Starfield “the game will be like Skyrim in space,” as described by Todd Howard in regards to their upcoming game, but would it be the best RPG that will finally beat Skyrim? Whether or not that’s a good thing, considering the numerous bugs and recycled voice actors, is something for you to decide. There’s no denying that there’s an appeal to that statement. Skyrim is a legendary game for numerous reasons. When it first released, the freedom it offered was a breath of fresh air as the restrictions we’re so used to in other games for the time were surprisingly absent. Nowadays, open-world games are a dime a dozen. But very little of them can truly capture the liberating appeal that the Elder Scrolls: Skyrim had.
There is very little known about Starfield. We have no idea how big the scale of the game is. We don’t have any glimpse of actual gameplay. We don’t know what alien races will be present. But still, we can have a list of what exactly it is we want for our upcoming space exploration RPG.
Of course, your mileage may vary. So as you go through this list, make sure to let us know what you think should’ve been included or if there’s anything you disagree with and why. We do like to keep an open mind. Please do be warned that I’ll be using a lot of comparisons to other RPG games since we have little information on the game itself.
Extensive Weapon Customizations
Of course, there’ll be guns. If you’ve watched the announcement trailer, you’ll see a gun straight out of a science fiction movie. It’d be interesting to see just how much creative freedom Bethesda will allow for Starfield. According to Todd Howard, the game takes place 300 or so years into the future. And according to him, the game will also be grounded in scientific reality. I’m not sure how deep in scientific reality the game will be grounded on. But this obviously means that we won’t have the chance to get our hands on wackier weapons that were a presence in the Fallout and Elder Scrolls universe.
That doesn’t mean we can’t customize our weapon loadouts!
Let us create our own signature weapon by adding a few extensive mods to our firearms. Or melee weapons should you choose. The option to pick its names and cosmetics gives us much-needed attachment and personalization to our firearms. It just wouldn’t be an RPG without it.
Customizable Personal Spaceships
Who wouldn’t want to be cruising the stars in their own little sweet joyride? Give us the ability to tinker with our spaceships and we’ll be a lot happier. Whether we want it built to fit a certain aesthetic or add, edit, and remove new rooms as we see fit, or even buy new and sell old ones, there’s just something about our own ride that personalizes the experience.
I, for one, would love it if I could cruise the galaxy in a spaceship fit for a bounty hunter. Perhaps even a ship fit for an illegal smuggler should I choose to roleplay as a certain character. No matter what our choices are, I believe a personal connection with our own ship can be benefitted from a customizable one.
I don’t see this as too much to ask for. There’s actually a pretty decent chance Bethesda will implement some form of customization options for our ships no matter how limited it may be. After all, “be who you want to be” was something promised to us by Todd Howard. There are supposed leaks to it, but as to how extensive it is remains to be seen.
Single-Player Only
This is something a lot of you may disagree with us with. And feel more than free too! But multiplayer always had a habit of breaking immersion. I can’t see Starfield as an RPG that would benefit from multiplayer features, whether it’s coop or PVP. Starfield feels like an RPG that would benefit greatly from a single-player focus.
For one thing, you’ll have a more centered and flexible story. Destroy colonies, corrupt cities, and kill whoever with your actions having a noticeable effect on the narrative and environment without the game paying mind to the experiences of another player.
I can feel more comfortable joining a faction without having to worry about teaming up with a friend who joined the opposite. A New Vegas type of single-player experience would be something I very much welcome with open arms. Plus having it a single-player focus lessens the risk of Bethesda opting for a more “live service” RPG experience, complete with microtransactions in every corner.
Mod Support
“Skyrim in Space” is a phrase I would associate with a game that can have a lot of mods. There’s little doubt that Starfield will be jam-packed with content. But why not add a customizable experience outside of Bethesda’s official work?
If you’ve played Skyrim and Fallout 4, you’d know that the Bethesda RPG games greatly benefit from mods. So there’s a strong logic behind Bethesda implementing mod support for their latest upcoming game. With the promise to explore space unabated, who knows what the modding community could accomplish with the right set of tools.
Tell me you wouldn’t mod your character to look like The Mandalorian. Actually, just give me a lightsaber.
Multiple Factions
New Vegas holds a special place in my heart for the freedom it gives players to choose who they side with. Very little hand-holding goes into saying who’s group is in the right except for the player’s choices. So if you wanted to, you could ally with a gang of enslaving, women-hating rapists who are stuck in the past. Considering the politically correct culture that games nowadays have become obsessed with, we obviously won’t get the chance to go that far. But still, the opportunity to join multiple different factions at war with each other would be massive a boon. And without a doubt, this will give Starfield a lot of replayability.
If I wanted to be a bounty hunter, I could sign up with a guild. If I wanted to be an illegal smuggler, I could go looking for clients by associating myself with a syndicate. If I wanted to be a corporate enforcer, I could pass my resume to the biggest Fortune 500 company. And so on, you get the point.
Anyway, according to leaks there will be several factions to choose from. But Bethesda has yet to confirm this themselves.
