• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

STARFIELD |OT| 2023: A Space Toddity

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
It's a RPG and you have to level up your character and there is gear/weapons/supply management. Pretty standard for the RPG genre. You can't do all the cool stuff as a nug.
I am leveling up my character. I am earning skill points and cash. What I have an issue with is not being able to use either because the game wants me to lock pick 20 times just to unlock tier 2 unlock skills. or tying weapon mods behind other skills i dont want to unlock.
 
This is my experience with starfield:

- Oh I am encumbered again. ok, lets max out the weight skill tree.
- sigh, fine, i will run around 5000 yards before i can use my skill points on the weight skills.
- nevermind, im encumbered again. ok, i will save 250k and buy a bigger ship with 2,800 tons of storage.
- nevermind, i dont have piloting skills to pilot a class b ship. fuck.
- no problem, i have 3 skill points unspent, let me buy real quick.
- nope, you need to destroy 20 ships.

the whole game has been like this. i wanted to unlock a chest which supposedly has the best early game gun in the game, but nope, i dont have lock picking skills. i wanted to put some mods on my weapons, nope, first level up tier 1 abilities then and only then you can level up your mods.

it's too much busy work. ive earned the skill point fair and square, let me fucking use it. if i saved up enough money to buy an expensive ship, let me pilot it. is that asking for too much?
None of this is really an issue
1. you don't have to pick up everything, things don't sell 1:1 to their value, so if you are hoarding shit to sell then that's pointless; quests pay out way more, also if you really want to hoard shit just off load on your companion.
2. all skills need to be trained yes, this is also why you don't hoard points, it's useless just use them.
3/4. you saved 250k to buy a new ship, while storage only costs like 500-1000 per part? Lol just modify your existing ship, A class ship can be upgraded for plenty of storage.
5. yes, don't hoard points, just use them; it's especially smart early game to just use them on things you come across quite often, locks, ships, guns, weight etc.
6. see point 2
 

Chukhopops

Member
this is another thing that kind of annoys me about this game. they put all this fast travel and it's a great convenience for lazy gamers. but then you kind of get thisnstuff that you described and the sense that they flesh out these criticalities to beef up the game mechanics to check off the boxes and add hours of gameplay, but it's not quality or fun gameplay, it's like doing yardwork.

what's the point of making someone run 5000 yards just to upgrade something? yay, i get to mindlessly run my dude around or just wait until it comes gradually as i progress. it's just lazy design. there's better, more fun, and more innovative ways to make gameplay more exciting.
Have you played any Elder Scrolls before? It’s always been like that, you need to pick locks to increase lockpicking, you need to jump or fall for the Acrobatics, you need to make a million potions for the Alchemy skill, etc.

It’s ok not to like it of course, but it’s certainly deliberate.
 

Topher

Gold Member
I don’t even understand that post. If he likes Starfield more then why does he think that Baldur’s Gate 3 is a better game???
My enjoyment of a game is all that matters. I’d rate Loop Hero higher than Halo Infinite because I had more fun with that. If I factor in other things it feels like I miss the whole point why I’m still playing games.

I think he means Baldur's Gate 3 doesn't have the flaws that Starfield does, but that doesn't make BG3 necessarily more enjoyable. As an example, the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey may be a better move from a critical standpoint, but I'd much rather watch Star Wars any day of the week.
 

Danknugz

Member
Have you played any Elder Scrolls before? It’s always been like that, you need to pick locks to increase lockpicking, you need to jump or fall for the Acrobatics, you need to make a million potions for the Alchemy skill, etc.

It’s ok not to like it of course, but it’s certainly deliberate.
i have, and my point is they haven't innovated or changed it, it's the same boring shit

they make millions off these games and the people working on them get paid handsomely. maybe i'm being a little unfair asking for something new when they hype this game up for years and it just ends up being essentially templated from earlier games. this is not how art works. this is mass produced ikea furniture style.
 
Last edited:

Fess

Member
I think you’re saying the same thing as him - he prefers Starfield because he enjoys it more despite it being more flawed in his opinion.

