Bethesda’s latest role-playing game, Starfield, has entered 2024 amid a challenging phase, as its recent reviews on Steam paint a less than stellar picture. Despite its ambitious design, intended to captivate players for extended periods, the game has received a “Mostly Negative” rating in recent reviews, with only 29% of these being positive over the past month. This contrasts with an overall “Mixed” rating, where 64% of reviews are positive.
Steam reviews, sourced from the gaming community, offer a binary choice: approval or disapproval. This system tends to disadvantage games that don’t quite hit the mark, as evident in Starfield’s case.
Bethesda’s approach to addressing this has been through direct responses to reviews, a trend increasingly common in the industry. However, the generic nature of these responses has drawn criticism.
The reception of Starfield is particularly notable given Bethesda’s track record with influential titles like Skyrim and Fallout 3. These games significantly impacted the gaming landscape, a feat Starfield has yet to replicate. One reason could be the perceived lack of the “magic” that characterized Bethesda’s previous successes.
Players have expressed concerns over limited choices, an abundance of unkillable NPCs, and a lack of the studio’s signature exploration elements, replaced by loading screens and underwhelming worlds.
The game’s narrative and world-building aspects have also come under scrutiny. Bethesda games have never been known for their robust storylines, and Starfield seems to continue this trend with a narrative that doesn’t delve deeply into its themes or offer compelling world-building.
The game’s storytelling methods, including the dated Bethesda zoom-in technique, have been overshadowed by more advanced techniques used in games like Baldur’s Gate 3.
As Bethesda looks to the future, it faces the challenge of learning from Starfield’s lukewarm reception. The studio has plans for updates and improvements, but it remains to be seen whether these will be enough to salvage the game’s reputation.
The situation calls to mind the evolution of other games, like Blizzard’s World of Warcraft, which benefitted from a willingness to adapt and let go of outdated philosophies. Whether Starfield represents a rough diamond that needs polishing or a fundamental shift in Bethesda’s design approach remains a topic of debate.
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