Bethesda's highly mysterious sci-fi RPG Starfield has garnered quite a lot of attention ever since it was revealed back in 2018. Part of this is due to the company's long history of delivering iconic open-world RPGs in which players get to spend 100+ hours in. As such, there are plenty of ground-breaking Bethesda titles that Starfield has to live up to, but the most important of them all is indeed The Elder Scrolls 5 Skyrim.
The Elder Scrolls games have a rich history, and while Morrowind and Oblivion were revolutionary on their own, it's Skyrim that built upon their ideas and made The Elder Scrolls a global phenomenon. The scope and depth of Skyrim were unprecedented for its time, and even 10 years after its release, fans are discovering new secrets in the game. Many want Starfield to astonish them the way Skyrim did back in the day, and while such a feat is possible, Starfield has to do things differently.
Setting the Tone in Starfield
Every game development studio has a different way of transitioning from one IP to another. Some tend to circulate ideas between franchises rather than looking at them individually. Ubisoft is a fine example of such a situation where most of its franchises borrow gameplay ideas from each other, and as a result, feels connected to each other.
When Rockstar Games first revealed Red Dead Redemption, many thought it would be Grand Theft Auto with horses. While such a comparison was reasonable, it turned out that Red Dead Redemption was thematically (and even structurally) different from GTA in many ways. Furthermore, it carved its own path by introducing gameplay ideas that felt relevant to this franchise, all the while retaining some of the key elements of the Grand Theft Auto games. The comparisons quickly faded away, and while both franchises share similar traits for obvious reasons, people look at them differently now.
In the past two decades, Bethesda Game Studios has only made The Elder Scrolls and Fallout games. While these two franchises are miles apart from each other in terms of fiction, themes, and gameplay, there is a certain sameness that comes from being developed by the same studio. Many would expect Starfield to be structurally similar to these games, but Starfield must take a different road than its forefathers.
Many games have tried to replicate the success of Skyrim, and it wouldn't be surprising if Bethesda themselves believe Starfield to be its spiritual successor. However, it's important to acknowledge that Starfield is a different beast altogether. Skyrim's open-world was the perfect getaway from the real world, back when it came out. To many, Skyrim is still like a second home, which they revisit every so often. This is mainly due to how impeccably serene its locales are to spend time in.
While many open-world games choose to be bombastic and climatic at every turn, throwing new encounters and possibilities, Skyrim often provides players with a moment of tranquility, letting players truly soak in the atmosphere. In fact, Skyrim is such a chill experience that it could arguably be called a Christmas game.
Starfield could just be an ambient space adventure, but it doesn't necessarily have to be just that for the sake of rejuvenating the same feelings Skyrim did. Bethesda's Todd Howard has repeatedly mentioned that the reveal trailer of Starfield sets the tone for the game. And by the sound of it, it seems that Starfield's world could be a lot serious and gloomy compared to that of Skyrim. In fact, there is plenty of evidence that suggests the same.
Starfield: Carving its Own Path
There is no doubt that Starfield would retain some of the core features of Skyrim and Fallout 4. For instance, there is a possibility of the game having multiple factions with their own questlines that players can pursue. There could also be an ongoing civil war whose outcome depends on player choices. These attributes define a good old Bethesda game and it wouldn't make sense if they are missing from Starfield.
Todd Howard has reassured fans that Starfield carries the DNA of past Bethesda games, so fans should be able to recognize that it's a full-fledged classic Bethesda title. However, for Starfield to be as successful as Skyrim, it has to carve its own path and look for inspirations outside of Bethesda's family of games, especially Skyrim.
Bethesda's open-world games have always had a knack for player freedom. Fallout and The Elder Scrolls players are habituated to being thrust into a wide open-world at the beginning of the game and having the leisure to explore as they see fit. With Starfield taking place in outer space, it could handle fundamental elements such as exploration and traversal different than Skyrim.
The leaked Starfield screenshots do give an idea of how some of it could work out. It seems players would have to manage their O2 and CO2 meter while also keep a tab on their gravity. This seems like a feasible addition, given the premise of the game, and is an indication that Bethesda is ready to go all the way to amp up their core principles to make Starfield a unique experience.
In an E3 2019 conversation with Elon Musk, Todd Howard revealed that space travel in Starfield could be as dangerous as "flight in the '40s." While this doesn't confirm or deny anything, it does indicate that attributes such as fast travel could work differently in this game. In Skyrim or Fallout 4, players could fast travel to any location freely after discovering those areas first. With Starfield's map seemingly spanning across various planets, fast travel may not be just a click away like it was in previous Bethesda titles. This is one of few indications that Bethesda is diligently crafting various attributes and features in Starfield that could set it apart from Skyrim.
With such great expectations comes great responsibilities, and it only makes sense that Starfield would look for inspirations outside of its developer's most crowning achievement, which is Skyrim. This is important even more so because Skyrim is a 10 years old game. If Starfield wants to lead the next generation of open-world RPGs, it has to first unshackle itself from the shadows of a game that came out two generations ago.
Starfield is currently in development.