Name: Somewhat disappointed and confused.
Item: Starfield
Rating: 6
Author: Jezreel Ian Manuel

As previously mentioned in my prior reviews, I'm a gamer who particularly enjoys single-player games set in expansive open worlds. Starfield piqued my interest with its announcement, and I had the privilege of experiencing the game through the Xbox Game Pass on both my console and PC.

To be direct in my review, I must admit I find myself somewhat disappointed and confused after investing more than 40 hours in this game. It simply didn't meet my expectations as an open-world enthusiast. While the concept of exploring planets is intriguing, it failed to evoke a sense of adoration for the planets I visited. There seems to be something missing, leaving me with an overall feeling of hollowness, tedium, and complexity. Compounding the issue are the extensive dialogues, akin to reading a visual novel. Personally, I struggle with an excessive amount of dialogue in a game unless it is complemented by engaging story cutscenes. Unfortunately, Starfield doesn't provide these; instead, you're confronted with large blocks of text.

When it comes to gameplay mechanics, the gunfights felt somewhat awkward compared to games like Cyberpunk 2077. Starfield lacks AIM assist on consoles, although playing on PC improved my aiming experience. The ship-building mechanic showed promise but ultimately fell short. While the customization is satisfactory, the deeper aspects of ship construction and upgrades feel lacking. Assigning the crew to specific tasks also appeared somewhat futile. There are certain aspects of this game that left me perplexed.

The story, on the other hand, held promise. However, the extensive introduction to numerous terminologies can be perplexing, and it's only after experiencing the multiversal aspect of the game that the story becomes clearer. Notably, the majority of the main storyline revolves around collecting missing artifacts.

Regarding graphics, on the Xbox console, the game runs smoothly, maintaining at least 30fps at 4K. However, on PC, despite using a high-end GPU, I encountered numerous framerate spikes. It's possible the game still requires optimization.

All things considered, I appreciate that Bethesda devoted roughly 25 years to craft this game. There's unquestionable greatness present, but I can't help but wish they could have refined the game's storytelling and mechanics to match their ambition.![Starfield.jpg](https://cdn5.whatoplay.com/discuss/24338_1699004706444.jpg)

Starfield

Somewhat disappointed and confused.

Player Score

Jezreel Ian Manuel