starfield.

So…it seems like Starfield has it’s hooks in me. The over arching story beyond the first play through really has me questioning the type of person i want to be in the universe and what these choices will mean in years to come. Besides that the exploration and building whether it is ship or outpost or just taking on side quests is like a comfort zone when i just want to relax and un stress after a long day or week. I have tried playing other games but after a few hours i keep coming back to Starfield. I am sure at some point i will pause my time in this elaborate universe that was created but have not hit that threshold yet. Is it perfect…no. The more i play the more i see areas of improvement or would be nice if there was more. But regardless for me personally i wanted a universe to dive into and i have that. Each person is looking for their own reasons to play or continually play a game and different for everyone. If asked the question if there was one game you could take with you to a deserted island right now this would be the one for me.

I've played about 65 hours so far. I'm really enjoying it. I will admit I'm finding myself focussing a little more on the main story now, partly to make sure I don't get bored and partly because of other games I also want to play.

I bought the game and I don't regret it at all.

Its still a solid 8 game for me, but nowhere near as compelling as the bethusda titles of the past. Im only 70 hours in now, but it doesnt feel like there is much reason to explore anything.
Some story lines are excellent, but far to many are simply 'busy work' running from one location to another watching loading screens and yet another door animation. It seems like phone communication is a thing of the past as you have to visit every single person in person to have a chat,- thats nuts.

I put 100s of hours into fallout 3, oblivion and skyrim, but Im pretty sure I'll not be playing this in another month or so. But its still got some bethusda magic inbetween the jank.

My favorite game of all time. So yeah, totally exceeded my expectations. Which were high. Grateful to have it and play it.

Loved it ,but felt like it was a step back from skyrim and fallout ,I expected more ,after finishing the game with 180hrs id give it a 7.5 ,why can't I shoot Benjamin Bayu in the face, why is there only generic prisoners to rescue ,at the end of the crimson fleet quest ,wheres all the lore ,in many ways its like a bethesda game lite.

I've played only for a few hours but it hasn't really pulled me in so far.

I'm sure that it's a really good game for those who spend time on it but don't think it's for casual players who only have a couple of hours to play games each week.

I absolutely love it! About to unlock all achievements. Been a very fun ride. Next up is Cyberpunk.

It's one of my favorite games of the year so far and probably my favorite RPG since Mass Effect 1.

It’s a very good game, but doesn’t get into “great” territory for me. I think if you’re a Bethesda super fan it likely meets the hype but otherwise, no.

I love the ***** out of this game currently going to reach level 100 before NG+ 10X........ after I finish writing this I'm going back into the void

@Sakai same for me I got side tracked for 48hrs too.
It’s when you go back to play after a day of not playing and it’s just WOW. Just keep going of on bloody tangents for hours at a time. So much fun and so many different aspects to the game.

Easily 10/10. As a PS gamer I bought a Series X solely for this game and it was worth every euro. I’m about 90 hours in and still solely doing side missions and random exploring to stretch it as long as possible.

@FatalBubbles That’s just personal. It’s my first Bethesda title and easily one of my all time favorite games.

I played it for 10-12 hours. Definitely not a GOTY contender. Not even close. It shouldn't even be nominated for GOTY. I still give it a 7.

@Darude84 Correct, the article was asking for how you feel about it. That was my opinion. There will always be outliers as well.

Like many, I was unsure at first. I think this game is not very good at getting players on board, so the first hours were kind of messy for me.

But ever since those opening hours: I love it. 9/10 for me, and a personal GOTY contender. I can’t stop playing it. It is Bethesda type quests in a space setting, which is exactly what I wanted. I didn’t expect this to be No Man’s Bethesda, so the lack of lots of space exploration doesn’t bother me. I never thought it would be that kind of game.

I will say: More bugs since the last patch. Including more crashes and characters in underwear, as others have mentioned above.

@Titntin
This. I've logged 70+ hours into it and just lost interest. The Crimson Fleet storyline and the UC Vanguard missions are way better than the main story and the amount of fetch quests gets really annoying with time. I switched to CP2077: Phantom Liberty and I'm having a blast, despite this being my 6th playthrough. Starfield is a good game, but nothing more. Think I'll give ME: Andromeda another shot instead of finishing my Starfield playthrough (once I'm done with Phantom Liberty).

