So, Starfield was a disappointment (in my opinion). The story isn’t interesting. The lore and world-building do not make sense. The game mechanics do not mesh together. (And it doesn’t run well on the Steam Deck.)

But the promise of Starfield? The big space game? The big space RPG where you can play as Captain Reynolds type character? That’s something I can get behind. I want to traverse space, visit different planets, get lost, meet interesting characters, solve their problems, and shoot some stuff. Two games come to my mind when I think of this:

  • No Man’s Sky
  • Mass Effect

I’ve only played a few hours of No Man’s Sky, but I think it does space traversal well. To put it bluntly, flying from planet to planet without interruption is better than fast travel. But the gameplay loop did not

Mass Effect nails the space adventure side of things. You visit multiple interesting places, you meet different people with curious problems, and you solve these problems (mainly by shooting). But it’s a typical Bioware game: The places you visit are small and confined, and there are (comparatively) few of them. The space traversal is done by clicking a few buttons in a menu.

My question is: Are there any “big space games”? Are there any games that deliver on the promise of Starfield? What are your favourite sci-fi RPGs?

    • ByteOnBikes@slrpnk.net
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 day ago

      Thank you! Felt like I was I playing a different game than everyone else.

      Everyone mocked Starfield’s Neon for being Discount Cyberpunk. But at least they played it as straight as they could. Like, I could believe people live there and had a life.

      It felt like Outer Worlds kept trying to make jokes about how cruel capitalism is versus tell a real story. Like, “Oh boy time to go increase shareholder value!” Or “I love Space nuts. I have to say that or I die.” Like wtf, where’s the subtlety?

      It’s not Borderlands 3 bad, no where near it. But it’s pretty bad.

    • john89@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      1 day ago

      Yeah, I really enjoyed the polish of it and how it showed us what a better fallout could be.[

      That said, it was woefully lacking on content and committed a cardinal sin of gaming: the ending felt like the game was just getting started.

      Also, not a fan at all of whoever is telling them to ignore romance options.

    • winety@lemmy.zipOP
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      12
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      3 days ago

      I’d say it was a solid 7/10. One of the DLCs (Peril on Gorgon I think) is better than the base game, I’ve heard.

      On a good day, Starfield’s a 5/10 in my eyes.

      • HIMISOCOOL@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        2 days ago

        Totally agree the dlc really made it one if those “it gets good after x hours” sorta things; All different vibes for the dlcs too. The raider one was lonely but it felt like it was supposed to be.