I didn't mind the idea of picking through former warzones that were so horrific that society collectively tried to move on... but that SHOULD'VE been followed by other factions trying to use these forbidden methods to get an actual meaningful edge. It's a really cool backdrop and all the pieces are there, we get to smuggle xenowarfare and banned mech stuff a LOT. It's the perfect lead-up to the discovery that these techniques of waging war are still alive and well, just in secret. And we even see labs and references that blatantly state that they're still around. And then... we just don't really see it pay off. Which is odd. I hope we get to see more development of this with the DLC and potentially other planned content.
my guess its that its coming in a DLC. which i think its better way. otherwise people would complain its basically skyrims civil war all over again. and weve gotten several smaller "main story" questlines that fits better if you want to play differently. cause you can ignore the main story as soon as you land in new atlantis. And i hope they keep expanding the stories over the years with DLCs, i also want a spacestation settlement system, and actually being able to populate settlements on planets
This comment just made me feel the same way about Fallout somehow 🤨. Now I want a Fallout prequel game that’s set in the world leading up to the bombs dropping.
I think it’s a missed opportunity that you don’t choose a starting point. Akila, Neon, Jemison. Either start as a Ranger who stops a bank robbery, Join the UC and become a street rat, join the gang join ryujin and then get the attention of Sarah and the like. With the Ranger, UC or Ryujin start you get a good intro to the game world. And each could end with you coming into contact with an artifact kicking things off.
What you suggest would of been way better than the current boring vanilla beginning. I also think the game should start with character creation first. The way they bring you to it just feels off.
@@abrahambobst4602 IMO starting a SPACE game on a Dusty, empty world was dumb. Even worse is you dont even start on the surface you start in a tiny cave. Then when you finally get to space your forced to go to the next world. Another empty dusty world, but this time it has 2 new red vine plants and 2 giant bugs that are non hostile. everything before you actually get to jemison is just, "How bland can we make this intro?"
@@arnograbner4741 It was only a matter of time for mod options like that to appear just like Skyrim and FO4. Though, I use that Another Life type mods more for Skyrim. ;)
My first playthough; vanguard was the last campaign I did. I manged to not meet a terrormorph until then, but i kept hearing reports of them and i had started to wonder if they may be myth. They really were space boogeyman to me at that point. I think it woulda been weird to be fighting terromorphs at level 5 or something, but the order my playthrough went made it an epic way to end the playthough before entering the unity for my first time. Really made it feel like i saved the galaxy.
Didn't like the choices at the end though. The 'good cop' ending is to basically murder the guy while the 'bad cop' ending is to let him get away with it. There's no option for a peaceful arrest, and even if you completely disable him and all his guards using EMF weapons for an easy round-up later, the quest won't be considered completed until they're all dead. EMF weapons are the biggest disappointment of any Bethesda game ever. It teases a non-violent way to deal with problems then rips the rug out from under you when you actually make the attempt.
@@CrystanI agree that the presence of EM stun weapons was a wasted opportunity. It just seems likely that bounty hunting could have made use of them in order to capture fugitives alive.
Fall out obsession with building settlements would’ve been perfect for this game. They have a whole organization to help people build their own settlements freaking space to choose the planet. And they totally ignored that.
I discussed that with friends there are so many minor factions that could have had their own quest lines or loops. The settlers organisation, the bounty hunters organisation, the trackers, MAST and other science organisations there's so many that could help fill out and build the universe in addition to adding replayability and giving role-players something to build on with there chosen backgrounds.
I feel like the barrier to entry on the settlement building was just too high. I play a lot of fairly complex "spreadsheet" style strategy games, so I don't consider myself a dummy by any means, but I had to watch several youtube tutorials to get a hang of the settlement building in Starfield. And this is from someone who a actually really enjoyed the settlement building in Fallout 4.
@@marshallscot Yep, there is no tutorial, which makes no sense when the building mechanics are so much different from Fallout 4. I have heard that it is similar to FO76 but many have not played that game due to the horredous launch and "redemption arc" for the FO76. To me FO4 settlement building is better than SF.
I feel like they are keeping thst for a future DLC. Not the one that we know is coming but one even further in the future. Like how they did it with the robots in fallout 4 and the homestead mechanic in skyrim.
More than smiting else, THIS was TODD HOWARD’s baby. The BAFFLING decisions made during its EXTREMELY long development, are the biggest testament to the fact that M$ needs to fire Todd! Obsidian is right there, WANTING to make a NEW VEGAS sequel, and it’ll NEVER happen as long as Todd heads up BGS. He’s said as much in interviews. An announcement like that would help M$ make up a LOT of lost ground. New Vegas 2 = Xbox exclusive, and Phil Spencer will gain back A LOT of the respect he lost after the IDIOTIC decision to close Tango Gameworks.
Easy fix to integrate the New Game+ into the main quest: Make it so the colony war hasn't happened yet. It's an impending conflict which will occur in 3 months in game time. The galaxy is highly populated, but when the colony wars happen there is a time skip a year into the future which gives you the vanilla game which is desolated and full of raiders. No one "wins" the war by default, it's basically a stalemate. Once the player figures out how to "reset" the galaxy, they are able to do loops gathering more resources and information to get the "good ending" or just help their chosen faction win the war.
Which means that we arrive in the story after the most intensive action we could have experienced. That war memorial in New Atlantis, for example, feel meaningless because we have no connection to the event nor anyone involved. In fact, starting on the surface of Vectera and going down Half-life style could have taken mabye five minutes and been more interesting.
They retconned the MQ ending of Fallout 3 with DLC, wouldn't be out of the ordinary to assume they will eventually iterate on launch content down the line, especially with the new game+ / multiverse aspect of the game
I would theorize that the Freestar Collective questline was cut short. In order for it to continue along expected tropes (without much in the way of spoilers), the plot would escalate with us getting framed for a crime, kicked out of the Freestar Rangers, and then having to use our connections to directly petition the Council of Governors to finally settle matters in a public confrontation where we lay out all our evidence. That's at least two more mission levels, a ream of dialogue, and potential issues with individual governors being influenced by other missions. At the end of the day, the product has to be shipped when the product has to be shipped.
course All that would have been avoided if you actually told anyone what was happening. Right up to when you confront Hope you just don't involve the Ranger On-Site at all. Same thing at the Clinic. You go there, chat with them once. then they no longer exist afterwards. Cant tell the Ranger at The Clinic about the murder, you just keep it yourself. Can't tell the Ranger at Hopetown. They just don't exist and keep it to yourself.
I don't feel the main quest is a main quest at all. I just see it as a NG+ mechanism to wrap up your game after you have done everything there is to do and start over while keeping your perks and skills. There is no threat to any of the worlds and they are pretty much oblivious to the Starborn. I feel the same as you about the UC Quest. Shattered Space will probably feel more like the main quest when it arrives. I hope they create a DLC that finally reveals the creators of the artifacts and that they are none too happy with what the humans are doing with them.
That's a good point of view. It looks like a somewhat big expansion ( next fall come on now ^^) so yeah it could feel like the main quest. The Creators 's reveal would be nice indeed but Bethesda can still choose the lame option... we'll see
I don’t want to know who the creators are, or keep them vague. I prefer the mystery of it all and how many unanswered questions there are that are either not comprehensible to us, or there could be many answers that others theorize about.
(Harsh and contentious take warning.) I *really* dislike the Starborn, it's like they took the Jedi, made them lame, then gave them Skyrim shouts but less badass and occasionally game-breaking or QOL imperative (free oxygen and unlimited sprint button), utterly boring temples that don't look to have a real purpose or lore, then gave them suits and ships that don't fit the art style of anything else in the game, capped off with a 'NG+' that's sort of Mass Effect 3 sans the choice of explosion colour and going back to the start with a sense that your quests didn't mean anything. Also the unanswered questions and plot holes like: why aren't the big factions aware? Doesn't this spit in the face of modern day religion? Where are the sapient aliens? e.t.c. imho a better main story would have been alien race first contact, a new Varuun crusade, a major diplomatic flashpoint between UC and FSC e.t.c. My positives: 1. I sort of liked the climactic battle up to the endgame and choosing who to fight with. 2. On my first and main save, I did the main quest and then Crimson Fleet and I felt that was more like what I thought the main quest would be - mutually exclusive faction war ending on a space battle and boarding action. Loved that.
Starfield is having a 10 years of content plan, so we will definitly get more main stories. I personally think Shattered Space will deal with House Va'Ruun and Great Serpent: a) we definitly know that they are cooking something, its implied in multiple places b) the first screen from the expansion we saw in recent update video shows some kind of weird temple (definitly not the artifact ones) on an otherworldly planet unlike any we have seen so far - Great Serpents realm perhaps? Bethesda already did weird realms with Prince of Madness realm in an expansion for Oblivion. Wouldnt be the first. Besided we need more cosmic horror in Starfield, its one type of scifi that very missing apart from from terrormorphs which was very basic when it comes to this type of scifi.
Given how new the universe/lore was to us all, I felt the starter location should have been the old earth sleeper ship, we’d have been learning about the lore at the same time as our character. Maybe that would have been a little too close to Fallout vaults though.
One of the things i hated was the size of the main citys and how each faction only had one city. They've been exploring the universe for 200 years and in all that time they only built one city each. I found that very annoying
And the silly deal to only control 3 planets per faction. It's space not a planet of nation states they could expand out and away from each other there's no reason for them to bump heads in regards to expanding.
@@lucianjaeger4893Fr the Treaty of Naverion (idk the planet) is so idiotic. You had to flee earth and make new colonies and worlds. Imagine if that treaty existed then…
United Colonies had Cydonia, Gagarin, and New Atlantis. Freestar Collective had Akila City, Neon, and HopeTown. But I do agree... 200 years and there're only those cities (and ruined Londinium)?
With no vehicles and smaller cities outside of the main cities, if only they made those little settlements say like 3-5 kms from new atlantis which can open the door for public transportation to be added more but they didnt
Agreed that the UC story is definitely the best faction quest and probably better than the actual main quest. I just started a new playthrough after not playing since my launch playthrough and I was surprised at how much foreshadowing there was for the UC quest line especially in the first pirate outpost you go to with VASCO at the start of the game.
Heck yeah. Honestly there qre a lot of little nods to other things going on. If you search the shaw gang's hideout with sam you can find reports of a stolen hope ship and farmers being harrassed( shaw gang didnt figure they were connected) and the shaw leader telling everybody to make sure not to get the attention of the authorities since they weren't involved.