And I kinda agree, there’s a lot to improve but to me it’s better than anything else I’ve played this year so far.
Flawed or not, the entertainment value is what matters, if we start ignoring that we’ll soon be looking at games rated through some AI math formula instead of actual people with normal and varied taste in games.

There is no reason to write like you’re ashamed of enjoying one thing over another. I had metacritic 60-something The Ascent on my top 3 GOTY list when GAF thought metacritic 87 Halo Infinite was the GOTY, I didn’t even have Halo Infinite on my top 10, or 20, or 30. I was bored for 16 hours and dropped it. Metroid Dread was my GOTY. We like different things. It’s okay.

Tbh I’ve always thought that trying to rate games objectively and ignoring if you like it yourself is a bad idea. It’s better to show that we can like different things. In this sense IGN’s 7/10 for Starfield is good. But then he started debating it as if he sat on the only true and correct opinion. That’s bad.

Anyway, off topic.

Second playthrough is moving on nicely, I’m having fun, this is on track to become one of those rare games I just keep on playing and can’t put down.
 

CrustyBritches

Gold Member
None of this is really an issue
1. you don't have to pick up everything, things don't sell 1:1 to their value, so if you are hoarding shit to sell then that's pointless; quests pay out way more, also if you really want to hoard shit just off load on your companion.
This is something I struggled to accept. Hoarding and picking up shit is really fun to me, but the way the vendors have such limited credits it makes it an unviable approach, and frankly, you get so many credits off dead guys and laying around the levels that's it's unnecessary.
 

Topher

Gold Member
This is something I struggled to accept. Hoarding and picking up shit is really fun to me, but the way the vendors have such limited credits it makes it an unviable approach, and frankly, you get so many credits off dead guys and laying around the levels that's it's unnecessary.

I've gotten to the point that I am leaving most stuff behind unless it is something I can use right away myself or it is ammo, aid, resources. I'm getting so many credits doing quests and whatnot that I'm really worrying about funds.
 

DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
Definitely enjoying Crimson Fleet faction quest more than the others. Actually has a plausible plot that doesn't require you to just turn off your brain and go along with a nonsensical story.

I've actually enjoyed them all, but you've made me glad that I've saved this for last.

Jumping in and once I've done with that I don't think I have any option but to do the main quest and head onto my first new game plus.
 

reinking

Gold Member
So, I did another reroll. This is going to be my forever character even if I decide to roll a different one.

I had a bit of a different experience with this one. Like the two previous characters, I explored the visible outpost on Kreet. Both of those had a similar but different experience. Explore the outpost and then make my way to the quest facility.

On this roll, the first landing I stole a pirate ship immediately after landing on Kreet. While cool, it also sucked because it took away my Frontier and left me with a crap Pirate Ghost ship. I did a quick reload on that one. :)

While exploring one of the outposts I came across a random dude that asked me to help him track down a bounty. I did so and collected 3000 credits for assisting him. It's pretty damn cool to have a random mission at the very beginning of the game. Something that sucked is I got terrible drops on this run compared to the first.
 

TheUsual

Gold Member
Just completed High Price to Pay. Goodbye, Barrett.

Well, I completely forgot about briefly talking to The Hunter in New Atlantis early on. I figured they would be popping up again but not like this. Pretty cool about seeing that villain so early on.

Man, I'm not even sad about Barrett's death. I'm not really interested in my companions other than Vasco and maybe Andreja. Sam hops along if I want to use his Rifle buff.

I did some reading on how the quest works after I finished it, so that's an interesting way Bethesda handled it. They basically were tricking you to stay at the Lodge with your weakest linked companion. I chose to go to The Eye and left the Lodge behind as my thought process was not to chance 3 of my companions' fate there.


Pretty cool mission overall. I did hate the one that lead up to this.
 
Last edited:

DonkeyPunchJr

World’s Biggest Weeb
I generally agree with your observations here, but at the same time I have the feeling that if Bethesda tried to add more relationships/sexuality into their game then they would just botch it up. I mean....the actual relationship quests are about as sterile as they possibly could be. I actually regret getting "committed" to Andreja as she has been transformed into this lovey-dovey cross-eyed girl who throws out sweet nothings at me every time I speak to her and that is entirely out of character for her. So fair to say, Bethesda doesn't do this stuff very well but at least the romance quests are optional. If they can't do that much right then I'd rather they not even try to implement it on a larger scale, if that makes sense. This stuff just isn't in Bethesda's wheelhouse.
I see what you’re saying but for me it’s not so much the lack of player romances. It’s more like nobody in this world has any libido or biological urges or gender expression whatsoever. Like everyone’s character is defined entirely by their profession + D&D alignment. You could gender swap every character in the game and nothing would feel different at all.

