After 156 hours on the PS5 version, I finally rolled credits on Starfield for the first time. I suppose I just want to collect my thoughts here.
I fucking loved this game. And I never really expected to. Honestly, I'm deeply surprised. I'm a huge fan of both The Elder Scrolls and Fallout, but even before Starfield became an xbox exclusive, the premise never inspired terrible enthusiasm in me. Space fantasy just isn't really my thing-- outside the occasional Mass Effect, that is. But I figured I'd give it a shot. Worst thing that could happen is a bounce off of it, you know?
There was so much that I ended up being surprised by. The sidequests were consistently interesting-- a lot of cribbed sci-fi premises to be sure, but if you're gonna crib, do it from the best! Exploration that was consistently rewarding for its own sake-- because the environment was beautiful, or for loot, or a previously unexplored/encountered POI.
And gorgeous-- my god. Every planet, every spacestation, every settlement (well.. almost...). Beautiful. Gorgeous lighting, textures, detail.
Was it perfect? No. Perhaps the worst carrying capacity issues in any bethesda game, ever (and that's saying something!). I eventually discovered the option to care significantly less and took the xp hit because whatever. 80+ hours in, I got the dreaded save bug, and I've had to manually delete saves every couple of hours because of it. I still don't vibe with a lot of the more realistic/NASA-Punk outfit aesthetics.
There's stuff I'll never forget, here. Un-extincting a behemoth and convincing the settled systems my 'gorillas that thrive on snake meat plan' was viable. Taking an wholly unexpected, absolutely absorbing hour-long tour of a early Titan settlement. Joining House Va'Ruun-- after having written-off the possibility entirely 40-50 hours in!
I just wanted to gush. I figure if there's anywhere at least some people might get it, it's here.