The most thoughful and insightful thinkpiece on Starfield that I've read. I agree especially that there's not enough real conflict or zero-sum win-lose among factions. You can join ALL the factions, even Crimson Fleet, and everyone else is OK with your simultaneous loyalties.
If some indie game developer doesn't offer you a creative writing or design job within a year, it would be a shame. You are so methodical in your description and logic while at the same time not ignoring tangential or other options into consideration. To me, that seems to indicate you have great empathy towards other people's thoughts and opinions which to me is Paramount in any game development storytelling. Plus, you deliver it in such a well paced dialog that still gets across emotions and beliefs. What an absolute treasure of a video to stumble across.
I liked the fact that the "main" story wasnt this world ending threat that you would go on to ignore for 150 hours. I hated fallout 4s "WHERES MY SON- ooh duct tape, i wanna build a happy nuka cola bar"
I gotta say, I agree that the Vanguard questline is my favorite. Where I really really disagree with you on though is the main quest. I love how disconnected it is from all the other factions, how it leaves so much room for you to explore and take things slow, how it doesn't have world-ending stakes and bigger conflicts. To be honest, maybe I am getting old, but I get a little tired of stories in most media always leading to war and conflict and death. The main quest in Starfield seem to take another approach though. Instead of the threat destroying the physical world around you, it destroys your very understanding of how the world works. The existence of the Unity, the Starborn and the way things unfold with them kept me asking more questions without answering anything. I love how different Starborn you meet have adopted different life lessons from it. Some went to pursue power and domination over others, some wanted to uplift and be a shepard, and some just wanted to make money and live a life of luxury.. When I think of the main quest I always think of the part where we're on the trail of the Pilgrim. That story really stuck with me. Although we read his writings, I still wonder where he is now.. how many unity dives he went into.. what was his original world like.. and are we ever going to find him.. If there is one thing I would change it would be either to condense the artifact hunt quests (make each temple hold 3 artifacts/powers at once), or expand the temples. Keep the "puzzle" as it is, just make a dungeon that leads to that chamber at the end. Either way, what we got is not a dealbreaker for me or anything, but I do understand why so many people get tired of them after a while. Oh and btw, have a sub from me!
Starfield litterally provided what both elder scrolls players complained about and what fallout players complained about in terms of urgency and being able to have better and longer faction quests, without becoming a leader, immediatly. and i agree with the temples. the mod that removes the minigame helped me so much
Entirely agree about the Vanguard questline. On launch I sorta ignored the main quest to go exploring and found the Vanguard questline first, and it basically set the vibe for the whole game out of sheer coincidence. I’m not sure if it was planned, as the time of day and weather has been different each time on the NG+ runs I’ve done, but the first time I touched down on the planet you get sent to to deliver the comm array, it was dark out, and a thunderstorm rolled in. And given I was like level 5 or something all I had was a shitty pistol and Sarah, so exploring the destroyed forward base, having her remark on what had happened, only to get closer and hear the scream of the terrormorph was the perfect way to set the scene. When they show you the creature my character must have been scared shitless because I basically had a .22 vs. a polar bear. The “Aliens” style motion tracker kept me constantly on edge, and I think that whole encounter where you repair the turrets took me like an hour from start to finish. That set the tone for the whole game, and got me hooked. Only for the rest of the game to not really live up to that at all. You hit the nail on the head, as I’d rather play the game during the colony war. “Show don’t tell” is something Bethesda really needs to learn. Because the colony war sounds like a really interesting conflict to be dealing with, or take sides in, but instead you just get told what happens. I truly hope they bring some major conflict up with the DLC, seeing as the game had been alluding to the fact that House Varunn basically fucked off to build up their military and get ready for another holy war. Given the DLC is titled “shattered space” I’m assuming House Varunn showing up to fuck things up is going to be the central plot point, as the other factions seem woefully unprepared to deal with another major war. As it seems like they entirely demilitarized. The only major capital ship I can recall seeing is the single destroyer that the UC tasks with taking out the crimson fleet during that questline. No major fleets, no system defense forces, no military space stations, defense platforms, hangars, orbital railguns, nothing. If House Varunn has like a single battle fleet then both factions are fucked from what little military presence they have in the game at the moment. Which I think might be why the game world feels so boring to me. There’s no visible conflict going on. We’re told how the UC and Freestar are on an uneasy peace, but there’s no physical signs of that. There’s no citizens of one faction being ridiculed while they’re in another for some reason, there’s no standoffs between the military forces of both factions, there’s no Cold War style spats that the factions would rather keep off the books so as not to fan the flames, no espionage of any sort. You basically have some minor story characters or companions saying “yeah I don’t really like those guys” and that’s about it. It just feels like the world has nothing interesting going on, because the interesting stuff just happened right before the game. Which makes no sense when you bake a NG+ system into the lore and physics of your game universe, let me go nuts with consequences when I have a canonical method of trying something else next time.
"but the first time I touched down on the planet you get sent to to deliver the comm array, it was dark out, and a thunderstorm rolled in" It depends on when you land, I did it twice and the second time the sun was out and I missed the threat of the thunderstorm.
yeah, I saw that museum and was praying for another version of the same exhibit with subtle but meaningful differences... yeah, there is an entire laundry list of issues that all reveal a failure to cogitate on the part of the meager writing staff...
Interms of role-playing as whatever I want. Ryugin, freestar, Crimson fleet, then UC. With Ryugin you could really be whoever you wanted to be, but thrusted into a corporate world. With the freestar I felt you could really ramp up what kinda ranger you wanted to be for better or worse. The Crimson fleet had really good role-play but also really bad role play at times. For UC you were just a yes man or a yes man that always asked about money.
I can't deny the UC Vanguard had the most potential of impacting the universe, but you could argue if Bethesda had looked to get all factions more involved in the end point of the Constellation quest during the Unity endgame, as you say, there could have been epic battles for example - so that answer is subjective. I feed the Crimson fleet was the most enjoyable to play, possibly because of the characters and comradery you don't seem to get elsewhere. Starfield without the quests is just a shoot and loot, so I really hope any later quest additions (shattered space included) needs to deliver on the expanding universe and storyline, bringing together (or perhaps dividing) the factions for a bigger more impactful prize?
I’ve always said the Starfield story just wasn’t written correctly. Even if you look at other Bethesda stories, it doesn’t follow the same arch at all. They almost always have threats and danger in the very beginning. In Skyrim you were on your way to be hung, and a dragon attacks the town. In Fallout 4 your son was stolen, your wife killed, there’s a Deathclaw in Concord. In Starfield you’re a nerd in a group of rock collectors.
I agree with your assessment, Bloo. I also wished for something more. 'So close, yet so far away.' That phrase sums up Starfield to me. Edit: I'm surprised you didn't mention the Mantis quest. I thought it was awesome to discover there was a sort of 'batman' in the Starfield that you can become if you wish.
The Mantis quest is another missed opportunity that could have been greatly expanded on. The fact that you only get the ship and armor and 'reputation' and not the base felt like a slap in the face. You're the Mantis, your base is RIGHT THERE! You 'should' have gotten it, as well as a whole series of spacer/CF related take down quests issued from the base computer system to add to stuff you could do. BGS missed so so so many things that could have been expanded on with a little additional effort. By triggering the ship, you get the base. By getting the base, you get additional missions. Etc. Just.. sheesh.
Nice analysis. I agree with wanting more reactivity and interaction between choices and what has happened already. I also really wanted to just tell the UC that Vae Victus was behind the Terrormorph attacks when I did the quest as a starborn. It would be amazing if Bethesda added more options like that in future updates. Imagine if they did that, but then sometimes had different universes with variations on the stories such that your knowledge actually misleads you? (You accuse Vae Victus and go about trying to prove it, but it turns out it was Hadrian, for example.)
To me, after your character goes thru unity, he becomes more like the player. What I mean it's like playing fallout or skyrim for the 4th or 40th time. You know the world, the characters and what things will happen. So after NG your character is in the same situation as you are. I think it's kinda cool. When I play a game over and over again, my playstyle changes to just doing what I enjoy. The push to get it all done is gone. You've done it all.
This is a fantastic video for a channel getting its footing, I couldn't tell the difference between your channel and one with a few hundred thousand subscribers. Can't wait to see this channel blow up, keep doing what you're doing 💪
As someone who plays characters not games. I don't make choices my characters do. Some call that Role-playing I call it playing immersively. I love Starfield as it is but what you said would have made it even better.
One of the biggest problems I had with faction quests is that there was no overlap options. I did the Freestar quest line before the Vanguard quests, I didn’t like the fact that I couldn’t mention that I was a ranger during the quest to get the Factions to work together or the fact that what’s his face was… not on the Freestar council anymore didn’t come up with the ambassador’s ambitions. Stuff like that wouldn’t be necessary to complete any quest line but it would be awesome if you could bring it up. The only issue I have with the Vanguard quest is that your a volunteer captain doing things that should be handled by an official, I think it should be the main quest line and the vanguard got something different. If you put it off and went through constellation and got to the Unity without resolving it maybe something happens that makes you think you should have done it, and possibly even unlocking dialogue options in a second run where they know the stakes. Stuff like that would make it feel more like a continuation of the story rather than just a second go at things.
When I first played starfield back on september I remember my first encounter with a terrormorph it was the most scary moment I felt in this game and I assumed at the moment that it was part of the main plot due to the terrible and powerful display of this creature. It is indeed a disappointment that this quest its not the main one. Currently when I play I still feel the menacing shadow of that first terrormorph.
i really appreciate the love you show to the game despite a lot of missed opportunities Bethesda done in starfield i feel really they can fix a lot by focusing on the quests and the factions and do more space combat imagine if we can control big space ships and have a fleet and the have like big space fights wish really they give this game some love and really listen to guys like you .
On the decision of the Aceles vs the microbe, if you choose the Aceles, you will occasionally encounter fellow Vanguard members escorting one and have to help it kill a Terrormorph.
You touched on something Ive been saying ever since the game came out. Wil Shen and Emil said in interviews prior to the release that they wanted the player to be able to do everything in a single playthrough without being locked out of anything (a philosophy which I hate from the bottom of my heart). But, if your game is implementing ng+ as part of its story then there's no explanation as to why deciding to side with one faction or the other shouldnt have stakes. Beyond that, its not because an armistice is in place that you are free to side with military factions from both sides of the conflict like its no biggie.
You gave me an idea they should do something like the entangled quest but you end up in a multiverse we’re the colony war is still happening and you have to help a side to end the war
If they had put that much effort into the alternate universes, the game probably would have been much better received than it was. As it is, the minor differences with missing characters and whatnot are often more annoying than interesting.
