Despite its occasional bug, unexplained mechanic, or small gripe, Starfield is one of the premiere titles in Xbox's library and adds to Bethesda's storied history.

COGconnected - Oliver Ferguson - 90 / 100

Starfield is Bethesda’s most polished game yet. It has a ton to do but falls flat on the exploration aspect. Without vehicles, walking around planets is not an efficient way to travel. The story is fantastic however and the game is visually stunning. It’s a unique experience you shouldn’t miss out on.

ComicBook.com - Tanner Dedmon - 4 / 5

My opinion of Starfield is overall high despite what my many criticisms might suggest. It's a Bethesda RPG, and even Bethesda's middling options blow competitors out of the water when it comes to choice and freedom, so Starfield was always going to be a success. Whether it's enough of a success to uplift Xbox and make someone buy a new console is another discussion, but Starfield itself is perfectly competent and – dare I say it – fun, and even the most frustrating moments were unable to deter me from wanting more

Destructoid - Steven Mills - 10 / 10

I wasn’t sure if it could be done, but Bethesda has managed to raise the bar for sandbox games even higher. In the end, Starfield is an epic sandbox open-world RPG with a beautifully immersive universe, a captivating story, and fun and compelling gameplay the whole way. I’m so happy to have experienced Starfield organically, and I really hope you get to as well.

Digital Trends - Giovanni Colantonio - 3.5 / 5

Starfield isn’t the generation-defining video game that overeager fans might be expecting; it’s a fairly typical, though impressively constructed Bethesda RPG where depth and stability often come at the expense of scope. The surprisingly limited base adventure isn’t so much the draw here, though. The enormous intergalactic playground feels custom-made for modders who want to explore the infinite possibilities of space just as much as Constellation and Bethesda itself.

Game Informer - Matt Miller - 8.5 / 10

Go in with the expectation that it will take some time to find your footing in such a vast gameplay space, and there’s a universe well worth discovering here.

Gamepressure - Giancarlo Saldana - 9.5 / 10

With hundreds of hours of gameplay, various quests to complete, and thousands of planets to survey and explore, Starfield capitalizes on everything that has worked for Bethesda in the past, giving us an experience that feels like a giant leap in greatness.

GamesHub - Edmond Tran - 4 / 5

It's the static and mechanical elements of Starfield that shine the brightest – the art, the environments, the combat systems. They make up the strong foundations of a playset with a very intriguing scenario. But you need to mentally meet Starfield partway to complete its vision of a vast, living universe. You need to stretch out the expanse and envision the journey. You need to look past the menus and form the fantasy. You need to help breathe life into its paper dolls. You need to add your own dash of wonder, and imagine your own unknowns. Truly, Starfield is a role-playing game, through and through.

GamesRadar+ - Leon Hurley - 5 / 5

With this kind of freedom 'avoiding the main mission' is the main mission.

Gaming Nexus - Eric Hauter - 9.5 / 10

When they are firing on all cylinders, Bethesda games deliver pure video game magic, and Starfield is no exception. Offering an enormous galaxy to explore, a ludicrous wealth of interesting content, well-written characters, and innovative mechanics that push the genre in new directions, Starfield is a (mostly) clean experience at launch that should be experienced by all action/RPG fans. This is a new classic.

Hardcore Gamer - Adam Beck - 4 / 5

Starfield is a momentous RPG, even if it doesn't quite deliver in all its areas.

Hey Poor Player - Andrew Thornton - 5 / 5

Starfield isn’t a perfect game. No game is. That said, for a game to have this much ambition and actually pull off almost everything it set out to accomplish is a remarkable achievement. I haven’t even talked about some of the game’s most interesting elements, such as how it approaches New Game+, which I can’t wait for more players to see. Starfield is a triumph that I’m confident players will be exploring for years to come, not only because it will remain incredibly compelling but because it will take that long to see anywhere near everything it has to offer.

Infinite Start - 10 / 10

All in all, Starfield stands as a testament to Bethesda's creative prowess and dedication. It has succeeded in crafting an immersive universe that encapsulates the spirit of exploration and adventure. With its captivating storyline, refined mechanics, and attention to detail, Starfield beckons players to venture into the cosmos and experience a journey that will likely resonate for years to come.

Merlin'in Kazanı - Ersin Kılıç - Turkish - 83 / 100

Starfield is a game that you'll play for long hours, you'll be frustrated by the limitations from time to time, but for the most part you'll enjoy it just as big as the game itself.