My biggest problem with the game is the characters and dialogue are super bland. It's missing that Bethesda charm you'd see in Elder Scrolls or Fallout. Gameplay-wise my only complaints are Melee & Unarmed are SUPER underdeveloped, with only 6 or so melee weapons (that aren't moddable) and 0 unarmed, and that the UI could've used more explaining.

I'm about 40 hrs in and when it is at its best, it can be very good but its bloody uneven. Whilst the space combat is basic, I really enjoy it and the crimson fleet stuff is my favourite BGS questline. The AI is bad but if you get a decent enough gun to kill most enemies in 1-2shots then it's less noticeable. Some of the writing choices, particularly for persuasion, are not good. I wish they had taken some more cues from something like a forgotten city for their less action focussed quests. The structure of the game feels very dated, I'm running from one part of a map to another on the same planet to tell someone I've done something. Has the only reason humanity has survived the move from earth into the stars because we ditched mobile phones. I'm between a 7 and an 8. Don't get me wrong, I'm having fun but it's not a game that moves the medium forward.

I started it a week ago and I've been loving it. Every choice feels meaningful and the questlines are excellent.

I haven’t stopped playing it yet. Having so much fun exploring everything the game has to offer. It’s clearly not perfect, but it’s absolutely a top 3 game of the year for me.

I'm still playing it. I'm about 170 hours in and still have plenty to do. It's not perfect, no, but I'm really enjoying myself. I like exploring the galaxy, doing the side quests, and talking with all the NPC's to listen to their stories. I'm really taking it all in. I don't feel a need to rush through the game to get to other stuff. I'll get to other stuff later when I'm done. Until then, I'll continue enjoying the vibe.

@YourNameHere the crimson quest line is the best in my opinion, the side quests are just the usual fetch quests,and the main campaign is terrible, but there's something about it that makes you play for hours ,after 180 hrs nearly ,I kinda think its the false hope that you're gonna find something that nobody has before, you don't, which is disappointing, its not a patch on skyrim or oblivion for that matter.

Honestly, I stopped playing it. Not because it's bad or anything, but, for some reason DOSBox and SCUMMVM have consumed my gaming habits.

Also, when I'm not rocking 80's and 90's PC games, I am playing either Jedi Survivor or Resident Evil 4 Remake.

@all3forever im playing cyberpunk at the moment just finished starfield, really enjoyed it ,but couldve been so much more ,not to worry,in a couple of weeks.....here comes the spidermaaaaaaaan 😁

This game will not stand the test of time or have longevity like previous Bethesda games. It’s technically impressive, but lacks soul and good writing. There isn’t a single good character and it feels like an obvious social lecture. I now have zero hype for TES VI.

I'm about 55 hours in. I haven't played it much the last couple of weeks due to so many new games coming out but whenever I do jump in I have a great time and 3-4 hours just fly by. It is one of those games I can not play for weeks or months and instantly enjoy when I play it again. I am about halfway through the story but I am discovering new missons and large settlements on planets constantly. Some side missons can last an hour. I haven't even started the factions stuff yet! I think it's a 9/10 so far. With some addtional QOL patches and strong long term support this could easily be my Xbox game of the generation. I can only imagine Fable will challenge that title for me. GTA 6 or Persona 6 will probably be my actual game of the generation.

@tallythwack Hmmm I’ll check out the Crimson line, thanks.

Loved playing it, but will restart again, after it has been properly patched.

8/10, but not GOTY. That, for me is probably BG3 (PC) so far.

It has not lived up to my expectations as it hasn't really brought anything new. In fact it's more of a mashup of several games making it the jack of all trades, master of none.

Space(combat) , ships modules, power pips, it's a slimmed down version of Elite Dangerous combined with some No Man's Sky elements. But those two perform better at immersion, like allowing the player to fly above the landscape.

Building, materials, manufacturing, those are elements which are very common in many games. This is why it's actually puzzling the building/crafting is so limited compared to their last two fallout titles. Top-down view makes it look nice tho.

After doing the main questline a couple of times, the factions quest lines and agazillion of misc, it's become clear to me that it's standard Bethesda storytelling, but without the excesses. Don't expect humor peaks like that prince in skyrim, super mutant insider-jokes or anything. It's more bland and trying verrry hard to look realistic.

Also, the world isn't really that big. The USABLE world where things happen. There's only a handful of cities.

My advice is to wait a year or two when Bethesda realizes these things too. Fo76 was a fail-launch and they used the experience to actually make it great. Hopefully the same goes for starfield, finding something to excel in. Maybe an exciting new campaign DLC in a new galaxy with 200+ stars.