@@Random_Banshee I wouldnt know because with 11 unity dives on the same character and reaching level 100, ive never encountered an alternate universe event.
God, comparing that scene with that pirate you have to kill for a bounty to the scene in Cyberpunk 2077 is stunning in how much Bethesda misses the mark.
That eccentric dude who won't give up the artifact obviously voiced Belethor in Skyrim lol but I felt the Universe was not compellingly different after the first time entering the Unity. And having to lose my ship felt awful. The first Starborn ship did not really impress me much and felt more like an appliance than a ship you could invest yourself in. Not to mention that in spite of what you accomplish, you still feel like your character is a nobody in public.
I feel like the colony war is in the past in order to explain all the abandoned, but not too old looking factories, bases and other POI that are empty, or occupied by spacers and other enemy groups. The war expanded the need to mine resources, and do research on xenoweapons and mechs etc, and this was done on remote worlds out of view of the rest of society. When the war ended, funding for research etc was canceled and everybody came back to the core worlds. Frankly I wish that some of the most remote planets and moons you visit were completely empty. Sam Coe and others talk about how amazing it is to step on a world never before seen by another human. But good luck finding one in the Starfield. Even the most remote has a research tower, or abandoned hanger etc.
agreed, it's a little immersion breaking for me to land on a random patch of planet on the extreme corner of the galaxy map, and walk 2km to a fully manned ecliptic/pirate/varuun base A lot of things I like about starfield, but wish a little more thought on bethsedas end came into this aspect
It's the "Fallout syndrome" Bethesda has with all their games. Everything is perpetually destroyed. No one after rebuilds or repopulates anything, even after decades or hundreds of years.
Fully empty or, if there are abandoned facilities, a chance to take them over. Just gonna leave a base with a fully functional space pad? Why not let us take advantage, especially if we clear out the trash.
There are a handful of systems that, to my knowledge, do not spawn manmade POI. Schrodinger is one of them, outside of a single dead ship in orbit, none of the planets have man made structures. There have been a couple more I have been to, but I cant remember their names
@@AHungryHunky Huh, i just looked around Schrodinger and you seem to be right. Never noticed that before, even though I always make an outpost on Schrodinger III. However it generally is an issue of human POI's being in places they shouldn't. There's a CK mod out to block any human POI's from spawning in the same cell as Starborn Temples. Because that just doesn't make sense. How could we be the first to discover these if there's an Ecliptic base within sight? ;)
If we could get into a war with another entity, then the Mech would be great! You are right on with your observations. I have had no desire to do the NG + stuff. They need a Borg enemy that many of the factions can go up against. Minor adjustments - from start you should be able to buy whatever ship part you want. A simple 1 key stroke to go back to your play from any window your in. Cut down on the time I have to keep seeing load screens!! Much better system for on planet travel. Much better system for storing food like being able to put it in and out of a refrigerator. Better ability for player to place objects in rooms. FIX the sink so it attaches at a realistic height for instance. Seems like there could be lots more inter action in cities with shops and people. The game has huge potential with the outposts and making a story line for folks who like trading and business building, with some of these factions maybe coming after or competing with you. After going to play Empyrion Galactic Survival from this, the chosen mechanisms in the game for various things does limit their ability to create content stuff. EGS really got some thing right, like ship building and the ability to fly your ship anywhere and land, and surface travel options. Thanks for your review, very well done!👍👍👍
Totally agree with the larger point of the Vanguard questline being the most high-stakes, macro, and compelling, as well as the spot-on observation that all of the mech references are the equivalent of introducing power armor in Fallout and then not letting players use them.
You my good sir are literally the only person that has ever given an apt and well thought out explanation of this game’s story without bashing it or making ignorant comments for the sake of likes. You pointed out the weaknesses while also highlighting the strengths and where it could’ve been better. Kudos. You have earned a new sub
I actually felt that the civil war storyline in Skyrim should have been the main quest, it was much more interesting and felt more real than just fighting dragons.
@@lonelystarslibrary9326 Not usually but I feel Skyrim's main quest feels kinda separate from the world as the world of Elder Scrolls feels very grounded in many ways and the civil war storyline just works better for me.
I have to admit that from a role playing perspective, the fact that you can join so many conflicting factions with no impact on your time with the others feels very poorly thought out at times.
Are you saying I shouldn't be able to be a UC Vanguard, Freestar Ranger, Pirate King, Ryujin corporate agent, Archmage of the College of Winterhold, leader of the Thieve's Guild, Listener of the Dark Brotherhood, leader of the Companions, graduate of the Bard's College, member of the Botherhood of Steel, the Commonwealth Minutemen, and dusty for Argos Extractors at the same time?
I believe you hit the nail on head with the artifact dilemma being kept in house with constellation. When I play starfield, I constantly think about how there’s barely any interaction with the major factions and they just have no knowledge of the artifacts. Even with the whole theme of exploration with constellation and its inspiration of explorers throughout history, it missed out on how discovery inadvertently inspired nations to engage in conflict. The discovery of the new world motivated nations to lay claim to new lands before someone else did. It’s just such a missed opportunity that multidimensional travel is discovered and no tension is exerted on the galaxy as a whole. How am I supposed to care that the unity is such an important thing when the game world could not be bothered about it
Thank you for this well-reasoned, thoughtful retrospective of the core elements of Starfield. It gives me a lot to think about, and hopefully some modders will notice this and undertake to change the game into something more like what it might have been.
The WORST part of Starfield is the god damn multiverse stuff. It lowers the stakes of everything in the game to the point of me not actually wanting to do a NG+.
So I got to share the summary of my first playthrough. I did not know anything, just decided to make a character that I roleplayed was a former UC Marine and was a mix of Commander Shepard and a Colonial Marine from Aliens. I basically went straight for the Vanguard questline... Imagine how perfectly that all fit! THAT was the main story for me and always will be. Also need to add, I felt more like a space explorer in the Crimson Fleet questline than I have in the Constellation story so far... yes, I haven't finished it. I honestly just keep getting bored when I try.
About your desire for the player "to become the catalyst" for a greater conflict between factions, specifically the United Colonies and the Freestar Collective, the UC SysDef/Crimson Fleet questline has a choice that actually eases the tension between the factions. If you decide to go with the Aceles over the microbe, you find out at the Unity that the factions work together.
Yep, and there *IS* also an in-game effect that reflects on choosing the Aceles. If I remember correctly, sometime after choosing the Aceles you can find flocks of them on random planets - sometimes even kicking Terrormorph ass.
@dantefettman354 absolutely!! I remember saying, "WTF is this?!" the first time I saw one, then realized it was the thing behind the glass as Hadrian was explaining the Aceles. And it was the same thing for me, it was molly-whopping a Terrormorph when I encountered it.
It would’ve been cool if you had the option to pick a faction to help you assault the hurried temple at the end of the game. Like, you have a choice between the factions that you’ve allied yourself with, and whichever one you choose would sends a group of ships and foot soldiers to assist in the final battle. Imagine facing the Scorpio/Helix with a fleet of vanguard ships at your back, or storming the buried temple with a crew of crimson fleet pirates. That would’ve been EPIC.
One day Bethesda will lose its milkshake to another studio that analyzed Starfield's failures, researches what players wanted from the game at launch but didn't get, and designs and releases a game to specifically meet those needs. And it will be, if not Larian Studios, someone similar with a comparable commitment to the quality of its work.
Great video and discussion! Small correction on the faction questlines. For the UC Vanguard quest, there are some notable effects from the choices you make. For one... *SPOILERS* If you choose the Aceles over the microbe, sometime afterwards you can find them on random planets. You might even see them fighting Terrormorphs.
I always found it wierd that you could be Both a Freestar Ranger and an Vanguard. I mean Skyrim also didnt allowed you to be a Imperial Soldier and an Stormcloak at the same time. You had to Chose what side of the Comflict you wanted to support.
Your Colony War part is a bit odd to me, as it's clear to me at least both the UC and Freestar faction quests are directly dealing with the decisions they had each made during the war. By extension, the faction questlines for those two are basically epilogues to the Colony War. So while I get that you would have preferred they somehow reignited the war, you're kind of implying they have nothing to do with it when they absolutely do. Both storylines are fairly well catalyzed by rogue military elements that took part in the war (Sanon and Hull) looking for revenge upon the faction they served under.
All the main quests in Starfield have 'plot over faction' problems for me. If I'm joining the UC it's because i want to experience what being a Vanguard is like in this setting, not immediately get derailed on hunting Terramorphs. If they need a plotline, Oblivion did it best by having a background plotline that slowly took over what you were doing whilst still sending you on faction quests that made you feel like an actual member of the faction.
Great exposition and I agree 100% 👍 The lack of any dynamic interaction between player choices and the various factions makes the world feel very shallow.
Both a fair and unfair comparison tbh , Fair because yes what BG3 acheived with full voice acting is quite amazing though not unheard of (cough cough old Bioware games or Fallout New Vegas) but its an unfair to compare also because BG3 had a bottomless pit of pre existing lore to actually pad the story and give more historical context to its world and factions but on the flipside it IS possible to create an amazing main story and lore from scratch AND have conflict/fighting not be a major part of an RPG yet still be engaging just look at Disco Elysium for how it is done not BG3 where the decades of D&D lore are a big part of what elevates the game.
Really it's not to big if they put in the effort to fill them out, like the argument 1000 worlds to explore is to much. It's not the problem the problem is there wasn't enough things made to keep them interesting. Say you set aside a team of 100 people or so there sole job is making pois and things that can spawn on worlds. They needed more pois than ever before to fill them out I shouldn't be running into the same cryolab 50 times but one repeat every so often would be understandable.
I kinda disagree here. While yes, what Larian achieved with BG3 was phenomenal, they were able to achieve those heights due to the unconventional way they developed the game. They were basically in a CIG/Star Citizen situation where they weren't beholden to publisher backing and largely relied on players' support through early access. Through this, they were pretty much able to experiment with the game and make decisions that probably wouldn't have been greenlit if they were answering to a publisher. I know this because I was one of those players who supported it back in 2020 when it was in early access. Early Access BG3 was QUITE different to the BG3 that was released to everyone. I'm not super well-versed in gamedev, but plenty of devs have stated that BG3 is an anomaly when it comes to game development (For a whole host of reasons), and that the same shouldn't be expected from other games that are being developed under more traditional means. While BGS had plenty of time to make Starfield - and there are things that could've been better implemented in the game - they're still a studio having to stick to deadlines and demands given to them from Bethesda Softworks and now Microsoft.