Multiplayer First - James Lara - 9 / 10

It has everything you’d want from a Bethesda game: a deep and prosperous universe filled with endless possibilities and limitless potential. Be who you want to be, go where you want to go; your freedom is in your hands, and what you do with it is entirely up to you in Starfield.

Noisy Pixel - Azario Lopez - 8 / 10

Starfield is a true space adventure that only Bethesda can deliver. It's an experience catered to the fans of large expansive RPG narratives, but this one takes it a step further to stretch across an entire universe. There are minor systems and menus that cause confusion, and the lack of real tutorials paired with a flimsy opening holds back the opening hours. Still, the experience is undeniably memorable, and the writing for NPCs makes up the best moments. Although the many systems can be overwhelming, this is a game full of discovery for all who play.

One More Game - Chris Garcia - Buy

Starfield is arguably the most important Xbox release in a long while, and it delivers an impactful experience that Bethesda fans have been waiting for. Despite a few dated mechanics and systems, it's a relatively polished release compared to their usual offerings, and that alone is a massive achievement.

I had hoped to see Starfield as a great step towards an evolution in the Bethesda formula, but sadly, this isn't the case. Starfield is, most likely, what you would expect it to be, and while that's good enough for fans, it does miss out on the opportunity to take that next step.

PC Gamer - Christopher Livingston - 75 / 100

Starfield shares plenty of DNA with Skyrim and Fallout 4, but ultimately falls short of both.

PCGamesN - Nat Smith - 7 / 10

Starfield is a true behemoth of an RPG, and in many ways it's the logical endpoint of Bethesda Game Studios' well-worn formula. However, its massive scope pushes this formula to the absolute limit and the cracks begin to show, from feature creep to the stop-start nature of its exploration. Dedicated Bethesda fans are sure to get their fill, but this interstellar adventure never leaves the atmosphere.

Polygon - Nicole Carpenter - Unscored

In trying to do everything, Starfield obfuscates its most compelling mysteries.

Saudi Gamer - خالد أحمد - Arabic - 7 / 10

Starfield can be described as a mixed-bag experience that combines great features from excellent side mission designs with amazingly world-building potential and an engaging story with suspense elements to offer. On the other hand, exploration in the game is unfortunately weak in many aspects; This is due to the large reliance on procedural generation of environments. Also, the role-playing elements do not have a strong presence or impact.

Saving Content - Scott Ellison II - 5 / 5

Starfield doesn’t reinvent the RPG genre, but it does make it quite exciting. It’s a game that feels distinct from the studio’s prior work like The Elder Scrolls and Fallout, and this even represents the best of both worlds. Bethesda Game Studios managed to incorporate streamlined systems to make exploring space something fun, and never a chore. There’s just nothing I dislike about it. Starfield is ambitious and magical, capturing the curiosity and vastness of space beautifully, for what feels like a truly next-gen experience.

TechRaptor - Erren Van Duine - 8 / 10

Starfield's biggest strength is its complimentary content - sidequests, exploration, and more will gather your attention for hours despite a less-than-compelling narrative.

Tom's Guide - 4 / 5

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VGC - Jordan Middler - 5 / 5

Starfield is the ultimate Bethesda game. It takes what people loved about Fallout and Skyrim, and casts it across an enormous galaxy filled with captivating characters.

Worth Playing - Chris "Atom" DeAngelus - 9 / 10

Starfield both hits and misses the mark. Starfield has both improvements and steps backward from the previous games, and whether you consider it to be better or worse than Fallout is dependent on what you prized from those games. If you're looking for more Fallout 4 with bigger and more detailed environments and quests, then Starfield is pretty much everything you could hope for and more. If you're looking for No Man's Skyrim, however, it's disappointing. Almost everything on the ground feels good, while the space travel and exploration feels lackluster. If you're looking for a Bethesda-style, open-world RPG, Starfield scratches that itch, and Bethesda fans will lose countless hours in scouring every nook and cranny.

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[–] WarmSoda@lemm.ee 35 points 1 year ago (3 children)

exploration in the game is unfortunately weak in many aspects; This is due to the large reliance on procedural generation of environments. Also, the role-playing elements do not have a strong presence or impact.

That's what I was afraid of.

[–] Wookie@artemis.camp 19 points 1 year ago (2 children)

It sounds like No Man’s Sky. You’re supposed to be able to explore the whole galaxy and see many creatures, environments, etc but they all being end up the same so exploration is boring, at least to me it was

[–] EnglishMobster@kbin.social 13 points 1 year ago (2 children)

This is the core issue with all procgen games, IMO.

