Starfield’s Planets Are at Their Best When They Break the Game’s Core Loop

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Starfield's Planets Are at Their Best When They Break the Game's Core Loop

As a seasoned gamer with over two decades under my belt, I’ve seen my fair share of open-world games, from the sprawling landscapes of Skyrim to the post-apocalyptic wastelands of Fallout. So when Bethesda announced Starfield, promising a galaxy teeming with over a thousand planets, I was genuinely thrilled. However, after logging countless hours in this spacefaring adventure, I can’t help but feel that it’s a case of quantity over quality.

Initially, when it was announced that Starfield would have more than a thousand unique planets, many Bethesda fans were left astounded. Right from the start, it was clear that this game would be unlike any other massive open-world title from Bethesda. However, as Starfield’s immense size became apparent after its release, it sparked a lot of controversy within the community. Many players felt that the space-based RPG suffered due to its overly ambitious scope, suggesting that it might have been better off with a more manageable scale.

Nestled amidst a group of nearby stars lies the star cluster known as Starfield, home to an impressive 119 distinct star systems. Among these systems, you’ll find a staggering 1,692 planets and moons! However, not all these celestial bodies are accessible for landing, as about two hundred of them consist of gas giants, ice giants, or asteroid-filled satellites. Despite this, the Starfield offers far more discoveries than most players will ever explore in their gaming adventures. The dedicated few who have mapped every planet typically spend hundreds of hours doing so, providing a sense of the enormous size of the game world and the extensive time commitment it requires from devoted completionists.

Starfield Needs to Do More to Keep Exploration Interesting

Starfield's Planets Are at Their Best When They Break the Game's Core Loop

Interestingly, many players in the Starfield universe tend to frequent the same spots, and here’s why: Although Starfield’s galaxy boasts more than a thousand planets, only a small percentage are truly remarkable. While the game’s planets come with a variety of procedurally generated biomes, unique structures, and points of interest, the lack of significant differences among so many worlds can make exploration feel repetitive over such a vast number. Most moons in the galaxy are barren and cratered, making it challenging for even avid explorers to distinguish one from another.

Despite the general impression that Starfield’s playable world might appear dull or unremarkable, it certainly isn’t. The game boasts a variety of planets, some truly spectacular ones hosting major cities like New Atlantis, Akila City, and Neon. There are also smaller towns and settlements on other planets, such as Gagarin in the Alpha Centauri system or New Homestead on Titan, one of Saturn’s moons. However, it’s not just the presence of settlements that makes a planet stand out; unique quests occur on certain planets, and places like Mars and Earth offer distinct structures and points of interest exclusive to the Settled Systems.

Starfield’s Settled Systems is Lightyears Wide, But Only a Few Feet Deep

In the vastness of space, there are intriguing and captivating journeys hidden throughout the galaxy that players often discover by chance. However, what’s disappointing is the scarcity of such experiences. Instead, most planets seem to serve primarily as sites for resource gathering, a perspective shared by many players of Starfield. This has led a significant portion of the game’s community to believe that the game could have been improved if Bethesda had devoted more effort into crafting a deeper, smaller collection of worlds.

Enthusiasts who adore exploring the vast, procedurally generated cosmos of Starfield will never run out of captivating planets to discover and breathtaking sights to behold. Moving from planet to moon can offer a distinctly calming journey, and occasionally, even the 20th barren moon offers players a stunning, up-close view of a sunlit gas giant filling the sky.

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2024-08-03 18:05