Starfield Continues To Soar Before Its Release Date
Aug. 30, 2023Starfield Continues To Soar Before Its Release Date
Starfield is taking the world by storm by recently dethroning Baldur’s Gate 3 on Steam’s Top Sellers! Take note that the space RPG is not even out yet but it has been blowing up the charts in the US, Australia, Belgium, and Canada, to name a few countries.
Only time will tell if Starfield can sustain the interest of its players even after it goes live for everyone on September 6. The 1,000-planet claim made by Todd Howard has definitely piqued our interest but it has also made us question how deep exploration is for each and every one of them.
Side Note: It’s awesome to see theindie love letterSea of Starsalso getting a lot of love and attention. The indie game has been reviewed quite spectacularly and sits at the #7 spot in the Steam Top Seller list.
Starfield’s Lead Designer, Emil Pagliarulo, shares insight into how he, Todd Howard, and Art Director Istvan Pely discussed Starfield to create amassive new worldfrom the ground up. Even though it was an entirely new IP, coming up with the basics of where they would want to take the game was not nerve-wracking. On the contrary, it was exciting to come up with something different and unique, one that allowed players to literally, reach for the stars.
But your character doesn’t simply explore the universe and the different planets it features, you also become invested in the transcendental experience of what the game has to offer. Starfield is unique in the sense that there are theological discussions andthought-provoking storybeats that make one question – Is there a God or the absence of one? Emil and Todd wanted to set up two religions with opposing viewpoints.
First is the Sanctum Universum, which believes that the universe is God’s creation and therefore, exploring it, allows humanity to be closer to God. Second is the Enlightened, which goes off on the idea that space exploration is not synonymous with the presence of a higher being. Religion is one theme that Bethesda wanted to explore to dig a little bit deeper into what it means to travel to the far reaches of the universe and how doing so affects us all in one way or another.
But given how vast the setting is, this could easily result in multiple rabbit holes that seem limitless. Players could feel lost in the grand scheme of things. Emil came up with the major stories andmain questtogether with thefactions, religions, and cities in the game to set up a high-level approach to what Starfield is trying to achieve. But they also did something different because here, the team added a timeline to nail down the game’s past, present, and future. This allowed them to write backstories or the reasons behind the current state of say, the United Colonies, and how they became one of the biggest factions in the galaxy.
On the other hand, players will immediately learn about Constellation, the group that is pushing for consistent space travel despite the wars in the 20th century. They are responsible for the advanced space travel in the game so they serve as your compass to keep finding out what else is out there for you to discover. So the great thing about them is they help guide you where to go and what to do regardless of your beliefs and morality system. Because it isn’t about remaining good or bad, sometimes you’re going to have to stay in the middle.
One of the positive aspects of Fallout 4 that the Starfield team made sure to include here is the huge role of companions. Some of them who are associated with the Constellation don’t seem like they have clean records, but this is fine. The real focus is on this group because they are seamlessly woven into the RPG’s main questline.
Compared to Fallout 4, theplayable characterin Starfield does not have voiced lines. Earlier on in the development cycle, this wasn’t the case such that Bethesda even hired a VA to record dialogue. But as they were progressing, they realized that the only way for players to create a character of their own, one who is not limited by the voice they hear, is to completely remove it. Doing so would make the experience unique and specific to whoever is playing. Unshackling the player character from a specific voice should help players see the grand universe from their eyes instead of the lens of someone else.
And besides, there are more than 200,000 lines of dialogue from otherNPCsanyway, what’s not to like? To supplement this massive undertaking, Bethesda is also letting the environments speak for themselves to visually tell the stories of Starfield. Not to mention that there are still several aspects that weren’t touched on in this article.
Be sure to hop on over to theStarfield Wikiin a galaxy near you.
In other news, check outGrim Dawn Gets Third Expansion, “Fangs of Asterkarn”andDiablo 4 Gets First Big Discount Since Launch; XP Bonus Weekend Announced.
Auberon
Writer at Fextralife. I really like vanilla ice cream.
