Why Starfield May Be Stuck Between a Rock and a Hard Place With Future DLC

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From its debut, the game Starfield encountered prolonged periods of ground exploration, underwhelming adversaries, and a storyline that appeared scant. However, the game’s primary flaw wasn’t merely about pace or narrative; it was the employment of procedural generation. Rather than crafting each planet individually with distinctive landscapes, landmarks, and missions, Bethesda opted for algorithms to generate environments dynamically as players neared them. This strategy enabled the game to boast more than 1,000 planets, but many felt barren and monotonous. Apart from a handful of thoughtfully designed locales like New Atlantis and Akila, players primarily encountered duplicates of medical facilities, lifeless caves, and repetitive helium labs.

Players remained dissatisfied by Bethesda’s explanation for their design choices, which likened the barren planets in the game to real moon landings. However, players were not seeking authenticity but rather enjoyable and immersive gameplay experiences. In an effort to rectify the situation, Bethesda launched Starfield Shattered Space DLC, featuring procedurally generated content for a more custom-made world. Regrettably, this didn’t receive acclaim as anticipated, instead drawing criticism of a different nature. Consequently, the upcoming DLC seems to find itself in a challenging position, with potential disappointments on either side.

What Did Shattered Space Get Wrong?

In the game “Shattered Space”, the developers centered the narrative around a specific planet called Va’ruun’kai, opting for a more conventional, plot-oriented structure. This move aimed to rectify the issue of vacant content created artificially, but it seems they simply swapped one emptiness for another. Regrettably, this game, priced at $30, delivered less than eight hours of fresh material, and even that segment felt monotonous. The storyline was muddled with inconsistent dialogue and clumsy voiceovers that disrupted the gaming experience.

Beyond these issues, the game’s growth phase was beset with technical glitches: frame rate instability even in Balanced mode, corrupted textures, malfunctioning animations, and AI companions from Starfield who seemed perpetually bewildered. It gave the impression that the game was lingering in Skyrim’s afterglow, attempting to replicate a formula from a decade ago rather than progressing. Game Rant scored it 5/10, while on Steam, ratings plummeted to “Mostly Negative,” with about 70% of reviews falling into that category.

The Next Expansion Risks Pleasing No One

At this juncture, Bethesda finds itself in a challenging predicament. Should they revert to expansive exploration content, there’s a risk of repeating the void that dismayed players initially. If they opt for another fully handcrafted approach, there’s a danger of another short-lived campaign that lacks ambition. Merely deciding between artificial or handcrafted content isn’t sufficient at this stage. Bethesda needs to delve deeply into why these methods fell short in the past. If they don’t learn from their errors, any forthcoming Starfield DLC, regardless of its format, will likely face similar criticism.

The Goal Isn’t to Abandon Scale, But to Fill That Scale With Life

To progress, future growth must incorporate impactful mechanisms. A player’s chosen faction should influence the game world accordingly. Clearing Crimson Fleet pirates from a fuel depot, for instance, should enhance trading in that system. If Spacers control a cryogenics facility, other outposts on that planet might switch to using cryo mines instead of frag mines. Taking over a robotics plant could result in roaming robots patrolling the area and potentially attacking civilian settlements. Controlling a shipyard might increase orbital activity. Moreover, if a player captures these locations, benefits derived from those factions should be removed. This kind of sequential effect would make player actions significant.

In Starfield, Bethesda might continue using procedural generation but enhance the experience by making planets appear more inhabited. Instead of repeating the same structures, they could introduce multi-structure buildings with unique interiors. For instance, taking inspiration from Metal Gear Solid 5, players could overhear conversations among NPCs on different planets about a mysterious figure, like a nameless assassin targeting a specific faction. On another planet, they might discover an abandoned outpost. As the story unfolds without explicit quest markers, players may stumble upon the assassin in action on a distant planet, weaving together a narrative that makes each world feel connected and part of a larger universe. However, with both hand-crafted and procedurally generated gameplay drawing criticism, Starfield’s next steps will be under significant scrutiny.

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2025-07-04 20:13