Speaking of the Colony War, this is where Bethesda dropped the ball in a big way in my opinion. When you start the game and can choose Solider, it does not let you decide what side you were on and because of that they could have had some tense dialog for the player. Two examples are the Bartender on Mars or Admiral Logan during the Sara companion's questline. They could have been a bit hostile to the player if they had been FC military, maybe even causing the quest to stall until the player could find another way to continue on, depending on the dialog choices. Also, the Bartender on The Den station could become openly hostile and either curse the player or even take a shot at the player and make the Van Guard officer, I forget her name, to come in between the two and tell off the Bartender or even have him arrested since he currently has nothing else but that minor poster quest. It is bad enough that even if you talk to the VG officer when you drop the boots off at the Den, the writers messed up and the NPC acts like they have never meet the player before.
you do start seeing differences in the world after the terrormorph questline! you see less heatleeches, and if you pick the "bring back the creature that kills terrormorphs" ending you _occaisionally_ see a US patrol with one of those weird bird-giraffes
I’ve been opening up all kinds of different surprises. I’m basically aligned with all the factions avoiding any fights I happen to fly into inwarp right out. If I’m Switzerland in this game, it lasts a lot longer and you gain some good crew.
You really just explained exactly how I feel about the game in better words than I ever could. When you learn about the Colony Wars, The Serpents Crusade & the terramorph outbreak on Londinion, it all sounds so much more exciting than collecting artifacts. Also the Starborn being the main antagonist feels underwhelming as they never really feel like a threat to humanity. Starfield does a lot of things right but the main story is massively disappointing to me & I think the lack of intelligent alien life is a missed opportunity.
After 300+ hours of gameplay and being NG+10 i just realized that the whole main quest is about you fetching artifacts from one point to the other, exactly as you said there’s no sidetracking from collecting artifacts, in the end it just point towards that. It could’ve been much better honestly, i’m genuinely shocked i’m only realizing it now.
i feel like an expanded vanguard questline would have been the best main story because it actually involves uniting the UC and Freestar through choices you make like they are your ideas
I agree with, vanguard quest were really great and it gives me a sense of threat. But i think i could play an entire game based on the Ryujin questline
The stupidest part about the side quest is that you can screw over the UC and side with pirates but get a hero's welcome upon your return to UC. Or you're a Ranger but can become a pirate as well. Or save the UC or be a Ranger but you still get security screened? What if you confiscated contraband while doing your duty and it has to be turned in? Nothing of consequence ever happens except your companions who you anger by picking up a roll of duct tape that doesn't belong to you. Very dumb
Great video, but I have a thought about having a colony war d l c. It could be done something like this; A starborn has found a way to use the unity to travel back in time in particular, universes and went into the Starfield's main universe (or first) and changed the past and made one of the main factions win instead of there being a peace treaty made between them. And you as starborn yourself chooses to go back and find that starborn and fix the past that he altered.
They should’ve had us select a faction pre-game, and have a story tailored around us coming from the UC, FSC or CF, then eventually we end up at constellation after the discovery of the starborn is deemed an intergalactic threat and work together with the other factions to defeat them.
If you play the different faction quest it feels like a war is set to kick off at a moments notice, doing the quest where you take down the 1st cavalry as they try to take over a mech factory feels like its building to another war.
hello mr Bloo, loved the video. I really enjoy your delivery. Do you have any plans to make a video on cyberpunk 2077, like your favorite characters or standout quests, or even a critique along with what you want to see in the next game? I know there's a lot of new games and content to cover soon, so I understand if not. p.s. sick background!
Thank you! I made one Cyberpunk video a couple of months back and definitely planning on coming back to it at some point in the future. I enjoy it more and more each time I jump back in. Definitely looking forward to the discussing the next Cyberpunk game eventually too!
I personally think that the starborn part of the main quest should have been an optional quest line since it was just a way to make ng+ a cannon and emmerson purposes for the most part.
You got no worries with me, pretty much every secret and aspect of starfield.. and I will tell you just with what you're saying in the opening here, I completely agree.. I think the game could have started out a lot differently, it's great that you start out as a miner.. but there is something that one of my favorite UA-cam streamers had said, he had said that it would have been great to be able to choose a starting faction, after character creation.. or the way you create your character, the traits that you choose can dictate where your starting point is.. that made more sense to me. I like the idea of alternate universes, it tells me that it is a real possibility that is being examined. Especially with us taking the very smallest steps into the quantum age.. but anyways I don't want to get off subject, but it would be cool to be able to choose affection right away.. as a jumping off point.. and then later on Discover.. constellation and all of that.
Agree with the colony war thing. I'm hoping we get a time travel mission in pursuit of a rogue starborn trying to alter the course of battles he fought in.
I found terrormorphs as an enemy a bit underwhelming. In my original universe it was a bit challenging fighting them, but once I became starborn they never really troubled me again. The problem is how they spend a lot of their time screaming and using phermonic projection whereas if they attacked like a deathclaw they would do a lot more damage thus feel more dangerous. Also if you didn't know, you can use alien reanimation on all terrormorphs, even the special huge one in Londinium. I took it to Neon and started a fight for giggles but it barely did anything then died.
With all the factions, I would have liked to see a main storyline about a galaxy on the brink of war between the factions with the Starborn stuff mixed in as maybe the only way to stop galactic war. Then the ending choice could have had some heavy implications i.e., stop galactic war or let it happen and become Starborn, but maybe stop it the next go-around in a new universe. As you playthrough that NG+, your companions would start to realize that you choosing to become Starborn means you chose not to prevent galactic war in another universe. Not only would that have been a more interesting game than the glorified fetch quest we got, it would have given players a compelling reason to play through the main quest again. Companions that liked you in your first playthrough may chose to stop being your companion when they realize you left an entire universe (or time-line I forget which it was) to galactic war, while others may appreciate that you're trying to prevent the war in their universe.
Well when I played through it the first time I kinda got the sense that that universe died as well so that sucked you can never go back,and we still don't understand the unity or really control how to use it to get where we might wanna go to much like in the beginning of the tv show sliders.
I feel like they could've done something like Xeno-humans. Weave that into the UC Xeno Team you can easily have various "Aliens" that are really just humans that decided to be a different species whether its because of status or personal reasons
Could have been a civil war story where the Free Star Collective tryes to seperate after the war against the Crimson Fleet. But then terrormorphs show up and the player has to negotiate an armstice so the terrormorphs can be dealt with.
The way you talk about the missed opportunity of the war playing an active role, the more I am reminded of Operation Anchorage and can see Bethesda pulling a similar move on us in a DLC.
I have a feeling that the "Shattered Space" we will encounter in this Autumn's DLC will be one of two things (maybe even both, but hopefully at least one or the other): Either war will break out between the UC and FC, thereby "shattering" the fragile peace of the Settled Systems, or a jump through the Unity will bring us into a universe that has been greatly altered (negatively) by the Starborn and it's up to the player to fix it somehow. If they really want to give us high stakes, it could be something that threatens all versions of the universe through the Unity itself. Time travel could be another big idea with high stakes, perhaps even giving us an opportunity to go back and save the Earth from its doomed fate.
@@hammerman199374 In the latest update video they tease the DLC and on the computer screen the dev is working on it has House Varuun assets being placed
Good insights! I wanted more "impact or lasting effect" from the quests and more variety on the rewards based on how well I accomplished them. For instance, I completed the Freestar story and the city guards still treat me like street trash. Same in New Atlantis. Excuse me, pleebs, but I'm a Citizen Fist Class. Watch your tone.
Constellation is basically starfield's Railroad. They are just there to make the story work out but don't really feel fledged out, but more like an afterthought
I think this is genuinely a terrible idea. You are asking them to make a main quest that feels important and time sensitive. Thats usually the very thing everyone complains about in games like this. "Why am I messing around shooting this fatman and bandits while wearing a bear suit when my character should be worried about his supposedly infant son being kidnapped?"
I like to think the solution to that problem lies somewhere in the middle. Literally. No apparent urgency for like... the first half of the main story, giving you ample time to explore and get to know the world, the people and the factions. But things start to slowly ramp up by the second half. Something like that.
@@INSAne_DrUNkard You mean like by having an antagonist assault your base of operations, kill one of your friends, and initiate a race to aquire a bunch of mcguffins that will allow you access to the multiverse?
This guy gets it! The war and mechs felt like the writers were almost trolling us. Like, "look at how interesting this world USED to be."
If they dont add mechs i will personally show up at todds house
Chekhov's Mech! If you show it, you have to use it.
I didn't mind the idea of picking through former warzones that were so horrific that society collectively tried to move on... but that SHOULD'VE been followed by other factions trying to use these forbidden methods to get an actual meaningful edge. It's a really cool backdrop and all the pieces are there, we get to smuggle xenowarfare and banned mech stuff a LOT.
It's the perfect lead-up to the discovery that these techniques of waging war are still alive and well, just in secret. And we even see labs and references that blatantly state that they're still around. And then... we just don't really see it pay off. Which is odd. I hope we get to see more development of this with the DLC and potentially other planned content.
my guess its that its coming in a DLC. which i think its better way. otherwise people would complain its basically skyrims civil war all over again. and weve gotten several smaller "main story" questlines that fits better if you want to play differently. cause you can ignore the main story as soon as you land in new atlantis.
And i hope they keep expanding the stories over the years with DLCs, i also want a spacestation settlement system, and actually being able to populate settlements on planets
This comment just made me feel the same way about Fallout somehow 🤨. Now I want a Fallout prequel game that’s set in the world leading up to the bombs dropping.
I think it’s a missed opportunity that you don’t choose a starting point. Akila, Neon, Jemison. Either start as a Ranger who stops a bank robbery, Join the UC and become a street rat, join the gang join ryujin and then get the attention of Sarah and the like. With the Ranger, UC or Ryujin start you get a good intro to the game world. And each could end with you coming into contact with an artifact kicking things off.
What you suggest would of been way better than the current boring vanilla beginning. I also think the game should start with character creation first. The way they bring you to it just feels off.
@@abrahambobst4602 IMO starting a SPACE game on a Dusty, empty world was dumb. Even worse is you dont even start on the surface you start in a tiny cave. Then when you finally get to space your forced to go to the next world.
Another empty dusty world, but this time it has 2 new red vine plants and 2 giant bugs that are non hostile. everything before you actually get to jemison is just, "How bland can we make this intro?"
@@BlueBD Agreed
There is now a creation/mod for that! Works great!