Like in Mass Effect you go to a bar and you see men & women dressed to impress and mingling with each other. There are old rich dudes getting private dances and stuff.

In Starfield even in the wildest and most lawless places, it’s all ugly people in their frumpy unisex jumpsuits and nobody is attracted to anybody else.
 

MidGenRefresh

*Refreshes biennially
Definitely enjoying Crimson Fleet faction quest more than the others. Actually has a plausible plot that doesn't require you to just turn off your brain and go along with a nonsensical story.

Man, so far it's also my favourite quest line in the game. It has everything. Missions on planets, missions on space ships. Stealth missions, gun blazing missions. Espionage. Betrayal. Epic space battles. I wish the rest of the game would be more like this.

If only the villains were better. Delgado and whatever the other's chick name is are so laughable. They're Scooby-Doo level of evil.
 
Just completed High Price to Pay. Goodbye, Barrett.

Well, I completely forgot about briefly talking to The Hunter in New Atlantis early on. I figured they would be popping up again but not like this. Pretty cool about seeing that villain so early on.

Man, I'm not even sad about Barrett's death. I'm not really interested in my companions other than Vasco and maybe Andreja. Sam hops along if I want to use his Rifle buff.

I did some reading on how the quest works after I finished it, so that's an interesting way Bethesda handled it. They basically were tricking you to stay at the Lodge with your weakest linked companion. I chose to go to The Eye and left the Lodge behind as my thought process was not to chance 3 of my companions' fate there.


Pretty cool mission overall. I did hate the one that lead up to this.
Yeah, I really like this one for the reasons you mentioned and more.
 

dorkimoe

Member
So am i expected to just pick up every grendel i see and hope its better than what i have, or only pick up the "rare" stuff?
 

MidGenRefresh

*Refreshes biennially
So am i expected to just pick up every grendel i see and hope its better than what i have, or only pick up the "rare" stuff?

Nope, check this out:

 

Topher

Gold Member
I see what you’re saying but for me it’s not so much the lack of player romances. It’s more like nobody in this world has any libido or biological urges or gender expression whatsoever. Like everyone’s character is defined entirely by their profession + D&D alignment. You could gender swap every character in the game and nothing would feel different at all.

Like in Mass Effect you go to a bar and you see men & women dressed to impress and mingling with each other. There are old rich dudes getting private dances and stuff.

In Starfield even in the wildest and most lawless places, it’s all ugly people in their frumpy unisex jumpsuits and nobody is attracted to anybody else.

Ah.....I follow. Yeah, I agree.
 
So I finished "breaking the bank" and then I'm just stuck with this... I'm might just be stupid

Screenshot-2023-09-13-180202.jpg
Me, too. Did you ever find out how to get rid of it or complete it?
 

dorkimoe

Member
Nope, check this out:

Thanks. So I can just skip anything that’s not unique in some way
 

James Sawyer Ford

Gold Member
Just got to Neon.

I've been mainlining the main story, but finding it painfully difficult to continue through my playthrough so far. Does it progress better from here in terms of both story and gameplay? Maybe having more unlocks?

There's just so much....useless unfun stuff in this, and the core game ain't grabbing me. I'm having trouble booting it up and am thinking about just giving up and playing something else like Sea of Stars.
 
Last edited:

Badlucktroll

Gold Member
The Va’ruun serpent being a real event you can see from every planet, maybe humans thinking they are the only intellegent race in the universe then a far more advanced race showing up out of nowhere and they dont really communicate and the humans can’t figure out their intentions. Just something more epic and eventful. Skyrim had that with Alduin.
 
