I playedStarfieldat launch and had a blast, but never got around to beating it. There were a bunch of games released late last year, andI enjoyedLies of Pimmensely, got the platinum trophy for thebrilliantMarvel’s Spider-Man 2, and even had a great time withAssassin’s Creed Mirage’s homage to its predecessors– not to mention my forays intoBaldur’s Gate 3,Super Mario Bros. Wonder,God of War Ragnarök: Valhalla, andThe Finalsall before year’s end. All this is to sayStarfieldgot put on the back-burner, and I hadn’t felt compelled to jump back in until recently.
A lot has changed inStarfieldsince the weeks around its launch. Mind you, it’s still essentiallyOblivionin space – a comparison I make endearingly, since the fourthElder Scrollswas foundational to my love of RPGs – but in the lead-up toStarfield’s upcomingShattered SpaceDLC, the game has received significant updates, including a rover to drive around, a Trackers Alliance questline, and a fix for its woefully unhelpful surface maps, among other things. For anyone else on the precipice of returning toStarfield, though, I want you to know thatthe most transformative changes have actually come from the settings menu.
“An Instant Classic”: Starfield Review
Starfield has plenty of captivating tales and dynamic mechanics that make it an epic science fiction adventure - and an instant classic.
I Made Starfield More Difficult, But Not Annoyingly So
New Gameplay Options Were Added In Starfield’s May Update
Starfieldis so vast that it generally suffers from a lot of its content becoming effectively meaningless. Bethesda’s worlds are packed to the brim with not only characters and quests, but also clutter, some of which is actually quite useful – until you’ve collected so much it becomes useless. I have a knack for hoarding items in RPGs, and because I have a cargo hold on my ship,Starfieldlets me hoard a lot. Unfortunately, this eventually nullifies a key part of the game’s whole shtick: space is dangerous, and exceedingly so.
I don’t necessarily want a hardcore space sim when playingStarfield, but a particular point of critique I have against the game is thatit enables me to hoard so efficiently that the inherent danger of space exploration is removed from the equation. I go gallivanting across a frozen moon, and I get a bad case of frostbite, but all I’ve got to do to remedy my newfound ailment is scroll through the Aid section of my inventory and find an item with the corresponding icon. Presto – no more frostbite.
This is all well and good at the beginning of the game, when supplies are, well, in short supply, but dozens of hours in, it doesn’t really matter what happens to me becauseI’ve got an entire pharmacy in my pocket to make any problem go away in an instant. Luckily, in coming back to the game nearly a year after it launched, I now have a solution via a wealth of new settingsadded inStarfield’s May 2024 update. Of specific interest to this facet of gameplay are a number of new options pertaining to Afflictions.
Combat and exploration are now riskier, and I’m actually burning through my resources, worried that I’ll run out of bandages if my bullet wounds worsen before I get back to a doctor.
Perhaps the most consequential in myStarfieldreturn so far has been changing the Affliction Treament setting to “Improve Only.” According to the in-game description, this makes it so that “Treatments improve Prognosis up to ‘Excellent’ but they do not cure Afflictions.“This makes Aid items very useful, but not miracle cures, and combined with Affliction Prognosis set to “Advanced,” injuries need time to heal (or special medical attention), and may even become worse.
Thanks to also switching Combat Affliction Gain to “Increased,” which provides a “significant chance to gain Afflictions from creatures, turrets, robots, and human weapons,” I got in a big firefight that gave me severe Puncture Wounds, resulting in damage taken if I sprinted or attempted melee attacks (my simultaneous Burns status effect ensured melee attacks would deal less damage anyway). And with Environmental Damage Restoration set to “Resting,” my maximum health didn’t recover even when I made it to a safe, pressurized location – an adaptation ofFallout 4’s radiation damage.
All of my current Gameplay Options can be seen in the screenshots above, though I have been tweaking them frequently to see what feels fun.
Overall, the various settings for Affliction and Environmental Damage have turnedStarfieldinto a minor survival game, though there are definitely more options to make it a bona fide member of the genre – constantly managing hunger and thirst via the Sustenance setting isn’t really my bag. Combat and exploration are now riskier, and I’m actually burning through my resources, worried that I’ll run out of bandages if my bullet wounds worsen before I get back to a doctor. Sure, I can just fast travel to the nearest major city and get fixed up in a couple of minutes, buthobbling around and hoping my proto-Starborn body doesn’t become riddled with even more ailments as I aspire to full membership in the Trackers Alliance is a very entertaining change of pace for the game.
I Was Worried I’d Bounce Off Of Starfield When Coming Back After So Long
I’m Excited For Shattered Space, But Forgot Where I Left Off
The excitement of a new Bethesda game had admittedly worn off in the past 12 months, and I was worried the constant loading screens and lackluster procedurally generated content would be a big barrier to re-entry.Starfieldcertainly has its faults, butthe new control allowed by its robust Gameplay Options works exceptionally well with the game’s sandbox nature, and I’m glad I decided to return to the game beforeShattered Spacereleases. It’s giving me plenty of time to wrap up the major questlines I left unfinished.
It feels like I’m making great progress in comparison to when I put the game down initially
There are even some unexpected quality of life improvements thanks to my new settings. Each one provides an increase or reduction in XP earned, dependent on whether it makes the game easier or more difficult. I’m currently getting a 17% boost to all experience points, negating the 2% loss I was penalized for increasing vendor credits, another minor gripe that Bethesda has solved post-launch. My character’s leveling up at a decent pace, so it feels like I’m making great progress in comparison to when I put the game down initially.
It’s not a completely new experience, butStarfieldis a bit more interactive now, and it’s added an interesting facet that I felt was largely missing from the game at launch. Anyone who despised Bethesda’s latest isn’t likely to find its pitfalls remedied by a few new options, butfor those who, like me, felt a twinge of disappointment at the ease with which you’re able to delve into the starfield without facing consequential bodily harm, there’s an interesting new level of control over how the game operates.
The 60 FPS update on Xbox Series X has been wonderful as well, but tweaking the gameplay in small but significant ways has breathed some new life intoStarfield, and I look forward to my more perilous journey continuing intoShattered Space. The expansion seems to be focusing solely on bespoke content, so I’m hoping it’s a real home run without the untenable scope that really oversaturated the base game experience.Starfieldhas made some pretty significant strides over the past year, and I think a lot of you returning forShattered Spacewill be pleasantly surprised by a look through the Gameplay Options menu.
Starfield
Bethesda Game Studios presents Starfield - the first original IP from the studio in twenty-five-plus years. Set in the year 2310, the United Colonies and Freestar Collective are observing a shaky truce after a war set 20 years prior. The player will customize their character as a member of a space exploration team called Constellation while navigating The Settled Systems and the conflicts between the warring factions. According to Bethesda, players can explore over 100 systems and 1000 planets to find resources and build their ships, living out their own sci-fi journeys.