@@arnograbner4741 It was only a matter of time for mod options like that to appear just like Skyrim and FO4. Though, I use that Another Life type mods more for Skyrim. ;)
I loved the Terrormorph story. It was so long I forgot everything else. Lol
It was pretty good. Better than the main story
I wish they added more to the terrormorph and more dangerous aliens in general.
agreed, i wish it was expanded farther
@@Giggle971 there are other dangerous aliens that can kill you real fast.
My first playthough; vanguard was the last campaign I did. I manged to not meet a terrormorph until then, but i kept hearing reports of them and i had started to wonder if they may be myth. They really were space boogeyman to me at that point. I think it woulda been weird to be fighting terromorphs at level 5 or something, but the order my playthrough went made it an epic way to end the playthough before entering the unity for my first time. Really made it feel like i saved the galaxy.
The freestar ranger questline was really fun wish it were a little longer. Had an 80s cop movie vibe.
I agree. It felt to me like it ended at the prologue of a bigger story.
I honestly believe they will add one to it eventually. It's really only one job (case) that they covered
Didn't like the choices at the end though. The 'good cop' ending is to basically murder the guy while the 'bad cop' ending is to let him get away with it. There's no option for a peaceful arrest, and even if you completely disable him and all his guards using EMF weapons for an easy round-up later, the quest won't be considered completed until they're all dead.
EMF weapons are the biggest disappointment of any Bethesda game ever. It teases a non-violent way to deal with problems then rips the rug out from under you when you actually make the attempt.
@@CrystanI agree that the presence of EM stun weapons was a wasted opportunity.
It just seems likely that bounty hunting could have made use of them in order to capture fugitives alive.
The faction storylines were better than the main story. Neon could have been cooler
Fall out obsession with building settlements would’ve been perfect for this game. They have a whole organization to help people build their own settlements freaking space to choose the planet. And they totally ignored that.
I discussed that with friends there are so many minor factions that could have had their own quest lines or loops. The settlers organisation, the bounty hunters organisation, the trackers, MAST and other science organisations there's so many that could help fill out and build the universe in addition to adding replayability and giving role-players something to build on with there chosen backgrounds.
I feel like the barrier to entry on the settlement building was just too high. I play a lot of fairly complex "spreadsheet" style strategy games, so I don't consider myself a dummy by any means, but I had to watch several youtube tutorials to get a hang of the settlement building in Starfield. And this is from someone who a actually really enjoyed the settlement building in Fallout 4.
@@marshallscot Yep, there is no tutorial, which makes no sense when the building mechanics are so much different from Fallout 4. I have heard that it is similar to FO76 but many have not played that game due to the horredous launch and "redemption arc" for the FO76. To me FO4 settlement building is better than SF.
I feel like they are keeping thst for a future DLC. Not the one that we know is coming but one even further in the future. Like how they did it with the robots in fallout 4 and the homestead mechanic in skyrim.
More than smiting else, THIS was TODD HOWARD’s baby. The BAFFLING decisions made during its EXTREMELY long development, are the biggest testament to the fact that M$ needs to fire Todd! Obsidian is right there, WANTING to make a NEW VEGAS sequel, and it’ll NEVER happen as long as Todd heads up BGS. He’s said as much in interviews. An announcement like that would help M$ make up a LOT of lost ground. New Vegas 2 = Xbox exclusive, and Phil Spencer will gain back A LOT of the respect he lost after the IDIOTIC decision to close Tango Gameworks.
Easy fix to integrate the New Game+ into the main quest:
Make it so the colony war hasn't happened yet. It's an impending conflict which will occur in 3 months in game time. The galaxy is highly populated, but when the colony wars happen there is a time skip a year into the future which gives you the vanilla game which is desolated and full of raiders. No one "wins" the war by default, it's basically a stalemate. Once the player figures out how to "reset" the galaxy, they are able to do loops gathering more resources and information to get the "good ending" or just help their chosen faction win the war.
Which means that we arrive in the story after the most intensive action we could have experienced. That war memorial in New Atlantis, for example, feel meaningless because we have no connection to the event nor anyone involved. In fact, starting on the surface of Vectera and going down Half-life style could have taken mabye five minutes and been more interesting.
That would be insane
And a little too forward thinking. I could imagine the people who made Horizon zero dawn able? But not bethesda
@@davidn2749 worst part is, this is pretty much exactly what the radiant system was intended to be... but they botched it LOL
They retconned the MQ ending of Fallout 3 with DLC, wouldn't be out of the ordinary to assume they will eventually iterate on launch content down the line, especially with the new game+ / multiverse aspect of the game
I would theorize that the Freestar Collective questline was cut short. In order for it to continue along expected tropes (without much in the way of spoilers), the plot would escalate with us getting framed for a crime, kicked out of the Freestar Rangers, and then having to use our connections to directly petition the Council of Governors to finally settle matters in a public confrontation where we lay out all our evidence. That's at least two more mission levels, a ream of dialogue, and potential issues with individual governors being influenced by other missions. At the end of the day, the product has to be shipped when the product has to be shipped.
course All that would have been avoided if you actually told anyone what was happening. Right up to when you confront Hope you just don't involve the Ranger On-Site at all. Same thing at the Clinic. You go there, chat with them once. then they no longer exist afterwards.
Cant tell the Ranger at The Clinic about the murder, you just keep it yourself.
Can't tell the Ranger at Hopetown. They just don't exist and keep it to yourself.
I don't feel the main quest is a main quest at all. I just see it as a NG+ mechanism to wrap up your game after you have done everything there is to do and start over while keeping your perks and skills. There is no threat to any of the worlds and they are pretty much oblivious to the Starborn. I feel the same as you about the UC Quest. Shattered Space will probably feel more like the main quest when it arrives. I hope they create a DLC that finally reveals the creators of the artifacts and that they are none too happy with what the humans are doing with them.
That's a good point of view. It looks like a somewhat big expansion ( next fall come on now ^^) so yeah it could feel like the main quest.
The Creators 's reveal would be nice indeed but Bethesda can still choose the lame option... we'll see
I don’t want to know who the creators are, or keep them vague. I prefer the mystery of it all and how many unanswered questions there are that are either not comprehensible to us, or there could be many answers that others theorize about.
(Harsh and contentious take warning.) I *really* dislike the Starborn, it's like they took the Jedi, made them lame, then gave them Skyrim shouts but less badass and occasionally game-breaking or QOL imperative (free oxygen and unlimited sprint button), utterly boring temples that don't look to have a real purpose or lore, then gave them suits and ships that don't fit the art style of anything else in the game, capped off with a 'NG+' that's sort of Mass Effect 3 sans the choice of explosion colour and going back to the start with a sense that your quests didn't mean anything. Also the unanswered questions and plot holes like: why aren't the big factions aware? Doesn't this spit in the face of modern day religion? Where are the sapient aliens? e.t.c.
imho a better main story would have been alien race first contact, a new Varuun crusade, a major diplomatic flashpoint between UC and FSC e.t.c.
My positives:
1. I sort of liked the climactic battle up to the endgame and choosing who to fight with.
2. On my first and main save, I did the main quest and then Crimson Fleet and I felt that was more like what I thought the main quest would be - mutually exclusive faction war ending on a space battle and boarding action. Loved that.
Starfield is having a 10 years of content plan, so we will definitly get more main stories. I personally think Shattered Space will deal with House Va'Ruun and Great Serpent:
a) we definitly know that they are cooking something, its implied in multiple places
b) the first screen from the expansion we saw in recent update video shows some kind of weird temple (definitly not the artifact ones) on an otherworldly planet unlike any we have seen so far - Great Serpents realm perhaps? Bethesda already did weird realms with Prince of Madness realm in an expansion for Oblivion. Wouldnt be the first. Besided we need more cosmic horror in Starfield, its one type of scifi that very missing apart from from terrormorphs which was very basic when it comes to this type of scifi.
@@FortressLordJP193 Yeah, the game is lacking tension and conflict to make it exciting or fun; or a real reason to do anything in the game.
Given how new the universe/lore was to us all, I felt the starter location should have been the old earth sleeper ship, we’d have been learning about the lore at the same time as our character. Maybe that would have been a little too close to Fallout vaults though.
One of the things i hated was the size of the main citys and how each faction only had one city. They've been exploring the universe for 200 years and in all that time they only built one city each. I found that very annoying
And the silly deal to only control 3 planets per faction. It's space not a planet of nation states they could expand out and away from each other there's no reason for them to bump heads in regards to expanding.
@@lucianjaeger4893Fr the Treaty of Naverion (idk the planet) is so idiotic. You had to flee earth and make new colonies and worlds. Imagine if that treaty existed then…
United Colonies had Cydonia, Gagarin, and New Atlantis. Freestar Collective had Akila City, Neon, and HopeTown.
But I do agree... 200 years and there're only those cities (and ruined Londinium)?
With no vehicles and smaller cities outside of the main cities, if only they made those little settlements say like 3-5 kms from new atlantis which can open the door for public transportation to be added more but they didnt
not to mention how theres so little people.....
Agreed that the UC story is definitely the best faction quest and probably better than the actual main quest. I just started a new playthrough after not playing since my launch playthrough and I was surprised at how much foreshadowing there was for the UC quest line especially in the first pirate outpost you go to with VASCO at the start of the game.
Heck yeah. Honestly there qre a lot of little nods to other things going on. If you search the shaw gang's hideout with sam you can find reports of a stolen hope ship and farmers being harrassed( shaw gang didnt figure they were connected) and the shaw leader telling everybody to make sure not to get the attention of the authorities since they weren't involved.
The MAIN Questline is terrible...
UC questline is great though.
I remember thinking the Vanguard questline plot could be made into a movie.
The most thoughful and insightful thinkpiece on Starfield that I've read. I agree especially that there's not enough real conflict or zero-sum win-lose among factions. You can join ALL the factions, even Crimson Fleet, and everyone else is OK with your simultaneous loyalties.
You can do that in Skyrim too.
@@SkintSNIPER262 yeah and pretty much in Fo4 too - unless you go all the way and kill the Railroad, then they don't like you so much.
This right here is why people liked New Vegas. You picked your loyalties.
If some indie game developer doesn't offer you a creative writing or design job within a year, it would be a shame.
You are so methodical in your description and logic while at the same time not ignoring tangential or other options into consideration. To me, that seems to indicate you have great empathy towards other people's thoughts and opinions which to me is Paramount in any game development storytelling.
Plus, you deliver it in such a well paced dialog that still gets across emotions and beliefs.
What an absolute treasure of a video to stumble across.
