For the past few years, Bethesda has been almost completely silent on Starfield, its new sci-fi game that's received little more than a teaser trailer. Screenshots of what appear to be Starfield in-action have leaked, painting a vague picture of its look and tone and indicating that it's a departure from what Bethesda has done before. While new games deserve new ideas, Bethesda should still look to Fallout for inspiration.

After all, there are reasons that Fallout, despite its highs and lows, has maintained a consistently high level of popularity in the past few decades. Fallout 3 helped redefine Western RPGs, raising the bar during the Xbox 360 era and carving a new path for the genre moving forward. On the flip side, the franchise has struggled to make meaningful changes in recent years, leaving Bethesda with a lot to study leading up to Starfield.

RELATED: How Naughty Dog's Rumored Sci-Fi Game Would Probably Differ From Bethesda's Starfield

Fallout's Roleplaying Should Inspire Starfield

Fallout New Vegas City Night NCR Ranger

Fallout 4 and Fallout 76 aren't shining examples of the role-playing elements that Fallout is known forFallout 4 ditched the written-out dialogue options featured in prior games – instead of using a bite-sized system with fewer options – while Fallout 76 didn't feature NPCs to interact with at all initially. Of course, history now shows that changing the system was a mistake, often criticized for being antithetical to what Fallout stood for.

Fallout 3, on the other hand, still features the black-and-white morals that were common at the time, but it gives the player more opportunity to develop their character how they see fit. Dialogue options are presented fully, and the character is un-voiced. It's not as cinematic as the camera found in newer games, but it seems to be a more popular system than what's found in the recent Fallout games.

Starfield being an RPG implies that player choice will be emphasized, and that will, hopefully, include robust character options. Ideally, that means something along the lines of Fallout: New Vegas, Obsidian's Fallout game that's often praised for its roleplaying depth. Starfield's reveal trailer has a bit of a heavier tone than New Vegas had – or any Fallout game for that matter – and while that means it might not be as humorous, its choices should still carry weight for the story's outcome while helping the player build on who they want their character to be.

Starfield Should Feel Dangerous

Deathclaw Alpha Male Fallout New Vegas

The frontier, in all of its forms, is universally presented as a dangerous place to explore. For Fallout, there's the constant threat of radiation, mutants, and even hostile humans constantly gnawing at the back of the player's mind. The wide-open spaces of the wasteland are home to horrors unknown, and even more pronounced in dilapidated schools and run-down grocery stores.

In space, the situation should be far worse. Bethesda fans have received no indication of just how big Starfield's map will be, but seeing as it's set in space, it seems safe to assume that it will be on the larger side. That's a huge opportunity for Bethesda to capture the horrors of the unknown. The constant threat of a ship malfunction, some hostile alien lifeform, or even just solitude should all be ever-present threats when players set off on their journey.

It doesn't need to be a Dark Souls level challenge for players to roll credits on Starfield, but it doesn't need to be a cakewalk either. Capturing the feeling of being alone in space  – similar to being alone in the wasteland – will be vital. Even if things are usually smooth sailing, the nagging tension that something could go wrong at any moment would do wonders for Starfield in the long run.

Starfield Should Be Recognizable

insider E3 Xbox PC

Of all the things that make the Fallout franchise worth coming back to, the most significant is its identity. While fans have been treated to diverse locations, characters, and stories, there's a recognizable core that transcends its variety to make products that fit cohesively into the Fallout universe. Even though the series has seen different developers, engines, and camera styles, Fallout is instantly recognizable in nearly any form.

On a surface level, that sounds like something that's easily accomplished – use the same imagery and the rest will follow. In reality, it takes painstaking work to ensure that the franchise maintains a consistent style. With a world as unique as Fallout's, where the United States has stagnated to Cold War-era American patriotism and pop culture, it's an easier goal to accomplish than something more generic, like Call of Duty, has to strive towards.

For Starfield, in particular, other challenges will arise. As an entirely new franchise, fans don't really know what to expect out of the game besides the fact that it will be a sci-fi title. Sci-fi can easily fall into the dangerous realm of cookie-cutter tropes, which can make it feel campy or same-y depending on how much effort is put into building its world.

For that reason, Starfield needs to establish the unique elements that it has on offer early on. The marketing build-up has to show what separates Starfield from the other sci-fi games out there, otherwise, it runs the risk of being compared to No Man's Sky, Elite Dangerous, or any of the other space-faring adventures that are dominating the scene. Those comparisons aren't a death sentence, but they can set the wrong tone, especially with a new IP.

Luckily, Starfield is likely to appear at E3 this year, giving fans their first real l0ok at what the game will have to offer. If it's able to retain the core of what makes a Bethesda game so easily identifiable, while at the same time incorporating new elements, then Bethesda could have yet another highly regarded franchise on its hands. It's a fine line to balance, but one that Bethesda has done with Fallout and Elder Scrolls in the past.

Starfield is in development.

MORE: All New IPs Have Risks, but Starfield is a Huge Gamble