When Todd Howard called Bethesda’s new sci-fi RPG Starfield “Skyrim in space,” it was easy to write the comment off as an appeal to the studio’s greatest hits, glossing over the bumpy recent history of the Fallout franchise and assuring fans that a more traditional Bethesda RPG with a focus on freedom above all else was on the way. The more that’s revealed about the game, however, the more the structural similarities between the stories of Bethesda's new IP and Skyrim seem apparent.
Starfield’s main quest, like Skyrim’s World-Eater plotline, appeals to the existential, promising “humanity’s final journey” and answers to “life’s greatest mystery.” Despite the larger stakes, it’s also apparent that, as in Skyrim, humanity hasn’t lost its appetite for petty conflict. There have been several indications that Starfield’s secondary plotline, like Skyrim’s civil war, will involve some surprisingly similar factions duking it out. Skyrim’s civil war questline, however, was far from perfect. Here’s what Bethesda needs to learn before taking to the stars in its next RPG.
The Empire And The Rebels
In most Elder Scrolls games so far, particularly Oblivion, the Empire of Tamriel is portrayed as sympathetic. Uriel Septim wasn’t just wise and benevolent; he was imbued with the gift of prophecy. Martin Septim sacrificed himself to save Tamriel from Mehrunes Dagon, ending his line in doing so. In Skyrim, the Empire is made more morally ambiguous, but the more players learn the muddier the waters become.
Skyrim’s Empire is on the back foot, recently forced into a harsh treaty by the cackling evil supremacist Aldmeri Dominion that forces them to outlaw Talos worship or risk another war they cannot win. The game’s opening certainly frames the Empire in a bad light, but the game leans on the moral ambiguity of its civil war factions to exhaustion. Arriving in the Stormcloak capital of Windhelm quickly confirms that their fight for independence comes with a xenophobic streak, and there are suggestions that Ulfric’s killing of the High King was far from honorable.
It already seems like Starfield will have two major factions with many similarities to the Empire and the Stormcloaks. In the Location Insights video on the city of New Atlantis, design director Emil Pagliarulo describes the city of New Atlantis as “the capital city of the United Colonies, U.C., the most powerful, established military and political faction in the game. The city is a true melting pot.”
Like the Empire of Tamriel, the United Colonies is the larger faction, sourcing strength in its diversity. It’s also apparent, however, that its broad reach isn’t entirely popular outside of its hub. In the video on Akila City, Pagliarulo describes the capital of the Freestar Collective, a faction that holds the “sanctity of personal freedom and individuality” above all else.
There’s nothing to suggest that the Freestar Collective is at war with the United Colonies, but the characterizations of the two factions are very familiar. It also seems likely that their trade-offs – an empire that cannot understand the needs of the people on its fringes, and a splinter group that risks small-mindedness – are similar as well.
The Greater Threat
As with the Empire and the Stormcloaks, the failure of these two factions to cooperate appears to have created an opportunity for an unambiguously evil faction to rise to prominence. In an in-universe email seen on Pagliarulo’s computer in the Into the Starfield: The Journey Begins video, a faction named the Crimson Fleet is mentioned.
The message, signed off by UC Fleet Admiral Pascual Logan, explains that “pirates of the Crimson Fleet have extended far beyond the Kryx System […] This is clearly no longer just a Freestar Collective problem.” While little else is known about the faction, if Bethesda was angling to make the Crimson Fleet morally ambiguous by framing them as freedom-loving freebooters, it seems unlikely that the Freestar Collective would already have been characterized in a similar way. Instead, it’s likely that players will find a faction that matches the Dominion’s brutality, if not its aesthetic.
Surpassing Skyrim's Civil War
The dynamic between these three major players strongly resembles Skyrim’s civil war. Although helping the Dominion wasn’t an option in Skyrim, it seems extremely likely that, as in the civil war questline, players will be able to throw their weight behind a faction of their choice.
The problem is that Skyrim’s civil war, while a great part of the premise, is far from the game’s greatest strength. Completing the questline sees a few of Skyrim’s Jarls replaced, lets the player take part in a few measly skirmishes, and once the moral ambiguity of both factions is established it isn’t complicated or explored any further.
Starfield can’t just be Skyrim in space. The player’s impact on the balance of power in its universe needs to imbue them with a greater sense of agency and a far greater sense of impact. Unlike in Skyrim, players should be able to unite two of the factions against a major threat, even if that’s extremely difficult. There should be major battles that put Skyrim’s measly skirmishes to shame. The potential outcome of this conflict should be more than a binary, and its impact on the game’s world should be more than Skyrim’s shallow reshuffling of a few NPCs.
Todd Howard’s appeal to Skyrim fans makes sense from a marketing perspective, but the question of whether Bethesda has truly moved on from The Elder Scrolls 5 and is able to tell more complicated stories and give the player a more meaningful impact on its games’ settings hangs over the studio’s new IP. Howard has also stated that Starfield will be “a bit more hardcore of a role-playing game” than the studio’s last few releases. Hopefully this will see the player’s impact on the game’s major factions eclipse the impact they had in Skyrim. Whether the story those factions will tell can surpass the shortcomings of Skyrim’s civil war questline remains to be seen, however.
Starfield releases for PC and Xbox Series X/S on November 11, 2022.