I liked the fact that the "main" story wasnt this world ending threat that you would go on to ignore for 150 hours. I hated fallout 4s "WHERES MY SON- ooh duct tape, i wanna build a happy nuka cola bar"
Finally someone that says it!
The main quest is the way it is for this exact purpose.
I gotta say, I agree that the Vanguard questline is my favorite. Where I really really disagree with you on though is the main quest. I love how disconnected it is from all the other factions, how it leaves so much room for you to explore and take things slow, how it doesn't have world-ending stakes and bigger conflicts. To be honest, maybe I am getting old, but I get a little tired of stories in most media always leading to war and conflict and death.
The main quest in Starfield seem to take another approach though. Instead of the threat destroying the physical world around you, it destroys your very understanding of how the world works. The existence of the Unity, the Starborn and the way things unfold with them kept me asking more questions without answering anything. I love how different Starborn you meet have adopted different life lessons from it. Some went to pursue power and domination over others, some wanted to uplift and be a shepard, and some just wanted to make money and live a life of luxury.. When I think of the main quest I always think of the part where we're on the trail of the Pilgrim. That story really stuck with me. Although we read his writings, I still wonder where he is now.. how many unity dives he went into.. what was his original world like.. and are we ever going to find him..
If there is one thing I would change it would be either to condense the artifact hunt quests (make each temple hold 3 artifacts/powers at once), or expand the temples. Keep the "puzzle" as it is, just make a dungeon that leads to that chamber at the end. Either way, what we got is not a dealbreaker for me or anything, but I do understand why so many people get tired of them after a while.
Oh and btw, have a sub from me!
I’m with ya 🍻
Starfield litterally provided what both elder scrolls players complained about and what fallout players complained about in terms of urgency and being able to have better and longer faction quests, without becoming a leader, immediatly. and i agree with the temples. the mod that removes the minigame helped me so much
Entirely agree about the Vanguard questline. On launch I sorta ignored the main quest to go exploring and found the Vanguard questline first, and it basically set the vibe for the whole game out of sheer coincidence.
I’m not sure if it was planned, as the time of day and weather has been different each time on the NG+ runs I’ve done, but the first time I touched down on the planet you get sent to to deliver the comm array, it was dark out, and a thunderstorm rolled in. And given I was like level 5 or something all I had was a shitty pistol and Sarah, so exploring the destroyed forward base, having her remark on what had happened, only to get closer and hear the scream of the terrormorph was the perfect way to set the scene. When they show you the creature my character must have been scared shitless because I basically had a .22 vs. a polar bear. The “Aliens” style motion tracker kept me constantly on edge, and I think that whole encounter where you repair the turrets took me like an hour from start to finish.
That set the tone for the whole game, and got me hooked. Only for the rest of the game to not really live up to that at all.
You hit the nail on the head, as I’d rather play the game during the colony war. “Show don’t tell” is something Bethesda really needs to learn. Because the colony war sounds like a really interesting conflict to be dealing with, or take sides in, but instead you just get told what happens.
I truly hope they bring some major conflict up with the DLC, seeing as the game had been alluding to the fact that House Varunn basically fucked off to build up their military and get ready for another holy war. Given the DLC is titled “shattered space” I’m assuming House Varunn showing up to fuck things up is going to be the central plot point, as the other factions seem woefully unprepared to deal with another major war. As it seems like they entirely demilitarized. The only major capital ship I can recall seeing is the single destroyer that the UC tasks with taking out the crimson fleet during that questline. No major fleets, no system defense forces, no military space stations, defense platforms, hangars, orbital railguns, nothing. If House Varunn has like a single battle fleet then both factions are fucked from what little military presence they have in the game at the moment.
Which I think might be why the game world feels so boring to me. There’s no visible conflict going on. We’re told how the UC and Freestar are on an uneasy peace, but there’s no physical signs of that. There’s no citizens of one faction being ridiculed while they’re in another for some reason, there’s no standoffs between the military forces of both factions, there’s no Cold War style spats that the factions would rather keep off the books so as not to fan the flames, no espionage of any sort. You basically have some minor story characters or companions saying “yeah I don’t really like those guys” and that’s about it. It just feels like the world has nothing interesting going on, because the interesting stuff just happened right before the game. Which makes no sense when you bake a NG+ system into the lore and physics of your game universe, let me go nuts with consequences when I have a canonical method of trying something else next time.
Yup. A Cold War in which neither side is building up their military? I don't buy that guys.
"but the first time I touched down on the planet you get sent to to deliver the comm array, it was dark out, and a thunderstorm rolled in"
It depends on when you land, I did it twice and the second time the sun was out and I missed the threat of the thunderstorm.
They should've allowed a storyline where a faction was still using those mechs it would've been so fricken dope
The way the colony war was handled reminds me of my skrim playthroughs where I didn't do the civil war quests.
After seeing the UC museum, I was filled with curiosity about how the conflict was recorded by the FC. I was disappointed....
yeah, I saw that museum and was praying for another version of the same exhibit with subtle but meaningful differences... yeah, there is an entire laundry list of issues that all reveal a failure to cogitate on the part of the meager writing staff...
Interms of role-playing as whatever I want. Ryugin, freestar, Crimson fleet, then UC.
With Ryugin you could really be whoever you wanted to be, but thrusted into a corporate world.
With the freestar I felt you could really ramp up what kinda ranger you wanted to be for better or worse.
The Crimson fleet had really good role-play but also really bad role play at times.
For UC you were just a yes man or a yes man that always asked about money.
I can't deny the UC Vanguard had the most potential of impacting the universe, but you could argue if Bethesda had looked to get all factions more involved in the end point of the Constellation quest during the Unity endgame, as you say, there could have been epic battles for example - so that answer is subjective.
I feed the Crimson fleet was the most enjoyable to play, possibly because of the characters and comradery you don't seem to get elsewhere.
Starfield without the quests is just a shoot and loot, so I really hope any later quest additions (shattered space included) needs to deliver on the expanding universe and storyline, bringing together (or perhaps dividing) the factions for a bigger more impactful prize?
UC quests were by far the best. Really enjoyed them.
Well prepared points presented in a professional manner. If you keep up this level of content, the sky is the limit for your channel.
I’ve always said the Starfield story just wasn’t written correctly. Even if you look at other Bethesda stories, it doesn’t follow the same arch at all. They almost always have threats and danger in the very beginning. In Skyrim you were on your way to be hung, and a dragon attacks the town. In Fallout 4 your son was stolen, your wife killed, there’s a Deathclaw in Concord. In Starfield you’re a nerd in a group of rock collectors.
I agree with your assessment, Bloo. I also wished for something more. 'So close, yet so far away.' That phrase sums up Starfield to me.
Edit: I'm surprised you didn't mention the Mantis quest. I thought it was awesome to discover there was a sort of 'batman' in the Starfield that you can become if you wish.
The Mantis quest is another missed opportunity that could have been greatly expanded on. The fact that you only get the ship and armor and 'reputation' and not the base felt like a slap in the face. You're the Mantis, your base is RIGHT THERE! You 'should' have gotten it, as well as a whole series of spacer/CF related take down quests issued from the base computer system to add to stuff you could do. BGS missed so so so many things that could have been expanded on with a little additional effort. By triggering the ship, you get the base. By getting the base, you get additional missions. Etc. Just.. sheesh.
Nice analysis. I agree with wanting more reactivity and interaction between choices and what has happened already. I also really wanted to just tell the UC that Vae Victus was behind the Terrormorph attacks when I did the quest as a starborn. It would be amazing if Bethesda added more options like that in future updates.
Imagine if they did that, but then sometimes had different universes with variations on the stories such that your knowledge actually misleads you? (You accuse Vae Victus and go about trying to prove it, but it turns out it was Hadrian, for example.)
You mean they/them victus.😁
To me, after your character goes thru unity, he becomes more like the player. What I mean it's like playing fallout or skyrim for the 4th or 40th time. You know the world, the characters and what things will happen. So after NG your character is in the same situation as you are. I think it's kinda cool.
When I play a game over and over again, my playstyle changes to just doing what I enjoy. The push to get it all done is gone. You've done it all.
This is a fantastic video for a channel getting its footing, I couldn't tell the difference between your channel and one with a few hundred thousand subscribers. Can't wait to see this channel blow up, keep doing what you're doing 💪
As someone who plays characters not games. I don't make choices my characters do. Some call that Role-playing I call it playing immersively. I love Starfield as it is but what you said would have made it even better.
One of the biggest problems I had with faction quests is that there was no overlap options.
I did the Freestar quest line before the Vanguard quests, I didn’t like the fact that I couldn’t mention that I was a ranger during the quest to get the Factions to work together or the fact that what’s his face was… not on the Freestar council anymore didn’t come up with the ambassador’s ambitions. Stuff like that wouldn’t be necessary to complete any quest line but it would be awesome if you could bring it up.
The only issue I have with the Vanguard quest is that your a volunteer captain doing things that should be handled by an official, I think it should be the main quest line and the vanguard got something different. If you put it off and went through constellation and got to the Unity without resolving it maybe something happens that makes you think you should have done it, and possibly even unlocking dialogue options in a second run where they know the stakes. Stuff like that would make it feel more like a continuation of the story rather than just a second go at things.
When I first played starfield back on september I remember my first encounter with a terrormorph it was the most scary moment I felt in this game and I assumed at the moment that it was part of the main plot due to the terrible and powerful display of this creature. It is indeed a disappointment that this quest its not the main one. Currently when I play I still feel the menacing shadow of that first terrormorph.
I was relatively low level when I had that encounter, it was quite the battle.
Was funny to do the quest for me. I was dodging and trying to stay away. Then I fought it and discovered weapon bashing it was a valid tactic…
i really appreciate the love you show to the game despite a lot of missed opportunities Bethesda done in starfield i feel really they can fix a lot by focusing on the quests and the factions and do more space combat imagine if we can control big space ships and have a fleet and the have like big space fights wish really they give this game some love and really listen to guys like you .
12:12 "That feels like a missed opportunity." Practically Bethesda's motto.
On the decision of the Aceles vs the microbe, if you choose the Aceles, you will occasionally encounter fellow Vanguard members escorting one and have to help it kill a Terrormorph.
You touched on something Ive been saying ever since the game came out. Wil Shen and Emil said in interviews prior to the release that they wanted the player to be able to do everything in a single playthrough without being locked out of anything (a philosophy which I hate from the bottom of my heart). But, if your game is implementing ng+ as part of its story then there's no explanation as to why deciding to side with one faction or the other shouldnt have stakes. Beyond that, its not because an armistice is in place that you are free to side with military factions from both sides of the conflict like its no biggie.
