Most valuable asset this game has over it's predecessors (Fallout, Elder Scrolls) is a different atmosphere. Space exploration, various landscapes (barren and not so barren), the groove you get into when you hop between worlds, the whole aesthetic of ships' interiors and exteriors, the different little animations in the cockpit that change depending on what ship you're using, the little cozy beeps and boops your suit makes alerting you to hazards of the planet's atmosphere. The sound design and minimalistic aesthetic of the menus. The visual design of everything from your space suit to food packages, pamphlets, various space constructions, street objects. They did a great job with all of this stuff. It's a pretty convincing vision of the future that manages to remain both realistic (yet not really) and fun to look at.
They did a very good job with both armor and weapon progression too. The shooting is just as good as it was in Fallout 4, which was a huge leap for Bethesda at the time. I especially enjoyed using low gravity with boost pack jumps while traversing the battle field and shooting goons. I think Starfield contains the single most fun shootouts of any of Todd's games. Add various boosters that make you superhuman for a period of time and this is some Doom shit right there.
I didn't care for settlement building, nor for the customization of weaponry and space suits. You find all this stuff upgraded down the road anyway, so to sink points into developing skills to upgrade all this stuff yourself felt counter-productive. The ship building mechanic is pretty neat and in-depth, so i can see how it can be fun and interesting, but just as i've built my perfect ship i never felt the need to come back to it.
The story is whatever. It's inspired by Interstellar and whole crop of other recent notable sci fi movies, and, as always with Todd's narratives, it serves as more of a foundation for everything else to happen and have narrative structure and drive. It's way less interesting than what one other Fallout-based-space-action-rpg Outer Worlds can offer. No shock here, Obsidian were always waaay more advanced in writing department than Bethesda, both in characters and story. But it works, and is not entirely useless. I would just advise not skipping all the major factions quest lines, cause they can contain some interesting stories and ideas that enrich the overall experience and feel of the universe. I would also advise to complete all 4 of your companions quests, since those can be interesting as well. Some minor side quests uncover more of the game's lore, so it's a good idea to consult guides on the internet to find out the most interesting side quests that you shouldn't miss. This way you'll be able to avoid many of the bullshit fetch quests, which this game has in abundance, and experience all the good stuff this game has to offer in under 60 hours easy.
p.s.: I hope someday devs will finally outgrow the need to stuff their open world narratives with useless crap just to pad the "value" i.e. the amount of hours you can sink into a game.
They did a very good job with both armor and weapon progression too. The shooting is just as good as it was in Fallout 4, which was a huge leap for Bethesda at the time. I especially enjoyed using low gravity with boost pack jumps while traversing the battle field and shooting goons. I think Starfield contains the single most fun shootouts of any of Todd's games. Add various boosters that make you superhuman for a period of time and this is some Doom shit right there.
I didn't care for settlement building, nor for the customization of weaponry and space suits. You find all this stuff upgraded down the road anyway, so to sink points into developing skills to upgrade all this stuff yourself felt counter-productive. The ship building mechanic is pretty neat and in-depth, so i can see how it can be fun and interesting, but just as i've built my perfect ship i never felt the need to come back to it.
The story is whatever. It's inspired by Interstellar and whole crop of other recent notable sci fi movies, and, as always with Todd's narratives, it serves as more of a foundation for everything else to happen and have narrative structure and drive. It's way less interesting than what one other Fallout-based-space-action-rpg Outer Worlds can offer. No shock here, Obsidian were always waaay more advanced in writing department than Bethesda, both in characters and story. But it works, and is not entirely useless. I would just advise not skipping all the major factions quest lines, cause they can contain some interesting stories and ideas that enrich the overall experience and feel of the universe. I would also advise to complete all 4 of your companions quests, since those can be interesting as well. Some minor side quests uncover more of the game's lore, so it's a good idea to consult guides on the internet to find out the most interesting side quests that you shouldn't miss. This way you'll be able to avoid many of the bullshit fetch quests, which this game has in abundance, and experience all the good stuff this game has to offer in under 60 hours easy.
p.s.: I hope someday devs will finally outgrow the need to stuff their open world narratives with useless crap just to pad the "value" i.e. the amount of hours you can sink into a game.