Last edited:

ChoosableOne

ChoosableAll
I've put in 25 hours so far and it keeps getting better. I'm loving it. I've made some progress in the main story, and I've gotten used to the game mechanics; now I'm diving into the side quests. I highly recommend playing it on 'very hard' difficulty; it suddenly turns into a very enjoyable shooter. I've also figured out the ship combat a bit; it seems you need to keep the speed at a moderate level for maneuvering. I couldn't quite get into Fallout 4, but for some reason, I'm really enjoying this game. The only problem is that it seems like it's going to take up 200-300 hours of my time.
 
I've put in 25 hours so far and it keeps getting better. I'm loving it. I've made some progress in the main story, and I've gotten used to the game mechanics; now I'm diving into the side quests. I highly recommend playing it on 'very hard' difficulty; it suddenly turns into a very enjoyable shooter. I've also figured out the ship combat a bit; it seems you need to keep the speed at a moderate level for maneuvering. I couldn't quite get into Fallout 4, but for some reason, I'm really enjoying this game. The only problem is that it seems like it's going to take up 200-300 hours of my time.
Yeah, I started on hard and it just isn't very challenging at all. I should have done very hard! Yep, it's a really enjoyable game.
 
I've been mainlining the main story, but finding it painfully difficult to continue through my playthrough so far. Does it progress better from here in terms of both story and gameplay? Maybe having more unlocks?

There's just so much....useless unfun stuff in this, and the core game ain't grabbing me. I'm having trouble booting it up and am thinking about just giving up and playing something else like Sea of Stars.
i'm with you (now 35 hours in, & still kinda forcing myself). game pretty much reminds me of tears of the kingdom: it lets me do tons of 'extra' stuff i'm not interested in, while the main game is just mostly soulless deja vu...
 
End of the Crimson Fleet questline..
Man, I'm getting absolutely destroyed in this final ship battle - just wayyyy too many!
 
Last edited:
I had to postpone it for a few levels, because I kept on being destroyed. Don’t worry, you will get there and particle beam will do wonders.
I ended up basically zooming around and staying on the outskirts, slowly picking them off and it ended up working out. Took quite a few tries though. I like that questline, it's solid! But I think that means I've done all major questlines now - Ryujin, UC, Crimson, Rangers, isn't that right?
 

DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
I think he means Baldur's Gate 3 doesn't have the flaws that Starfield does, but that doesn't make BG3 necessarily more enjoyable. As an example, the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey may be a better move from a critical standpoint, but I'd much rather watch Star Wars any day of the week.

Completely agree.

Clearly, balders gate 3 is the better designed and executed game. But, I want a fallout space game. I find Bethesda games cosy. I can just spend hours in them and although there are flaws..I want a Bethesda space game and that's what I've got.

I'm not huge on medieval stuff. I can enjoy it but I'd much rather play mass effect than dragon age, for example. I'd rather play fallout than skyrim even though skyrim is seen as the better game.
 

Antwix

Member
I was going to start the Crimson fleet questline yesterday (and today) but got sidetracked.... again.

Regarding the UC questline :
I'm glad I left Vae Victus alive since he seems to give out (infinite?) target elimination type quests similar to a mission board. Pretty cool for that bounty hunter lifestyle.

My class A Star Eagle was getting a bit past its prime in terms of firepower and grav drive so I went out looking at different ship vendors' inventories and found this beauty :

starfield-2023_09_16-vwcf0.png


Good cargo. Good firepower. Good grav drive. Plus the aesthetic and name are cool. I know the shipbuilder people out there know this but I found out there are automated turrets that you can put on your ship. And this ship has them pre-installed. I also added some lasers and went out to try it against some ships in the field. Needless to say, this thing absolutely annihilated everything.

Time to put my game up to very hard again. I put it down to hard since I felt kinda ammo-starved in the early game. Just in time for the Crimson Fleet questline. I'll make it there one of these days...

starfield-2023_09_16-mce9k.png
 

POKEYCLYDE

Member
140 hours in, level 60, have done all the research outside of chems and food. Have 10,000kg of resources in my house. Have made my dream ship and have enough credits to make a couple more top tier ships.

Still have the Freestar Rangers, Crimson Fleet and Ryujin faction quest lines to start.

And I'm still finding unique points of interest when traveling to new planets. Just came across a botany lab that was overgrown and filled with alien wildlife.