You are promised "infinite exploration", but in truth there are countable variants of the procgen algorithm. Once you see all those variants, you've effectively seen everything. Sure, you'll see small variations, or new ways to combine the existing variants... but when you see all the "tricks" the veil falls.

[–] iHUNTcriminals@lemm.ee 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

variants of the ~~procgen~~ algorithm. Once you see all those variants, you've effectively seen everything. Sure, you'll see small variations, or new ways to combine the existing variants... but when you see all the "tricks" the veil falls.

So it's like using mainstream social media.

[–] theterrasque@infosec.pub 1 points 1 year ago

I firmly believe procgen can be good, but the games featuring it heavily are very bland. The potential is there though, I'm sure of it.

[–] tkohldesac@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago

I felt similarly. Exploring is just another thing to "do" to get credits/nanites. It was cool to see genuinely new things like the huge Dune-styled worms but once you see one you've seen them all.

That extends to base building too. I have no reason to build a base anywhere else in the galaxy once I have a capital ship that does all my crafting for me. Except resource collecting, I guess. But meh, different strokes for different folks. I don't think there's been a non-MMO continually-updated game that I've come back to as often as NMS but coming back is usually pretty short-lived.

[–] Neato@kbin.social 7 points 1 year ago

It's definitely a Bethesda game. Their dialogue choices and roleplaying has always been shit. People like Bethesda games primarily because they're given a large open world to explore. But they made most of this one procedurally generated so they've lost their main good quality. I really hope the players are pushed by the stories and side quests to the hand-crafted worlds and the procedurally generated are mostly in the background for players that want to go off the beaten path.

[–] Kaldo@kbin.social 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I was really hoping proc-gen would be just for the terrain and surrounding areas and the interesting setpieces would be as handcrafted (or as close as possible) to a regular TES/Fallout experience. I guess they had to trade in a lot of these to make the big universe happen though...

[–] WarmSoda@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago

That's how they described it, too. Oh Todd you done it again!

Looks like there's not much to do on the planets. One review even said the classic "get lost on the way and end up doing ten other things" just doesn't happen in this game anywhere. It can happen in a city, but then they also said the cities are pretty meh.

That sucks to hear.

[–] Ashtear@lemm.ee -1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I really hope I'm wrong about this in five years, but it looks like No Man's Sky did even more damage to the space sim genre than we thought. We're in a year with great handcrafted experiences that still feel vast: Tears of the Kingdom, Baldur's Gate 3, even Everspace 2 in a similar setting (and Everspace 2 wouldn't have had the same, fatal loading screen issue if it was a AAA game). Starfield went the other direction.

By chasing the procedural generation dream, from everything I've seen, Bethesda really hamstrung the space exploration to get there. Fortunately I really like the old Bethesda formula, so hopefully the Skyrim/Fallout experience that's still there will be enough for me to want to put hundreds of hours into it. I'm just hoping developers don't keep trying to do this for games in space settings.

[–] garretble@lemmy.world 26 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I’m curious of they have managed to make the camera feel better in this game versus Fallout or Skyrim when using a controller.

I realize that’s somewhat a vague statement, but I’m not sure how to describe it other than to say the that moving the camera up/down/left/right always felt very linear and it was hard to do precise movements. Like if you try to barely adjust your aim you might overshoot your target. As a comparison, Destiny feels really great to move and jump and aim. And many other games have figured this out. But Bethesda games have always felt very jerky. And, yes, it’s more RPG focused, but that doesn’t mean they also can’t feel good.

Edit: Also, as an aside I want to say I appreciate these big review posts that show up here. I enjoyed those on Reddit so keep it up!

[–] Blxter@lemmy.zip 6 points 1 year ago

I know what you mean. And want to know as well.

[–] thoro@lemmy.ml 11 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I typically patient game nowadays. I still have games from two years ago to get to and I'm currently slowly playing through Baldur's Gate 1 so I probably wasn't going to Day 1 this anyway.

But I thought about it.

Tbh, while I don't really care for the big name review sites, there's enough mixed reviews on the storytelling, procedural generation, and RPG systems, that I think I'm going to keep this in my wishlist for a while.

Might look at it closer later in the year and when I have more free time.