Imagine a DLC where when you start another New Game plus, you get put into the past and get to play through the colony war
You gave me an idea they should do something like the entangled quest but you end up in a multiverse we’re the colony war is still happening and you have to help a side to end the war
If they had put that much effort into the alternate universes, the game probably would have been much better received than it was. As it is, the minor differences with missing characters and whatnot are often more annoying than interesting.
@@Random_Banshee I wouldnt know because with 11 unity dives on the same character and reaching level 100, ive never encountered an alternate universe event.
God, comparing that scene with that pirate you have to kill for a bounty to the scene in Cyberpunk 2077 is stunning in how much Bethesda misses the mark.
That eccentric dude who won't give up the artifact obviously voiced Belethor in Skyrim lol but I felt the Universe was not compellingly different after the first time entering the Unity. And having to lose my ship felt awful. The first Starborn ship did not really impress me much and felt more like an appliance than a ship you could invest yourself in. Not to mention that in spite of what you accomplish, you still feel like your character is a nobody in public.
I feel like the colony war is in the past in order to explain all the abandoned, but not too old looking factories, bases and other POI that are empty, or occupied by spacers and other enemy groups. The war expanded the need to mine resources, and do research on xenoweapons and mechs etc, and this was done on remote worlds out of view of the rest of society. When the war ended, funding for research etc was canceled and everybody came back to the core worlds.
Frankly I wish that some of the most remote planets and moons you visit were completely empty. Sam Coe and others talk about how amazing it is to step on a world never before seen by another human. But good luck finding one in the Starfield. Even the most remote has a research tower, or abandoned hanger etc.
agreed, it's a little immersion breaking for me to land on a random patch of planet on the extreme corner of the galaxy map, and walk 2km to a fully manned ecliptic/pirate/varuun base
A lot of things I like about starfield, but wish a little more thought on bethsedas end came into this aspect
It's the "Fallout syndrome" Bethesda has with all their games. Everything is perpetually destroyed. No one after rebuilds or repopulates anything, even after decades or hundreds of years.
Fully empty or, if there are abandoned facilities, a chance to take them over. Just gonna leave a base with a fully functional space pad? Why not let us take advantage, especially if we clear out the trash.
There are a handful of systems that, to my knowledge, do not spawn manmade POI.
Schrodinger is one of them, outside of a single dead ship in orbit, none of the planets have man made structures.
There have been a couple more I have been to, but I cant remember their names
@@AHungryHunky Huh, i just looked around Schrodinger and you seem to be right. Never noticed that before, even though I always make an outpost on Schrodinger III.
However it generally is an issue of human POI's being in places they shouldn't. There's a CK mod out to block any human POI's from spawning in the same cell as Starborn Temples. Because that just doesn't make sense. How could we be the first to discover these if there's an Ecliptic base within sight? ;)
If we could get into a war with another entity, then the Mech would be great! You are right on with your observations. I have had no desire to do the NG + stuff. They need a Borg enemy that many of the factions can go up against. Minor adjustments - from start you should be able to buy whatever ship part you want. A simple 1 key stroke to go back to your play from any window your in. Cut down on the time I have to keep seeing load screens!! Much better system for on planet travel. Much better system for storing food like being able to put it in and out of a refrigerator. Better ability for player to place objects in rooms. FIX the sink so it attaches at a realistic height for instance. Seems like there could be lots more inter action in cities with shops and people. The game has huge potential with the outposts and making a story line for folks who like trading and business building, with some of these factions maybe coming after or competing with you. After going to play Empyrion Galactic Survival from this, the chosen mechanisms in the game for various things does limit their ability to create content stuff. EGS really got some thing right, like ship building and the ability to fly your ship anywhere and land, and surface travel options. Thanks for your review, very well done!👍👍👍
I found a number of places where the aceles were hunting terramorphs after finishing the vanguard mission
Totally agree with the larger point of the Vanguard questline being the most high-stakes, macro, and compelling, as well as the spot-on observation that all of the mech references are the equivalent of introducing power armor in Fallout and then not letting players use them.
You my good sir are literally the only person that has ever given an apt and well thought out explanation of this game’s story without bashing it or making ignorant comments for the sake of likes. You pointed out the weaknesses while also highlighting the strengths and where it could’ve been better. Kudos. You have earned a new sub
I think they might be setting up for a second war over the DLCs
I actually felt that the civil war storyline in Skyrim should have been the main quest, it was much more interesting and felt more real than just fighting dragons.
I bet you just looove dark fantasy
@@lonelystarslibrary9326 Not usually but I feel Skyrim's main quest feels kinda separate from the world as the world of Elder Scrolls feels very grounded in many ways and the civil war storyline just works better for me.
This was a very fair and objective video, a fresh take from the rage bait slop that dominates Starfield yt algorithm. Subbed
I have to admit that from a role playing perspective, the fact that you can join so many conflicting factions with no impact on your time with the others feels very poorly thought out at times.
Are you saying I shouldn't be able to be a UC Vanguard, Freestar Ranger, Pirate King, Ryujin corporate agent, Archmage of the College of Winterhold, leader of the Thieve's Guild, Listener of the Dark Brotherhood, leader of the Companions, graduate of the Bard's College, member of the Botherhood of Steel, the Commonwealth Minutemen, and dusty for Argos Extractors at the same time?
I believe you hit the nail on head with the artifact dilemma being kept in house with constellation. When I play starfield, I constantly think about how there’s barely any interaction with the major factions and they just have no knowledge of the artifacts. Even with the whole theme of exploration with constellation and its inspiration of explorers throughout history, it missed out on how discovery inadvertently inspired nations to engage in conflict. The discovery of the new world motivated nations to lay claim to new lands before someone else did. It’s just such a missed opportunity that multidimensional travel is discovered and no tension is exerted on the galaxy as a whole. How am I supposed to care that the unity is such an important thing when the game world could not be bothered about it
Thank you for this well-reasoned, thoughtful retrospective of the core elements of Starfield. It gives me a lot to think about, and hopefully some modders will notice this and undertake to change the game into something more like what it might have been.
The WORST part of Starfield is the god damn multiverse stuff. It lowers the stakes of everything in the game to the point of me not actually wanting to do a NG+.
So I got to share the summary of my first playthrough. I did not know anything, just decided to make a character that I roleplayed was a former UC Marine and was a mix of Commander Shepard and a Colonial Marine from Aliens. I basically went straight for the Vanguard questline... Imagine how perfectly that all fit! THAT was the main story for me and always will be.
Also need to add, I felt more like a space explorer in the Crimson Fleet questline than I have in the Constellation story so far... yes, I haven't finished it. I honestly just keep getting bored when I try.
About your desire for the player "to become the catalyst" for a greater conflict between factions, specifically the United Colonies and the Freestar Collective, the UC SysDef/Crimson Fleet questline has a choice that actually eases the tension between the factions. If you decide to go with the Aceles over the microbe, you find out at the Unity that the factions work together.
Yep, and there *IS* also an in-game effect that reflects on choosing the Aceles. If I remember correctly, sometime after choosing the Aceles you can find flocks of them on random planets - sometimes even kicking Terrormorph ass.
@dantefettman354 absolutely!! I remember saying, "WTF is this?!" the first time I saw one, then realized it was the thing behind the glass as Hadrian was explaining the Aceles. And it was the same thing for me, it was molly-whopping a Terrormorph when I encountered it.
It would’ve been cool if you had the option to pick a faction to help you assault the hurried temple at the end of the game. Like, you have a choice between the factions that you’ve allied yourself with, and whichever one you choose would sends a group of ships and foot soldiers to assist in the final battle. Imagine facing the Scorpio/Helix with a fleet of vanguard ships at your back, or storming the buried temple with a crew of crimson fleet pirates. That would’ve been EPIC.
Your point about mechs really hit home for me... I wouldn't want to use a mech, but I was really disappointed that I never got to go up against one.
One day Bethesda will lose its milkshake to another studio that analyzed Starfield's failures, researches what players wanted from the game at launch but didn't get, and designs and releases a game to specifically meet those needs. And it will be, if not Larian Studios, someone similar with a comparable commitment to the quality of its work.
Definitely. I imagine it will improve on elements of Starfield and No Man’s Sky
Great video and discussion! Small correction on the faction questlines. For the UC Vanguard quest, there are some notable effects from the choices you make. For one... *SPOILERS*
If you choose the Aceles over the microbe, sometime afterwards you can find them on random planets. You might even see them fighting Terrormorphs.
I always found it wierd that you could be Both a Freestar Ranger and an Vanguard.
I mean Skyrim also didnt allowed you to be a Imperial Soldier and an Stormcloak at the same time. You had to Chose what side of the Comflict you wanted to support.
Your Colony War part is a bit odd to me, as it's clear to me at least both the UC and Freestar faction quests are directly dealing with the decisions they had each made during the war. By extension, the faction questlines for those two are basically epilogues to the Colony War. So while I get that you would have preferred they somehow reignited the war, you're kind of implying they have nothing to do with it when they absolutely do. Both storylines are fairly well catalyzed by rogue military elements that took part in the war (Sanon and Hull) looking for revenge upon the faction they served under.
And maybe something along the lines of how their actions could reignite the war. Serious stakes
All the main quests in Starfield have 'plot over faction' problems for me. If I'm joining the UC it's because i want to experience what being a Vanguard is like in this setting, not immediately get derailed on hunting Terramorphs.
If they need a plotline, Oblivion did it best by having a background plotline that slowly took over what you were doing whilst still sending you on faction quests that made you feel like an actual member of the faction.
Great exposition and I agree 100% 👍
The lack of any dynamic interaction between player choices and the various factions makes the world feel very shallow.
I can honestly see future expansions dedicated to each faction. Adding new variables to existing stories and expanding the new one.
We're getting the _actual_ main questline in the second expansion in late 2025.
"the game is too big for them to..." Dude, just look at BG3, it's not impossible, it just takes time, work and passion
Both a fair and unfair comparison tbh , Fair because yes what BG3 acheived with full voice acting is quite amazing though not unheard of (cough cough old Bioware games or Fallout New Vegas) but its an unfair to compare also because BG3 had a bottomless pit of pre existing lore to actually pad the story and give more historical context to its world and factions but on the flipside it IS possible to create an amazing main story and lore from scratch AND have conflict/fighting not be a major part of an RPG yet still be engaging just look at Disco Elysium for how it is done not BG3 where the decades of D&D lore are a big part of what elevates the game.