I'm guessing I'll get to over 200 hours before I will want to put it down and play Sea of Stars or Spiderman.
 
30 hrs in, finally moved on from planet scanning and looking at my build now. Already at level 12.

Dropped a point in ballistic weapons, it immediately boosted my stealth attack. Am able to take down enemies in one shot if lucky.

Skill tree shows I have a long way to go till i maximize my damage output and start looking at other ways to enhance the build.

Gonna be a long ride.
 

Fess

Member
maybe humans thinking they are the only intellegent race in the universe then a far more advanced race showing up out of nowhere and they dont really communicate and the humans can’t figure out their intentions.
Don’t know how far into the game you are, but…
…there is something like that in the game already. Like exactly like that.
Both in the main quest, with the Starborn, and a side quest called First Contact.
It’s focused on confusion and not nearly as epic as the Reapers in Mass Effect rolling in with their fleet but personally I really liked the storytelling.
Edit: posting the other stuff in a new post so nobody quote and read.
 
Last edited:

Fess

Member
Badlucktroll Badlucktroll

New post for new talk. What I miss in this game is intelligent non-hostile alien races like in Mass Effect with Liara. And robots not looking like some factory manufacturing machine. And androids. Cybernetic add-ons. Genetically perfected breeds like Miranda.

It’s a sad future tbh when it’s still so focused on regular humans. Can’t believe Bethesda lacks so much imagination in this area, 300 years in the future and this is where we are? Boooring.
But then again not sure there is a point with a Liara and Miranda and cybernetic add-ons with the complete lack of sex appeal designwise. Everything would be like a poor mans Cyberpunk and Mass Effect.

It’s a great game and I can’t stop playing, the game loop is seriously addictive, but it could’ve been so much better, could’ve been that 11/10 rare unicorn type of game.
 
Last edited:

Orbital2060

Member
My character got caught up in the UCSysDef quest to
infiltrate the Crimson Fleet, but does that make the Crimson Fleet questline unavailable or more difficult?
 
Last edited:
Badlucktroll Badlucktroll


It’s a great game and I can’t stop playing, the game loop is seriously addictive, but it could’ve been so much better, could’ve been that 11/10 rare unicorn type of game.

I am thinking Bethesda was streched really thin with this game. Bit more than they could chew. It shows in lack of tutorials and QOL features.

Number of systems they have created here is mind boggling at times. I scanned a couple of planets full of life. They had full ecosystems from trees to apex predators. Obviously both planets has different animals entirely.

Impressive amount of work they have put in. Most of it feels brand new made from scratch.
 

Freeman76

Member
Running out of space for resources? Find a little corner on your ship and just throw it all on the floor, pick up as needed. Infinite storage 🤣🤣
 

Fess

Member
I am thinking Bethesda was streched really thin with this game. Bit more than they could chew. It shows in lack of tutorials and QOL features.

Number of systems they have created here is mind boggling at times. I scanned a couple of planets full of life. They had full ecosystems from trees to apex predators. Obviously both planets has different animals entirely.

Impressive amount of work they have put in. Most of it feels brand new made from scratch.
I think they should’ve done more with procedural generation, that’s their thing, been doing it for decades.
The colonized planets are in desperate need of small and mid size towns. Could’ve done it like in No Man’s Sky with the settlements.

Hopefully there will be a group that keeps on working on the game, adding more hand-crafted blocks and build on the procedural generation tools. If they don’t have the devs to do it when they move over to The Elder Scrolls they should instantly hire people to do it. Very important imo. The way it’s structured it’s a game you can keep on playing for a looong time.

Btw, I understand their thinking now when it comes to generated content. Once you start over it kinda resets like a roguelike dungeon, the big stuff is the same but it’s not nearly as samey on future playthroughs as when you play Skyrim for example. Once it opens up it feels oddly fresh for those who like the gameplay loop outside of the main quest.
NG+ can be interesting too but wasn’t for me though, I started fresh instead. I did the pirate thing on the first playthrough, doing a positive diplomatic choir boy settler this time, we’ll see how that goes… already felt the urge to sneak and steal to not have to pay up in one quest lol
 
Last edited:
Top Bottom