Gray Moralities
I don’t want black-and-white morality, at least not all the time. Like above, Obsidian’s writing shines when it was challenging the player to think for themselves. Mr. House, the NCR, and even the Legion had valid points and criticisms regarding the Mojave no matter how much you otherwise disagree with them. Likewise for Bethesda Studios in Skyrim, where you’ll find many people debating if it was The Empire or The Stormcloaks that had the right to rule over the Nine Holds.
Perhaps I’d feel more invested in the narrative if the conflicts stem from different ideologies than just fighting, or being, the mustache-twirling villain. I want opportunities that make me think twice about my choice. Even those that are firmly in the wrong can be presented as compelling.
Take Caesar, for example. He’s is undoubtedly evil, leading an armed force that practices slavery and rape. But without a doubt, he’s a compelling and charismatic character. And he can present a rather articulate argument, no matter how self-serving his justifications are. It’s hard to deny his points about the effects of technology on humanity, and how our nukes destroyed civilization for future generations to come. He’s capable of using history as a means to present himself as educated despite being an easy-to-anger, petty dictator. This actually, even for a second, made me consider The Legion’s argument if it was in any way valid. On any other game, The Legion would just be another faction for me to shoot every single one dead.
Extensive, Starfield Gameplay Changing RPG Elements
If you want an example of how not to do an RPG, only look at Cyberpunk 2077. There should be more to improvements on our character than just having our stats go up by selecting certain perks. For example, Cyberpunk 2077 has a good quantity of underwhelming perks. Perks like softening the fall damage by a laughable 5% or increase my max health by 10 percent. On that note, why would I waste a perk point for the latter when investing in the Body Stat already increases my health anyway?! On another note, you can also choose to have your character become practically invisible in water…in a game that already takes place mostly on land. Don’t get me wrong, Cyberpunk 2077 does have a lot of interesting perks and potential builds. But CDPR’s approach to the RPG was so bad, they had to change the description from “RPG of the dark future” to “open world, action adventure” after release.
I’d like it if they can change the way we play the game and beautifully compliment the character builds we’re going for. Take the Deus Ex Human Revolution, you can invest in an augment that nets all fall damage null. Or invest in the strength augmentation allowing you to carry heavy items to stack against each other to forge your own path upwards. The skill tree offered a great opportunity for players to play Adam Jensen how they see fit. If Starfield can come close to this kind of customization or to that of Skyrim’s then we, the huge RPG fans, will definitely be in for a treat.
As per statement from Bethesda, “Starfield will be a more hardcore RPG” in comparison to other Bethesda titles.
Deep Lore and Interesting Cultures
As mentioned before, this game seems to take place 300 years or so years into the future. So no doubt Starfield will have some interesting cultures and lore to present to us. In an age where space travel and colonization are a reality, mankind’s culture must have no doubt gone through a variety of changes. It will be interesting to see how Bethesda tackles the lore of different factions, the background of different cities, and the mixture of old and new culture from different nationalities. That is if any traces of the old world’s culture and traditions even still exist.
No matter how big or open your open-world RPG is, people will quickly lose interest in it should it be uninteresting or bland. I can’t tell you how quickly I got turned off by No Man’s Sky even with its vast improvements due to how the game’s lore feeling so lackluster and presented in logs of texts.
It’d be very interesting to assemble a crew based on multiple interesting backgrounds depending on what factions you align yourself with. Especially considering that there’ll be alien races in the game that humanity has to compete, associate, or go to war with.
A Mature Adult Galaxy
Whether it’s topics on slavery, rape, or child soldiers I want Starfield’s writing to be on par with New Vegas. And to do that, we can’t really keep things family-friendly. Thankfully, Bethesda not really known for family-friendly games. So there’s a big hope that they’ll be able to tackle some darker topics regarding humanity’s exploration of the universe.
It’d be entertaining to enter an adult bar with dancers or encounter alien lifeforms that want to keep humans as pets. Prevalent alien speciesism is a topic that no doubt would be present considering the scale of the game. All of these would make for a mature adult galaxy where Bethesda’s writers don’t have to hold back when creating narratives for quests.
Play As Alien Races
Of course, Starfield is a “hardcore RPG” as so claimed by Todd Howard. So I figure there’d be unique abilities that are exclusive to certain intelligent life forms. Wouldn’t it be great if we got a chance to use those for ourselves? Play a different species, start out as a different faction, get kicked out of establishments that don’t allow your kind to enter.
It’d be interesting to see things from the alien’s perspective. If Bethesda can create interesting intelligent lifeforms on par with that of Mass Effect’s, then we’re talking! And I certainly would want to play around as alien races, joining factions I couldn’t join otherwise as a human.
So there you have it, the top 10 things that will make Starfield the best RPG! If you disagree with any of the above, feel more than free to comment below and let us know why.
For those interested in Starfield, it will be an Xbox exclusive coming out on November 11th of 2022. That’s still more than a year away! So plenty of time for you to try out other games. Why not check out our review for Mass Effect Legendary Edition and see if that’s for you while you wait for Starfield?