@@XavierLignieres fair point
Really it's not to big if they put in the effort to fill them out, like the argument 1000 worlds to explore is to much. It's not the problem the problem is there wasn't enough things made to keep them interesting. Say you set aside a team of 100 people or so there sole job is making pois and things that can spawn on worlds. They needed more pois than ever before to fill them out I shouldn't be running into the same cryolab 50 times but one repeat every so often would be understandable.
I kinda disagree here. While yes, what Larian achieved with BG3 was phenomenal, they were able to achieve those heights due to the unconventional way they developed the game. They were basically in a CIG/Star Citizen situation where they weren't beholden to publisher backing and largely relied on players' support through early access. Through this, they were pretty much able to experiment with the game and make decisions that probably wouldn't have been greenlit if they were answering to a publisher. I know this because I was one of those players who supported it back in 2020 when it was in early access. Early Access BG3 was QUITE different to the BG3 that was released to everyone. I'm not super well-versed in gamedev, but plenty of devs have stated that BG3 is an anomaly when it comes to game development (For a whole host of reasons), and that the same shouldn't be expected from other games that are being developed under more traditional means.
While BGS had plenty of time to make Starfield - and there are things that could've been better implemented in the game - they're still a studio having to stick to deadlines and demands given to them from Bethesda Softworks and now Microsoft.
Speaking of the Colony War, this is where Bethesda dropped the ball in a big way in my opinion. When you start the game and can choose Solider, it does not let you decide what side you were on and because of that they could have had some tense dialog for the player. Two examples are the Bartender on Mars or Admiral Logan during the Sara companion's questline. They could have been a bit hostile to the player if they had been FC military, maybe even causing the quest to stall until the player could find another way to continue on, depending on the dialog choices. Also, the Bartender on The Den station could become openly hostile and either curse the player or even take a shot at the player and make the Van Guard officer, I forget her name, to come in between the two and tell off the Bartender or even have him arrested since he currently has nothing else but that minor poster quest. It is bad enough that even if you talk to the VG officer when you drop the boots off at the Den, the writers messed up and the NPC acts like they have never meet the player before.
you do start seeing differences in the world after the terrormorph questline!
you see less heatleeches, and if you pick the "bring back the creature that kills terrormorphs" ending you _occaisionally_ see a US patrol with one of those weird bird-giraffes
I’ve been opening up all kinds of different surprises. I’m basically aligned with all the factions avoiding any fights I happen to fly into inwarp right out. If I’m Switzerland in this game, it lasts a lot longer and you gain some good crew.
You really just explained exactly how I feel about the game in better words than I ever could. When you learn about the Colony Wars, The Serpents Crusade & the terramorph outbreak on Londinion, it all sounds so much more exciting than collecting artifacts. Also the Starborn being the main antagonist feels underwhelming as they never really feel like a threat to humanity. Starfield does a lot of things right but the main story is massively disappointing to me & I think the lack of intelligent alien life is a missed opportunity.
After 300+ hours of gameplay and being NG+10 i just realized that the whole main quest is about you fetching artifacts from one point to the other, exactly as you said there’s no sidetracking from collecting artifacts, in the end it just point towards that. It could’ve been much better honestly, i’m genuinely shocked i’m only realizing it now.
Man, going into Londinian at night my first time through was so awesome
i feel like an expanded vanguard questline would have been the best main story because it actually involves uniting the UC and Freestar through choices you make like they are your ideas
I agree with, vanguard quest were really great and it gives me a sense of threat. But i think i could play an entire game based on the Ryujin questline
The stupidest part about the side quest is that you can screw over the UC and side with pirates but get a hero's welcome upon your return to UC. Or you're a Ranger but can become a pirate as well. Or save the UC or be a Ranger but you still get security screened? What if you confiscated contraband while doing your duty and it has to be turned in? Nothing of consequence ever happens except your companions who you anger by picking up a roll of duct tape that doesn't belong to you. Very dumb
Great video, but I have a thought about having a colony war d l c. It could be done something like this; A starborn has found a way to use the unity to travel back in time in particular, universes and went into the Starfield's main universe (or first) and changed the past and made one of the main factions win instead of there being a peace treaty made between them. And you as starborn yourself chooses to go back and find that starborn and fix the past that he altered.
They should’ve had us select a faction pre-game, and have a story tailored around us coming from the UC, FSC or CF, then eventually we end up at constellation after the discovery of the starborn is deemed an intergalactic threat and work together with the other factions to defeat them.
If you play the different faction quest it feels like a war is set to kick off at a moments notice, doing the quest where you take down the 1st cavalry as they try to take over a mech factory feels like its building to another war.
hello mr Bloo, loved the video. I really enjoy your delivery. Do you have any plans to make a video on cyberpunk 2077, like your favorite characters or standout quests, or even a critique along with what you want to see in the next game? I know there's a lot of new games and content to cover soon, so I understand if not. p.s. sick background!
Thank you! I made one Cyberpunk video a couple of months back and definitely planning on coming back to it at some point in the future. I enjoy it more and more each time I jump back in. Definitely looking forward to the discussing the next Cyberpunk game eventually too!
I personally think that the starborn part of the main quest should have been an optional quest line since it was just a way to make ng+ a cannon and emmerson purposes for the most part.
This is probably the best balanced review of Starfield.
There are so many things to like, but the quests and factions simply fall flat.
You got no worries with me, pretty much every secret and aspect of starfield.. and I will tell you just with what you're saying in the opening here, I completely agree.. I think the game could have started out a lot differently, it's great that you start out as a miner.. but there is something that one of my favorite UA-cam streamers had said, he had said that it would have been great to be able to choose a starting faction, after character creation.. or the way you create your character, the traits that you choose can dictate where your starting point is.. that made more sense to me. I like the idea of alternate universes, it tells me that it is a real possibility that is being examined. Especially with us taking the very smallest steps into the quantum age.. but anyways I don't want to get off subject, but it would be cool to be able to choose affection right away.. as a jumping off point.. and then later on Discover.. constellation and all of that.
I got so sucked into being an undercover agent I forgot to collect artifacts
Interesting , Thank you. I like the colection in the background
Agree with the colony war thing. I'm hoping we get a time travel mission in pursuit of a rogue starborn trying to alter the course of battles he fought in.
I found terrormorphs as an enemy a bit underwhelming. In my original universe it was a bit challenging fighting them, but once I became starborn they never really troubled me again. The problem is how they spend a lot of their time screaming and using phermonic projection whereas if they attacked like a deathclaw they would do a lot more damage thus feel more dangerous. Also if you didn't know, you can use alien reanimation on all terrormorphs, even the special huge one in Londinium. I took it to Neon and started a fight for giggles but it barely did anything then died.
With all the factions, I would have liked to see a main storyline about a galaxy on the brink of war between the factions with the Starborn stuff mixed in as maybe the only way to stop galactic war. Then the ending choice could have had some heavy implications i.e., stop galactic war or let it happen and become Starborn, but maybe stop it the next go-around in a new universe. As you playthrough that NG+, your companions would start to realize that you choosing to become Starborn means you chose not to prevent galactic war in another universe. Not only would that have been a more interesting game than the glorified fetch quest we got, it would have given players a compelling reason to play through the main quest again. Companions that liked you in your first playthrough may chose to stop being your companion when they realize you left an entire universe (or time-line I forget which it was) to galactic war, while others may appreciate that you're trying to prevent the war in their universe.
Well when I played through it the first time I kinda got the sense that that universe died as well so that sucked you can never go back,and we still don't understand the unity or really control how to use it to get where we might wanna go to much like in the beginning of the tv show sliders.
I feel like they could've done something like Xeno-humans. Weave that into the UC Xeno Team you can easily have various "Aliens" that are really just humans that decided to be a different species whether its because of status or personal reasons
I always thought that would be a decent hardSF explanation for the Star Trek style universe.
Could have been a civil war story where the Free Star Collective tryes to seperate after the war against the Crimson Fleet. But then terrormorphs show up and the player has to negotiate an armstice so the terrormorphs can be dealt with.
The way you talk about the missed opportunity of the war playing an active role, the more I am reminded of Operation Anchorage and can see Bethesda pulling a similar move on us in a DLC.
Hard to get that exploration feel when every planet and moon you visit is littered with leftover buildings already.
I have a feeling that the "Shattered Space" we will encounter in this Autumn's DLC will be one of two things (maybe even both, but hopefully at least one or the other): Either war will break out between the UC and FC, thereby "shattering" the fragile peace of the Settled Systems, or a jump through the Unity will bring us into a universe that has been greatly altered (negatively) by the Starborn and it's up to the player to fix it somehow. If they really want to give us high stakes, it could be something that threatens all versions of the universe through the Unity itself. Time travel could be another big idea with high stakes, perhaps even giving us an opportunity to go back and save the Earth from its doomed fate.
It’s about house varuun
@@Ollidor Where did you get this info?
@@hammerman199374 In the latest update video they tease the DLC and on the computer screen the dev is working on it has House Varuun assets being placed
Good insights! I wanted more "impact or lasting effect" from the quests and more variety on the rewards based on how well I accomplished them. For instance, I completed the Freestar story and the city guards still treat me like street trash. Same in New Atlantis. Excuse me, pleebs, but I'm a Citizen Fist Class. Watch your tone.
Constellation is basically starfield's Railroad. They are just there to make the story work out but don't really feel fledged out, but more like an afterthought
Great video, lot of your points make a bunch of sense!
Bethesda should of left "Space Magic" out of the mix IMO. 🤔
ps. Just subbed, @TheBlooMoose you are good at this UA-cam thing 👍
Such a shame how lame and short the Freestar ranger quest ended up being. You’re totally right. It ended just as it felt like it was getting good.
I remember saying to myself while playing that all the cool stuff already happened.
I think this is genuinely a terrible idea. You are asking them to make a main quest that feels important and time sensitive. Thats usually the very thing everyone complains about in games like this. "Why am I messing around shooting this fatman and bandits while wearing a bear suit when my character should be worried about his supposedly infant son being kidnapped?"
Exactly, this guy just wants Fallout 4 but in space.
I like to think the solution to that problem lies somewhere in the middle. Literally. No apparent urgency for like... the first half of the main story, giving you ample time to explore and get to know the world, the people and the factions. But things start to slowly ramp up by the second half. Something like that.
@@INSAne_DrUNkard You mean like by having an antagonist assault your base of operations, kill one of your friends, and initiate a race to aquire a bunch of mcguffins that will allow you access to the multiverse?
YES! I feel the same way! Hands down the jewel of quest line! It was scary and very exciting all in one.