[–] simple@lemm.ee 11 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Pretty excited to get my hands on this game 5 days later! Reviews are surprisingly more split than I expected, with some calling it an easy 10/10 while others call it shallow. The general impressions are: If you like Fallout, you'll love this game. I like Fallout, so I'm in.

By the way, IGN gave this game a 7/10, which is a new one for them because they hand out 9/10s like candy.

[–] _spiffy@lemmy.ca 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This game is on my to buy list, but probably in a few years when they have ironed out all the issues and dropped the DLC in a GOTY or whatever edition they make later.

[–] Ertebolle@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago

I'm thinking Steam Deck. Or wait for the Switch 2 and expect a port to that (Microsoft seems to have no problem putting exclusives on Nintendo platforms, c.f. Ori)

[–] Ace0fBlades@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I think many ambitious games recently get divisive ratings. I remember many cyberpunk 2077 reviews rated it highly praising the (imo excellent) highs while minimizing the lows before many reviewers bashed it for the bugs and incomplete scope. When these reviews come out it almost feels like the reviewers are scared to be the first to open the "hey it's bad" floodgates

[–] rDrDr@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

I feel the opposite. Everyone wants to be the first to dunk on a popular game. That gets you more clicks than just another 9/10.

[–] WarmSoda@lemm.ee 0 points 1 year ago

Yeah that ign number threw me off lol. Good for them!

[–] WarmSoda@lemm.ee 8 points 1 year ago (2 children)

How long did these reviews play the game for?

[–] Nilz@sopuli.xyz 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Gamespot did 55 hours and IGN started NG+ at 60 hours according to their respective video reviews.

[–] WarmSoda@lemm.ee 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Cool, thanks.

Edit: I just read one that played 70+ hours and even two characters. I was afraid these people were rushing through the game to get reviews out but glad to see that isn't the case.

[–] DulyNoted@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

All of the most positive reviews I've read have been at 80+ hours. Still finding new things to do, which is a good sign.

[–] Edgelord_Of_Tomorrow@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Any reviews touch on PC performance?

And I don't mean "it ran a smooth 30fps on my 4090", I mean is the FPS unlocked, does performance chug in random places etc.?

[–] Wahots@pawb.social 3 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Sounds kinda interesting, but the bar to live up to (to me) will be Elite Dangerous, which seems rather high. I might pick it up on sale, but I'm a bit worried at how close this will be to Skyrim; engine, dialog, and quest-wise.

[–] DulyNoted@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

Not really the same type of game at all. Elite is a fun simulation but there's essentially no story.

In the same way, I'm sure the space combat will be fun in Starfield, with essentially no depth.

[–] jelloeater85@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

Yeah, elite is one hell of a space trucker simulator... I mean game... Do love it so heh heh.

[–] WarmSoda@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This is nothing at all like Elite. It's Skyrim and Fallout 4.
You don't fly your ship or land or anything. That's all menus and loading screens.

[–] learningduck@programming.dev 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You get to fly your ship, you can engage in a space combat even.

[–] WarmSoda@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Landing and taking off and all of that is all done in a menu. You don't fly the ship at all during that time. The only time you fly is during those space combat parts. You don't fly around systems and planets and stuff.

It's nothing like Elite, or Freelancer, or even No Man's Sky.

[–] khalic@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Well look at that, I did learn my lesson with Anthem. Cheers to whoever did not pre-order or get game pass for it. I’ll check again in a year when they might have made a good game out of it.

[–] echoplex21@lemmy.world 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Lol Anthem has a 61 Critic Average with 13% Recommend and Starfield has an 88. Average with 94% Recommend…

That’s a very positive reaction to a game so I don’t know what kind of narrative you’re trying to build.

[–] DulyNoted@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

There's quite a wide range of reviews. I tend to trust the ones who talk about how much fun the side content and faction quests a lot more than I trust the ones that were underwhelmed by the main questline. I've been playing these games since Oblivion and the only main questline I ever finished was Fallout NV.

[–] pixelle@midwest.social 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

IGN gives it a 7. Oof. https://www.ign.com/articles/starfield-review

[–] DulyNoted@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This reviewer also went right into NG+ after finishing the main story. I guess play how you want, but that feels deeply wrong to me.

[–] relic_@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago

Liking a game despite its flaws doesn't mean it's a good game that deserves a high score.

[–] CrowAirbrush@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago

I've known Bethesda as the: "fun bug ridden producer" i'm curious to see what this does as it's time to step away from delivering broken stuff.