An 8/10 game. Did most of the factions, they were pretty good and enjoyed the main quest enough even if it wasn't particularly novel.

The weakest point of the game was the writing of the characters: they just wanted to tell their stories all the time. They didn't really have a life outside of their contact with me. One-dimensional.

Started Cyberpunk right after again. Character work is on a whole different level.

I consider this my game of the generation so far. It's by far the most interesting thing I have seen come along that is exclusive to this generation of consoles. There is nothing else quite like it really, they took the Bethesda RPG formula and expanded it into space. It's both a great space exploration game as well as a great open world RPG. One of those games I can see myself playing for a very long time.

Still playing every day. Still a solid 9/10. Everyone's entitled to their opinion, and mine is: it's a great game.

It was mediocre at launch, and it's still mediocre. Most of the quests are built out of "talk to an NPC, go somewhere else, talk to another NPC, go back to the first one" and "talk to an NPC, go to a planet and kill some dudes, go back to the NPC" with only a couple of them deviating from that template, the sense of exploration and discovery is minimal due to the game being built from small chunks separated by a series of loading screens, the minigame for getting powers is tedious beyond belief, and the Creation engine doesn't really seem to have changed since Oblivion.

@JayJ on the surface it seems great ,I feel the more you play, you realise how basic and a step back, from there usual games,some aspects are really poor ,crowd reactions ,have you heard the sound ,sounds like 3 people in a tin can,why is it if I fly up on top of a enemy base and I can see inside ,why is there a loading screen when I go through the door of the same building if the assets are already loaded,why is there in your face loading and hidden loading screens,why at the end of the game there's a couple of people who want to come with me ,and then they don't bother ,why can't I take certain ships,I could go on and on,im starting to think ign was right with there 7/10

@tallythwack It's weird, there is almost, almost a really good game there. I know Covid is an exhausted excuse, but u can almost see the poorly glued seams that covid development caused.
I'm in that pool of- started at a7/10 got to a 9/10 and rounds out currently to a 7.5/10. There are just too many cracks in the foundation. I'll still play to it 300 hours, because it is fun

@Dan1283 - Use grammar, you'll appear smarter.

@Prizm ok thanks for that i hope you weren't trying insult me ? I probably should put grammer though

Anybody who's loving this game needs to go check out Cyberpunk 2077 in its current 2.0 state and then compare it to Starfield. If Starfield is a 10/10 game then Cyberpunk must be like 13/10.

Starfield is a 7/10 for me.

I love it and am enjoying it much more than I ever expected. Closing in on 100 hours and I’m still discovering new things to do.

Great game, a 9/10 for me.

@somnambulance

I beat and played Hi Fi Rush quite a bit and while it’s great, there’s no way I’m coming back to it like I have with Starfield. I’ve been surprised how much I want to keep playing it.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion of course and Hi Fi Rush was indeed a blast.

@JayJ

Fully agreed. It’s the first game I feel is truly next gen and that I wouldn’t see on a previous console. Top notch stuff!

There was a period of time in the run up to the launch of the Series X where we were discovering mega game after mega game that were heading to the system and it was just impossible not to be lured in. I bought a Series X in the midst of all the excitement and put an Xbox branded console in my living room for the first time after 6 straight generations of being a Nintendo-centric gamer. I couldn't wait for Starfield, Redfall, Fable, Perfect Dark, Psychonauts 2, Indiana Jones and on and on. But you know what? Psychonauts 2 disappointed, Redfall was an unmitigated disaster, Fables reveal trailer, and its fugly a$$ protagonist has erased any enthusiasm I had for it, Starfield ended being way to dry (for me) and laden with too much blue hair messaging... One by one all the reasons I was so excited to be joining team Green are evaporating. At this point, it's almost guaranteed that Perfect Dark and Indiana Jones will be a disappointment. At least, I don't really have confidence in the developers to restrain themselves from filling the games with agenda first design and delivering the type of experience I would be looking for. I don't think modern western studios are capable of it. Joanna Dark will likely be attractive capped at a 3/10 and Indy will likely take a back seat to some upstart girl boss who is patronizing and automatically amazing at everything without trying. At least if recent trends hold. I'm holding out some hope still, but find myself back playing on Nintendo more and more as the generation advances. Looking forward to the Switch 2.