The space RPG arrived with high expectations, but the final product left many players underwhelmed.
The developers succeeded in drawing attention to Starfield, yet over time the project has not measured up to Bethesda’s earlier hits like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Fallout 4.
In a conversation with FRVR, former Starfield systems designer Bruce Nesmith — who departed the project roughly a year before release — shared his perspective on why the title didn’t reach the same “caliber” as Fallout or The Elder Scrolls:
“I think Starfield is a good game. That said, I don’t feel it’s on the same level as those other titles — like Fallout or Skyrim, or more broadly The Elder Scrolls. I’m proud of the work I did on it, and I’m proud of my colleagues; they made a great game.”
Nevertheless, he acknowledges an issue with Starfield’s procedural generation:
“When planets begin to feel too similar and you stop feeling the thrill of discovery, that’s when, I think, everything falls apart.”
Nesmith suggests that if Starfield had been released by a different studio rather than Bethesda, it might have been judged differently. He insists it isn’t a bad game, and notes that his role on the project involved working with astronomical data.
Source: iXBT.games